All Saints Gazette: Sacred Space
This week at All Saints:
Thursday, 18:00: Prayer and Bible Study, online
Sunday, 17:30: Service at Vrijburg, potluck meal afterward
Monday to Friday, 9:00 and 18:00: Morning and Evening Prayer, online.
For online gatherings, see the calendar for the link:
https://allsaintsamsterdam.church/calendar/
Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DomTorenUtrechtNederland.jpg
A few months ago, I read an article (open access) in Material Religion about an an Amsterdam mosque (we need to visit it) located in a former Catholic church. The older generation kind of embraced the schuilkerk legacy, whereas a newer generation wanted to become more recognizable, more prominent, more…well, iconic. All sorts of things went into these discussions, both theological considerations in the narrowest sense, and questions about how immigrant and Muslim identities are negotiated in the secularly Christian-majority-Netherlands. And it made me think of us, even though this isn’t really a conversation we have had.
Our ancestors who brought Christianity to the Low Countries, like many other places, imprinted the land with a sacred geography. They both marked it as special and also connected it with the rest of the Christian world (note that I’m thinking about it in this way because of Verena’s research on dynamics like that in the Islamic world). The Dutch Reformed tradition was less inclined to such things until recently (or at least thought it was), so there are few shrines to be found. They marked bodies and residences instead of special buildings. Your house looks the same as everyone else’s because you are, like everyone else, a beloved child of God. And you have large windows with no curtains because your life is a visible proclamation of the Gospel (though it would be rude to look inside someone else’s house).
But marking space as sacred can slip into marking one’s own dominance. And denying particular sacredness because everything is holy slips fast enough into denying that anything is holy.
I think of this now when we move into a season when many public spaces get more prominently marked as Christian, or as weirdly, secularly not-Christian—but it’s St. Nicholas and not Santa Claus, and the church is usually still the most prominent building in many dorpen (even if you would be hard pressed to find a time when it’s open). The ways in which European Christians of previous generations marked space as holy or at least Christian have mostly been assimilated into the discourses of heritage and tourism. The empire can easily tolerate its old gods and their temples when they can be of service to the new ones. They’re lovely concert venues, after all, if expensive to heat in the winter.
At All Saints, we haven’t made much of a physical mark. In fact, if we were to disband tomorrow (we won’t), the only space that would look any different is a closet shelf at Vrijburg. This is largely the result of practical considerations. We couldn’t build a grand church even if we wanted to! But is there an opportunity in this? Might we be stumbling into (or led into) a particular charism? We have our Protestant sensibilities, our more Catholic sensibilities, and we are formed by the sensibilities of secular capitalism and bureaucratic heritage preservation and exploitation.
Is our way of building a particular sacred place and then striking the set when we disperse maybe a way of…what? Discovering particular holiness, but maybe in a more fleeting way, that then infuses the whole world in which we move? Or something like that?
Hey, last week was soul-bearing. This week can be a bit academic!
No In Person Gathering Tonight; Prayer and Bible online!
We determined that there is not much energy around our plan of having an in person gathering this evening that would coincide with American Thanksgiving. So we’ll be online! Daily office and some Bible reading at 18:00. Be there!
Christmas Update
We are probably looking at a service in the late afternoon or early evening on Christmas Eve. Exact time will depend on space availability, which we will hopefully know about later this week or early next.
Congratulations Sophie!
Sophie found us last summer and continues to participate online from Oxford. She was just baptized on Sunday at the Christ the King Evensong at the Corpus Christi College chapel! Welcome to the church in its fullest expression, Sophie!
And anyone else, if you’ve decided you might be intrigued by Jesus and church and the like and are wondering what the next step is, wonder no more! It’s the Sacrament of Holy Baptism! Ask us about it! (Already baptized and wondering what your next step is? Ask us about that too!)
Housekeeping Update
The bishop’s committee had a long but fruitful meeting where we went over a statement of principles and financial policies that will be proposed to the whole community at a But Fun Church Meeting to be scheduled as soon as we have the means. A couple other documents also have to be prepared. At that time, those who wish can join the church formally, and we will be able to apply for ANBI (tax-deductible) status for our offerings.
Justice Resources
Mpho shared the website of Bystanders No More with us. Knowing that we have many different sets of relationships and communication styles, this site gives a wide range of strategies for learning, communicating, and taking action against the genocide in Gaza.
Support our Life Together!
Investing in the community we want both helps the church grow and thrive and also blesses the giver! 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.
Bank details
All Saints Amsterdam
IBAN NL32 TRIO 0320 8657 62
BIC TRIONL2U
Prayer Cycles for Next Week (1 December and following)
Convocation Prayer Cycle: St. Paul’s-Within-the-Walls, Rome
Anglican Communion (I apparently posted from the wrong year last week, sorry!): Sunday: Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sunday; Monday: Diocese of Kitale – The Anglican Church of Kenya; Tuesday: Diocese of Kiteto – The Anglican Church of Tanzania; Wednesday: Diocese of Kitgum – The Church of the Province of Uganda; Thursday: Diocese of Kitui – The Anglican Church of Kenya; Friday: Diocese of Kivu –Église Anglicane du Rwanda; Saturday: Diocese of North Kivu – Province de l’Église Anglicane du Congo
For your Advent listening
I have a long explanation of why Franz Biebl’s Angelus is amazing, but you can listen for yourself and I’ll tell you about it later. This video isn’t quite complete, but you can find Chanticleer’s entire recording of it on Spotify.
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
