Dear People & Friends of St. Clement’s,
A big ‘Thank you’, to everyone who came to worship last Sunday morning. The service was well attended, bearing in mind that only two attendees were visitors, it being what I call the ‘non-tourist season’ in Prague at present. I look forward to seeing just as many, if not more of you, this coming Sunday :-)
Sunday 21st February at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist for the Second Sunday of Lent
Our Old Testament reading will be Genesis 15. 1-12 & 17-18 in which God speaks to Abraham, (at this point, still called Abram), in a vision, promising him that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. We shall also say Psalm 27 responsively, declaring that, ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation’. Our Gospel reading will be Luke 13. 31-35 where Jesus both speaks of being killed in Jerusalem, as well as expressing his desire to, ‘…gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings’. Our preacher on Sunday will be Licensed Reader, Jack Noonan. There will be parallel Children’s Ministry, and following worship, Coffee Hour in the hall on the third floor of Klimentská 18.
I am very pleased that Jack is preaching this coming Sunday morning as, following Coffee Hour, I shall be off to Praha hl.n., to travel by train to Dresden, in order to both lead and preach at the monthly English-language Anglican Service of Evening Prayer in the Frauenkirche. During Lent, the evening services at the Frauenkirche are following the theme, ‘Das Kreuz verbindet’ – ‘The Cross connects’, or ‘We are connected by the Cross’. On Sunday evening, my theme is that of ‘Reconciliation’, with particular reference to the ‘Cross of Nails’ which connects the Frauenkirche with Coventry Cathedral. As a Coventrian by birth and upbringing, I feel it is both a privilege and a challenge to be invited to preach on this topic. More information here & here.
Tuesday 23rd February – 18.30-20.00 in the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18 – Lent Course
The second session of our Lent Course entitled ‘Life Attitudes’ – studying the Beattitudes, the well-known opening thirteen verses of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Even if you missed our first session last Tuesday, you are still welcome to join us this coming Tuesday as I know a couple of additional people are planning to do. The remaining dates are, Tuesday evenings, 23rd February, 1st, 8th & 15th March. Our session will end in a short time of worship & prayer. If the outside door of Klimentská 18 is locked, please press the bell marked Kancelář & you’ll be buzzed in!
Sermons
Both of my sermons from the last two Sundays are now available to listen to our Church website. Just follow this link and click on the one(s) you want to listen to. Courtesy of our technical wizard David Hellam, Jack Noonan’s sermon this coming Sunday, should be available on the same page of this website, hopefully by next Tuesday at the latest.
Looking ahead to Holy Week
As in previous years, there will be our regular Sung Eucharist at 11.00 on Palm Sunday – 20th March, at which Palm Crosses will be distributed. There will then be a Eucharist commemorating the Last Supper, starting at 19.00 on Maundy Thursday – 24th March. But because for the first time since soon after the communists came to power in 1948, this year Good Friday – 25th March, will be a public holiday, we are going to hold our Good Friday Devotional Service in the afternoon, starting at 14.00, to mark Jesus’ Last Hour on the Cross. Professor Michal Novenko will be playing the organ for us on this occasion and he will be bringing a Choir from Chomutov with him, to enhance our worship.
Annual Church Meeting (ACM) and the Church Electoral Roll (CER)
As I’ve previously announced, our ACM will be held following worship, on Sunday 10th April 2016. To be eligible to either stand for election to the Church Council, and/or vote at the ACM, you need to be a member of the CER. A copy of the current CER is pinned on the noticeboard at the back of the Church. When the current Church Council meet next on Sunday 28th February, we will go through the current CER and delete the names of those we know who no longer reside in the Czech Republic, as we are allowed to do, and a revised CER will then be posted.
However, if you joined the congregation in the last year or two and are not on the current CER, now is the time to apply to join. If you are a baptised Anglican/Episcopalian/Old Catholic, you can apply straight away. If you are a baptised member of another Christian Church which believes in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and have ‘habitually worshipped’ at St. Clement’s for at least the last six months, then you too are eligible to apply. Forms to do so are in a folder, attached to the noticeboard at the back of the Church, alongside the current CER. Completed application forms must be returned to me, no later than 25th March – Good Friday, as the revised CER has to be displayed for 15 days before the ACM.
Please note – filling out a Newcomers’ Form in our Welcome Booklet, got you onto my email circulation list, but does NOT put your name on the CER. You have to apply using the correct form in the folder on the noticeboard.
Until Sunday
Best wishes
Ricky
