Chaplain’s Letter
In the history of religious art the adoration of the Magi, and the adoration of the shepherds, are two of the most popular subjects about the birth of Jesus. The kings and princes who could afford to buy religious paintings in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, loved to see images of wealthy and powerful “kings” presenting their gifts to a king born in a stable. And pictures of Shepherds coming in to see the baby in a manger reassured patrons of the arts that the newborn king was there for ordinary people as well as kings and princes. These images were hugely re-assuring that the birth of Christ was uncontroversial, since it had the approval of both the great and the good, like kings and princes and also ordinary people like shepherds. Since those days of course we have become used to imagining that the story of Jesus’ birth was like the paintings we see on our Christmas cards.
The story that we read in the Gospels is more controversial and more disturbing than the pictures. St Matthew only tells us that the visitors who came to bring gifts to the newborn king were “Magi” – wise men – people trained in astrology and dream interpretation – even magicians and sorcerers. I’m quoting the dictionary translation of the greek word Magos. In other words they were at best academics and at worst fortunetellers and not the kings and princes beloved by religious painters and their patrons. And as for the shepherds, well these were hardly representatives of ordinary people. Shepherds in the time of Jesus were more or less social and religious outcasts. So the message is clear but disturbing. When God came among us, he made himself known, not to the great and the good, nor to ordinary decent taxpayers, but to people on the edge of society. I tremble to think of it, but if Christ were to be born in Utrecht at Christmas this year, the people who would know about it first would probably be the folk who sell Straat Nieuws or the Big Issue, and not the contented citizens gearing up for another “happy Christmas”.
We can easily forget how controversial and disturbing the Christmas story really is, and how controversial and disturbing Jesus actually was. The moral is that God often makes himself known in surprising and disturbing ways. And what this means for us as Christians is that we need to train ourselves to be much more spiritually alert than we sometimes are. This is in fact the basic message of Advent. Keep awake; be alert for you don’t know when or even how God will come among us. May I therefore commend to you all, the Advent bible study course which the Bible study group is offering in the Parsonage on four Tuesday evenings this Advent starting on November 29th. There are flyers about it in church and in the Parsonage, and more details about it on page 3. Here is a very practical way of sharpening up our spiritual antennae – so please take advantage of it. May God bless you as you prepare again for his coming.
John de Wit
ADVENT BIBLE STUDIES
In recent months, a small team that has been gathering to study God’s word together. Following the last Advent and Lent Bible Studies, Pam de Wit encouraged us to start a regular Bible study group. We have discovered that by studying God’s word together, we have come to know each other much better and have been able to serve and minister to each other. We have all grown in our relationship with Jesus, and our understanding of His calling on our lives.
Encouraged by what the Lord has done, we plan to organize regular (bi-weekly) Bible studies in 2012. We really want as many people as possible to join us. It is our hope that the study of God’s Word will bring us all at HTC closer together as a congregation in faith, hope and love.
We have prepared a series of Bible studies for Advent. Advent is a vitally important time in the life of the church - a period when we reflect on the coming of the Son of God as a child, to take on our humanity, to live a life of obedience, to die for our sins, and to be raised in glory. It is also a time to prepare ourselves for Jesus’ coming again. Are we ready? Are we looking for God’s kingdom? Do we understand the signs of the times we are living in?
We decided to focus the Advent Bible studies to the Old Testament. Jesus Himself, as a faithful Jewish rabbi, was constantly referring back to the Bible. The books of the Old Testament are full of promises and prophecies about the Coming of the Lord. Many of these were fulfilled in the incarnation, suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord. But many prophecies and promises regarding the Lord Jesus remain to be fulfilled.
Maranatha, come Lord Jesus.
