Convocation Newsletter
(COVID-19 special edition #5)
April 17, 2020
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A Newsletter for Members and Friends of the Convocation of
Episcopal Churches in Europe
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Eastertide in a time of pandemic...
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Second Sunday of Easter
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
In Time of of Great Sickness and Mortality....
O most mighty and merciful God, in this time of grievous sickness, we flee unto thee for succor. Deliver us, we beseech thee, from our peril; give strength and skill to all those who minister to the sick; prosper the means made use of for their cure; and grant that, perceiving how frail and uncertain our life is, we may apply our hearts unto that heavenly wisdom which leadeth to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
.
(1928 BCP, 45)
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A Pastoral Note from the Bishop
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A Pastoral Note from Bishop Edington
I think we can all agree that the novelty has now entirely worn off “novel Coronavirus.” A little unexpected time at home is almost always a gift; but it is hard to find any silver lining at all in weeks of disruption, shattered economies, and the unabated fear of infection by a potentially lethal disease.
What is becoming clear is that the lockdown will end—eventually; and it will not end at the same time all across the nations served by the Convocation. That is a little sad, in a way; we have all been in this together, and it would some seem better if we all left our homes and went back into the light (and the church) together, too.
Certainly this much is true: When the lockdown ends, we—and the church—will be changed. We will worship in different, not necessarily familiar, ways. We will still need to observe social distancing practices. We will still have to think twice about in-person meetings. And we will still be haunted by this virus—at least for some months, if not for years.
And we will be changed in another way. Over these past weeks, as our communities have quickly turned to new digital tools to gather online, we’ve reconnected with some old friends—and we’ve found new ones, people who have found their way into the church exactly because we now have a digital door as well as a physical one.
It is just possible that in this moment of worry and waiting, God has set before us a vision of the church that is coming into being. As I’ve visited services around the Convocation in these past weeks, I’ve seen whole families gathered on couches in front of the computer; old friends living in assisted living facilities able to join the church again; new ways of doing youth gatherings across our churches; and new faces who’ve never seen the inside of one of our churches before.
What if the future we are being called into is one in which we bring all this into the church, when we return?
Jesus always made room for the people on the periphery, the downtrodden, the searchers, the doubters. Perhaps these weeks have taught us that there are other ways—better ways—for us to find and connect with those people in our own day. How will we manage to do both, as we emerge from the shadows? I can’t wait to find out.
Blessings,
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Please send an
Alleluia!
If you follow the Convocation’s Facebook page (and please do — it’s at
https://www.facebook.com/EpiscopalEurope/
), you’ll see that we’re posting an Alleluia on each day of Easter season. That’s
fifty Alleluias
— just written on a piece of paper, drawn as a picture, photographed as a celebration of new life, or anything else that helps you express the promise and possibility of resurrection.
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Convocation COVID-19 Webpage
Information in one place
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Convocation COVID-19 Response
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Please visit our
webpage
dedicated to our COVID-19 response, as well as other resources.
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Online Worship in the Convocation
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Online Worship Opportunities for Sundays and Weekdays
With all our church buildings closed to public worship, many of our parishes and missions have moved their Sunday and weekday Worship online. Consider taking part in worship with your sisters and brothers in Christ across Europe.
All times are (Central European Summer Time (CEST).
Worship on Sundays and during the week:
Sundays
Mondays
Tuesdays
Wednesdays
- American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Paris, FRANCE
- 9:00 a.m. Morning prayer live-streamed - here
- Compline available each day on YouTube - here
- Christ the King, Frankfurt, GERMANY - link
- 19:00 Compline
- Emmanuel Church, Geneva, SWITZERLAND
- 12:30 p.m. Noonday Prayer - Link
- Resurrection, Orvieto, ITALY
- Morning Prayer at 9:30 a.m. (in Spanish)
- St. Augustine, Wiesbaden, GERMANY
- Wednesdays at 11:00 a.m. "Word and Worship" - link
- St. Boniface, Augsburg, GERMANY
- 12:00 noon - Noonday Prayer
- St. James, Florence, ITALY
- Evening Prayer at 6:00 p.m.
- St. Paul's Within the Walls, Rome, ITALY
- Morning Prayer, Rite II at 12:00 Noon
Thursdays
Fridays
Saturdays
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Grant Applications for 2021 Now Available!
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Grant Applications for 2021 Now Available!
The Finance Committee of the Convocation has decided to extend the deadline for applications for next year’s grants to May 31, 2020. Instructions to guide grant-writers may be found at
this link
, and the application form may be found at
this link
.
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Dear fellow Convocation Ministers and Wardens,
Alleluia, He is risen indeed! As we celebrate Easter this year we are more aware than ever of the importance and need for live music, dance and art outside of our own 4 walls. Our churches supply us not only with a building for worship, but a building full of art, whether it be church music, altars, windows, sculptures, performances and the list goes on.
