Dear People & Friends of St. Clements,

Sunday 13th May at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist for the Sixth Sunday of Easter

This coming Sunday, our readings have two themes.One is the theme of love, picking up from last Sunday’s readings. The other is the gift of the Holy Spirit, anticipating what we will celebrate in two weeks time on Pentecost Sunday. As always, I encourage you to read through the readings in advance of attending worship. Therefore the references are Acts 10. 44-48, 1 John 5. 1-6 & John 15. 9-17.

There will be parallel Children’s Ministry and the service will be followed by Coffee Hour. Please note, the Prague Marathon takes place on Sunday which from past experience, is likely to disrupt public transport, especially trams & buses. Do check the DPP website and give yourself a little more time to get to Church.

Following Coffee Hour, I shall be heading for the main railway station to travel to Brno to conduct our regular monthly Evening Service there. Churchwarden Richard York is joining me in Brno for the service & I would value your continued prayers as we seek to establish a satellite congregation in the Czech Republic’s second city.

St. Clement’s Polo Shirts are here!

The sample polo shirts with the St. Clement’s logo on them will once more be available in Church on Sunday. Next week, an initial order for shirts will be placed so, if you want to be one of the first to have one, make sure you place your order this Sunday if you haven’t done so already.

Helping feed the homeless in Prague

Yesterday, I took delivery again of one of the two wheelie bins we had in Church earlier this year to help support the work of the Salvation Army with homeless people in Prague. The empty wheelie bin we have back is the one for collecting tinned food. Basically, any food item in a tin but NOT sauces, pasta, or other dried goods in packets or plastic bottles. In pictures & words on the outside of the bin, there is a clear indication of what is & isn’t required. Why not buy a few extra tins when you are next shopping at your local Billa, Albert or Tesco supermarket & bring them to Church on Sunday & put them in the wheelie bin.

As you can probably appreciate, there is no real need for warm clothing at this time of year. But after the summer months are over, we will have the warm clothing wheelie bin back in Church as well. So if you’ve had a wardrobe clear-out or are planning one, just hang on for a few months & watch this space!

Ascension Day – Thursday 17th May

This coming Thursday is Ascension Day, marking the end of the forty days in which the risen Jesus was seen alive by many witnesses. According to the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, after forty days, Jesus ascended back into heaven. We shall mark this significant day in the Christian Year with a Eucharist in Church starting at 7.00pm. Our regular Tuesday evening meetings will resume the following week on Tuesday 22nd May.

Advance notice – Pentecost Sunday 27th May

The third most important festival in the Christian Year, after Easter & Christmas, is the Feast of Pentecost, celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the first disciples as recorded in Acts 2. 1-21. Our preacher at our 11.00 Eucharist on Pentecost Sunday will be Rev’d Dr Karen Moritz.

I’ve had some preliminary discussions with Karen about a few things we might do to make the service on Pentecost Sunday both a little different and memorable. Here are two of them – there may be more in my next two Weekly Messages!

The liturgical colour for Pentecost is RED. Therefore, please come to Church that day wearing something RED!

When the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples, people heard them speak in a whole host of different languages. We would like to re-create that experience by having various members of the congregation speaking in another language other than English. It will either be reading a couple of verses of scripture or a brief joyful proclamation of the coming of the Holy Spirit. I reckon we should be able to have at least twenty different languages. Therefore, if you will be here on Sunday 27th May (which I hope you will be!), can speak another language other than English & would be willing to take part, please reply to this email, with a brief note of the language(s) you can speak.

Two other advance dates to note in your diaries

Sunday 24th June – a post worship Family Barbecue

Friday 26th – Sunday 28th October – Church weekend away

More details about both these events in the next few weeks but please put a note of the dates in your diaries/electronic planners now!

Looking forward to seeing many of you at worship this coming Sunday.

Best wishes

Ricky

Dear People & Friends of St. Clements,

Your newly elected Church Council meets for the first time this coming Sunday and I therefore hope to have much more to say in next week’s ‘Weekly’ about our plans for worship & other activities in the coming months, following our meeting. However, in the meantime, a reminder about our worship this coming Sunday….

