All Saints Gazette: Special Service on Sunday!
This week at All Saints:
Sunday, 13 May, Palm Sunday+Eucharist+Agape Meal in Kampen at the Protestant church, 18:00
Every weekday 9:00 and 18:00: Daily prayer on Zoom
For online events, see church calendar!
We would not normally have a service on the second Sunday of the month, but we will this week! However, don’t come to Vrijburg, at least not expecting to find us. Everyone who possibly can, please join us in Kampen, where we will celebrate Palm Sunday. Our service is part of an around-the-clock liturgy in which many churches take part in support of the Kampen church’s Kerkasiel action to prevent the deportation of the Babayants family (the website is in Dutch). The family has taken refuge in the church, and the police will not enter while a service is in progress. So we are doing our part to make sure that a service is ALWAYS in progress.
As a bonus, this gives us a chance to hold at least one Eucharist during Holy Week this year. The service commemorates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, greeted by palm branches. We will have a few, but see if you can get your own palm leaf or branch (failing that, any leaf will do). We will also read the Passion narrative together, celebrate the Holy Eucharist, and conclude with an Agape meal. The Agape meal is similar to what we do every time we eat together, but it is formally part of the service and will be accompanied by some prayers and songs. Bring a dish to share if you can!
Nomad Network
A question that emerged in the Open Forum on Sunday (see below) is how we stay engaged and connected between gatherings. Our life is not centered on a church building. We are nomads. How do we show up as a network and not just individuals? One idea (credit to Hahye) is to have a time during every Sunday gathering to discuss an action for the coming weeks. This might be a demonstration, a pattern of consumption to pay attention to, or an act that hopefully moves from kindness to solidarity. The thing we agree on will show up in the newsletter, and we would like to invite you to write reflections on a way of being present and connected for good that you have done or would like to do. We’ll put them in the newsletter too whenever we have one. I will be proactive about recruitment, so start thinking about it and expect my call.
Open Forum
Last Sunday, several of us had the honor of hosting Jocelyn Phelps, an organizational coach from the Cathedral in Paris. We had an extremely helpful conversation and generated some very nice visuals, of which others surely took better pictures than I:
We are grateful to Jocelyn and to everyone who joined us and contributed their insight. One of the ideas that emerged from this is an ongoing collective commitment to an action to be agreed upon, and playing around with the idea of being a “nomadic network,” and also thinking about the space we gather in and how we welcome others. More to come soon.
Upcoming Convocation Offering: Anglican Summer School
Whether you’ve been an Anglican/Episcopalian for yours or you had never heard of it before coming to All Saints and are wondering what planet you’ve landed on, the Convocation has a program that may be of interest: the Anglican Summer School in Utrecht is not just about what Anglicanism is, but what it means that we are a bunch of nationally mixed communities in continental Europe following a form of Christianity that developed in England, in a church based in the US, alongside three other Anglican churches. And if you figure it out, please explain it to me! More information and sign up here!
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
Our people have been showing up!
From Bart, two-ish weeks ago:
From Hahye and Merle, last week in Leeuwarden:
Hans participated in the XR blockade in The Hague last week. He was arrested, not for the first time as long-time readers will remember, though he was treated rather worse this time, having been held for six hours in a very small cell. Thank you Hans, for your willingness to endure suffering in order to stand up for the rights of our very planet. Everyone, please pray for Hans as he processes this experience.
A few upcoming trainings and events (courtesy Hahye)
Fri 11 April - Self defence workshop by Maya Solidarity: https://www.instagram.com/p/DH_gyu4ijvG/?img_index=1
Mon 14 April - Jose Maria Sison bookclub session #1: https://www.instagram.com/p/DH6xskmizkz/
Sat 19 April - Aralez Decolonial Reparations Conference (will be attending this one): https://stichtingaralez.com/programma-decolonial-reperations-conference/
By the Rivers of Babylon
There are a lot of different themes and feelings going into and accompanying us through Holy Week. Somehow I settled on this song by the group Sweet Honey in the Rock, which performs traditional and original music honoring the African diaspora. Bible nerds will recognize the beginning of Psalm 137 and the end of Psalm 19, very contrasting verses that are held together here.
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