THE COMING OF THE LORD AS PROMISED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Old Testament are full of promises and prophecies about the Coming of the Lord
> Tuesday 29th November – The Coming of the Lord in the books of Moses
> Tuesday 6th December - The Coming of the Lord in the Psalms
> Tuesday 13th December – David and Solomon as types of the Lord
> Tuesday 20th December - The Messiah in the Prophets of the Old Testament
The Advent Bible studies will be held in the Parsonage
20.00 -21.45 pm - coffee and tea from 19.45 pm
All are very welcome! Just bring your Bible
To participate, all you have to do is sign up in the Parsonage For more information contact: Andrew Tucker tucker@casema.nl
Andrew Tucker
Bishops Council Briefing
Father John has asked me to include a piece about the Bishops council held in October but there is not space enough to include every detail, so here is a resume and if anyone wants more details contact the editor or Father John and we will be glad to give you a copy of the report.
On the agenda were the following subjects. Crisis report from Greece. Ethical Investment Update and Constitutional Changes to allow Women Bishops and a debate on the Anglican Covenant.
After a debate on the position of Women Bishops the Council approved draft plans for women to be consecrated as Bishops but with safeguards attached.
The Bishops gave their support to plans for an Anglican Covenant and their views will be forwarded to the General Synod.
Canon Malcolm Bradshaw spoke to members on the Crisis in Greece and how it is affecting churches trying to give pastoral care .He told Council that the Greeks have a saying “May God put His hand on this situation” He asked for prayerful support.
At the Bishops Annual service on the Eve of the Council, they were encouraged to follow the example of King Solomon and King Alfred in finding the true meaning of Wisdom in the sermon given by Bishop Stephen Venner.
He ended his sermon with the challenge that however good our work as a Diocese may be, we should always ensure the Christ, our Captain, is firmly on board.
Further there was an update on legal changes to streamline the diocese.
There was a new committee formed to discuss Mission and Public Affairs.
The Continuing Ministerial Education budget was discussed and difficult decisions made .Other subjects touched on included Sabbatical leave for Clergy, Ecumenical contacts with non denominational churches and how best can churches help Asylum seekers
From your editor.
Apologies to Arnold.
I made a “faux pas” in the last edition of the newsletter and have promised Arnold that I will include the whole paragraph in this months newsletter to try to make the sense of the story more clear. Editor
Weeks later I stumbled on another cover. After an Evensong in the old catholic cathedral I only had a few minutes to spare before the rehearsal of another choir. I sat on a bench at a bus stop only a few yards from the cathedral not far from Utrecht’s biggest shopping mall Hoog Catharijne . The bench was usually occupied by a tramp begging you for money. As I hastily ate my chicken sandwich I noticed that people watched me with smirking faces from their cars waiting at the traffic lights. I had carried a large shopping bag with me which contained my cassock and my scores. The moment I rummaged through its contents some eagerly anticipated what rabbit I was going to pull out of my hat. I got stuck in with the act and suddenly held my cassock up in the air. “What on earth is he doing,” I saw people think. I must have looked absolutely gutted because minutes later two passer bys remarked: “You want a Euro?” or “The Salvation Army will be with you shortly”. I walked away from the bus stop fearing the tabloid headline: “Chorister caught dealing in stolen cassocks”.
And now this months article from Arnold, hopefully complete.
Wikileaks for Choirs X: Under pressure
Trade unionism does not exist in amateur choirs. What is the point of picketing against long rehearsal hours, under heated rehearsal rooms, mad but brilliant conductors, stalking choristers and long hours of travel when you love to sing? You put up with most of it the best you can. After all, much of this stress is self-imposed. Who on earth wishes to sing in three choirs?
The choir of Holy Trinity is not in the same class as the other choirs I have known. With three sung communion services a month and rehearsals every Thursday evening this choir is like the express train “The Flying Scotsman” on the London – Edinburgh line run by a dedicated body of volunteers. It runs on a strict time table with quick stops in ports of call. The moment the choir enjoys their short tea break, some choristers rush to the tap to add water to their tea so that they
can finish their drink without burning their tongue. It gets worse during shared lunch before Evensong. Choristers skip starters, the main course and rush to the desserts. Some choristers even take their desserts with them into the vestry. Much depends on them, all the more so when they only are with a quartet or a sextet.
