Dear People & Friends of St. Clements,
This weekend you will be pleased to know that you do not have to be concerned about the clocks changing. I’m sure that the clocks going forward one hour was the reason that last Sunday’s Eucharist and Annual Church Meeting were not as well attended as they could or should have been. Therefore without excuses…..
Sunday 3rd April at 11am – Sung Eucharist for the Fourth Sunday of Lent
As I mentioned last week, one additional piece of Lenten discipline this year is having to stand & listen to a rather long Gospel Reading on three Sundays in Lent! This Sunday, the Gospel Reading is John 9. 1-41 and tells of Jesus healing a man born blind. There will be Children’s Ministry which will be led for the first time by Sybille Yates. The service will be followed by Coffee Hour in the hall on the third floor of Klimentská 18.
For British families, this coming Sunday is also Mother’s Day or more traditionally Mothering Sunday. This causes confusion in an international congregation such as ours as the rest of the English-speaking world celebrates Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May. There are various explanations as to the origin of Mothering Sunday being on the Fourth Sunday of Lent. One is that, as part of your Lenten discipline, you walked to the Mother Church – your Diocesan Cathedral. Another is that young women who were ‘in service’, (i.e. working as servants in the homes of the wealthy), were allowed home to visit their mothers on this Sunday. As they walked home, they would often pick a bunch of wild Spring flowers to give to their mother.
The Fourth Sunday of Lent is also roughly the halfway point in this penitential season. Therefore it was often known as Refreshment Sunday when you were allowed a little breather from your Lenten discipline!
There are two other events in the coming week to which I would like to draw your attention.
Monday 4th April at 7.30pm in St. Vitus Cathedral within the wall of Prague Castle
A concert by the Choir of Winchester Cathedral. Attached to this email is a poster in Czech, giving details of the concert & where to obtain tickets. Below are a few more details in English!
The Cathedral Choir of Boy Choristers and Lay Clerks represents a living tradition of singing that goes back over a thousand years in Winchester, drawing on England’s rich history of sacred music. The choir sings eight church services a week in school term time and is widely recognized as one of England’s foremost cathedral choirs. They have also performed in Germany, France, Italy and the US in recent years. The boy choristers are all educated at the Pilgrims’ School in Winchester Cathedral Close. Their concerts have been broadcast live on BBC television and they have made numerous recordings. The Lay Clerks are the professional singers who provide the Alto, Tenor and Bass parts.
“The Winchester Cathedral Choristers has a rich musical history and we are pleased to be performing these two special concerts in the Czech Republic,” said Andrew Lumsden, Director of Music. “We hope our guests will be uplifted listening to these talented singers in two of Central Europe’s most beautiful churches.”
This is the first time the choir will be performing in the Czech Republic. The concert in Prague will be held in St Vitus Cathedral and will offer music from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and works by Henry Purcell and John Blow, both of whom were organists of Westminster Abbey. The programme also includes works sung at Coronation services throughout the centuries.
Tuesday 5th April – 6.30pm – 8.00pm in the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18
The fourth evening of our Lent course entitled What I believe and why? Our visiting speaker will be Rev’d Dr Dennis Barton, an American Baptist Minister who currently worships with the International Baptist Church here in Prague. He will tackle these same five headings as our three previous speakers.
My Christian Tradition – the rock from whence I’m hewn
My Journey to Faith – hearing the quiet still voice
Moments of Crisis in my Faith – The dark night of the soul
The Place of Victory – I will lift up mine eyes
Ways Forward – Be thou my vision
There will be a time for questions & answers and the evening will finish with prayer and the singing of one of our speaker’s favourite hymns. Even if you haven’t been able to attend any of the previous three evenings, I do hope many of you will come along on Tuesday. I’m sure the issue of infant versus adult baptism will be a subject of discussion!
Following our Annual Church Meeting….
The newly elected Church Council will meet for the first time on the evening of Monday 11th April and would value your prayers as they begin to address the various issues we face in taking forward the life & work of St. Clements. The newly elected Council is smaller than usual & so we will be looking to harness the talents of others within the congregation for particular tasks. If I may parody the late President Kennedy, “Ask not what my Church can do for me – ask what I can do for my Church”.
Looking forward to seeing many of you on Sunday
Best wishes
Ricky
