What’s Going on in the Parish

Editorials

Editorial

" He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep" Psalm 121

Dear Friends,

Once again Summer is here. School has finished, work and church activities are winding down and it's time to put away the books, kick off our shoes and turn our attention to more relaxing pursuits and going on holiday.

But how easy is it to wind down and not start looking for other things to fill the gap? At home I have an alarm clock with a rapid tick. Most of the year I find myself also "ticking rapidly" in order to keep up with everything and meet deadlines, but come summer I try and pace myself more in line with the slow, solid tick of my Victorian clock which sits in state in the living room, telling myself that for the next couple of months I don't need to rush quite so much. This requires a period of adjustment, since often a period of time with little to do has been lost for so long that it is difficult to find again.

The psalms speak of God as being so concerned to protect and establish a relationship with us that he does not sleep, but we are human and need to take time out every so often. Christ led a very busy life during his ministry on earth, but yet still occasionally went away to a quiet place for prayer and reflection.

The Summer break should be, as a kind of sabbatical, a time to recharge the batteries and re-think our patterns of rest, work and prayer so that when term time starts again we are refreshed, full of new ideas and ready to start anew.

From the Rector

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

As I am sitting in my new office on the second (American) floor of the new space we are renting here at the Emmaus Church, I am overwhelmed with thankfulness. It is almost a cliché that we are so often stressed by the routine of daily life that we are blind to the many ways God gives us life and hope and joy. I can certainly claim that as one of my spiritual problems. But as I sit here in my new digs, all the frustrations of having to work in very cramped quarters, with no possibility of confidentiality, have vanished. I am deeply thankful.

This new situation has come about because of several reasons. The Vestry pursued the possibility of taking over this space with great vigor. There was a change of heart on the part of the Emmaus leadership. We had a bit of patience. God was ultimately in control. This is an answer to prayer (even if only a partial solution to our prayers). And our life as a parish will be fundamentally changed. Our opportunities for ministry have increased as a result several fold. It is only for us to listen to God’s call to see how best we can take advantage of this new situation. Again, I am very thankful for this turn of events. I am also thankful for those who have offered money to help with the move and transformation of the space. More will be needed but we are very hopeful that you all will respond to the new situation and take more responsibility in its financing. What a spring! You may not have realized it, but we have just been reborn. Hopefully in the Holy Spirit.

There is yet another thing that I am extremely thankful for. As I write this letter I am preparing to go to Chester, England, for the Ordination of Janet Parker to the Transitional Diaconate. Janet, and her husband Dennis, were with us for over 5 years. Her call to priestly ministry took major strides while she was here. In many ways she is a person of this community as at least some of her formation took place at the Ascension. I am very thankful for her call and the work she has done at Durham University. May God bless her, her ministry in His Church, and her wonderful family.

Count your Blessings. An old cliché but a good one. I have started and it is energizing and exciting. May this be one of your summer disciplines as well..

Yours in Christ, Tom +

What’s Going on in the Parish

NEW SPACE, NEW OPPORTUNITIES

By now, most of you know about the great gift of new space that we have been able to rent from the Emmaus Church. This more then triples what we have been used to. What does this mean? It means that we can offer hospitality to all the groups that are presently active in the parish from EFM (Which has been meeting at ST. Willibrord’s), to our own Vestry, which has experienced what it means to be a wandering Aramean from time to time. We will have to co-ordinate our new space however, to allow all groups to be able to meet when they wish. We would ask all group to make a formal request for space, with the time and place desired indicated. There are enough possibilities that we can encourage new ministries and groups. What a change. God is good!

FUNDRAISING!

This issue of the ikon has been full of news about our new space and the challenges that presents. One of the challenges is finding the funds to support this new space. Our rent will change. We need things that we have never owned before, like chairs for meetings and for the Chapel. At a point like now we come to realize how generous the Emmaus Church has been in sharing their worldly goods. This summer you will receive an appeal in which you can give to the general costs or, if you wish, buy another chair or contribute to a new rug, or vestment wardrobe. We hope you will be generous. We hope you will be excited by this new world we are entering as the staff and Vestry are. Thank you, Jesus!

