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Newsletter May 2012 PRAYER FOCUS
SERVICES MAY 2012 Ploërmel (14 Rue Général Dubreton) (There is normally a shared lunch after each service.) 6th Fifth of Easter 11.00am Eucharist 13th Sixth of Easter 11.00am Prayer & Praise 17th Ascension Day 16.30pm Eucharist 20th Seventh of Easter 11.00am Eucharist 27th Pentecost 11.00am Eucharist Family Service
Rostrenen (La Chapelle du Collège de Campostal.) 13th Sixth of Easter 10.30am Eucharist 27th Pentecost 10.30am Eucharist
Huelgoat (Parish Church in the town centre.) 13th Sixth of Easter 16.30pm Eucharist 27th Pentecost 16.30pm Fellowship Prayer & Praise For further information on these services or for information about Christ Church Brittany please get in touch with the Locum priest, Churchwardens or local contacts. DATES FOR YOUR DIARY/FORTHCOMING EVENTS Receipts for your tax declaration Church members who give via the envelope plan and who are French tax residents should request receipts from the Treasurer for their 2011 tax declarations. Please communicate your name, address, and envelope number to Greg West at 02 97 93 57 87 or ghwest@wanadoo.fr so that he can prepare the necessary receipt for you. Social Evening – Ploërmel 25th May 2012 The next Social Evening at Ploërmel will be held on Friday 25th May commencing at the usual time of 7.00pm. The evening will consist of a Pub Quiz and there will be a supper provided, but please remember to bring your own drinks. For further information and to book please contact Lena & Simon Linton on 02 97 75 12 32 or Elaine Wilson on 02 97 72 19 29. Come along and join in the fun and fellowship, cost is the usual 5 Euros per person. Alpha Course Alpha is a course about the Christian faith and is taking place in 7000 churches across Britain and lasts 12 weeks. It covers topics such as: Does God heal today? How does God guide us? Why and how should I tell others? It is open to anyone, no matter where you are on your spiritual journey- or if you know nothing about Christianity, and is very thought provoking, Bible based and answering many of the questions of life. We have been running this course in France for 7 years (nearly 2 years in Brittany) in our home, and if you would like to come, or to bring along a friend, please ring us or email us. Chris and Liz Barge, tel: 02 97 72 45 33, or e-mail lizzieandchris@wanadoo.fr Home Group and Fellowship Meetings – May Huelgoat - The May meetings of the ‘Rainbow Group’ will be on Thursday 10th and 24th, from 12:30 – 2pm for a Fellowship Lunch and 2 – 4pm for Bible Study at the Presbytery, Huelgoat. To learn more about the group or for further information please contact Carole Turner, tel: 02 98 78 24 68 or e-mail: carole.turner@orange.fr Rostrenen – The next meeting will take place on Friday 4th May commencing at 14.30 in the Salle Paroissiale, 4 rue Joseph Pennec, Rostrenen. For further information please contact Laura or Robin tel 02 97 51 74 26, e-mail Kermoran@wanadoo.fr or Brenda tel 02 96 21 52 98 or e-mail brendafranklin@gmail.com. Redon Area – The Group meetings usually take place on a Friday mornings, once or twice a month. For further information and for the date of the next meeting please contact Joy Morin on 02 99 71 12 30 or Maureen Wilson on 02 99 08 21 94. There will also now be a coffee morning held every Wednesday from 10.30am to 12 noon at Maureen’s house in Glenac. All are welcome to come along and share Christian Fellowship. Ploërmel - Meetings are held on the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays of each month, at the home of Liz and Chris Barge, commencing at 3.00pm with tea and cake. For further information please contact Chris & Liz on 02 97 72 45 33 or e-mail lizzieandchris@wanadoo.fr. Bannalec There is a fellowship meeting for English speakers which normally take place at the Chapel at David and Rebecca Pugh’s on Tuesday evenings at 5.00pm. For further information please contact Rebecca or David on 02 98 35 46 59 Monday June 4th - Queen's Diamond Jubilee Tea party From 3.00 until 6.00 pm, at Quéhelen, 22340 Paule (just off the N164 near the Resistance Memorial - take the D11 exit). Please bring some food to share and garden chairs. 50s' dress optional. Numbers limited. Entry by ticket (2 euros, accompanied children under 10 free), available from church members or on the day if reserved by phone. Tea, coffee and soft drinks provided. Games and music. Information from Graham and Jean Lissaman 02 96 29 66 81. OTHER NEWS AND MATTERS Annual General Meeting Sunday 1st April 2012 Following the elections that took place at the Christ Church Annual Meeting, held on 1st April 2012, the Church Council is now made up of the following members of the congregation: Norma Parker - Churchwarden Chris Wilson - Churchwarden Greg West – Treasurer Robin Hillman – Secretary and Archdeaconry Synod Representative. Laura Hillman – Archdeaconry Synod Representative. Sue Shotts – Archdeaconry Synod Representative. Brenda Franklin Veronica White Carole Turner Sheila Spate Brian Parker Derek Richards Guy Barnard Alan Mason In addition to the above we are also pleased to record that Mrs Ann Grainger was re-appointed the Independent Examiner for Christ Church Brittany at the Annual Meeting. We are also pleased to report that at the first Council Meeting held immediately after the Annual Meeting Mrs Pam Adgey was appointed our Electoral Roll Officer and Mr Robert Brookes was appointed the Stewardship Officer. Archdeaconry of France. Bishop Geoffrey, in a letter dated 30th March 2012, has notified