I am writing today to remind you all that the
Whalon Fund for the Creative Arts (WFCA
) is now taking grant applications for 2021. Please see below for more information as well as links to our webpage, fund guidelines and application.
Please also forward this information to all your committee leaders that would be interested in this fund (Fine Arts committees, Vestries, Choir/Music directors, Sunday School teachers etc.).
We wish you a blessed Eastertide.
WFCA Committee
Parishes and missions in the Convocation are invited to submit grant proposals to support their work. Grants will be made for up to €500. Grant applications are due by
June 1, 2020.
LINKS
Fund Guidelines - see
here
Application form - download
here
If you would like more information or would like to give to the WFCA please see our
Webpage (click here)
.
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A useful resources from the Youth Commission:
FAITH AT HOME - RESOURCES FOR ALL AGES
-
DOWNLOAD
For more information on youth events and registration, please visit the Youth Ministry webpage
HERE
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Upcoming Convocation Events
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CANCELED OR POSTPONED EVENTS
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- April 17-19: VOCARE Young Adults Weekend, Berlin, Germany - CANCELED
- April 24-26: Clergy Spouses Retreat, Pallottihaus, Vienna, AT - CANCELED
- April 30 - May 3: "Convocation Mission Festival 2020" - Augsburg Germany - POSTPONED to May 28-30, 2021
- May 7-10: TEC-ELKB Dialogue Meeting - Augsburg, Germany - MOVED TO OCTOBER
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- July 19: U.S. Bishops visiting Convocation Parishes and Missions - CANCELED
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Spring 2020
- May 2: Clergy Morning Prayer
- May 16 - Finance Committee Meeting - Moved online
- May 23-24: Visitation in St. James the Less Mission, Nuremberg, Germany
- May 30: Visitation at Church of the Resurrection, Orvieto, Italy
- May 31: Visitation at St. Paul's Within the Walls, Rome, Italy
- June 1-5: Bishops Meeting: "Living our Vows"
- June 8: Clergy Morning Prayer
- June 21: Consecration of the new Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht
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- June 22-23: AOCICC Meeting, Prague Czechia
- June 29 - July 2: Clericus
Fall 2020
- October 22-25: 2020 Convocation Convention in Nice, France
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Convocation Communications Committee
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Trinité Magazine
Spring 2020 issue
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The Convocation Communications Committee (CCC) coordinates the communications of the Convocation. Special emphasis is given to Social Media, and close coordination with the parishes and missions of the Convocation. Existing modes of communication such as newsletters and the website are getting a facelift.
Members are: Thomas Girty (Paris), chair; Felicity Handford, Marc Smets-Tolley (both Waterloo), Walter Baer (Paris), Audrey Shankles (Wiesbaden), Helena Mbele-Mbong (Geneva), and Ellen Hampton (Paris), ex-officio. Others are being added.
The Convocation is now also featured with four pages in the cathedral's semi-annual publication
Trinité
, covering Convocation events.
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- For questions on recording worship attendance for virtual services, click here
- An article in the Anglican Church of Canada's ANGLICAN JOURNAL about our churches during this COVID-19 crisis - here
- Download the Book of Common Prayer - here
- Some prayer resources during time the pandemic, click here
- Some frightening historical information about the church response to the 1918 flu pandemic, click here
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Did you miss Church?
Check out an on-line sermon:
Other pulpits in the Convocation:
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A la radio : le Magazine Anglican
Le « Magazine Anglican », animé par Laurence Moachon, paroissienne de la Cathédrale de la Sainte Trinité à Paris.
À propos du Magazine Anglican :
Depuis septembre 2012, Laurence Moachon présente le 4e samedi du mois, le Magazine Anglican. Avec l’objectif de faire mieux connaître la tradition anglicane au public français, elle traite de sujets d’actualité culturelle, historique, liturgique ou ecclésiologique dans la Convocation et la Communion Anglicane.
ÉCOUTEZ OU TÉLÉCHARGEZ LE MAGAZINE ANGLICAN sur :
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Regarding Allegations of Clergy Sexual Abuse
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Important information on the lifting of the Statute of Limitation regarding clergy sexual abuse...
Let it be known that for three years in the Episcopal Church there is no statute of limitation on clergy sexual abuse. Every diocese has a confidential way to make a report. In Europe here is ours:
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Read the latest on what's going on in the wider church
and much more....
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"Go forth for God; go to the world in peace; be of good courage, armed with heavenly grace, in God's good Spirit daily to increase, till in his kingdom we behold his face."
Hymn 347 - Holy Eucharist; Music: Litton
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The Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe | 23 avenue George V, 75008 Paris, France
+33 (0) 1 53 23 84 06 | office@tec-europe.orgl | www.tec-europe.org
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