Sunday 6th May at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist for the Fifth Sunday of Easter

This Sunday I shall be spoilt for choice as to what to preach about as there so much in each of our three readings. Acts 8. 26-40 tells of the obedience of the Apostle Philip to God’s call which resulted in the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch. 1 John 4. 7-21 is a wonderful passage all about God’s love. The Gospel reading is John 15. 1-8 where Jesus declares, “I am the true vine”. As I frequently suggest, why not read the passages yourself in advance of coming to worship.

There will be parallel Children’s Ministry and the service will be followed by Coffee Hour.

Midweek activities – 18.30-20.00 in the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18

When setting out our plan of Midweek activities, I completely forgot that next Tuesday 8th May, is a public holiday marking the liberation of the country at the end of the Second World War. Several regular attendees have told me they will not be here that evening so there will NOT be a meeting on Tuesday evening.

The following week, as previously advised, there will be no meeting on Tuesday 15th May because there will be an Ascension Day Eucharist on Thursday 17th May commencing at 19.00 in Church. Tuesday evening activities will therefore resume on Tuesday 22nd May when we will consider how Jesus is portrayed in the Gospel of John.

St. Clement’s Polo Shirts are here!

Thank you to everyone who placed an order for St. Clement’s Polo Shirts last week, based on the sample shirts that were in Church last Sunday. They will be on show again this Sunday, along with a form on which to place your advance orders. Thank you too, for the numerous positive comments about my photographic modelling skills

All proceeds from the sale of the shirts will go towards supporting the work of St. Clement’s. As well as members of the congregation, we hope that many visitors will also buy the shirts, helping to make St. Clement’s become more widely known as well as raising valuable funds

Several people have asked if they will be available in colours other than white. The answer is that other colours would be more expensive. However, if there is demand, we will certainly look at getting the shirts in other colours in the future.

Advance warning……

……that on Sunday 13th May (i.e. a week on Sunday), the Prague Marathon takes place. It usually disrupts public transport so do check about whether you need to come a slightly different way to Church that day. I’ll repeat the warning again next week! And also on Sunday 13th May, I will be shooting off straight after Coffee Hour as I will be headed for Brno for the next of our monthly Sunday evening services there.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at worship this coming Sunday.

Best wishes

Ricky

Dear People & Friends of St. Clements,

As all of you resident in Prague will already know, the weather is rapidly warming up. According to the online BBC weather forecast, the temperature this coming Sunday is likely to be 29 degrees Celsius meaning almost certainly that it will be warmer outside than inside St. Clement’s as does happen at this time of year. Therefore a reminder about our forthcoming worship…..

Sunday 29th April at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist for the Fourth Sunday of Easter

Our first reading on Sunday will be Acts 4. 5-12 which features Peter’s defence before the Jewish religious leaders following the healing of the lame beggar at the temple gate. It follows on from our previous reading from Acts last Sunday. The other to readings are the very familiar Psalm 23, ‘The Lord is my shepherd….’ and John 10. 11-18 where Jesus says, ‘I am the good shepherd…..who lays down his life for the sheep’. Why not read the passages yourself before joining us for worship?

The will be parallel Children’s Ministry and the service will be followed by Coffee Hour.

Midweek activities – 18.30-20.00 in the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18

Next week, our Midweek meeting moves from Tuesday to Thursday evening.

Thursday 3rd May – The Challenges & opportunities in the Anglican Church of Australia.

Our guest speaker will be Bishop Glenn Davies of North Sydney. Bishop Glenn is a good friend of Churchwarden Richard York’s father and he is currently in Europe whilst on long-service leave. This is a chance to learn about the Anglican Church in another part of the English-speaking world. It is also the opportunity for those who can never come to our regular Tuesday evenings because of clashing with an existing commitment!

An important message from our Church Treasurer

Gordon writes…..

