Dear People & Friends of St. Clement’s,
There are several things I want to communicate via my Weekly Message this week so please take a few minutes to read right through it :-)
Firstly, this coming Sunday……
Sunday 9th September at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist for the Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
Both our Epistle and Gospel readings follow on directly from those we heard read last Sunday. For the Epistle, we have the our second instalment of the very practical Letter of James – James 2. 1-10 & 14-17. The Gospel reading is Mark 7. 24-37 and tells of two healing miracles when Jesus travels beyond the immediate confines of Galilee, firstly to the vicinity of the coastal city of Tyre and then to the predominantly Greek-speaking cities of the Decapolis. There will be parallel Children’s Ministry which I understand will continue with ideas & preparation for our celebration of Harvest Festival on Sunday 7th October.
Following our worship on Sunday, we are going to hold another Church Family Picnic in the park on Lannova, between the Church & the Vltava River. As with the previous picnic in June, please bring picnic food that can be shared. We especially want to be able to invite any new arrivals in Prague to join us in order to share fellowship together and make them feel welcome at St. Clements. Cool drinks, plastic cups, paper plates etc will be provided. If anyone wants to bring some wine or beer then they are welcome to do so. The weather forecast for Sunday is sunny & around 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) – perfect picnic weather. Please plan to be there!
Tuesday 11th September 18.30-20.00 – Midweek Study & Fellowship
Following the summer break, our regular Midweek Study & Fellowship meetings resume in the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18. Over the next four Tuesday evenings, I’m going to lead a series of Bible Studies looking at St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. For some, the Bible is almost a closed book – for others, you know it well. But we can all learn something together! I look forward to seeing both old faces & new on Tuesday evening. If at all possible, bring a Bible with you though I will also have printed copies of the text with me. Please plan to be there!
The next four Sundays – four different preachers!
The four Sundays following this coming Sunday, you will have the opportunity to hear four different preachers! Here are the details.
Sunday 16th September – Jack Noonan will be preaching once again.
Sunday 23rd September – We will have our annual visit from Bishop Dušan Hejbal of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic & he will preach (in translation) & preside at the Eucharist.
Sunday 30th September – I will be in Athens, along with Jack Noonan & Gordon Truefit, attending the annual meeting of our Eastern Archdeaconry Synod and ThDr Petr Jan Vinš will be your preacher and celebrant, as he was on the two Sundays I was on holiday/vacation in July.
Sunday 7th October – As mentioned above, we will be celebrating Harvest Festival with a family-friendly service involving the children & David Hellam will be in charge of giving the talk.
In other words, there is plenty to look forward to in the coming weeks.
Two other things for this week……
Our Website
Over the coming weeks, we want to do more with this website. However, one thing we have done already is to resume putting recordings of Sunday services & sermons on the website. If you click on ‘Sermons’ tab on our home page, you will now find the whole of the services from Sunday 26th August & Sunday 2nd September available for you to listen to, as well as just the sermon from Sunday 2nd September. My thanks to David Hellam for using his equipment & technical knowledge to make the recordings & to Sybille as webmaster, for uploading them to the website, enabling me to then add Biblical references and get them posted.
Rota
As well as being webmaster, for more than two years, Sybille has also been responsible for compiling the rota of Welcomers, Chalicers, Intercessors & readers. She now wishes to pass this baton on to someone else! What is involved? Writing to everyone who participates on the rota, asking for their availability & then using that information to compile a new rota, usually once every two months. There is a simple template for doing this & I insert the readings & the Sunday titles. Then occasionally someone is unable to fulfil a duty due to illness or a change of circumstances so the rota coordinator has to find a substitute. Sybille has also taken to issuing a ‘rota reminder’ to those on duty each week.
If you are computer literate and would be willing to take this task on, please speak with me. I’d much prefer to have a volunteer rather than a pressed man or woman! Sybille is very happy to both to pass on her notes & expertise and help provide a smooth transition to her successor.
And finally….
Just as I was about to hit the send button, the new edition of the European Anglican magazine arrived at my door. It even has a photo of Jack Noonan in it :-) Pick up your free copy from the back of Church on Sunday.
Best wishes
Ricky
