January 2018
Convocation News
January 2018
A Newsletter for Members and Friends of the Convocation of
Episcopal Churches in Europe
This is a monthly convocational newsletter.
Please direct any comments to news@tec-europe.org
Epiphany - Christ shown forth to the world...

Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Troisième dimanche après l’Epiphanie
Accorde-nous, Seigneur, de répondre avec empressement à l’appel du Christ, notre Sauveur, et de proclamer à tous les peuples la Bonne Nouvelle du salut; et nous pourrons avec l’univers entier, percevoir la gloire de son œuvre merveilleuse. Lui qui vit et règne avec toi et le Saint- Esprit, un seul Dieu, dans les siècles des siècles. Amen.

Pray with us in the Convocation Cycle of Prayer - available here
Upcoming Convocation Events
UPCOMING
CONVOCATION EVENTS

  • February 5-7: Clergy Retreat 

  • February 10-11: Visitation at Emmanuel, Geneva, Switzerland

  • February 17-18: Visitation at Buon Pastore, Milan, Italy


  • March 9-11: Visitation at St. Paul's Within the Walls, Rome, Italy

  • March 8-10: CAECG meeting at St. George's in Berlin, Germany
  • April 12-13: Province II Synod Meeting, Albany NY

  • April 27: COMB meeting in Geneva, Switzerland

  • April 27-28: APL Vestry Workshop for Italy in Florence

  • May 3-5: TEC-ELKB Dialogue in Augsburg, Germany
  • May 10-13: Youth Events
  • YAE - Florence, Italy
  • JSE - Clermont-Ferrand, FR


  • June 4-8: Clericus 

  • June 15-16: APL Vestry Workshop for Francophonie (FR, BE, CH) in TBA

  • June 22-23: APL Vestry Workshop for Germany in Nuremberg 




  • Sept 27-Oct 1 Bishop Candidates Walkabout

  • October 18-21 Convocation Electing Convention in Waterloo

  • November 16-18 Youth Leaders Training Event
European Institute of Christian Studies
Academy for Parish Leadership
Mark your calendars
APL regional workshop are designed to train vestry members in the particular ministry of governance in the Church. Workshops will focus on both general matters about vestry leadership and issues particular to different parts of Europe. This is especially useful for new vestry members, wardens, and treasurers.

  • April 27-28: APL Vestry Workshop for Italy in Florence

  • June 15-16: APL Vestry Workshop for Francophonie (France, Belgium, Switzerland) in Paris

  • June 22-23: APL Vestry Workshop for Germany in Nuremberg 

In 2018 the Academy of Parish Leadership will host three regional Vestry Training Workshops in the Convocation. 


Registration is opening soon!
Watch the APL webpage

The Academy of Parish Leadership "Invite, Welcome, Connect" in Munich, Germany, May 19-20, 2017
The Bishop Search Process
PRAYER FOR THE CONVOCATION
O God, we pray for the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe as we discern and elect a Bishop to serve your people, build up your Church and proclaim boldly the Gospel to the world. Send us, we pray, an apostle who is a wise counsellor, a merciful pastor, filled with your joy and grace. May your servant have the abundant gifts needed to lead your flock and the strength and courage to administer them. And may we renew and rededicate our lives to your will and service. All this we pray in the Name of our Great High Priest and Servant of the servants of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A special Bishop Search Website has been launched

This website will be the "go to" place for all information for the Bishop Search, Nomination, and the Transition processes. 

This site will include: 
  • The Convocation Profile, which is currently being developed by the Search/Nomination Committee, both in an on-line and a downloadable form. 
  • It will also include the link to be used to nominate persons for the position of Bishop in Charge. 
  • When the list of candidates has been finalized, biographical and other information about the candidates will be posted. 
  • It will also include other information about the Convocation, which will assist persons who are interested in the bishop search process.


Bishop Search Update E-Mails....

Search Update #3  - Jan. 23, 2018 

Search Update #1   - Nov. 12, 2017.  Search Update #2   - Dec. 16, 2017
Youth Commission
Youth Across Europe 

Youth Across Europe offers a retreat for 13-19 year olds. Each year, a Convocation parish hosts the event, which happens during Ascensiontide weekend. 

The next YAE event is in Florence, Italy.


Juniors Across Europe

In May 2013, 27 youth and 9 adults from 5 different parishes across Europe all convened at the small mountain village of Benediktbeuem, just south of Munich for the first ever Convocation-wide retreat for our ‘junior youth' (10-13 year olds). 