“A big THANK YOU to our congregants and friends who have got their stuff from AMAZON via our portal! We have earned about 750Kc in the first quarter of this year, which means we`ll have enriched the Chaplaincy by 3,000Kc by the year end if we can keep it up”.

Remember, the link to click is here

St. Clement’s Polo Shirts are here!

After the false start last Sunday, I can now confirm that from this Sunday at the back of Church, there definitely will be four sample polo shirts featuring the St. Clement’s, Prague logo. The samples are of the four sizes, Small(S), Medium(M), Large(L) and Extra Large(XL). Polo Shirts will be available for sale in a few weeks time priced CZK 500 each & you can order yours now so that you can be some of the first people to have one as soon as they are delivered! With the sample shirts there will be a list to sign up on to place your advance orders.

If you can’t wait until Sunday, then here is photograph of a well-known Prague male model wearing one of the sample shirts

St. Clement's Polo Shirt © Sybille Yates

All proceeds from the sale of the shirts will go towards supporting the work of St. Clement’s. As well as members of the congregation, we hope that many visitors will also buy the shirts, helping to make St. Clement’s become more widely known as well as raising valuable funds.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at worship this coming Sunday.

Best wishes

Ricky

Dear People & Friends of St. Clements,

Sunday worship

The Easter Season is fifty days long, going all the way through to Pentecost Sunday which this year is Sunday 27th May. So this coming Sunday 22nd April, is the Third Sunday of Easter with our Gospel Reading being Luke 24. 36-48 which describes a further resurrection appearance of Jesus to his disciples. It also gives us another opportunity to sing a few more of the great Easter hymns which we haven’t yet given an outing to over the two previous Sundays! There will be parallel Children’s Ministry and the service will be followed by Coffee Hour.

Midweek activities – 18.30-20.00 in the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18

We made a false start earlier this week with our post-Easter Midweek activities. A combination of factors meant that several of our regular attendees couldn’t make last Tuesday evening. So the programme I set out in my Easter Week message sent out last Friday, has now been set back a week on Tuesday evenings although the two Thursday evening events remain unchanged. Therefore, ignore what wrote previously and instead take note of the following dates and programme.

Tuesday 24th April – Jesus according to the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke)

Thursday 3rd May – The Challenges & opportunities in the Anglican Church of Australia with Bishop Glenn Davies of North Sydney

Tuesday 8th May – Jesus according to John’s Gospel

Thursday 17th May – Ascension Day Eucharist in Church

Tuesday 22nd May – Jesus according to the preaching of the first Apostles as recorded in the Book of Acts

Tuesday 29th May – Jesus according to Paul in his Epistles

Tuesday 5th June – Jesus – trying to complete the picture

Each Tuesday evening will be complete in itself though obviously, the last session, now on 5th June, will endeavour to pull all the strings together from our exploration of the four previous Tuesdays. The move to Thursday on two occasions is because Bishop Glenn only arrives in Prague on Wednesday 2nd May & departs at the weekend and Ascension Day is forty days after Easter Day, so it has to be on a Thursday!

Three additional ways to help St. Clement’s financially

Giving either by regular standing order from your bank account, or via the dated envelope scheme, is by far the best way to support St. Clement’s and ensure we remain financially viable. If you want to know more about either of these methods of giving, please contact our Church Treasurer Gordon Truefit truegordon1(at)volny(dot)cz . However, here is a reminder of two alternative/additional ways of financially supporting St. Clements and details of a new third one.

PayPal – on the front page of our website www.anglican.cz , there is a PayPal button which is an easy way to donate, especially if you are no longer resident in the Czech Republic. It is also something you can recommend to family and friends as a way of supporting the Church that they’ve heard about via you!

Amazon.co.uk & Amazon.com – if you ever order anything from Amazon, please do so using this link . Clicking the link and then placing your order will cost nothing extra to you but will make a small financial contribution to St. Clement’s.

