CHAPLAIN’S LETTER
June this year is going to be a very special month in the life of this Church. On the weekend of the 12-13th we shall hold our annual Music and Flower festival, and also celebrate the Dedication of our Church. You will find details of this weekend on page 3 of the newsletter. May I warmly invite you to come and listen to some of the recitals on the Saturday, and then enjoy the beautiful garden, the various stalls to tempt you, and of course the delights of our English tea room. If you can help with any of this, any member of the Korff family would love to hear from you! But even if you can’t help, do come, and better still please invite your friends and even your neighbours to come as well. The annual Music and Flower Festival is always such a happy event, and on the Sunday we shall be holding special services in the morning and in the afternoon to celebrate our Dedication festival. If the weather is kind it promises to be a wonderful weekend, so I wouldn’t want you to miss it.
Later on in June something is going to happen at Holy Trinity that has never, as far as I know, happened here before. On the afternoon of the 27th Bishop Geoffrey is going to conduct an ordination service at our church. Chris Nicholls our new assistant curate is hoping to be ordained a deacon. In the Anglican church there are three orders of ordained ministry, bishops, priests and deacons. All clergy start by being ordained deacon; I still remember my own ordination as a deacon in Birmingham in 1978. You may remember the story of the ordination of the church’s first seven deacons in Acts chapter 6 and how the Apostles set these seven men apart for the service of the church by prayer and the laying on of hands. In the same way Bishop Geoffrey will ordain Chris for ministry among us, by laying hands on him and praying for the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Chris comes to us from the Chaplaincy of Voorschoten where he and his family have worshipped for many years. He is married to Johannette and they have two daughters, Grace and Joyce. Chris is a senior geologist who works for Shell and so his ministry here is going to be non-stipendiary (unpaid). With a demanding full time job and a family to care for, the likelihood is that we will only see Chris and Johannette in Utrecht on Sundays. However it will be my privilege to train Chris for future ministry in the church, and I am sure they will make a real difference to all of us here in Utrecht. Please would you pray for Chris and his family, and for all like him who are making a great step of faith this summer. May they be richly blessed and in their turn become a blessing for many.
Fr John
TWO QUOTATIONS FOR JUNE
We trust not because ‘a god’ exists, but because THIS God exists. C S Lewis
Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase. Martin Luther King Jr
CREATION
The Anglican Church in Utrecht celebrates its annual Music and Flower Festival on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th June. This year’s theme is ‘Creation’. We are becoming more aware of the resources we use in our daily life. These resources are God-given and therefore we should use them with respect. The floral arrangements in the church will emphasize this. The Saturday of the Festival offers mini concerts given in the church. There are both professional and amateur musicians performing the 30 minute recitals. The intervals last for 20 minutes and allow the audience to visit the English Tearoom. If we are blessed with sunny weather again this relaxing point will be located in the garden next to the church. Here the visitor will find an abundance of home baked cakes as well as fresh coffee and tea and, at lunchtime, freshly made sandwiches too. Also in the garden people can browse at the book and plants stalls, buy jewelry or choose what homemade jams or marmalades they want to take home. There is no admission charge, but your donations are always most welcome.
The timetable on Saturday begins at 10.00am when the Tearoom opens.
10.30 Joyful Noise conductor Kit de Bolster
11.20 John de Wit (cello) en Mieps Fontein (piano)
12.10 Ad Novum conductor Patrick Hopper
13.00 Amor Vincit conductor Gijsbert van de Lagemaat
13.50 Fiona Korff (soprano)
14.40 Contact & muziek
15.30 Anthem conductor Herman Weelink
16.00 close of day one of the Festival
Sunday begins with the Festal Eucharist at 10.30am. Preacher and celebrant is the chaplain, the Venerable John de Wit, Archdeacon of North-West Europe. Music is the ‘Trinity Service’ by Patrick Hopper, commissioned by the choir of Holy Trinity. The service will be followed by a Bring-and-Share Lunch. Choral Evensong follows at 14.30, sung by the choir of Holy Trinity Church. Music is by John Sanders (Responses), Herbert Murrill (Evening canticles in E) and Herbert Sumsion (They that go down to the sea in ships).
