Dear People & Friends of St. Clement’s,
This coming Sunday is Advent Sunday and marks the beginning of the Christian or Church’s Year. Contrary to what the manufacturers of Advent Calenders think, Advent only occasionally begins on 1st December! For those who don’t know, Advent always begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas meaning it can start as early as 27th November (as it did in 2011), or as late as 3rd December.
The season of Advent is meant to be a time of preparation of ourselves, in order that we are ready to once more welcome the Christ Child, the Word made flesh, into our hearts and lives at Christmas. But it is often a frantic time for many people, especially for many in the St. Clement’s congregation who also are preparing to travel to see family & friends in their respective home countries. In all the busyness of these next few weeks, please do try to find some space to make your own spiritual as well as practical preparation, so that you are ready to celebrate the Incarnation – the miracle that God took human form and lived amongst us in the person of Jesus.
A year ago, I wrote a post on my blog about Advent which you might enjoy reading. It can be found by clicking on this link .
In the meantime, a reminder about what is happening at St. Clement’s during the first part of the Advent Season.
Sunday 2nd December at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist for Advent Sunday
This coming Sunday, our worship will be enhanced by the visiting Australian Waratah Girls Choir. There will be parallel Children’s Ministry and the service will be followed by Coffee Hour.
The Australian Waratah Girls Choir will also be giving a concert in Church later in the afternoon starting at 16.00. There will be no entrance fee for the concert, just a retiring collection.
Then on the following weekend, there are three services to draw your attention to.
Saturday 8th December at 16.00 – Family Christmas Carols
An opportunity to sing familiar English Christmas Carols, together with a couple of Carols in Czech. The event is an ideal one for families with younger children and will last no more than an hour. Refreshments will be served in Klimentská 18, following the service. Gordon Truefitt is busy recruiting a small choir to give a lead to singing & if you would be interested in adding your voice, please speak with Gordon this coming Sunday or email him gordontruefitt(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk
Sunday 9th December at 11.00 – Family Eucharist for the Second Sunday in Advent.
The service will mark the completion of what our children have been preparing during Children’s Ministry these past weeks and our preacher will be David Hellam. Various edible goodies made by the children and others will be for sale following the service in aid of the charity ‘Send a Cow’.
Sunday 9th December at 18.00 – A Service of Lessons & Carols in Brno
After worship in Prague in the morning, I will be travelling down to Brno for our regular monthly Sunday evening service at the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, Nové sady 32a, Brno. This will mark the first anniversary of holding services in Brno as we started with a Carol Service there in December 2011. As long as the weather does not deteriorate too much, I shall be driving down & back to Brno in my car & will therefore have room for up to four more people to accompany me! Interested? If so, please speak with me on this coming Sunday or just reply to this email.
All these services, together with details of what is happening right through to the end of the year can be found on our Church website. The direct link is here .
Tuesday Evening Study & Fellowship
We successfully completed our study of the Book of Job last Tuesday evening. Knowing how busy people are even in early December, I think it wise not to try to meet again this year but to resume meeting on Tuesday 8th January 2013. I would welcome ideas as to what we might study during the first five Tuesdays of the New Year, in advance of the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday 13th February 2013.
Helping the Salvation Army in their work with the homeless in Prague
Thank you to all those who donated warm winter clothing into the wheelie bin at the back of Church. You completely filled it before the end of November! Jakub Vopelak from the Salvation Army writes, ‘You and your congregation do an incredible job!‘ Indeed you do! This last Wednesday, I met Pavel from the Salvation Army at Church, and he collected all the contents of the clothing wheelie bin so it is once more empty & ready for fresh donations. And don’t forget the other wheelie bin for tinned food. There were some more ‘clonks’ before the service last Sunday but it would be good to hear some more this Sunday too. I would love to fill it ready for collection before Christmas, if at all possible.
Recording the sermon each Sunday
I know from receiving feedback, how many of you appreciate the sermons each Sunday being recorded & uploaded to our website. FYI – my sermon from last Sunday is now uploaded & can be found by clicking on this link . However, following my appeal of two weeks ago, for a couple of volunteers willing to be trained by David Hellam to record the sermon when David is absent, we’ve only had one response. That was from Gordon but then he is already busy counting the collection when the service ends & doesn’t really need another job to land in his plate! So please, especially if you will be in Prague over Christmas when David & family will be away, if you would be willing to be trained to undertake this task, please speak with David or me ASAP.
Wishing you a holy & blessed Advent
Ricky
