The post Jaap’s latest sermon online – on the resurrection of Tabitha appeared first on Anglican Church Haarlem.

This issue of LifeLine contains a short questionnaire about the most convenient time to have your church service!
Please let us know.
Any questions? Just ask.

The post LifeLine 137 (May 2013) online appeared first on Anglican Church Haarlem.

The post LifeLine 136 (March 2013) online appeared first on Anglican Church Haarlem.

The post LifeLine 135 on-line appeared first on Anglican Church Haarlem.

The post LifeLine 134 Nov 2012 on-line appeared first on Anglican Church Haarlem.

Click to open or
right click to download

The post LifeLine 133 Sept 2012 on-line appeared first on Anglican Church Haarlem.

http://www.anglican-church-haarlem.nl/calender/choral-evensong-6/

All welcome!

The post Choral Evensong in Haarlem appeared first on Anglican Church Haarlem.

The post LifeLine 132 July 2012 on-line appeared first on Anglican Church Haarlem.

The post Anglican Church Haarlem on Facebook appeared first on Anglican Church Haarlem.

I was privileged to be among the 50 Readers and readers in training, from Trondheim to Athens, who descended on the Kardinal Schulte Haus in Cologne from 15 to 18 June for a three day conference. The theme of the event, the first ever diocese-wide conference for lay ministers, was “Bearing the Word”.

Although we have had two diocesan clergy conferences since 2005, there has never been a similar event for lay ministers. However, to quote bishop David, “it simply would not be possible to continue to provide worship in the over 300 congregations of the Diocese in Europe, and to continue to provide quality pastoral engagement without the ministry of our Readers.” There are now over 110 who exercise this ministry week by week, not counting those in various stages of training. “Clearly the time was right to give Readers an opportunity to meet each other and to engage in some time of learning together.”  Continuing Ministerial Education funds from Archdeaconries were available to some, as well as direct support from their parishes to attend.

The Conference was designed to enable us to explore some of the most important aspects of our ministry: biblical study, liturgics, spirituality, communicating the Gospel and working as bridge builders and reconcilers. Some highlights were the Bible studies by Clare Amos, the lecture on Conflict in the church and brother Sam’s reflections on prayer.

As preaching and interpreting the bible is a central feature of the ministry of Readers, it was appropriate that one of the keynote speakers at the conference was a biblical scholar, Dr Clare Amos. Clare is the Programme Director for Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation at the World Council of Churches, a theological educator, and has taught Old and New Testament studies in Jerusalem, Beirut, Cambridge, London and Kent. She was also a former editor of the national journal The Reader. One of her most recent works is a commentary on Genesis.
Clare led a bible study on Genesis 32 and 33 (the story of Jacob wrestling with the Angel) and another on the Transfiguration. She also led a plenary session on some issues in biblical hermeneutics, particularly apt for this conference of lay theologians and preachers (indeed she thought we should be called hermeneuts!) Clare inspired the participants at the conference with the vision of Archbishop Michael Ramsey: “to be a theologian is to be exposed to the vision of heaven and the tragedies of mankind”.

Conflict as opportunity for ministry was the theme of the Revd Sara MacVane, the Assistant Priest at St Andrew’s Zurich. She distinguished between “honest conflict” on the one hand, where parties, even though holding different opinions, are trying to promote the good of the Church, and “toxic behaviour” on the other hand, where conversation and communication become secretive, manipulative and destructive.

Sara recognised the potentially important role that Readers have in addressing conflict in our congregations. They are often the only minister a local priest in our diocese can talk to and share situations which are problematic. As lay persons they also understand the, often emotional, investment that people have in their local church.
“Prayer is like breathing – you can’t do without it”. With these words, Brother Sam SSF, began his session on prayer at the heart of the life of the Christian minister. Brother Sam, a Franciscan friar and until recently the Provincial Minister of the Society of Saint Francis (SSF), spoke about prayer as having to do with our relationship with God, with others and with our natural environment. He spoke to us on some key dimensions of prayer and the spiritual life:

1. the link between prayer and action: opening our hearts and wills to God’s purpose for the world.
2. the need to be free of distraction in our prayer so we can truly listen to God.
3. that our life of prayer needs to be earthed – it should not be divorced from real, even mundane life.
4. the importance of practice – making sure our prayer is regular. Like athletes and musicians, regular practice helps us improve.
5. that we need always to be reminded that we pray with brothers and sisters around the world and those who have gone before us. We are not alone.
6. to be aware that prayer opens us up, touches our wounds, our hurts, our vulnerabilities.

Brother Sam, in his Franciscan habit, was also a visual reminder of the fact of the existence of religious communities in Anglicanism. Interestingly, this year there have been 4 men from continental Europe testing their vocation with the Anglican Franciscans in England, 2 Swedes, a German and a Romanian!

The Revd Elaine Labourel in her session entitled “Bearing the Word in the Liturgy”, explored how the liturgy of the Church forms the people of God, nourishes them with sound doctrine, and enables them to enter deeply into the work of giving glory to the Holy Trinity.

Last but not least we discussed our interaction with the (social) media in order to let the world know about our existence and our message. In between our sessions, devotions and Eucharists there was time to socialize and to enjoy some good meals. The conference was concluded by a dedication ceremony. More coverage of this event will appear in The European Anglican.

The post First ever European Reader’s Conference succesfull appeared first on Anglican Church Haarlem.