We close the Festival by enjoying our Afternoon Tea.
MAYA’S SECOND-HAND CLOTHING ACTION
Maya sent me the following update on her clothing action. As you can see, your generosity has been greatly appreciated. Keep up the good work!
With all your help one of these weeks a boat will set sail with many clothes and shoes for the school for handicapped children in Tanzania! Thank you so much for your enthusiastic help! If you bring more things for the wheelie-bin, I hope that you will agree that they can be sent with the next boat and make people happy in the refugee camps in India as well. Then a following boat could go to Africa again.
In the meantime, here is a letter from the Head teacher at the school in Tanzania, just to let you see how much your generosity is appreciated!
I would like to give the word of thank from the burden of my heart for all who work to the successfulness of the new project of the clothes for St.Dymphna Special school.
I appreciate for all who work for the project in one way or another, I for the behalf of my staff and the children of our school I need to give the word of thank for everybody, and the Special thanks go to various churches, organisations, Mrs Maya and her friends and schools in the city of Utrecht.
We promise to do this project in good way and work hard for the success full for the benefit of us all and especially for the Organisation which Hans Supervise and the most benefit and respect for the school.
With lots of regards,
Yours Sincerely,
Mary Kaswende, The Headmistress of St.Dymphna Special School,
Maya
WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA? – AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT: ACTS
The Acts of the Apostles forms an essential link between the gospels and the epistles: ‘In many ways the Epistles are not fully intelligible until they are read against the background of the book of Acts. The book shows effectively the main trends in the development of Christianity and presents in effect samples of the continuing work of Jesus’ (Donald Guthrie).
Its author Luke was a physician-friend and fellow-traveller of Paul. Acts compliments his gospel, both being written for Theophilus (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1). It was probably written around AD 63, during Paul’s first Roman imprisonment and just before Nero’s persecution (AD 64).
While Luke’s gospel records what Jesus began to do and teach, Acts tells us what Jesus continues to do and teach through his disciples who are empowered by the Holy Spirit (1:1-3). Luke’s purpose is:
To present a history. Acts records the founding of the Church and the spread of the Gospel across the Roman Empire. Christianity has a firm historical foundation. The life and teaching of Jesus Christ are recorded in the Gospels; Acts goes on to provide an account of the spread of the Church as the result of the work of the risen Lord and the Holy Spirit through the apostles.
To give a defense. We read speeches made to both Jews (e.g. 4:8–12) and Gentiles (e.g. 25:8–11), showing us how the Early Church coped with pagan and Jewish thought, the Roman government and Hellenistic society.
To provide a guide. We see basic gospel principles being applied to specific situations in the context of problems and persecution. These same principles are applicable for us today.
To depict the triumph of Christianity in the face of bitter persecution. The success of the Church carrying the Gospel from Jerusalem to Rome and planting local churches demonstrates that Christianity is not just a human work. It operates under the rule of the exalted Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The theme and content of Acts is best summarized in 1:8: ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ Just as the Holy Spirit empowered the first Christians in their witness, he can do the same for us today!
“GREEN” THEME FOR MUSIC AND FLOWER FESTIVAL
Each year the Music and Flower Festival focuses on a theme for the flower arrangements in Holy Trinity Church. This year it was decided to try a rather different theme, not linked to the stained glass windows or a well-known Bible passage.
