Author: Jo Dawes

The Diocese has asked the Chaplaincies what they are doing to support refugees. The Ladies’ Christian Fellowship has collected items for refugees, and Norbert Schoen will be contacting the city to see what support they might require. In the meantime, one of Birte Fischer’s friends has asked that we collect the following items for refugees (which must be clean and in good condition):

Bedding (sheets, duvet covers and pillowcases), towels, hot water bottles, men’s and women’s clothing (sizes S, M), toys¸children’s clothing¸boys’ clothing (sizes 116-174), thermos flasks.

Boxes to store the items are available upstairs on the gallery ooposite the bookstall.

The Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester, has become the first woman bishop to take her seat in the House of Lords, the upper house of the British parliament. The diocesan bishop was introduced to the House by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London on 26 October. Read more on this story on the ACNS and BBC websites.

Parishioners and friends of our church community are warmly invited to be part of this year’s choir for our Service of Nine Lessons and Carols on 12 December. Rehearsals are as follows:

Thursday 5 November 2015, 7pm – Rehearsal
Thursday 12 November 2015, 7pm – Rehearsal
Thursday 19 November 2015, 7pm – Rehearsal
Thursday 26 November 2015, 7pm – Rehearsal
Thursday 3 December 2015, 7pm – Rehearsal
Thursday 10 December 2015, 7pm – Rehearsal
Saturday 12 December 2015, 5pm – Warming up 6pm – Carol Service

Please let Yotin know if you want to join in.

If you want to avoid turning up an hour early to church tomorrow and maybe finding yourself with an unexpected job to do, you shouldn’t forget to put your clocks back by one hour tonight (at 3 am on 25 October to be precise). On the other hand, this could be your chance to sing all the verses of the opening hymn.

As representatives from almost 200 countries conclude their final round of negotiations in Bonn, Germany, this week, ahead of December’s UN-led international conference on climate change in Paris, a number of leading Anglicans and Episcopalians have put their name to a statement calling for an ambitious climate agreement. For full story see the ACNS website.

Clifford Poole has kindly offered to run an Advent Study Group over the coming weeks. The Study Group will meet in the Chaplain’s Flat on Tuesday evenings over the period 1930-2100 hrs. The first meeting will be on 3 Nov and the final meeting will be on 15 Dec. If you wish to attend the Study Group, then please make contact with Clifford and let him know that you wish to take part.

In elections to the new Diocese in Europe Synod, which begins its term next year, half the House of Clergy are new to the Synod and 14 of the 20 lay members have already served on Synod. Read the full story on the Diocese in Europe website.

Our annual bazaar will be held on Saturday, 21 November 2015, from 10.30 am to 4 pm. Helpers are still needed for various jobs and stalls. If you think you might be able to spare a couple of hours, please contact Daniel Loarte or Norbert Schoen (see the back page of Becket News for contact details).

Raffle tickets are also available for just €2 each. If you would like a book of 50 tickets to sell, please let Norbert know. There will be an extra prize for the person who sells the most tickets.

The bazaar is the event that raises the most income to help keep our church running, so please give it all the support you can.

Seven years since the Anglican Church of St Thomas Becket first went online, we’ve redesigned our website. You should find it better to use on smart phones and tablets. You can now comment on posts and you should find it easier to switch to our Facebook page (button at top right). Please let us know what you think. If you’re missing things you liked on our old page, tell us. We haven’t thrown anything away! We’re very grateful to John Heaven of Heaven & Weps who has kindly taken care of the design and development of this site.

Reconciliation seems to be in the DNA of Anglicanism, says the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. “Despite our own differences, we seem to find ourselves doing this stuff.” Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington on 13 October, the Archbishop said a majority of Anglican provinces were facing persecution or were in actual conflict or post-conflict. He also said that the mainstreams of all faiths must “challenge and subvert” radicalisation and religiously-motived violence within their traditions. Read more on this story and watch a video of the interview with Justin Welby on the ACNS website.