The Anglican Church Freiburg

Transcription

1 The Anglican Church Freiburg Building a Community of Grace September 2018 C h a p l a i n s M e s s a g e Everyday Faith The church is full of symbols and actions filled with meaning, even the cross (+) is a symbol of the Christian faith. Now we might see many more # symbols flying around in social media and elsewhere. The symbol # has a number of meanings these days, but in a technical sense it is called an octothorp which is really only useful to know if you want to impress people with rare and bizarre word knowledge. Some of us refer to it as a number sign and some will call it hashtag depending on how and where we use the symbol. Lately on social media such as Twitter there are a couple of things that are highlighted due to the # hashtag. From the 1st of September to the 4th of October the church marks the season of Creationtide. Creationtide helps us to recognize God in and through the environment, as well as calling us to participate in the care of creation. There is also for us in ACF this September the beginning of a new school year, and so on 9 September we will have the Blessing of the Backpacks in our worship. The final area that is highlighted for us this time of year, is the Church of England campaign #EverydayFaith which you can view on ( While we highlight various subjects or areas of care and concern from month to month, it is often the case that these items can be prayed for any day of the year. While it is particularity timely to pray for students and teachers this autumn with the return of school classes, we can, in the midst of daily life, pray for all sorts of people, issues, and concerns, be they local or global. I encourage you to set aside time to experience Everyday Fatih and ask where is God when you travel to and from school, or play with friends on the school grounds? Ask yourself, what important act can I perform that incorporates my Christian faith and the concerns Christopher Minister: Rev. Christopher Parsons Address: Lorettostraße Freiburg The Anglican Church in Freiburg (ACF) receives no funding from the Diocese of Europe, nor German Kirchensteuer. We rely solely on contributions from members and friends of the ACF. Bank Details: Anglican Church in Freiburg: Sparkasse Freiburg IBAN: DE BIC: FRSPDE66XXX (Konto Nr.: BLZ: )

2 Services in September: 2 Sep 11:30 All Age Worship 9 Sep 11:30 Celtic Worship and Blessing of the Backpacks 16 Sep 11:00 Joint Service 23 Sep 11:30 Holy Communion 30 Sep 11:30 Morning Worship Activities in September: 4 Sep 18:00 Men s Prayer Meeting 6 Sep 19:30 Women s Prayer Group 13 Sep 19:30 Roots & Shoots Bible study followed by Compline 13 Sep 14:00 Oasis Café Oasen Café 18 Sep 18:00 Men s Prayer Meeting 20 Sep 17:30 Conversation Group 20 Sep 19:00 Freiburg Center Home Group 22 Sep Women s Breakfast 27 Sep 19:30 Roots & Shoots Bible study followed by Compline 27 Sep 14:00 Oasis Café Oasen Café 27 Sep 17:30 Conversation Group Any changes in this schedule will be announced from the pulpit Groups. German/English Conversation Group meets every Thursday at 17:30. Contact Rafaela Furtado rfurtado_01@yahoo.com Women s Prayer Group The women's prayer group meets once a month. Please contact Lauren Warnatz, warnatze@t-online.de Tuesday morning Women s Bible Study Group will not be meeting during the summer. North Freiburg home group. Please contact Julia or Malcolm for details. ml.maclaren@web.de Men s Prayer Group meets every other Tuesday evening on the even-numbered (geraden) weeks. Please contact Josef Brockmeier: fjbrockmeier@googl .com or 07661/7417 The Wise Ones Group will have no meeting in September. The next meeting is October 25. Freiburg Centre home group. Please contact Iris for details: iris-v@web.de Pilgrim Course home group. meet for Bible study, prayer and fellowship. Contact Céline and Martyn martynrittman@gmail.com Singing Practice Celtic Worship and a special Blessing of the Backpacks Our next scheduled Celtic service with our on-going reflection about Inspiring Worship will take place on the 9th of September. This is due to the timing of holiday for Christopher. Look forward to our Celtic worship on 9. September where we will look at John Also, those who will be returning to school (be they students or teachers) are invited to bring their backpacks for the Blessing of the Backpacks! Christopher See article on page 5 The next Women's Breakfast is on Saturday 22nd September. Wise Ones, October 25 Oasen café SAVE THE DATE The oasis café is an open café, a meeting point for people from all three ICCC communities: Petrus-Paulus- Gemeinde, African Baptists and the Anglicans. Please contact: Viviane Schradi vivianeschradi@gmx.de Singing group practices will be in preparation for the joint service on 16 September: Possibly Monday, 3 Sep, 17:30 Sunday 9 Sep at 13:15 Optionally Monday, 10 Sep at 17:30 Sunday 23 Sep at 13:15