the various Chaplaincies of the Diocese in Europe of forthcoming changes to the Archdeaconry of France. The current Archdeacon of France, the Venerable Ken Letts, stands down as Archdeacon on June 30th, having reached retirement age. He will be continuing as Chaplain of Holy Trinity, Nice until a date to be agreed in 2013. As a temporary measure Bishop Geoffrey has asked the Reverend Ian Naylor, currently Chaplain of St Andrew’s, Pau, to serve as Acting Archdeacon of France. He has agreed to this appointment and will work closely with the Area Dean of France, the Reverend Canon Trevor Whitfield. Similarly the Venerable John de Wit is due to retire as Archdeacon of North-West Europe on the 19th May. Canon Meurig Williams has agreed to be Acting Archdeacon of North-West Europe. Further details on these appointments can be seen in Bishop Geoffrey’s letter, which will be placed on the Notice Board at Church. Prayer. "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" Mark 11, verse 24. Due to the rising costs of petrol, the distances we all live from the churches, and the lowering funds in our pockets, 25 members of Ploermel, Rostrenen and Huelgoat are committing to pray, wherever they are and whenever they can each week, for the choice of a future Chaplain, for Revd. David Hart and all the assisting clergy and lay readers, the Churchwardens and the Church Council. Jesus said that whatever we ask for in prayer- as long as we believe it- it will be ours. If you would like to join this faithful band of prayer warriors and to receive a weekly email reminder, please contact: Chris and Liz Barge tel: 02 97 72 45 33 or e-mail: lizzieandchris@wanadoo.fr ‘And Finally’ Like many other nations throughout the world, France and the United Kingdom will begin the month of May with a long weekend. In the United Kingdom, Monday 8 May will be kept as a Bank Holiday. France will keep Tuesday 1 May as Fete du Travail, an accurate reflection of the source of this holy day: The Feast of St Joseph the Worker, kept by the Church on 1 May. St Joseph is the patron of all working people, and in many nations, the contribution of those millions of people who undertake a hard day’s work, for days and weeks and months on end, will be remembered with thanksgiving by rewarding them with a day off. But what of those of us who have retired from that kind of paid employment, and now enjoy a new found freedom and leisure in being able to plan our own day, organize much of our own time and re-create in a life giving new pattern of daily life? Are we cheating by taking our Fete du Travail? Should we be excluded from the Labour Day long-weekend? No - not if we take to heart the call of Jesus in the Gospel, “The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to do his harvesting.” (Luke 10.2) The ministry of the Church is not the duty and joy of the few who are licensed and ordained. It is the baptismal commission to every single woman and man who bears the name of Christ. At our Baptism, we were told to be “faithful soldiers and servants of Christ.” The Gospel sends us out as labourers to do his harvesting. The priesthood of the Church is yours, and mine. In serving Christ in your midst, I am reminded on a daily basis of the time, energy, and gifts shared generously by so many who enable the work of God to flourish in Brittany. To these women and men, thank you! For others however, the call of Jesus to labour in his harvest may seem unrealistic, impossible. “I can’t preach,” “I don’t know enough of the Bible,” “I’m no good with finances,” “I can’t drive,” “I’m too old,” and so the thoughts run through their minds convincing them that they have nothing they can offer. Friends, there is no truth in this. To be a labourer within the Church, Jesus’ question to Peter is the only one we need answer, “Do you love me?” It is love of Jesus the Christ that enables us to love the person God has made be to be. It is this God-Love that enables me to love my neighbour, and not just my friends, but also the stranger, the outcast, the “other.” And love begins to show itself in the smallest of everyday actions. Making a phone call, saying a simple prayer for a person in need, offering a lift, visiting a person at home, welcoming the newcomer, offering a hot drink on a cold morning. These are not labours of only the highly skilled, the theologically literate, the office-bearer, the wearer of the robes. These are the day-by-day labours of love, offered by the baptised to our neighbour, and in that service, to God. Happy Fete du Travail fellow labourers, sisters, and brothers in the baptismal family of Christ. Let us give thanks for the vast range of gifts amongst us, rejoicing in the unique person God has made each of us to be, lay and ordained, women and men, professional and amateur (from the French “lover of.” Amateurs labour for the love of it.) God bless you with abundant love in Christ, pouring upon you the gift of the Holy Spirit that as faithful soldiers and servants of Christ, we might labour in his harvest, and with satisfaction at the end of our work, enjoy our Fete du Travail. Pax et Bonum David Newsletter Contributions: for the June issue, please e-mail your contributions to Chris Wilson at wilson.christopher@orange.fr, the deadline is Monday 21st May 2012. Any views expressed in this Newsletter are not necessarily those of Christ Church Brittany but those of the individual contributor. CHAPLAINCY OF CHRIST CHURCH BRITTANY PART OF THE DIOCESE IN EUROPE (CHURCH OF ENGLAND)
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