And now the new third way! From this Sunday at the back of Church, there will be a few sample polo shirts featuring a St. Clement’s, Prague logo. Polo Shirts will be available for sale in a few weeks time priced CZK 500 each & you can order yours now so that you can be some of the first people to have one as soon as they are delivered! Obviously we hope to sell them to our many visitors as a souvenir of their visit to Prague as they will be a vast improvement on the ones I frequently see with ‘Prague Drinking Team’ on them. Do look out for the samples this Sunday & start placing your orders.

That’s enough from me for this week!

Looking forward to seeing many of you at worship this coming Sunday.

Best wishes

Ricky

Dear People & Friends of St. Clements,

What a wonderful Easter Day celebration we had last Sunday morning! A congregation of 112 made it larger than any in 2011 & our biggest Easter Day congregation since 2009. Especial thanks to everyone who helped set up the Church ready for worship in the brief fifteen minutes we had as our Czech hosts finished much later than usual because of it being their Easter Day Communion Service – Tasci, Honza & Sybille on welcoming duty & Marshall preparing the altar.

After Coffee Hour, with thanks as always to Caroline, & to Maddie who assisted her, I set off for Praha hl.n and the 14.42 train to Brno. There was a congregation of twelve who gathered in the little Czechoslovak Hussite Church we are using for worship in Brno and whilst it was a contrast to Prague in the morning, the worship was just as meaningful.

Several people have said that would like to come with me when I take the monthly service in Brno. Since the beginning of 2012, only Jack Noonan has ever done so! The services are on the second Sunday evening of each month meaning the next ones will be on 13th May, 10th June and 8th July. I would love to see that promised support materialise as well as to build links between the two congregations. Let me know if you would like to join me on one or more of these forthcoming dates.

Sunday 15th April at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist for the Second Sunday of Easter

The Gospel Reading is the second half of John 20 – verses 19-31 which follows on directly from our Gospel Reading on Easter Day. It is the well-known story of ‘Doubting Thomas’ and includes those words of reassurance that ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’. There will be parallel Children’s Ministry and hopefully Coffee Hour following the service. I say ‘hopefully’ because I am still looking for a volunteer(s) to organise it! Caroline is away in the UK & so far, despite several requests, I still haven’t found a willing volunteer. If you would be willing – please get in touch with me ASAP.

Tuesday Evenings – 18.30-20.00 in the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18

Our regular meetings for study, discussion and fellowship resume next Tuesday evening. At the suggestion of Gordon Truefit, we are going to look at the person of Jesus from different perspectives, in order to understand better, the person who is at the very centre of our faith. The five Tuesday evenings will be interrupted by two Thursday evenings as set out below.

Tuesday 17th April – Jesus according to the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke)

Tuesday 24th April – Jesus according to John’s Gospel

Thursday 3rd May – The Challenges & opportunities in the Anglican Church of Australia with Bishop Glenn Davies of North Sydney

Tuesday 8th May – Jesus according to the preaching of the first Apostles as recorded in the Book of Acts

Thursday 17th May – Ascension Day Eucharist in Church

Tuesday 22nd May – Jesus according to Paul in his Epistles

Tuesday 29th May – Jesus – trying to complete the picture

Each Tuesday evening will be complete in itself though obviously, the last session on 29th May will endeavour to pull all the strings together from our exploration of the four previous Tuesdays. The move to Thursday on two occasions is because Bishop Glenn only arrives in Prague on Wednesday 2nd May & departs at the weekend and Ascension Day is fifty days after Easter Day, so it has to be on a Thursday!

Finally for this week…..

Our Church Treasure Gordon Truefit has asked me to……

……… put a vicious plea in this week`s weekly; for those who sponsored, or wish to support, MORPUSS` MAGNIFICENT HALF-MARATHON; to bring their money to Church this coming Sunday.

There Gordon – I’ve done it!

Looking forward to seeing many of you at worship this coming Sunday.

Best wishes

Ricky

Dear People & Friends of St. Clements,

Yes – Sybille & I are safely back from our long weekend in the UK. If you want to know more about what we were up to, click on this link

My thanks to Karen Moritz and David Hellam for leading our Palm Sunday worship in my absence and to the Hellam family, particularly Beatrice & Isobel, for looking after Oscar the cat.

