Freiburg. The Anglican Church BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF GRACE. Minister: Rev. Christopher Parsons. Address: The extra-ordinary in the ordinary

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1 The Anglican Church BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF GRACE Freiburg August 2017 The extra-ordinary in the ordinary The Christian Church has many important dates in the calendar which help us to mark time appropriately. We can see the wide brush strokes of the seasons, just as we might also recognize Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. One of the largest seasons in the Church calendar is the season after Trinity which we are currently celebrating. For many of us it is a time where we find a slower pace, long warm days and short nights, and we may gain a C h a p l a i n s M e s s a g e new perspective as we worship in a holiday location. Another term used to describe the season we are in now is to call it Ordinary Time, but I believe there is nothing ordinary about it at all. Perhaps it is the long warm days that get one thinking about some of the mundane things in life, and God helps us to see the extra-ordinary in the ordinary. For many years I have looked at the Church of England website and seen the words, A Christian presence in every community. What I have recently realized is that these words seem ordinary, but that their purpose and calling are extra-ordinary. The Logo for the Church of England is now seen as one of the most easily identifiable church logos in the world, as well, the mission sentence is equally short and to the point. Over the next several months I will be looking at one of my own tasks which is to foster and promote our vision to become a community of grace. Currently God s grace is seen as the hinge for all our other activities, so we clearly value God s graciousness. My specific aim will be for us to articulate how we live out God s grace through our values. In other words, we are part of the 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 Message (continued) Services in August: 6 Aug 11:30 All-Age Worship 13 Aug 11:30 Holy Communion 20 Aug 11:30 Morning Worship 27 Aug 11:30 Holy Communion Activities in August: 3 Aug 19:30 Roots and Shoots followed by Compline 8 Aug 18:00 Men s Prayer Meeting 10 Aug 19:30 Women s Prayer Meeting 17 Aug 19:30 Roots and Shoots followed by Compline 22 Aug 18:00 Men s Prayer Meeting Groups. German/English Conversation Group is not meeting during the summer holidays. Women s Prayer Group meets the 2nd Thursday of the month at 19:30. Please contact Lauren Warnatz, warnatze@tonline.de Tuesday morning Women s Bible Study Group is taking a break over the summer. North Freiburg home group. Please contact Julia or Malcolm for details. ml.maclaren@web.de Young Adult Group. Meets first and third Fridays in the month, at 7:30. Please contact Debbie at debora.niermann@gmail.com. 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 not be meeting until November Singing Practice There will be no singing practice in August. Church of England and we make up a Christian presence in our community, but we will go further and look specifically at how do we do this. How do our extra-ordinary values become lived out in the ordinary? How do our commitments become lived out in such areas as Stewardship, Education, and Mission? I believe that when we are rooted in God s grace, and when we grow in the way of Jesus, we will be led by the Holy Spirit to be something much more than an English speaking church in Freiburg. Christopher Save the date! ACF concert in the Petrusgemeinde, starting at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, 21st October A band from the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) will come to Freiburg in September (16.9. till 18.9.). They will give a Benefit concert on the 16th and will play in all the services the following Sunday. Our church has to provide accommodation for three of them, the other ones are in PP or with the Baptists. The members of the band are all male. If you are able and willing to provide a bed, please contact Christopher or Almut. Taizé Prayers in and around Freiburg For those of you who miss a Taizé Service at our Church, here is a partial list: Mon., weekly Wed., 19:00 weekly 1st Wednesday rd Wed 20:00 4th Wed 19:00 3rd Thur 20:00, 1st Sun 19:30 St. Ursula Singen im Sommer FR-Unikirche, Bertoldstraße Evang.Studierenden Gem., ESG-Kapelle,FR-Wiehre, Turnseestr. 16 St.Barbara,FR-Littenweiler Auferstehungskirche, FR- Littenweiler Kapplerstr. 25, Johanneskirche, FR- Merzhausen St. Gallusstr. 10a Evang. Christuskirche, FR- Wiehre, Maienstr.2 Ecumenical, led by Dreisam3 Members and friends of ACF are warmly invited to join Old Catholics in open singing sessions which Helen Rose Wilson will be offering in St. Ursula on Thursday evenings in August. Unlike "singing practices", which are usually preparing for specific services, "Singen im Sommer" is simply an opportunity for people who like to sing to do so together

