The Act of Consecration of Man
The Act of Consecration of Man is celebrated on Thursdays at 9am and Sundays at 10am
Study Groups and Discussion Groups
Tuesdays
4pm Poetry cafe via Zoom (fortnightly)
The Discussion Groups on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and the Gospel Study Group on Thursday evenings, will resume in September
Other Events
15th August, 11.30am The Lord’s Prayer II: Heavens above and Heavens below (Nigel Lumsden)
22nd August, 11.30am
Congregational meeting
With updates on matters of concern and open discussion
28th August, 9am
Die Menschenweihehandlung (Act of Consecration of Man in German)
2-5pm Open Gardens
29th August
11.30am The Lord’s Prayer III: Living with the Lord’s Prayer. Discussion (Tom Ravetz)
7pm Social Artistic Evening
5th September
10am Induction of Nataliia Shatna
afterwards Welcome for Nataliia Shatna
3pm Family Event with Nataliia
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Update
The church is now open in the mornings Tuesday-Saturday 10am-12pm. We have a wonderful art exhibition featuring work from two painters and a sculptor at the moment for you to come and see in the community room and foyer.
Please wait to return to church if you have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 10 days or have new symptoms.
In the congregational meeting on 25th July, we agreed that we will not wear face-coverings in the church or when sitting in meetings. We need to maintain the flow in our public spaces, particular the foyer and entrance lobby, which are not large enough to allow for circulation with a lot of space.
There will be coffee after the services on Sundays from 25th July, and we will open the french windows in order to maintain ventilation in the Community Room.
We are now sharing out communion in every service. Please leave space between each other when you stand at the front, and let the row before you sit down before you stand up to come forward.
Selina will be taking the services in Canterbury this Sunday.
With best wishes,
Selina and Tom
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Inner and outer famine (Luke 15)
The turning point of the story of the Lost or Prodigal Son is the moment when he notices that his inner state is being reflected by the world outside of him. The values by which he has been living – seizing his share of the property and squandering it, come from an inner famine. Now he is confronted with a famine all around him. Just in this moment, the Greek original text says: Then he went into himself. We can ask ourselves: where was he before? Who did he find within himself? What gave him the strength to go there? The rest of the story shows the extraordinary transformation that this moment brings: he resolves to become a co-worker of God; he finds the strength – starving, stinking and outcast as he is – to walk the bitter road home. Might we imagine that all that sustains him is the words that he repeats to himself again and again: ‘Father, I have sinned before heaven and before you. Make me one of you servants...’?
The father feels what his son has been through, long before the son comes into sight. Leaving dignity to the other tribal chiefs, he takes to his heels and clutches his son to his bosom. His words make it clear that this is more than just relief that his son is safe: he recognises the transformation: This my son was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found!
It felt very resonant hearing this story, which has been called the ecological parable for our time, the weekend before the publication of the IPCC report on climate change. Whatever we think about the science of global warming, it is clear that we cannot continue exploiting the earth as we have been. Whatever we think about the causes of the Covid crisis, this too makes clear that we cannot continue as we have before. Along with many other things, this extraordinary period has felt like an opportunity for humanity to ‘go into itself’. It is perhaps too soon to say what we discovered there. And it is likely that the discoveries will not translate into simple political and economic solutions to the grave problems we face. Nevertheless, the story of the Lost Son demonstrates the power of self-reflection. Perhaps it is not too fanciful to imagine that the divine world is waiting to embrace humanity as it turns in countless moments of inner transformation and says: ‘Make me one of your servants...’
- Tom Ravetz
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The Lord’s Prayer
In three sessions with presentation and discussion, we will turn to this great prayer of humanity.
In the background is a practical question, namely that we are close to making the change in the rituals from Thee and Thy to You and Your. In many cases, it is relatively straightforward to make the change.
In the case of the opening words of the Lord’s Prayer, there are a number of possibilities. At our last synod, the priests agreed to open this discussion out to the congregations. In order to avoid possible misunderstandings, we need to make it clear that the priests’ circle it carries the responsibility for this decision and we are not asking for a vote. However, it would help us in our decision-making to hear the spectrum of opinion in the congregations.