With strong support from the Green Awareness Group CREATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT was chosen. Topics such as renewable energy, recycling, and shrinking our carbon footprint were put forward as sub-themes, plus some bold ideas how they could be used. The Group realized they were putting quite a challenge to the flower arrangers to do something new and lively that will catch people’s attention and provoke some questions. The theme continues the interest we had in Holy Trinity last year when we were looking forward to the Copenhagen Conference and linked up to a wider-supported action of ringing the bells for climate change to coincide with the last day of the conference on 13 December. Although that conference was in many ways disappointing, the question of how we look after this earth has not gone away. Perhaps in presenting our care for the climate through “innovative” flower arrangements we can speak to some of our visitors more easily than by depicting the biblical story. The only “traditional” topic will be in the Sanctuary, where the arrangement focuses on “bread and wine”, which, through God’s goodness “earth has given and human hands have made”.
The Green Awareness Group will again have a stall in the garden and link their activities to the theme by presenting reprints of an article on paper-making and hand-outs with tips for saving energy and facts about the climate. Another way of presenting the sub-theme of recycling is through the centuries old and trusted way of seedlings and cuttings. The whole congregation is invited to participate in this by bringing seedlings and cuttings from their favourite house and garden plants.
On Sunday June 6th, the Sunday preceding the Music and Flower Festival, Debby van Rotterdam will present a talk on the topic of her PhD thesis “The potential of soils to supply phosphorus and potassium”, which she defended at Wageningen University in February. Her talk is to begin at 12.15, after Sunday coffee. She has given her talk the exciting title "Exploring soils: one of the underrated wonders of our planet".
Do come!
Henny for the Green Awareness Group
Some months ago, many of us filled in a questionnaire about our origins. Here follow the provisional results:
WHO IS BEST AT THE WHEEL?
And here I take my life into my hands! Ed
Children feel safer in the car when their mother is driving, according to a recent study by GEM Motoring Assist. Youngsters 5 to 16 said their fathers drove too fast, were more aggressive and lost their temper at the wheel. Six out of ten children said their mother’s driving was best, even though she was more likely to stall the car or find it hard to park.
MIRACLES
Since Madeleine is on Iona, we don’t have one of her miracles this month, which set me thinking. When I did the mock A level exam in Religious Studies, many years ago, I scored a measly 17%! Since I was likely to be very bored during the real exam, I boned up on a couple of topics hoping that one, or perhaps two of them might come up. They all came up and I got a very good pass mark! Our teacher, a Baptist minister, proclaimed when he saw me after the results were announce: “Barrowclough, if any of my boys say they don’t believe in miracles, I shall point to you!” Of course, passing the exam was not a miracle at all; it was just a lot of good luck.
I am also reminded of a very near accident when a crane fell towards a bus loaded with school children. It missed the bus by the narrowest of margins. “A miracle” everybody proclaimed. I was more sanguine in those days and my reaction was – no, just good luck. If the crane had been about to slice the bus in two, but had mysteriously righted itself, thus avoiding injury to the kids, that would have been a miracle.
I have occasionally got into conversation with creationists, discussing the evolutionary theory. My standpoint has always been that we have a very practical God and why, when he has put a perfectly good system in place that will achieve his ends, should he resort to ‘magical’ intervention to create the earth and all that is in it. I put ‘magical’ in quotes because that’s not quite the right word, but I don’t know which word would cover what I want to say.
Then I thought about the bus and the crane again. If the bus driver had given just a little extra gas, or perhaps just a little less, or the wind had changed direction suddenly, which it could so easily do through ‘natural’ processes, wouldn’t that also explain why the crane didn’t crush the bus? And why couldn’t that tiny change in the situation have been the intervention of the Lord God Almighty, making use of ordinary things to achieve his ends?
I’m quite sure that my passing A level Religions Studies was a fluke – just good luck, put it how you like. After all, what did my success mean in the great scheme of things? I didn’t even need the qualification for my subsequent studies.
But the bus – now that’s a different matter altogether. God moves in mysterious ways, we are told, and why not through the bus driver’s accelerator, or the wind, or whatever?
As Madeleine points out so regularly, miracles are happening all around us, every day, if only we have eyes to see them.
