Dear People & Friends of St. Clement’s,
There are a few more things than usual to tell you about this week, not least because I won’t be writing a ‘Weekly’ next week, for reasons I’ll explain in a moment. So please read all of this message carefully! Please don’t do what one Church member has previously told me that he does and just ‘scan it’. The self-same person then twice complained that he didn’t know that something was happening :-x
Sunday 26th October at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist for the Last Sunday after Trinity/Bible Sunday
This Sunday, we finally finish counting Sundays after Trinity. As the Church of England variation of the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) allows, we are going to once more celebrate Bible Sunday, tying in with the words of Sunday’s collect.
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: help us so to hear them, to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, through patience, and the comfort of your holy word, we may embrace and for ever hold fast the hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
Our Bible readings will be Psalm 119. 9-16, together with Colossians 3. 12-17, whilst our Gospel passage is Matthew 24. 30-35. There will be parallel Children’s Ministry and following worship, Coffee Hour in the hall on the third floor of Klimentská 18. Now the weather has turned colder, I’m sure many of you will appreciate the opportunity for a hot cup of tea or coffee, hence we’re moving from having cool drinks at the back of Church as we’ve done throughout the summer.
There are two other important things to note regarding this coming Sunday. The first is that the clocks go BACK one hour during the previous night. If you fail to adjust your clock, watch or mobile phone, you’ll arrive in the middle of the Czech Protestant Service which precedes our worship!
The second is that, despite several pleas from our rota organiser Tasci Gibson, nobody has yet come forward to be on welcoming duty this Sunday. Last Sunday, your Church Council were discussing ways by which we might ‘grow the congregation’. One sure way is to make sure that those who come to worship with us for the first time, are made to feel welcome so that they come back again. Yet if there is no one there to welcome them…….. We need one or two volunteers, even if you haven’t done it before. There is a clear list of instructions which I can forward. If you can plug the gap, please email me & Tasci tgibsono2(at)gmail(dot)com
Thank you to all those who have placed their used postage stamps in the collecting envelope pinned to our noticeboard at the back of the Church. These help raise funds for the Intercontinental Church Society (ICS) who support us prayerfully and have also supported us financially in past years. If you have any used postage stamps sitting at home, please can you try & bring them to Church this Sunday, and place them in the collecting envelope so that I can then deliver them in person, when I visit the ICS Office next Friday. Which brings me to saying that……
Ricky will be on annual leave & away from Prague from Tuesday 28th October – Monday 3rd November inclusive
Unusually, I will be going to the UK for the second time in a year! This is to see my first grandchild Finley, the son of my daughter Christa & son-in-law Ian, who was born on 22nd September and to help my son Phillip, slightly belatedly celebrate his thirtieth birthday, which is tomorrow. As previously mentioned, I will also pay a visit to the ICS Office in Coventry and meet briefly with Mission Director Rev’d Richard Bromley, over coffee. Therefore, no meeting for Study & Fellowship on Tuesday 28th October and no ‘Weekly Message’ next week.
Sunday 2nd November at 11.00 – Morning Prayer celebrating the Feast of All Saints
Jack Noonan will both lead & preach at this service. There will be parallel Children’s Ministry and following worship, Coffee Hour in the hall on the third floor of Klimentská 18.
Tuesday 4th November 18.30-20.00 in the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18
Postponed from last Tuesday, we will start a new study series entitled Difficult Parables. Our first will be the one I avoided preaching about on Sunday 12th October :-) – the parable of the wedding banquet as recorded in Matthew 22. 1-14. What are we to make of the drastic punishment that was meted out to the man who wasn’t correctly dressed? I’d welcome your ideas & not just mine! As we usually do, we’ll end our session by saying Evening Prayer together. If the ground floor door of Klimentská 18 is locked, press the bell marked Kancelář & we’ll buzz you in!
Finally for this week….
Last Wednesday morning, I spent a couple of hours with the team preparing for the annual Taizé European Meeting of Young Adults which is to take place in Prague between 29th December 2014 – 2nd January 2015. I shall have more to say about this once I’m back from the UK. However, in the meantime, you can visit their website or their Facebook page . You can also visit their Prague base, in person, at Franze Kafky 24/3, 110 00 Praha 1, Tuesday – Saturday 10.00-12.00 & 14.00-18.00 where there is an exhibition about the Taizé Community and its work.
Don’t forget to adjust your clocks on Saturday evening, ready for Sunday.
Best wishes
Ricky