Sometimes they have to push their own limits: they sing an anthem, psalms or canticles originally performed in St. Pauls Cathedral or Royal Albert Hall with megalomaniac numbers of choristers, perhaps with the one bishop, vicar and five curates. And if the choir doesn’t get it entirely right – in spite of our best efforts- , one chorister shrugs his shoulders and says: “By the time it reaches heaven we sound like King’s College Choir”.
The Scola Cantorum of the Old Catholic church however seems to lead a charmed life. The choristers look forward to enjoying any light meal in the reception after special occasions as if it was their Last Supper. With weekly rehearsals on Monday from 19.30 till 20.45 hours they don’t have a coffee or a tea break at all. But on Sunday morning the rehearsal stops half an hour before the start of the service leaving some time to get dressed and to relax. But choristers do feel the pressure the moment they have to sing harmony. Five minutes into one rehearsal a chorister complained that singing harmony was a huge strain on his vocal cords. The conductor and his choristers take pride in the idea that they know how to throw a party. This is why the conductor also celebrates his birthday with the choir, bringing out bottles of wine and cakes and sitting with the choristers into the late evening.
Not so much so for the conductor of the Bachcantata. Rehearsals there are like living on the fast lane. With only one Friday and a Sunday rehearsal – choir, musicians, and soloists must get their act together. The regular conductor can’t stand any talk during rehearsals and only wants to get the job done. Tea or coffee breaks are paradoxically very long because the conductor has to iron out the nastiest bits from the Cantata with the orchestra first.
Tea or coffee breaks are the only opportunities to socialize during rehearsals. Please don’t for a moment think that most choirs allow for a lot of light-hearted banter during their breaks. It is sometimes a welcome source of distraction though. In the Episcopal churches I have noticed that the talk is very much on church government and doctrine as soon as clergy is around. In Dutch Reformed churches with liberal thinkers the subject could be on anything going. Sometimes the talk is not on the most obvious things. The one choir that has a choirmaster and a vicar that not always see eye to eye carefully tries to avoid raising that subject
We live in a time obsessed society. It makes you want to hide out in a monastery. The monks in Chevetogne in Belgium for example don’t feel the same constraints of time. I once attended a three hour long service with Greek orthodox chant where one brother after the other walked in well after the beginning of the service and took his seat in the pews. Nobody seemed to mind except for me.
But like Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest the monks and choristers of Chevetogne managed to get a good result: worshippers shook their hands and praised them for their singing
.
After a week of singing with Holy Trinity Choir in Sherborne Abbey where one was told to be strict on time for rehearsals and services this was quite an unusual experience for me.
I was only able to wind down after we cycled to a nursery near the camping site. The owner’s daughter invited us to coffee and asked to come and sit with them there, even though she did not know us. Other customers greeted her with a smile and said: “Oh, it is you. The singer!”. The locals would tell you in the pub that she was “quite mad you know” coming from an eccentric family. She said goodbye and jumped on her bike and started to sing a siren song. No conductor waited on her, and time did not wait on her either. As the sound of her song faded away, one could only hear birdsong and the rustling sound of leaves.
Arnold
KEEP HOPE ALIVE
“Keep hope alive – Plant an olive tree” is the motto of the YMCA in East Jerusalem and the YWCA Palestina. It is a campaign to plant olive trees in Palestina for farmers who have lost their olive trees and their livelihood.
This campaign is supported by the YWCA Netherlands, the YMCA Netherlands, Cordaid, ICCO and IKV Pax Christi in the Netherlands. So if you are looking for an alternative (Christmas) gift, you can give an olive tree for 20 euros.