Harry
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
CTC CHILDRENS TRINITY CLUB CORNER
Hi there in this, hopefully, sunny and glorious month of June –with the Music and Flower Festival at Holy Trinity!
The young CTC-ers have been continuing with the story of Moses (Exodus 20), and how the Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain and gave him the Ten Commandments to be taught to the house of Jacob – the people of Israel.
The Youth Group guided by Andrew (whilst Pam is away) have been looking at the same part of the Bible – Exodus 20, together with Mathilde, Sophia, Martin, Mark and Robin. They tried to place the text in its historical/Biblical context. They then compared this with Jesus’ words about the law in Matthew 5-6: including: The Beatitudes, Salt and Light, The Fulfilment of the Law – Love for Enemies, Giving to the Needy, Prayer, Treasures in Heaven, Do Not Worry. Finally they were considering law and grace based on Galatians – and rounding off what sounds like a thought-provoking and stimulating session. Some of their work, as mentioned in the May Newsletter, i.e. that Moses, like Jesus, could be seen as a Liberator - can be seen on the back of the door in the coffee room/church hall – have a peek!
Feed-back of how they’re progressing with the material from ‘Vertel Het Maar’ sounds very positive; the well structured sessions providing a good base and guide for the CTC groups (the 3-6 year olds and 7-11 year olds); with scope for interaction and some creative work to round them off. The older group of the CTC-ers favouring puzzles and the younger ones – art work.
Working up to Pentecost – both the CTC-ers and the Youth Group will be looking at the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the promise of Christ’s coming again, based partly on Revelations 22: 6-22.
CTC is still a leader short – so let’s pray for the right person to strengthen the team and help with this vital work with the children.
Have a wonderful June – and Summer and we will catch up with each other again very soon!
Nicky for CTC
6 JUNE - A SUNDAY TO REMEMBER OUR ENVIRONMENT
This year World Environment Day is 5 June, and the Sunday nearest to it is 6 June, which makes it Environment Sunday. We have special reason to celebrate Environment Sunday, as this year is the International Year of Biodiversity. Since this is such a special time to be thinking about the environment and our responsibilities, why not consider joining our Green Awareness Group? Talk to Pam, Sheila, Margery or Henny, or simply turn up at their stall during the Music and Flower Festival. They will be delighted to welcome you and to give you any information that you need.
We only have one planet – help us to keep it safe!
A SYMPATHETIC LOOK AT ENGLISH FOR ALL TO WHOM IT IS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE
(WHICH AFTER THIS MAY INCLUDE SOME BRITS!)
There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word in the English language, and that is 'UP.'
It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP the minutes or a report?
We call UP our friends. We use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.
At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special. A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!
To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, the entry takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more ideas.
When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP and yet, when it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP. However, if it doesn't rain for a while, things dry UP. One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, so ... it is time to shut UP!
Now it's UP to you what you do with this article!
(With thanks to my brother David for this contribution – Ed)
KEEPING AN EYE ON YOU
It has been a bit of a boring month for me and, as usual, under these conditions I end up people watching. To be honest the human race does make a most interesting study and observing them as they bumble through life can be quite entertaining. Take for example the other day. We decided to have a Chinese takeaway as our main meal and I was dispatched to get it. Our local Chinese restaurant has its takeaway section at the back and it is accessed by a side door which is down a passage. Although it is a glass door it is very difficult to see in due to the difference in light levels. To add to the fun it is a very heavy door with one of those arms that close it automatically. This means it is quite difficult to open and requires a lot of effort. The final touch is, it opens inwards. So I arrived and, knowing the door, I pushed rather hard on it. This produced a squawk from the inside as someone was standing directly behind the door. Now given the fact that this person had recently used the door so he knew which way it swung, I was rather surprised that he chose to stand with his back to it. Naturally I apologised and stepped into the rather crowded room.