Congratulations to Peter Morpuss who completed the Prague half-marathon last Saturday in a time of 1 hour 53 minutes & 33 seconds. Thank you to everyone who sponsored Peter in aid of St. Clements. Peter or Gordon our Church Treasurer, will be happy to receive your sponsorship money during the next couple of weeks.

Services for Holy Week

Tonight at 19.00 – Maundy Thursday Eucharist commemorating our Lord’s Last Supper

Please join us this evening for what is always a very moving service as we hear how Jesus washed his disciples feet and instituted what we know as Holy Communion or the Eucharist. At the end of the service, the altar will be stripped and we will hear how Jesus went out into the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed to his Father, “If it is possible, take this cup of suffering from me”. Yet as we know, Christ was obedient unto death……

Tomorrow at 19.30 – Good Friday Devotional Service

A service of readings and prayers that will focus on the Cross. As part of the service, following the reading of the first part of Psalm 22, Jack Noonan will give a reflection on ‘Being in the Wilderness’, picking up again on part of his sermon earlier in Lent which had such a great impact upon a number of people.

Please note the different starting times of these two services. This is due to our host congregation not having a service on Maundy Thursday but having their own service on Good Friday prior to ours.

Easter Day at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist to celebrate the Resurrection

Please join us to celebrate with Easter joy, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from death. There will be a chance to share fellowship with our many visitors at Coffee Hour following the service.

Easter Day at 18.00 – Holy Communion with hymns.

Czechoslovak Hussite Church, Nové sady 32a, Brno.

A Special Holy Week plea

I know I say this every year, but I will say it once again. Please do try to come to one or both of the services on either Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. It makes the joy of Easter Day so much more meaningful if you have first tried to enter into an understanding of Jesus’ betrayal and his death on the Cross.

Looking forward to seeing many of you at worship over this Easter weekend

Best wishes

Ricky

Dear People & Friends of St. Clements,

My Weekly Message begins this week with a very important reminder – the clocks go FORWARD by one hour at 02.00 on Sunday morning. Don’t arrive at the end of the service this Sunday but at the beginning!

And if you travel to Church by tram & have had your normal journey disrupted since the middle of February, by the work on the tramlines between Strossmayerovo náměstí and Nábřeží Kapitaná Jaroše, apparently that work has been completed one week early & things should be back to normal tomorrow morning, Saturday 24th March. Therefore, check your journey carefully for getting to Church on Sunday. If you don’t already know it, the dpp website is your friend.

Sunday 25th March at 11.00 – Sung Eucharist for Passion Sunday

We are only two weeks away from Easter Day so as my diary reminds me, on this coming Sunday, Passiontide begins! There will be parallel Children’s Ministry but NO Coffee Hour as the service will be immediately followed by our Annual Church Meeting.

At the Annual Church Meeting, elections will take place for two Churchwardens, one Archdeaconry Synod representative & up to nine ordinary members of the Church Council. The Churchwardens & the Archdeaconry Synod reps are ex officio members of the Church Council. There is now a form on the noticeboard at the back of Church for written nominations for these positions. Each candidate needs a proposer & seconder & the written consent of the proposed candidate. The candidate & their proposer & seconder must all be members of the Church Electoral Roll. This MUST be done before the Annual Church Meeting begins which realistically means before our worship begins at 11.00 on Sunday morning.

I’ve been asked by a couple of people what membership of the Church Council involves. So here is a simple explanation. The words in italics are a direct quote from the relevant Church legislation.

It is the duty of the Church Council to work in co-operation with the Chaplain in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The parish in our case, is the whole of the Czech Republic! Usually there are eight or nine meetings a year which normally last about two hours, depending on how much there is to cover & how much people talk! This past year, we have either met after Coffee Hour on a Sunday or on a Monday evening. It will be up to the newly elected Church Council to decide about meeting dates following the Annual Church Meeting.