Everyone who pays 20 euros will receive a certificate with the name of the person you specify. This can be either your own name or the name of the
person you are giving the tree to. During the next planting season the tree will be planted by farmers and volunteers. There is a database, which shows you where your tree is and which farmer is tending to the tree. The YWCA which co-ordinates the campaign in the Netherlands will transfer the full amount paid for a tree (minus bank charges) to Jerusalem, where they buy the trees to plant.
For more information: www. planteenolijfboom.nl. There you will find a form you can fill out and the payment details.
Sandra Sue
YWCA = Young Women’s Christian Association, YMCA = Young Men’s Christian Association, Cordaid = the catholic development organisation in the Netherlands, ICCO = the protestant counterpart to Cordaid, IKV Pax Christi = Interkerkelijke Vredesberaad and Pax Christi Nederland.
JOIN THE CHRISTMAS PARTY!
The local contacts are organising a Christmas party. For those of you who are not familiar with the concept: it is an evening with lots of finger food, drinks, carol singing, Christmas hats, a bit of entertainment and a raffle. Everyone is invited for an evening of fun and friendship. Don't feel shy. It will be a good opportunity for meeting others. All we ask, is that you come.
Having said that, we would be honoured, of course, if you decide to entertain us with a song or a sketch or whatever party piece you happen to have. We are also organising a raffle for that evening. If you would like to donate anything as prize in the raffle, please bring it along to church and give it to any of the local contacts, so we can wrap it in advance. The Christmas party will be held on Friday 23 December 2011 from 19.00 - 22.00 . in the parsonage.
If possible, please let us know if you are coming with your family, so we know how many to cater for.
If you don’t know who your local contact is or don’t have one yet, don’t worry. You are still very welcome. Just tell us if you are coming, when you see us in church. The local contacts are: Nicky de Bie, Anne Andriessen, Kim van der Kaaij, Joanetta Nichols, Sandra Sue, Sheila Kooijman, Gillie de Haas.
And now a short article from our Student Pastor.
Student at Christmas.
First of all I wish you a blessed time during Advent and Christmas. During the holidays it might be a little hard to be away from home. If you’re not going home for the holidays, I hope you will enjoy the season here. We warmly welcome you at our services and other activities.
You can find more information about the services during Advent and Christmas on the website and in this newsletter. 23 December there will be a Christmas party in the church hall, you’re most welcome to that as well! You can find more information about that elsewhere in this newsletter.
If you’re interested in coming to a Christmas Dinner for Students, please let me know. It would be nice to get together for a special meal during that special time. Proposed date is 15 December.
If you’re an (international) student and staying in Utrecht for Christmas, please let me know as well. I might be able to find you a host family, if you don’t want to spend Christmas Day on your own.
Annelies van de Steeg, Student Pastor
Childrens Trinity Club Corner
Hi there! December is here; this exciting time of year, full of the promise of the coming of the Lord! A time to be ‘awake’ and fully alert to all that happened surrounding Jesus’ birth and the realization of what His coming would mean to the World. CTC’s team leader, Gonny informs us that they will be dealing with the theme ‘In life and death with Christ; and then they will begin the lead up to the birth of John the Baptist – paving the way, making the way straight for the coming of Jesus himself, calling for repentance and baptizing with water. They will be looking at the meeting between Mary and Elizabeth when the babe leaps in Elizabeth’s womb for joy of recognizing the Saviour to be born to Mary. From Luke’s point of view according to one New Testament commentary: If ever there was an opportunity for God to enact his plan with a majestic flourish, it was at Jesus’ birth. But God did not presume upon humanity when he stepped in to redeem it. There was no pretence in this arrival; rather, God chose to identify in the humblest way with those made in his image. The mixture of praise and simplicity is in great contrast to the birth of John the Baptist. John’s birth was announced in the capital, at the temple, in the centre of the Jewish nation; the child of a priest and his righteous wife. But Jesus arrives in rural anonymity, born to parents of average social status. Yet it is Jesus’ birth that draws an angelic host; appearances are deceiving. Jesus’ birth is more than a cosmic event; it is the arrival of divine activity that should provoke joy, reflection and attentiveness. The shepherds who are priveledged to share in the moment become bearers of a story full of wonder. Mary ponders these wondrous events and the shepherds return glorifying God. As unbelievable as it may seem, the one with authority over salvation spends his first nights in the open air among simple people. Born in the ancient equivalent of a tent village, Jesus arrives to fulfil God’s promise. All the imagery shows God’s concern for people regardless of their social status or vocation. He cares for all and identifies with all.