3 during summer. We usually take the Old Catholic hymn book as a basis, but other suggestions are welcome. We usually sing for one to one and a half hours, starting at 6 p.m. on 17th August, 6.45 p.m. on 24th August and 6.45 on 31st August. Helen Rose Wilson Freunde von der Straße - thank you and another perspective Thank you to everyone who contributed to making our guests, the "Freunde von der Straße", feel so welcome when we invited them to Sunday lunch and "Kaffee and Kuchen" in St Martin's parish hall. The warm meal and the fine array of home-baked cakes were clearly appreciated and we heard many words of thanks. With Christian Cremer from St. Ursula doing the overall coordination, this time I was able to help in the kitchen; it was impressive how quickly members of the Methodist, Old Catholic, Anglican (Samuel and I) and St. Martin's congregations formed the kitchen team, working hand in hand to rinse, wash, sort and clear away mountains of cutlery, plates, cups and saucers. And if, at the end of the day, when there may well be some Methodist tea spoons in the Old Catholic collection, and vice versa, then we could simply see this as a symbol of growing ecumenical familiarity with each other. Helen Rose Wilson. Old Catholic/Anglican joint service in St Ursula - at and below ground level Whereas a growing number of adults from both congregations have become "regulars" at joint services with the Old Catholic congregation, this time children and youth participated in several specific ways. Christopher delivered his children's message from a different set of steps (see photo), the Old Catholic children's and youth choir sang an upbeat "Kyrie" and "Wir sind Kinder dieser Welt", and the youth group was offered and the younger children had an experience comparable to early Christians in the catacombs by meeting in the crypt under the church. After the service, several adults also enjoyed the "catacomb experience" in addition to the more conventional forms of fellowship over "Kaffee und Kuchen". It is always very pleasant to meet up with those we have met before, and to meet up with new people, and this was possible over a cup of coffee and a bountiful table of snacks and homemade cakes. Again we picked up the threads of planning more get togethers of the two communities, and were very pleased to hear that now two such services a year are planned. Helen Rose Wilson and Margaret Bredow Farewell to Evie, Michael, and Solace We were sad to say farewell to three people who are moving on. Evie, who has been with us for many years, has decided she would like to be in a community where her mother tongue (German) is spoken. Michael Kiraithe, who was with us for six years doing his doctorate (which he has now successfully completed), has returned to his home country Kenya. I will miss him in the coffee team and his quiet sense of humor. And Solace (Soso) who was with us for nine years, received an offer to continue her work and study (Berufsbegleitendes Studium) in Frankfurt. She left to do that on the 15th of July, with her young son, Promise. The singing group will certainly miss her and the African Forum for all the work she put into the successful African Days held last year. The Community said goodbye over a glass of sekt or a cup of coffee, and wished them well. Who knows: maybe one or the other will visit us again one day. Margaret