3 Fundraising ACF Art Calendar We would like to print an art calendar with different kinds of art work created by members, friends and children of the Anglican Church in Freiburg. There is definitely a great deal of talent out there and we would love to see your paintings, sketches, photos of your artistic creations, etc. There is no theme or subject so you can choose whatever you want. If your work has been inspired by your faith, you might like to include a bible or hymn verse. The idea is to have a printed calendar ready to give to friends and family as a Christmas gift. The calendar will also be available to sell to the wider public. So let those creative juices flow! Here s what to do: You don t have to give us the original artwork, just send a picture of what you have created to judith.moratscheck@gmx.de or give it to one of the fundraising team. Please ensure your name is legible so we can identify the artist. Deadline is October 14th 2018 From all the works we receive we will make a selection for the calendar We will then contact the people whose artwork has been selected to give us their original work of art The calendar will then be printed and be ready for sale and the originals returned to their owners Your fundraising team Judith Moratscheck Christine Ghinn Margaret Bredow Sonia Diaz Wise Ones On Thursday, Aug. 23rd, nine Wise Ones met in the church for our monthly coffee and cake, friends and fellowship. We celebrated Bev s birthday and then heard a talk about older citizens in Russia. We learned, for instance, that in some parts of Russia, women can retire at 52! However, pensions are generally around only the equivalent of 180 a month! Volunteering is not common, but taking care of grandchildren is taken for granted. Lots of lively discussion ensured! Our next monthly coffee will be on October 25th in the church at 3 pm. Linda Chidera's baptism With great joy and lovely music, we welcomed Chidera Estelle Ekene Funda to our community in her baptismal service on 26th August. Reverend Hilary Jones from Basel spoke on the topic of discipleship in her message before administering the sacraments of baptism for Chidera and Holy Communion for the assembled congregation. Chidera's mother Friederike, her uncle Martin and grandfather Egbert all enrichened the service with inspiring music. Baptismal Verse /Taufspruch Psalm 139, 9-10

4 Dear ACF family and friends, It is with sadness that we must inform you that Alan and I will be leaving Freiburg this month. Alan has accepted a job transfer to the Bay Area near San Francisco, California, beginning October 1st. We have lived in the Freiburg area for 7 years, finally beating our record of 6 years in Belgium back in the early nineties. We have made wonderful friends and enjoyed wonderful fellowship at ACF, thank you. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad per inceptos Our parents have always received a very warm welcome, too, when they have visited. They always speak fondly of the ACF family. We would particularly like to thank everyone who has supported and who continues to support our son Alastair and his wife Andi, both financially and prayerfully. Your support has been very much appreciated indeed. Our daughter, Laura, will continue with her post-graduate studies at Freiburg University so hopefully we will see you again in the future when we visit. With all best wishes, Karen and Alan Creationtide The Season of Creation is with us, starting on 1st September with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, established by Pope Francis in 2015 following the example of the Orthodox Church, and ending on the 4th October. The Season of Creation is to celebrate God's Gift to us and endeavor to find ways to protect and support the Environment. Elizabeth Bussman, European Environmental Officer, represented the European Diocese at Assisi at the opening and asks us to pray for those taking part in the first Ecumenical Prayer for Creation Walking to COP 24. They started in Assissi and will walk to Gubbio in Poland. The walk ends in Katowice, the site of the UNO Climate Conference in December. She asks us also to pray that there will be a real upholding of the Paris Agreement and a sincere undertaking to implement that agreement. Bishop Tutu, then Archbishop of Cape Town, said in 2008 that climate change is real and is happening now to large parts of Sub -Saharan Africa. It is reality. The poor, the vulnerable, and the hungry are exposed to it every day of their lives. Melting of the snow on the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro is a warning of changes in Africa. People are feeling the change in the weather. Too much rain or drought means more hunger and misery for those living on the margins of global society. It also destroys schools, economies, and opportunities that have been built up over the last decades. We see pictures everyday of these people trying to get to Europe, hoping for a better life. We need to explore our faith from a Creative perspective, and then we will be inspired to cherish and protect our world, God's gift to us. Psalm 24 vs 1 says the Earth is the Lord's and all that is in it. My hope is that as we celebrate his gift, we will as a community try to find ways to protect and support it. Margaret as LEO (Local Environment Officer) Conversation Group Creation Time As the Group is not meeting during the Summer holidays we were given homework: to see how much plastic can be avoided in our daily life, and what proves to be frustrating! It is not easy, as just about everything is indeed packed in it. One thing I have got good at, is that when I order my Latte in a coffee shop, I add (mostly) but "please no straw." I discovered at "Unverpackt" tablets that can be used instead of toothpaste in a tube (takes a bit of getting used to). One can fill up one s own bottle with shampoo, and I am now using organic soap packed in a box instead of shower gel, and coconut oil in glass makes a good Body lotion. I also discovered some cleaning agents although in a plastic bottle, the bottles are made of recycled plastic. And to my local "Bio laden" I can take my glass jar to be filled with Olives etc, the cheese is not pre-packed in plastic and the paper that it is sold in, can go into the yellow bag. And they put my bread into my cotton bag. This week I won't put out my yellow bag, as there is practically nothing in it! The journey continues and I am looking forward to hearing what others have discovered. Our next meeting will be on Thursday, 13th September at Margaret