From the 27th November each session up until Christmas the children will be lighting an advent candle accompanied by the following verses for each candle each week:
27 November – by lighting of the first candle of Advent:
Eerste kaars, je maakt ons blij, Want het donker gaat voorbij.
Jesus komt! Hij wordt verwacht God geeft licht in onze nacht.
4 December – 2nd candle:
Tweede kaars, ook door jouw licht Komt een lach aan ons gezicht.
Kerstfeest, nog drie weken maar. God maakt zijn beloften waar.
11 December – 3rd candle:
Derde kaars, je licht is sterk, Gods woorden klinken in de kerk.
Ze wijzen ons de weg, Op reis naar het nieuwe paradijs
16 December – 4th candle:
Vierde kaars, straal als een ster ’t Kerstfeest in nu niet meer ver.
Eerst komt Johannes; God is goed. Hij wijst op Hem die komen moet.
25 December: Grote kaars,
Laat ieder horen Jezus werd voor ons geboren.
Een arm kind in een koude stal En toch de Redder van ’t heelal.
Pam reports that with the Teenage Group they aim to stay close to the theme of the service in church when they meet on the second Sunday of each month. In November this meant they were engaging with the theme of Remembrance Sunday, with a special focus on the Bible’s recipe for peace. In December they will be meeting on a Sunday between Sinterklaas and Christmas so the question for the group will be – Are Sinterklaas and Christmas only for children? A leading question indeed and will no doubt provide some interesting discussion.
*Don’t forget, as is traditional, the Crib Service for the younger ones will be held at 17.00 hrs. on 24th December, Christmas Eve.
It only remains to ask for your prayers for the children and the guiding force of both CTC and the Teenage Group with their challenging themes and that they may grow together in faith.
We wish you all a joyous Christmas and a Peaceful and blessed New Year!
Nicky for CTC
PRAYER CHAIN
If you have any requests for the prayer chain, or if you feel called to take part in this ministry, please contact Anne Miechielsen
A Free Gift
My English teacher would have rapped my knuckles for a tautology like that. He would have asked me when I had last had to pay for a gift. All gifts are, he would have added, by definition free, so you don’t need to specify. His voice would have gone up a couple of decibels towards the end of this diatribe and I would probably have been cowering in my desk. Not that school was as aggressive as all that. I seem to have painted a picture of a cross between Billy Bunter and Oliver Twist, but in my school days, teachers could be fearsome and were quite prepared, and permitted, to enforce their point of view with either the cane or a gym shoe across your backside. I remember one occasion when I had done something vaguely unacceptable in class and the teacher, normally a fairly mild-mannered and affable chap, called me to the front. I must have been about 13 at the time. He lambasted me in front of my peers and then pronounced sentence: I would get 6 of the best from his gym shoe across my backside on Monday morning. Since this was Friday afternoon, not only did I have the whole weekend to worry about it (my weekend was totally ruined as I’m sure you can imagine) but it also gave me the opportunity to prepare for Monday morning. As so it was that I waddled into school after the weekend, wearing every pair of underpants and gym shorts that I could get into and still stand a chance of fastening my trousers. I was duly called to the front of the class and asked to bend over – a tricky exercise when you are wearing so many layers. I can tell you, if you should ever be faced with this situation, not that I can imagine that such barbarity is still permitted, that the amount of padding you can get under your trousers and still walk, is not enough to take the sting out of a gym shoe!