4 Burglary before Breakfast The second women's breakfast in 2017 took place on 15th July with the participation of 17 women from 11 nationalities of our ACF congregation. We all were shocked when we came to prepare the tables to learn that burglars had entered the church on the night before causing damage and disturbing our souls. Our moderator Anke Rohleder started by thanking God for the way he operates: bringing peace in the middle of the storm. She presented her path to faith as she moved through different countries, dealing with different roles, and adapting to new environments. She passed on to us the core message that we can find God in the ordinary things converting them into extraordinary opportunities... The women enjoyed the bio breakfast and during the discussion contributed with different stories, sharing our unique paths to growing in faith... an orange flower (Celine)... a song (Helen Rose)... a Bible verse (Sonia, Modupe)... a new environment (Solace)... a ring converted into a cross (Margaret) and many more special moments and stories strengthened how wonderful our God is showing us his unconditional love and peace even in the middle of agony. At the end the group prayed specially for our friend Solace who will start a new chapter in her life in Frankfurt. We wish her and her family all the best and we know that we will visit her often particularly when we will travel internationally! Once again the event was a wonderful and enjoyable experience which gave us the opportunity to feel at home with our sisters from different continents. On behalf of the organizing committee, we immensely thank our inspiring speaker Anke and all women who participated in this special event. With new eyes finding God while doing even the domestic activities such as laundry... receive our blessings! Sonia together with Anke, Rafaela, Mirna and Margaret What is the Conversation Group? Christopher announces the meetings regularly, but what is it? We meet every Thursday at in the Confi Raum - except in the school holidays. We converse in both languages, German and English. Sometimes people come because they need to polish up their German learnt at school, before doing the Integration test. Others are doing an English course and want to practice. Others learnt English a while back and want to refresh. Whatever their reasons for coming, it s always fun! The native German speakers are able to help those wanting to learn German, and the English speakers those wanting to improve/ refresh their English. Themes are sometimes thought out but often spontaneous -- just chatting about things going on in the world -- and everybody can join in. Sometimes the topic is about religion, when Timm (the Pastor of the Centre) pops in. The group is the only one at the moment where two of the communities of the ICCC meet on a regular basis. You do not have to come every week, just pop in when you have time. We are now breaking for the Summer holidays and starting up again in September when school begins again!

5 Goodbye to a good friend not Farewell as he said. Our Area Dean Kenneth Dimmick, Vicar of Stuttgart, is retiring as a parish priest and moving to Texas to be closer to his family. The eleven years in Stuttgart were probably the longest period he stayed in one place. He started there with 16 people attending the service and ended up with an electoral role of more than one hundred, four assistant priests and a remarkable small choir. For us he was a wonderful friend during the interregnum, helping us with the papers, a seminar about fundraising, leading our AGM, and being always ready to answer questions even late in the evening. He loves travelling and history. So he has already planned for next year to cover for some vacancies in Europe. He leaves a project behind in Germany: the planting of new Anglican Churches in the Hannover- Bielefeld area when the British Army will have finally left in They need his enthusiasm, his strong faith and the encouragement and our prayers. Now he swaps the Neckar for the Colorado River, Pukki s Thai for a Mexican Restaurant, and St. Catherine s for St. Thomas. In his last sermon he said: If you meet somebody new, love him immediately, don't wait. Time is like a flowing river, if you wait, he might be gone. Good advice for a congregation looking for a new pastor. The famous last words were love binds us together. May God bless him on his journeys. Contact: Revd. Canon Christopher Parsons freiburganglican.pastor@gmail.com / / His day off is Monday. Please visit our website: All pictures taken are for our website only and not to be posted on Facebook or other social media. August 2017 Newsletter If you have any items for the September newsletter, would you please send them to Cindy by August 24th. Thanks. cindywyneken@gmx.de

6 ACF Barbecue Good food, good friends good fellowship After several cold and rainy days the sky cleared up and we were blessed with a glorious summer's day for this year's ACF barbecue! It was wonderful to spend the afternoon with so many old friends and to see lots of new faces. There was plenty of nice food to indulge in: a yummy cake buffet, lots of different salads, delicious sausages and juicy pulled-pork burgers. All the work that went into it was a true team effort and was rewarded with a wonderful feeling of fellowship. The organizing team really enjoyed working together and it was great to see how everything just seemed to fall into place. Our appeal for donations of cakes and salads was

7 heard and there was plenty for all who came. As one of the Wardens said the next day, there seemed to be "only helpers there" meaning everybody did what they could: helping setup and tidying up afterwards. One of the "new faces" remarked, "What a great community. We' ll certainly be back." and they were there on Sunday at the Service. So thank you everybody for making this a true Fellowship event, and making ACF better known in Freiburg.