Now a Chinese takeaway contains four groups of people, the first is easy to identify, the staff. They are almost always Asian and they are the only ones on the other side of the counter. The remaining three lots are much trickier to recognize. First there is the group of people who have already placed their order and are now waiting for the food to be prepared. They give themselves away by their habit of reading the magazines and munching on any freebies that have been provided. Next are the ones who have telephoned ahead with their order. They are keen to identify themselves to the staff and pay for their meal, then they join the first group. Lastly there is my group, the ones who wish to place an order. We give ourselves away by forming a tidy queue by the counter. When I got in there were two members of staff, one was giving a guy his order and the other was idle. No one else was near the counter so I stepped forwards and placed my order. This seriously annoyed an old guy who was apparently ahead of me, but being unsure if it was his turn, had hung back and was now miffed.
Having got my order in I found a place to stand and watch. Although the centre of the room was quite empty, everyone was jam packed round the sides. Another customer entered and stood directly behind the door. Inevitably he got hit by the door as the next customer came in. At this point the one who had been hit, moved inwards while the last one in took his place behind the door.
This cycle just kept repeating each one having to be hit by the door before he learned to stand somewhere else. Then a woman entered, banged the guy behind the door and took his place. However when the door opened again, and she got hit, she merely moved aside and let the person enter before moving back directly behind the door. She was such a slow learner that she had to be hit no less than three times before the idea that is was a silly place to stand finally worked its way into her brain.
A few days later I was in Makro, the big cash and carry wholesale warehouse. It is on two levels and, to move from one to the other, moving walkways are provided. They are like escalators, but without steps, so you can take your shopping trolley on them. As soon as you push the trolley onto it the wheels lock as they are designed to mate with the grooves in the moving surface. This stops the trolley rolling down the slope. However once you have pushed the trolley onto the walkway, there is no way you can move it until you get to the end. Between the up and down walkways there is a gap of about two meters. In this space there are large bins of produce and you may grab some as you move past.
So I pushed my trolley on to the walkway and discovered that I was about fifteen meters behind some women. As we all moved upwards one of the women decided to pick up something or other out of one of the bins. Alas, she didn't quite fancy the item she had lifted, so she returned it and took another one. This also failed to meet her high standards, so the process was repeated. By now she was having to walk sort of sideways so that she could face the bin and compensate for the moving walkway. About here the gap between her and the front of my trolley began to close. To my surprise her priorities got reversed and she totally ignored the approaching trolley. When she eventually walked into it she glared at me as if I had pushed the thing into her! I stepped back from it and held up my hands to indicate that I was helpless in the situation, but this only earned me another glare.
Mind you, I ran across another woman who was if anything even worse. She was wanting to go down from the upper level. At that exact moment I was on my way up. For some totally unfathomable reason she stood at the top of the up walkway and gave me what could only be described as a, 'Get a move on mate, I'm in a hurry' look. As I slowly ascended her impatience grew until I finally pushed my cart clear. She then tried to push her cart onto the walkway and looked quite baffled when it was pushed right back off again.
But now I'm lying in the hospital again and I've only got my fellow patients to watch. In truth the other three who share my room are really sick. I'm just in for some tests, so I feel a bit of a charlatan. The dear old lady in the opposite corner is deaf, thus all conversations with her are conducted at high decibel levels. She also talks in her sleep and for an encore sings in the night. To make matters worse she suffers from chronic flatulence, which at times can be measured on the Richter scale. The gent next to her is mentally not with the rest of us and, although he will not eat during the day, he calls out to Joop, who ever he may be, to bring him cheese at half past two in the morning. As he too is deaf when it comes to visiting hour I can't hear myself think for the shouting. The third one in the room is very sick and spends the whole time coupled up to a dialysis machine which makes the strangest noises.
Well, at least I’ve passed the sleep deprivation test!
Jamie
Services at Holy Trinity Church, Utrecht
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