Now an annual event, JAE kids spend a weekend together, meeting new people, learning about God and the Bible, and enjoying the beauty of creation. The retreats are a great mix of fun times, good teaching and plenty of laughs.

The next event in May 2018 will be in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Caireen Stewart Warren is the new Chair of the Youth Commission. Other members include: Valerie Perkins (Florence), the Rev. Scott Moore (Nuremberg), and Patty Solomon (Geneva).
Council of Advice meets in Waterloo
Council Actions
The Council of Advice thanks the Rev. Sunny Hallanan and her volunteers from All Saints in Waterloo for putting on a great meeting.

The Council and together with the Bishop and staff discussed the many events in the upcoming year. Plans for the 2019 budget process, and granting process were set, plans for convention in October were approved. In executive session, the Council approved plans from the Search/Nomination and the Transition Committees regarding the bishop search.

Some important dates were set for various things in 2019:

April 10: Organized-mission applications need to be sent to the Committe on Mission Congregations (COMC) before this date so they can be reviewed during the committee's meeting on that day.
April 16: Last date for parishes/missions to send to the Secretary of Convention, Deacon Richard Cole, the names of convention delegates and alternates (making clear which is which).

April 30: Last day for grant applications and initial budget request to be submitted for to the Finance Committee for consideration in the 2019 budget.

May 20 (Pentecost) will be Mission Sunday. This years designated mission is the Episcopal Diocese of Puerto Rico to aid in hurricane recovery.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Fr. Chris Easthill of Wiesbaden participates in National Prayer Service for Christian Unity in Germany in Augsburg
Zentraler Gottesdienst zur Gebetswoche für die Einheit der Christen

Augsburg (21.01.2018). Die Vision der Kirchen für die Ökumene kann nur die sichtbare Einheit der Kirchen sein. Das bekräftigte Bischof Karl-Heinz Wiesemann (Speyer), Vorsitzender der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen in Deutschland (ACK), im zentralen Gottesdienst anlässlich der weltweiten Gebetswoche für die Einheit der Christen am 21. Januar in der Augsburger Kirche St. Anna. Wiesemann sah die gemeinsame Ausrichtung der Kirchen auf Christus, so wie es 2017 im Reformationsjubiläum gelungen sei, als Chance an, aus den konfessionell verengten Blickwinkeln zu einer gemeinsamen Vision aufzubrechen. Der Gottesdienst in Augsburg wurde zusammen mit der ACK Bayern und der ACK Augsburg vorbereitet und gefeiert....

Gemeinsam mit der ACK Bayern und der ACK Augsburg gefeiert

Der Gottesdienst in Augsburg wurde zusammen mit der ACK Bayern und der ACK Augsburg gefeiert. An ihm wirkten neben Bischof Wiesemann u.a. auch die ACK-Vorstandsmitglieder Reverend Christopher Easthill von der Anglikanischen Kirche und Erzpriester Constantin Miron, Ökumenebeauftragter der Orthodoxen Bischofskonferenz, sowie Bischof Konrad Zdarsa (Diözese Augsburg), Bischof Harald Rückert (Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche) und Bischofsvikar Prälat Bertram Meier (Augsburg), Vorsitzender der ACK in Bayern, mit. Musikalisch wurde der Gottesdienst von Kirchenmusikdirektor Michael Nonnenmacher (Augsburg) gestaltet. Außerdem präsentierten Schüler und Schülerinnen der Ausbildungsklassen der Augsburger Ballett-und Tanzakademie Daniel Záboj eine Interpretation des Bibeltextes aus dem Buch Exodus.

Weitere Informationen zur Gebetswoche für die Einheit der Christen finden Sie unter www.gebetswoche.de.
Parish Outreach: Lambda
“For as many of you as were baptized in Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female ; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ” (Gal 3:27-28)
 
What is the Lambda Group?

The Lambda group is a bilingual parish group, at the American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris, for theological reflection and fellowship, created in 2004 for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, their families and friends regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.

Our mission is threefold:

  • To welcome and accompany those who have been discriminated against or rejected by their faith communities for their gender or sexual orientation.
  • To be a place of friendship and community
  • To advocate for equality and social justice for LGBT people.