Then in the following week……

Tuesday 27th March, 18.30 – 20.00 in the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18

The last in our series looking at Common objections to the Christian Faith. The topic will be ‘Hasn’t science disproved Christianity?‘

Thursday 29th March, 19.00-20.30 at Chez Hellam, Namesti Interbrigady 949/3, Prague 6.

The last in our series on Stewardship led by David Hellam. The topic will be ‘Our minds‘.

As this meeting begins with a shared meal, please let David know if you are planning to come david(at)hellam(dot)net .

Please note that………

On the evening of Thursday 29th March, Sybille & I will be flying to the UK, returning late in the evening of Monday 2nd April. Your Church Council very kindly encouraged me to take this pre-Easter break rather than my normal post-Easter break, in order that can both attend an important family celebration. My eldest sister June, who is nearly nine years my senior, got married to my brother-in-law Garry, when she was only 18 years old, on Saturday 31st March 1962. Therefore on Saturday 31st March 2012, they celebrate their Golden Wedding Anniversary and not surprisingly, are having a party to mark this significant landmark. The event will be in Bournemouth on the south coast of England where they have lived for the past 20 years. Therefore……..

Palm Sunday – 1st April at 11.00 – Service of the Word

This non-Eucharistic service will be led by Rev’d Dr Karen Moritz and the preacher will be David Hellam. I understand that the children will be involved in David’s talk & have been preparing certain things during Children’s Ministry these past few Sundays. Palm crosses will be distributed and the service will be followed by Coffee Hour.

Holy Week & Easter

There will be services on Maundy Thursday 5th April starting at 19.00 and on Good Friday 6th April starting at 19.30. Then on Easter Day 8th April starting at 11.00, we will celebrate Jesus risen from the tomb in our Easter Day Sung Eucharist. More details in next week’s message which will go out before I leave Prague for the UK next Thursday.

Looking forward to seeing many of you this Sunday both at worship and for the Annual Church Meeting!

Best wishes

Ricky

Dear People & Friends of St. Clements,

This Sunday…..

…..is the Fourth Sunday in Lent, is also known as Refreshment Sunday or to many British families as ‘Mothering Sunday‘. The title ‘Refreshment Sunday’ came about because it is the mid point of the Lenten Season when you were allowed a little ‘refreshment’ and a break from your Lenten discipline.

Following our Sung Eucharist at 11.00 with parallel Children’s Ministry, we will be celebrating Refreshment Sunday by having a Shared Lunch together in Klimentská 18, in the hall on the third floor where we normally have Coffee Hour.

The theme is Rich World – Poor World

For the Rich World theme, bring the type of buffet finger food you associate with luxury:

Chicken wings and drumsticks in spicy coatings

Fancy canapés

Vol-au-vents

Smoked salmon open sandwiches

For the Poor World theme, bring a plate of low cost, high carbohydrate comfort food:

A bowl of bread rolls

Squares of macaroni and cheese

Potato pancakes

A bowl of lentil dhal and some strips of flat bread

Mothers’ Day is likely to be a Sunday when British families who don’t normally come to church will visit us – so please bring a plate or two of food – sufficient to serve several people if you can.

Next Sunday……

……..Sunday 25th March, our Annual Church Meeting will take place in Church, immediately following our 11.00 Sung Eucharist that morning.

At the Annual Church Meeting, elections will take place for two Churchwardens, one Archdeaconry Synod representative & up to nine ordinary members of the Church Council. The Churchwardens & the Archdeaconry Synod reps are ex officio members of the Church Council. There is now a form on the noticeboard at the back of Church for written nominations for these positions. Each candidate needs a proposer & seconder & the written consent of the proposed candidate. The candidate & their proposer & seconder must all be members of the Church Electoral Roll.

I’ve been asked by a couple of people what membership of the Church Council involves. So here is a simple explanation. The words in italics are a direct quote from the relevant Church legislation.