The second session will be held by Nigel Lumsden, who will be staying in the guest room as he prepares to go to Toronto for Ordination Preparation. In the third session, we will leave time to hear reflections on the translation question.
1st August Addressing the Heavenly Father (Tom Ravetz)
15th August Heavens above and Heavens below (Nigel Lumsden)
29th August Living with the Lord’s Prayer. Discussion (Tom Ravetz)
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Talk by Michaela Glöckler
The talk that Michaela gave on the Sources of True Healing as part of our event in May, has been transcribed. You can download it here.
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We've decided to repeat the Open Gardens as the weather (and possibly Wimbledon!) deterred many from coming .
Those who did venture out said they had such a lovely afternoon and suggested we could have it again in better weather.
Come along to church on Saturday afternoon the
28th of August 2-5pm
for a ticket and map.
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Poetry Cafe - Tuesday 17th August 4pm
Next Theme - continuing William Wordsworth's poetry
This week we explored more poems by Wordsworth and in the next session, we will continue to read together his work about a shepherd 'Michael' and share other poems he has written aswell.
To take part in the Poetry Cafe, follow this link if you already use Zoom or would like to install it. Otherwise, you can join by dialling a national rate number: 0203 481 5237 and entering the following numbers when asked:
Meeting ID: 885 8806 8572 Passcode: 769554
The meeting space will open at 3.50pm.
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Gospel readings
Sunday, August 15 … Luke 9:1-17
Sunday, August 22 … Luke 18:35-43
Sunday, August 29 … Mark 7:31-37
Sunday, September 5 … Luke 10:1-20
Sunday, September 12 … Luke 17:5-24
Sunday, September 19 … Matthew 6:19-34
Sunday, September 26 Luke 7:11-17
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Free Thursday Art History talks at 12 noon
online
Each session will be new content and will not be a direct follow-on from the week before but we will hold to our ongoing theme of the evolving of consciousness as it can be found in art over the ages of time.
Please note our new programme is as follows:
August
12th - Fra Angelico and Benozzo Gozzoli
19th - Piero Della Francesca, Tomaso Masaccio
26th - Michelangelo, Raphael Santi, plus various other Artists
September:
2nd - Leonardo da Vinci — lecture by Andrew Wolpert
9th - Landscape and Sky-scape : Constable, Casper David Friedrich, Turner
16th - Impressionists and Expressionists - Deborah Ravetz will join us.
23rd - Modern Art - Deborah Ravetz
30th - Ninette Sombart - a Christ inspired artist in colour, form and depth.
I look forward to welcoming you to our journey through the ages in art and the unfolding of human consciousness.
Greetings and good wishes,
Peter van Breda
(email)
Join Zoom Meeting at 11.50am ready for 12 begin via this link.
Meeting ID: 883 2856 7566
Passcode: 797461
Listen to Previous Art Talks:
Click here to listen to the talk on Pre-Renaissance Art
Click here to listen to the talk on Chartres Cathedral
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Social Artistic Evening
Sunday 29th August at 7pm
Join us for an informal evening where the community room 'stage' is open for anyone to share a song an instrumental piece, a poem or a sketch.
Come to be the much-needed and appreciative audience or start practising a contribution that you may like to give on the night!
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Furniture to spare?
We are on the look out for possible furniture items for our new priest, Nataliia Shatna. Please get in touch and possibly provide photos, if you have furniture you would like to sell or donate.
selinaclarehorn@gmail.com
07742280147
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Some useful resources
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Landline |
Mobile |
Email |
Church |
01342 825 436 |
n/a |
tccinfr@gmail.com |
Selina Horn |
01825 790452 |
07742 280147 |
selinaclarehorn@gmail.com |
Tom Ravetz |
01342 458132 |
07749 662717 |
t@ravetz.org.uk |
- You can download a shortened, printable version of this email here.
- Reply to this email direct or by clicking this link.
- Gospel readings for the Act of Consecration of Man are listed here.
- Our Facebook page.
- Perspectives, quarterly journal of The Christian Community.
- The website of The Christian Community in Great Britain and Ireland has a blog where we are posting some of the material that priests have been sending their congregations in the last weeks and months. There is a facility to subscribe to that directly.
- Header picture by Deborah Ravetz
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