All Saints Gazette, 6 February: No Bible study this week!
Greetings from All Saints Amsterdam
This week's newsletter will be brief because our priests are on their way to Rome for a Convocation training event. There is no Bible study or prayer lab this week or next (February 7 or 14). Our next all-church gathering is worship on February 18 at 6:00.
Thanks to everyone who came to our child-centered Eucharist on Sunday. We were also blessed to welcome Jes Villa from Church of the Ascension, Munich. Jes is the chair of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe's committee that supports mission communities. Please remember Ascension and the Convocation in your prayers!
Abundance Inventory
Looking back a few days, February 2 was the Feast of the Presentation, also called Candlemas in English. This feast intersects with pretty much everything. 40 days after Jesus’ birth, Mary and Joseph take him to the Temple to perform an ancient ritual. Strictly speaking, every firstborn son was supposed to serve in the Temple, but in practice, a son could be “redeemed” with an offering. This was to show that everything and everyone belongs to God and is holy, but it also reminds us that the services of the Temple required resources. Mary and Joseph were poor, and they gave the smallest amount possible, but that gift not only maintained the formal rites of the Temple, but also enabled the holy things that happened in and around the Temple and the relationships it fostered, like Anna and Simeon meeting the holy family.
Many of us at All Saints don’t have much income, or don’t work the sort of jobs that pay a determined amount on a schedule. But what happens to the money you do have? Do you spend it and give it in ways that contribute to the world you want to live in? What do you want to keep doing? What might you like to do differently? Are there ways for you to purchase things that channel money into your local community, or organizations with accountability for their labor and environmental practices at least some of the time? Are there ways you could free up a few euros to give to organizations and communities that work for relief and positive structural change? Could you make an occasional or even regular financial offering to your church community?
Housekeeping
Mpho and Kyle at Convocation clergy day this week.
Please pray for the clergy of the Convocation as they gather in Rome to learn how to better support their communities. As noted above, this means no Bible study this week.
Children's Activity or Child-centered Eucharist every week!
We have made the commitment to welcome all children and families either week, either through a children's activity or the occasional child-centered Eucharist. This could be a real draw, so spread the word! Also, how would you feel about signing up to help one Sunday every other month or so? We can help you with prep! Kyle and Mpho will stay in the rotation because this is an integral part of the church's worship and fully merits the priests' attention, but we would like to have some more adults!
That's all for today! (Sorry, no spotlight or video)
Want to talk to a priest? We want to talk to you too!
Website: https://allsaintsamsterdam.church/
Mpho: mpho@allsaintsamsterdam.church
Kyle: kyle@allsaintsamsterdam.church
General: info@allsaintsamsterdam.church