The next event is: Lambda Carnaval Eucharist & Dinner , Saturday 10 February at 18h00 at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris

Read about Lambda
Old Catholics in France and Belgium
Archbishop Vercammen, to preach at the Cathedral on February 4th
The Most Rev. Joris Vercammen , Archbishop of the Old Catholic Diocese of Utrecht will be at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity on February 4 to preach at the 11 a.m. Eucharist, and to speak at the Adult Forum. At this Adult Forum, Archbishop Vercammen will speak of the Old Catholic Church and its relationship with the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal and Old Catholic Churches are currently in dialogue about the Episcopal Bishop in Charge in Europe exercising oversight of Old Catholic francophone parishes in France and Belgium.

Recently, the Old Catholics celebrated full communion with the Church of Sweden, and event that Anglican and Episcopal bishops also attended in Utrecht during the recent Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
New Book co-authored by Bishop Whalon
Book launch 2 February
This book was one of Bishop Whalon's projects during his recent sabbatical leave.

« Laïcité : l'expression publique de la religion » est un livre qui défend la laïcité au sens originel du mot, c'est-à-dire la liberté de conscience. Celle-ci porte en elle-même l'expression personnelle mais aussi publique de la foi de tout le monde. Or, la prétendue neutralité de l'Etat a l'effet pervers d'enfreindre toute expression publique d'une quelconque religion, sauf une — celle qui prétend ne pas être une religion. Autrement dit, la politique étatique a pour résultat l'entérinement de l'athéisme comme religion de facto de la France.
Jean-Michel Cadiot et Pierre Whalon, ardents défenseurs de la laïcité, démontrent par ce livre que la séparation des Eglises et de l'Etat n'entrave nullement l'expression naturelle et publique de la foi, de même que l'athéisme.
 
Pierre Whalon, 65 ans est l'évêque épiscopalien (anglican) pour l'Europe. Franco-américain de naissance, il a fait des études en France et aux Etats-Unis. Il exerce ses fonctions depuis 2001 à la Cathédrale de la Sainte Trinité, avenue George V à Paris.
 
Jean-Michel Cadiot, 65 ans lui aussi, a été journaliste à Témoignage chrétien et dans une grande agence de presse internationale. Il a écrit plusieurs essais sur les questions politiques et religieuses.

Santa Maria a Ferrano - Retreat Opportunities
Santa Maria a Ferrano is now part of Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers
Santa Maria a Ferrano is a Retreat Center in the hills of Tuscany, near Florence, Italy. Fr. Thomas Müller and his wife Paola Canu are the directors of the center. It offers a place for private retreats, and organized retreats focusing on art and spirituality.

In 2017, Santa Maria was accepted as a member of the Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers network, and is the only member outside the Americas.

Retreats are offered in English, Italian, German and Norwegian.

A list of English retreat offerings from March until September 2018 can be found here



Sermons online
Did you miss Church?
Were you unable to attend Church on Sunday?

Canon Mary Haddad and all sermons at the American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity are available on-line:

Canon Mary's most recent sermons in January are available here

Also check out:
News from the wider Church...
  Check out the latest edition of The Read Thread
Read the latest on the
and much more....
Francophone Outreach...
A la radio : le Magazine Anglican
Le « Magazine Anglican », animé par Laurence Moachon, paroissienne de la Cathédrale de la Sainte Trinité à Paris. 
À propos du Magazine Anglican :
Depuis septembre 2012, Laurence Moachon présente le 4e samedi du mois, le Magazine Anglican. Avec l’objectif de faire mieux connaître la tradition anglicane au public français, elle traite de sujets d’actualité culturelle, historique, liturgique ou ecclésiologique dans la Convocation et la Communion Anglicane. 
ÉCOUTEZ OU TÉLÉCHARGEZ LE MAGAZINE ANGLICAN sur :
Errata
There two errors in the November/December edition of Convocation News....
The Augsburg delegates were: Sally Rascher, Dagmar Hamberger, Agnes O'Sullivan, pictured with Bishop Whalon and Archdeacon Baer.
Sally Rascher was misidentified as Alice Bartusch.
Council of Advice Member Sonja March's last name is spelled March and not Marsh.
"Go forth for God; go to the world in peace; be of good courage, armed with heavenly grace, in God's good Spirit daily to increase, till in his kingdom we behold his face."

                                                   Hymn 347 - Holy Eucharist; Music: Litton 
The Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe | 23 avenue George V, 75008 Paris, France 
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