5 Joint Service of the ICCC Communities 16. September 2018, 11:00 Note: 30 minutes earlier than our usual meeting time. Protestant Petrus-Paulus-Community, Royal Family Baptist Church, Eritrean Community, and Anglican Church Freiburg We will have a joint service in English, German and Eritrean where we will sing and pray together and listen to God's word. The sermon will be held by Pastor Tim van de Griend. This is a great opportunity to get to know the people from the other communities in the ICCC in a day of joint celebration and fellowship. You are warmly invited! This will be Tim s last service at the ICC as he is taking up a new position. At this point we would also like to say thank you to Tim for his work with and for our communities! Certainly it was not an easy task for you to juggle three jobs as well as becoming a father. Not only the distances you had to cover were challenging. Thank you for your cultural and spiritual impulses. We are glad that you found a position that hopefully will make it easier for you to combine family and work. All the best for you and your family! Judith and Iris Dear friends and family! My Life in Kiev has been pretty busy! In June we had our first Summer Camp of the season with Key of Hope and then right afterwards, I staffed a leadership course. It was a very intense month but oh so worth it! I got to grow more in my teaching skills and also experience how camps work here in eastern Europe. Slowly but surely our summer is coming to an end and at the moment I am looking for a new apartment. The one I currently live in is being sold and has some building issues. Needing to find a new apartment has been a little difficult as the price to rent an apartment has increased a lot! I am in need of another 500$ this month so that I can pay the rent+ deposit for September. This summer has been very full and fun but it also has been challenging at times, trying to balance work and health in a good way. Since being diagnosed with Epilepsy, I have had to get adjusted to a new lifestyle and saying "no" was something that I had to learn to do. Living with an illness has taught me many things -- one of the biggest being that I have to be honest to myself and others around me. I am very grateful that despite the setback I have had with my illness, I am still able to live in Kiev and do the things that God has called me to do and which I love doing! Camp! This was my first camp ever done in Eastern Europe and it has been a very new experience for me! You might know that I have been staffing and even leading camps in Germany for quite a while now so it was hard for me to get adjusted to a different culture where camp is run different then I am used to. But I did enjoy spending time with all of the kids! We had 24 kids from different orphanages come to our Base and a church from the US came to organise this camp with us. To see all of the kids smiles (and even tears) after this short week with them made all of the difficult times that might have appeared so worth it! Teaching Last year I had completed a 10 day leadership course called B2B which has helped me immensely in my personal life and this year I got to staff this course! It was a great time with the staff and participants and I got to teach about your personal leadership journey which was the first time that I had done "real" teaching. It was a great experience and I am excited for the many years to come, working with B2B! :) THANK YOU for all the Birthday wishes I have been receiving from all of you!!! I fell very blessed by all of the encouragement and best wishes that I have received on that day! Excited to see what 24 has in store for me! Esther If you want more information about Esther s future plans, and how you can help, write to Daphne at gdepaed@aol.com.

6 Dear friends and family, August is a much anticipated month here at YWAM Orlando, because it marks the time for our annual staff training and retreat. Each year, YWAM Orlando's leadership team takes one week out of our schedule and sets it aside to invest into our staff community. This week is broken up into two parts: staff training and staff retreat. This year, for the training portion of the week, we had the privilege of being taught by Cole and Caitlyn Zick, who are the directors of Moral Revolution. Moral Revolution is a ministry based out of Bethel Church in California which seeks to equip Christians to lead morally pure lives. By highlighting the standards outlined in the Bible, they helped us to understand how popular culture often stands in opposition to God's word. Throughout the 2 days of teaching, they taught on topics including relationships, parenting, trauma and healing. These 2 days of teaching were not only of huge value to our personal lives, but will also help us to lead others into a greater measure of freedom and wholeness. This year our staff retreat was hosted by a Christian retreat center in Panama City, Florida. The retreat is a special time for us each year because it allows YWAM Orlando's 130 staff members to spend time together in a casual and fun setting, without the responsibility and formality of our ministry roles. One of the core values of the ministry at YWAM Orlando is to have a family-like culture, and staff retreat is one of the most effective means of creating this environment in our community. For 4 days we hung out on the beach, played board games, and ate meals together. It was a truly fun and unique time, which brought our YWAM Orlando's 2018 Staff community into a powerful togetherness. One of the many fruits of intentionally creating this family-like culture in our community, is that when we train students on our campus, we model an environment in which our students feel valued and safe to grow. Andrea and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported our ministry here, through prayer or by giving. We are incredibly grateful for your support, our ministry here would not be possible without you! Contact: With love and blessings, Alastair and Andrea Revd. Canon Christopher Parsons freiburganglican.pastor@gmail.com / / His day off is Monday. Please visit our website: All pictures taken are for the ACF website only and not to be posted on Facebook or other social media. October 2018 Newsletter If you have any items for the October newsletter, would you please send them to Cindy by September 25. Thanks. cindywyneken@gmx.de