Looking back and Looking forward. At All Saints Anglican Church, we are thankful for where the Lord has brought us to. We have regular numbers of around 80-90 including children. Many who attend have had connections with Holy Trinity but others who attend have not. Currently we have 90% I estimate Dutch nationals attending regularly. We are thankful for the people – all ages and all sorts – who attend. We are thankful for the…
We, as Christians, live as members of his heavenly kingdom, awaiting the day when the divine kingdom is fully manifested when God’s will is done on earth as in heaven, when every knee will bow at Christ’s name and every tongue confess him as Lord (Phil 2).
GraceTALKs: 1st Sundays in Groningen Since we haven’t the resources to meet for worship more than twice monthly (2nd & 4th Sundays), but we very much still want to grow as a community, Grace Church launched a special 1st Sunday of the month activity in another local venue. It’s called a GraceTALK, and it features an interesting guest speaker and a bring-and-share meal each time. Since the series began last September, we’ve had talks by…
Candlemas On February 2nd, the Christian church celebrates the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (also known as Candlemas) – as recorded in Luke 2:22-40. It is a key festival – it completes the forty days of Christmas and Epiphany; it is a event rich in its layers of meaning; and it is a pivotal day when, having looked back one last time to Christmas (Jesus is only 40 days old), we turn towards Lent…
We begin this new year with the season of Epiphany. It is a follow up from Christmas as Christ is manifested or shown forth to the whole world from infancy to full maturity. The first indication that this child Jesus is of significance not just for the Jews but for the whole world is the visitation of the three wise men from the East to offer their worship and their gifts. The window above the…
Greetings from Callum, Thirza, Jolanda and Grant! We wanted to share some words for the December newsletter. Thank you for your warm welcome to the Netherlands and to Utrecht and Amersfoort. It probably seems a long time since the interviews happened in June – with all the sun and beautiful weather – and now we have arrived in typical Dutch autumn weather, cold windy and rainy! We wanted to thank you for your prayers over…
Over the past few months and especially in September, we have been confronted by the news of vast movements of people around the world fleeing violence and poverty and seeking a new life. The picture on the front of this month’s Newsletter is of a pilgrimage to Mecca, by the French landscape painter, Léon Belly in 1861. It might seem a strange choice, but I thought appropriate for a few reasons. With the camels it…
Dear Friends in Christ, Happy Easter!!! At the time of publishing this Newsletter there are many sermons to prepare and I am saving my thoughts for those. But who better to express something of the joy of the Resurrection of our Lord than St John Chrysostom, “the golden-mouthed” doctor of the Church from Constantinople around 400 AD. I wish you every joy in the Risen Lord Jesus, in His love, David ——- Is there anyone…
Dear Friends in Christ: In January I went to Savannah Georgia for a theological conference on the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite, a 6th century mystical theologian whose precise origins are unknown, and of Richard Hooker, a magisterial Anglican Reformer and apologist who wrote in the late 16th century, under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth I. Why would one possibly want to do this? Dionysius wrote five works that we are aware of. He was…
Dear Friends in Christ: We begin the new Christian year with the season of Advent. Our colour has changed to purple to symbolize penitence. Spiritually it is meant to be a time greater self-reflection, in quiet, to prepare ourselves inwardly for the great feast and celebration of Christmas. It is a penitential season – and yet it is also a season full of hope! We see lights going up in the streets at night to…