It is the duty of the Church Council to work in co-operation with the Chaplain in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The parish in our case, is the whole of the Czech Republic! Usually there are eight or nine meetings a year which normally last about two hours, depending on how much there is to cover & how much people talk! This past year, we have either met after Coffee Hour on a Sunday or on a Monday evening. It will be up to the newly elected Church Council to decide about meeting dates following the Annual Church Meeting.

Please note that during the night of 24th-25th March, the clocks go FORWARD by one hour. Please make sure you arrive in time for worship that day & not just before the end of the service!

The week in between….

Tuesday 20th March, 18.30 – 20.00 in the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18

The fourth in our series looking at Common objections to the Christian Faith. The topic will be ‘What about other religions?’ or ‘Is Jesus the only way to God?’

Thursday 22nd March, 19.00-20.30 at Chez Hellam, Namesti Interbrigady 949/3, Prague 6.

The fourth in our series on Stewardship led by David Hellam. The topic will be ‘Time‘.

If you want to know more about either of these evenings, then be in Church this Sunday morning as both David & I will say a little more about them during the notices. Or alternatively email me chaplain(at)anglican(dot)cz about Tuesdays or David david(at)hellam(dot)net about Thursdays.

Looking forward to seeing many of you this Sunday both at worship and for lunch.

Best wishes

Ricky

Dear People & Friends of St. Clements,

Your Church Council met last Monday evening. One very important decision they made was to change the date of our forthcoming Annual Church Meeting in order to allow additional time for the compilation and auditing of our 2011 accounts. Therefore, the…….

Annual Church Meeting will now be one week later than previously advertised and will be held on Sunday 25th March.

At the Annual Church Meeting, elections will take place for two Churchwardens, one Archdeaconry Synod representative & up to nine ordinary members of the Church Council. The Churchwardens & the Archdeaconry Synod reps are ex officio members of the Church Council. There is now a form on the noticeboard at the back of Church for written nominations for these positions. Each candidate needs a proposer & seconder & the written consent of the proposed candidate. The candidate & their proposer & seconder must all be members of the Church Electoral Roll.

As I wrote last week, please give serious thought as to who would be suitable candidates for these positions or whether you yourself would be willing to serve. I will be doing a little bit of leaning on a few people in the coming couple of weeks but I would much prefer to have volunteers rather than pressed men or women! In particular, the existing Church Council is all male, therefore a few female faces would be most welcome.

An updated Programme for Lent can be found here, incorporating this change of date of the ACM & one or two other minor changes that flow from it. This replaces the one posted earlier. Please do adjust your diaries accordingly.

And then a brief reminder of our worship & activities for the coming week.

Sunday 11th March at 11.00 – Family Eucharist for the Third Sunday of Lent

On this coming Sunday, I shall be particularly focussing on the Old Testament Reading which is Exodus 20. 1-17. The passage is one of two places where what we know as ‘The Ten Commandments’ appear in Scripture. We’ve already heard them on the first two Sundays in Lent as part of our prayers of penitence. On Sunday, I want us to think more deeply about them both as adults & children. Following our worship, there will be Coffee Hour in the hall on the third floor of Klimentská 18. My thanks to Darina Vystrčilová who is organising Coffee Hour on Sunday whilst Caroline Studdert is away attending her nephew’s wedding.

Study & Discussion

A reminder that, as I’ve previously written, during Lent, there will be two Lent Study Courses running, one on Tuesday Evenings & the other on Thursday evenings. Dates & titles are on the attachment to this message.

Tuesdays 18.30- 20.00 in the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18

A look at five Common objections to the Christian Faith. The aim is both to address issues that are a challenge to even some of the most faithful Christians as well as to hopefully give some guidelines as to how to respond to people when they raise these objections with us. This coming Tuesday, I shall try to address the question, ‘Isn’t the Bible unreliable & inaccurate?’

Thursdays 19.00 -20.30 at Chez Hellam, Namesti Interbrigady 949/3, Prague 6.