CONVOCATION CONVENTION

The last weekend in October will see Episcopalians from all over Europe gathering with our Bishop, The Rt Rev. Pierre Whalon, for the annual Convention of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches here in Munich. This is a moveable feast with one of the Convocation congregations hosting the event on a rotating basis. Munich held the convention last 9 years ago. This year most of the Convention will take place at the retreat centre at the Schloß Fürstenried. This is good news on several levels. Most of the organizing will be taken care of by the staff at the Center. With that said we will need help from you the parishioners of the Ascension. Registration will need some help. During the meetings we will need help with registration itself and greeters and hosts. We would encourage any of you who would like to host a table at the Bishop’s Dinner at the Hofbräu Keller, in the Wiener Platz.to let us know . The cost is 60 euros for a wonderful evening. If you have Bavarian Tracht, this would be a time to wear it. Please let the Church know if you can help. Saturday night at the Schloß will be a buffet supper and an Ascension Talent Night. Again we will need help with this. And then there is Sunday morning with a Festival Eucharist. We hope all will be able to attend that. If you would like to help contact the Rector or the Curate. This is a chance to share how the Holy Spirit is working with us in the wonderful congregation. It is also a time to meet other wonderful Christians from all over Europe. Join the fun and help out!

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place..” Acts II

“Quando venne il giorno della Pentecoste, i credenti erano riuniti tutti insieme nello stesso luogo..”

If you were in church on Pentecost Sunday, May 27,you would have heard the reading from Acts in Italian, and fifteen other parishioners reciting in their own languages, or borrowed ones. For several years it has been a Pentecost tradition to have the passage read in as many languages as our church family can handle. In all, sixteen languages were heard. Here are the readers and their languages.

A Year in the Missions
by The Rev. Dorothee Hahn

                         Heilig-Geist Chapel Augsburg                                               Evangelisch St.Jakob, Nürnberg

It is now just over a year that I have been serving as Curate in Munich and as Vicar in the Missions of Augsburg and Nuremberg. It has been a year of learning, of challenge and joy, of holding old traditions and introducing new activities. In Munich it is more obvious what I am doing so in my reflection today I want to concentrate on the Missions I am taking care of.

Augsburg has had a significant increase of participation. Just looking at the first half of this year we had an attendance of 607 compared to 170 in 2006. Even if deducting two services that had a high outside participation, the joint service at St.Ulrich at Pentecost and the Evening Prayer led by Augsburg and Nürnberg Mission at the Mission Festival in Rastatt, we have an attendance of almost 220, a significant increase indeed. Unfortunately it is not the same in Nuremberg. Numbers there have slightly dropped over the same period of time.

In both places we have become members of the local Council of Christian Churches (Arbeitsgemeinschaft christlicher Kirchen). We have participated in both places in ecumenical services which help us to get more widely known.

Augsburg had the blessing of its first three Baptisms, two adults (one a convert from Islam) and one infant were welcomed into Christ’s Body and our community. These were very special events and celebrated in the whole community.

In Nuremberg we began a Bible Study group which started nicely but now needs some revival as attendance has dropped. In November however we had for the first time a Benefit Concert with our own Gooil Kang and hope to repeat it as it was well received.

Members of both missions also participated in the Mission Festival in Rastatt which was a great success. It was important to learn from joys and sorrows of the other missions in the Convocation and also to realize that we are not on our own but belong to a much greater entity.

The first two weeks in June kept me busy with the Annual Meeting in both places. On June 3 first the Mission in Augsburg adopted Mission By-Laws to gain canonical status within the Convocation, chose a name (which will be published after the approval of the Bishop) and elected again the members of the Bishop’s Committee and a Treasurer.

On June 10 the Mission in Nuremberg followed also adopting Mission By-Laws, choosing a name and electing members of the Bishop’s Committee.

I am sure my second year of ministry in both places will have more new things coming up. I enjoy working there and helping to build up these places. It is certainly an unusual ministry for a curate but I am thankful that I was called by you to serve not only Munich, but these Missions as well and I am looking forward to my second year with all of you.

Version of this page: 07/082007