It was lovely to be back at St. Clements last Sunday after being absent from Prague for the three previous Sundays.

Sunday, 8th November 2009

This coming Sunday, I hope many of you will join us at 11am for our Sung Eucharist for the Third Sunday before Advent. It will be followed by Coffee Hour over the road/street and up the lift/elevator of Klimentská 18 to the third floor. Yes – the lift/elevator has finally been renovated to 2009 safety standards as we discovered last Sunday for the first time. I’m always somewhat disappointed by the relatively small number of people who come on to Coffee Hour after our Sunday service. As I have often said previously, worship should be both vertical (between me & God), but also horizontal (between me & my Christian brothers & sisters). Coffee Hour allows us to share fellowship with our Christian brothers and sisters and compliments our worship in Church.

As many of the Brits in the congregation will know, this coming Sunday will be kept as Remembrance Sunday in Britain, being the nearest Sunday to 11th November, Armistice or Remembrance Day and which is kept as Veterans Day in the USA. I have asked Angela Hitchen, who is leading our intercessions on Sunday, to include appropriate prayers.

A reminder to Church Council members that we have a Church Council Meeting following Coffee Hour. Agenda & papers will follow shortly once I’ve completed this message!

A Small Request

On this Sunday and the other three remaining Sundays in November, there will be a simple survey form which I would ask you to complete – one per household. The survey is completely anonymous and is for the benefit of our Diocesan Synod as it seeks ways to offer the best form of pastoral care for the clergy & people of the Diocese in Europe. This survey should have been done in October but somehow Prague (together with several other Chaplaincies), got missed off the mailing list. If you are in Church on more than one of the remaining Sundays in November, (which I hope many of you will be!), please only complete the form once.

Congratulations……

…..to Ryan & Maria Brown on the birth of their daughter Aemilia. She was born at 18.32 on Wednesday 4th November and is a sister to big brother Sebastian. Aemilia weighed in at 3.5 kg and was 49cm long at birth. According to Ryan’s note to me, Maria and the baby were doing fine but he was a bit of a wreck!

Change of Tram

On Tuesday 3rd November, Dopravní podnik hlavního města Prahy/Prague Integrated Public Transport changed tram routes and numbers once more. Therefore, if you are planning to visit the Chaplaincy flat or coming to the Thursday Night Study Group, you now need the Number 8 Tram to Podbaba, not the Number 20. From my point of view, it does now mean that I can get to Church without having to change trams at Vítezné námestí.

Christmas at St. Clements

In last weeks End-of-week Message, I did announce that our annual service of Lessons and Carols  will be on Sunday 13th December at 6pm and that hopefully this will be before any of you disappear to your respective home counties (or the chalupa!) for the Christmas break!

For those of you who will be in Prague over Christmas, there will be Midnight Eucharist on Christmas Eve starting at 23.30. On Christmas Day, there will be a Family Communion starting at 11.00.

And finally……

In last weeks End-of-week Message, I mentioned about the pass that is available for those over 60, for the integrated public transport system, which allows half price travel and that it is available to anyone, regardless of nationality, on production of your passport as proof of age and the completion of the appropriate form. I should have said that this is for those aged between 60 and 70. Once you are over 70, you can travel for free. As I also said last week and as others have said to me since, whilst this might not apply to you because you are under 60, it could apply to parents or older relatives and friends who come to visit you.

Best wishes

Ricky