Under the theme of Stewardship, David Hellam is going lead five sessions thinking about how we might be good or better stewards of all that God has given to us. As with previous courses at the Hellam residence, there will be a simple shared meal followed by a talk & discussion. This coming Thursday, David’s topic is ‘Our Talents/Gifts’

If you want to know more about either of these courses, then be in Church this Sunday morning as both David & I will say a little more about them during the notices. Or alternatively email me chaplain(at)anglican(dot)cz about Tuesdays or David david(at)hellam(dot)net about Thursdays.

Finally for this week…….

A new edition of ‘The European Anglican‘ arrived at the Chaplaincy Flat earlier this week. Free copies will be available at the back of Church from this coming Sunday.

With Lenten best wishes

Ricky

Dear People & Friends of St. Clements,

Having gone through the whole of this past winter without getting ill in any shape or form, just as the temperature begins to rise and the first very early signs of Spring begin to appear, I’ve gone down with a cold & sore throat! So I’m going to try & keep this Weekly Message short & sweet.

A big thank you…….

……to everyone who contributed clothing & food to the two Salvation Army Wheelie bins which have been at the back of St. Clement’s Church since the beginning of this year. Earlier this week, I met with Pavel & two other colleagues from the Salvation Army at Church. They brought a van & took both wheelie bins away so all that we have collected can now be used to clothe and feed the many homeless people who attend their centres in Prague. FYI, the clothing bin was almost completely full & the food bin was more than half full & extremely heavy!

A reminder……

……..that our Annual Church Meeting is scheduled to take place immediately following worship on Sunday 18th March. The Church Electoral Roll is now closed until after the ACM & an up-to-date copy is pinned on the noticeboard at the back of the Church. Please let me know ASAP if by any chance you think your name has been omitted in error.

At our forthcoming Annual Church Meeting, elections will take place for two Churchwardens, one Archdeaconry Synod representative & up to nine ordinary members of the Church Council. The Churchwardens & the Archdeaconry Synod reps are ex officio members of the Church Council. From this coming Sunday, there will be a form on the noticeboard at the back of Church for written nominations for these positions. Each candidate needs a proposer & seconder & the written consent of the proposed candidate. The candidate & their proposer & seconder must all be members of the Church Electoral Roll.

Please give serious thought as to who would be suitable candidates for these positions or whether you yourself would be willing to serve. I will be doing a little bit of leaning on a few people in the coming couple of weeks but I would much prefer to have volunteers rather than pressed men or women! In particular, the existing Church Council is all male, therefore a few female faces would be most welcome.

Worship this Sunday at 11.00…..

…….will be Sung Eucharist using our appropriately penitential Lenten liturgy and the preacher will be trainee Lay Reader Jack Noonan. There will be parallel Children’s Ministry and the service will be followed by Coffee Hour.

Study & Discussion

A reminder that, as I wrote last week, during Lent, there will be two Lent Study Courses running, one on Tuesday Evenings & the other on Thursday evenings. Dates & titles can be found here

Tuesdays 18.30- 20.00 in the small meeting room on the first floor of Klimentská 18

A look at five Common objections to the Christian Faith. The aim is both to address issues that are a challenge to even some of the most faithful Christians as well as to hopefully give some guidelines as to how to respond to people when they raise these objections with us.

Thursdays 19.00 -20.30 at Chez Hellam, Namesti Interbrigady 949/3, Prague 6.

Under the theme of Stewardship, David Hellam is going lead five sessions thinking about how we might be good or better stewards of all that God has given to us. As with previous courses at the Hellam residence, there will be a simple shared meal followed by a talk & discussion.

If you want to know more about either of these courses, then be in Church this Sunday morning as both David & I will say a little more about them during the notices. Or alternatively email me chaplain(at)anglican(dot)cz about Tuesdays or David david(at)hellam(dot)net about Thursdays. This coming Tuesday’s session, looking at the question, ‘How can three persons be one God?’, will be led by Alasdair Duncan as I will be at a Consular Services event at the British Embassy which unfortunately clashes.

Wishing you God’s blessing in the keeping of this Lenten season

Ricky