Now where was I? Ah yes: the gift, always free. I suppose this is a fitting topic for the December issue of the Newsletter with Christmas just around the corner; the time when the greatest gift of all was given to the human race; a gift that ultimately was not at all free, but we didn’t have to pay the price. Like so many other ‘gifts’ in society today, there is a tendency to take God’s gift very much for granted. In fact, our modern world has become so secular that the significance of the Christmas gift is lost on many people. I remember one year back in England when I was at university walking past a crib set up in a shop window and hearing a young couple talking about it: “just look at that - they’re trying to bring religion into Christmas now!”.
In our household, we decided quite some time ago to give up the idea of Christmas gifts, simply because they had become expected and were therefore taken for granted. We didn’t rule out giving gifts, we simply agreed that we would only give a present if we knew that the gift was something the recipient really wanted; what’s more, it would be given in the true sense of giving: without any expectation of a return gift. The exception to this rule involved the children and later the grandchildren. There was always something under the tree for them.
But (there I go again, tempting fate and the English master’s gym shoe, starting a paragraph with a preposition) society still holds on to the idea that we are all
owed something – that we are all entitled to some sort of ticket, a point of view echoed in such phrases as: ‘it’s my right’ and ‘do you know who I am?’. Which instantly calls to mind an incident that Jamie experienced in the US. He was drinking from a can of coke, being kept chilled in a cooler. Unfortunately the cooler had the logo of a beer company on it. Within no time at all, an officer of the law was towering over him, rattling handcuffs and about to make an arrest for drinking beer in a public place. Jamie, even then of a somewhat mischievous bent, pulled the coke can from the cooler and made some cheeky remark in his best cut-glass English accent. Since the cop still seemed set on making something of this, Jamie asked him in an authoritative voice: “have you any idea who my father is?”. I can only assume that the cop imagined that the father in question was something in at least the diplomatic service, if not royalty, as he backed off instantly. Little did he know that Jamie had never even known his father who was killed in the war. As a retired pathologist, I’m always tempted to point out that the only ticket you are entitled to is the one they tie to you big toe before they close the fridge door!
But (there I go again) people still seem to think they have a right to something. I was in a cash and carry supermarket the other day, one that specialises in samples. We always used to make a joke about this, that you could go and have your lunch in this place, just by tucking into the freebies. I decided to take Stuart, my old school chum, there to show him how avarice can take over when faced with piles of free samples (that isn’t quite a tautology as a sample is not, by definition, free!). Sure enough, as soon as we got to the food hall and despite the fact that it was midweek when you would not have expected so many customers to be there, you couldn’t get near the samples for all the people elbowing their way to the goodies. There was one young couple that seemed to be there for no other reason than to tuck in since they had an empty trolley, but were full of suggestions as to the best things on offer. We moved to a quieter corner where there was a designated sampling area, laid out with glasses of wine and several tempting dishes, all vegetarian and therefore something I might like to tuck in to. Except that, once again, we couldn’t even get close. There was an elderly lady there, having a slap-up lunch and blocking any access to the rather narrow counter with her shopping trolley. She seemed to be on to her second glass of wine (the booze samples were not huge, so she was unlikely to end up tipsy). We decided to cut our losses and check out the non-food department. We spent quite some time there, as there were several kitchen gadgets we’d not come across before and both of us are suckers for that sort of thing. Eventually we decided to head back to the sampling station to see what was on offer. Would you believe it, the old lady was still there and we never got the chance to sample anything!
As you read this, we will be at the start of Advent and Christmas will still be a little way off. The gift of the Christ Child will still be an expectation. That’s OK, as long as we don’t take it for granted. Have a blessed Christmas!
Harry
Services at Holy Trinity Church, Utrecht
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