All Saints Gazette: Radicals, Sheep, and Popes (oh my!)
This week:
Every weekday at 9:00 and 18:00: Morning and Evening Prayer on Zoom
Sunday, 18 May, 17:30: Eucharist at Vrijburg (experimental remote participation possible), meal to follow
For online events, see church calendar for links
Last Sunday was an off Sunday for All Saints, but I accepted Bart’s invitation to lead worship at an event that he and some friends organized for “young, radical Christians” on the question: “The world is unfair. What are you going to do about it?” I was impressed with the group they gathered (and was happy to see Hahye there as well).
The fourth Sunday of the Easter season is informally known as “Good Shepherd Sunday” because we always say the 23rd Psalm and read one of the Gospel passages about Jesus as shepherd. I didn’t really know how to connect this popular, intuitive image with the theme of the day, but I settled on the juxtaposition in the psalm between lying down in green pastures and being led beside the still waters; and walking through the valley of the shadow of death. I had no answer to the question of what do do about an unfair world (maybe they figured it out after I left!), but I guessed that each of them knew something that they could start doing, or doing differently. It might not seem to change everything or even anything, and they might not feel ready. But if, as I believe, we are always in reality in the green pastures even as we experience the shadow of death, then we have enough. “We shall lack nothing.” So don’t wait for the whole picture to become clear to take what you know to be the next step. Thanks for the invitation, Bart and friends!
Do you know a children’s minister/caregiver/activity leader?
I love how we embrace the occasionally less quiet presence of children in our worship. And we also need to find someone who can be more proactive in accompanying them in our worship time. This could take a variety of forms, but we probably need a person. Do you have an idea who they might be? Let Kyle know.
Joining remotely
I encourage you to join our worship in person if you can. But we’re playing around with ways to enable some sort of remote participation. If you can’t come on Sunday, try joining with the Zoom link!
Who’s Actually in Charge Here?
(tl;dr—nobody really, but we have important and historical relationships of accountability, which includes our bishops)
It’s last week’s news that we have new pope.
Well, we don’t exactly have a pope.
The English Reformation, to which we trace our roots, happened because certain figures believed that the Pope should not have any direct jurisdiction over the church in England (which by act of Parliament became the Church of England). Episcopalians and other Anglicans have a wide variety of feelings about the Pope, but most of us at least consider the historical office of the Bishop of Rome to be an important symbol for all Christians, and we do well to pray for him, even if he has no role or authority in our church.
What we do have is an Archbishop of Canterbury (we don’t exactly have one, because the office is vacant). Canterbury was the seat of St. Augustine, the first bishop in England. The Archbishop of Canterbury is principally a leading figure in the Church of England (and has some ceremonial roles in the British state), but they are also the first among equals of all the bishops in the Anglican Communion and are one of our four “instruments of unity,” meaning one of the formal ways we remain in relationship with the other Anglican churches.
But we do—with no qualifications—have a Presiding Bishop! His name is Sean Rowe. The idea of a presiding bishop has evolved over the life of The Episcopal Church. Originally, it was just the bishop who chaired the meetings, the role grew, and it was decided that the office should be distinct from the leadership of a diocese. The PB does have certain prerogatives in the whole Episcopal Church, but has almost no role in the affairs of individual dioceses.
We are not a diocese though, for reasons that make for too long a story. Because of some quirks of history no single Anglican structure has yet emerged in continental Europe. The Church of England’s communities belong to what is formally a normal English diocese (that just happens to stretch from the Faxa Bay to the Sea of Japan). Our Convocation is a bit more ad hoc. And there are also Spanish and Portuguese Anglican churches that have jurisdiction over the whole continent.
Anyway, our Bishop-in-Charge (that’s Mark; you know him) actually carries out his office on behalf of the Presiding Bishop and is paid through the PB’s office.
Previous Bishops-in-Charge were appointed by the PB, but they are now elected by us, and you will rarely have occasion to notice that anything is different—except of course that our churches are in six countries and there is nobody on earth who knows all the ins-and-outs of organizing and running an organization in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Georgia, though we are thankful for Mark and Walter’s valiant efforts.
That’s enough information for now. We’ll get into the importance and spirituality of having bishops some other time. For now, pray for all these people. And if you want to know more about who we are and why we have the relationships we do, it’s not too late to register for the summer school in Utrecht on Anglicanism in European Perspective!
Habemus…
So, to review, we currently have a…
Pope: ✅
Archbishop of Canterbury: ❌
Presiding Bishop: ✅
Bishop-in-Charge: ✅
Date for Second Coming of Jesus: ❌
Keep a good thing going!
The bishop’s committee is having extra meetings to get statues and things done so we can get ANBI. In the meantime, please invest what you can in the community you want, and try putting in just a little more than you first feel comfortable with (without causing yourself hardship, of course). There is enough if we share! Please hold our upcoming pledge drive in your prayers, in addition to supporting us as you are presently able.
Use the QR code or this link, or make a transfer through your banking app (the latter saves us a few cents). Please consider making your offering recurring, and pray about what you are called to pledge when we have our winter pledge drive.
Bank details
All Saints Amsterdam
IBAN NL32 TRIO 0320 8657 62
BIC TRIONL2U
The Bells of Norwich
May 8 was the commemoration of the woman known as Julian of Norwich, which is actually the name of the church where she took up residence as an anchoress. Her book Revelation of Divine Love is a beloved classic (I’ll lead a study sometime). And I love this song about her.
That’s all for Today! 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
Instagram: @allsaintsamsterdam.church
