Author: Jo Dawes

Everyone is invited to a charity concert and get together in aid of the Anglican Church of St Thomas Becket on Saturday, 8 November 2014 at 8pm. There will be songs by George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Barbara Streisand, Harry Belafonte, Robbie Williams and many more performed by Stefanie Maria Nissen, soprano, Galathea B. von Meer, contralto, and Tetyana Szcessny, piano. In the second half there will be a chance to sing along. The event is also on Facebook, so please invite your friends.

The latest Becket News is available. Pick up your copy in church or, if you prefer to read it online, click here.

William Shakespeare would like to invite you to his 450th birthday party on Friday 10 October at 7pm. He has laid on food, wine, the Hamburg Players and musician Fadi Gaziri to ensure a lusty and merry evening at the Anglican Church, and all for a mere five ducats. Euros also welcome. You can find the flier here.

An exciting evening of Afro-Peruvian Jazz is on the cards when PERFEKTOMAT takes to the St Thomas Becket stage on Saturday 4 October at 7pm. Joscha Oetz's quintet fuses the sounds and rhythms of coastal Peru with European jazz-sensibility. Central to this endeavour is the cajon, a Peruvian instrument now popular in Europe. Entrance is by donation in aid of the church. Read more or download the flier here.

No, nothing to do with the vote on Scottish independence, but the next walk with the Church Wanderers, who are off to Fischbeker Heide on Saturday 13 September with the aim of enjoying the heather in bloom. There are two routes, a short one of about 5km and a longer one of about 9km. Please bring a picnic and travel on the S3 train departing Hamburg Hbf from Gleis 4 at 10.58 (dep Altona 10.44, Landungsbrücken 10.50). Try to get in a carriage near the front and get out at Harburg Rathaus to catch a relief bus to Neugraben and then the 250 bus to Fischbeker Heideweg, arriving soon after 11.30. Please let Cicely know by 12 noon on Friday, 12 September if you plan to come: cicely-hollingsworth (at) t-online.de, tel: 040/86 07 90, mobile: 0162 635 93 98.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is opening up Lambeth Palace to adults aged 20–35 to spend a year living, praying and studying together as a radical new Christian community. Read more on the Archibishop's website or listen to him talking about the project to Edward Stourton on the BBC's Sunday programme

A new feature of this year's Church Bazaar on 22 November will be an auction. We need some “interesting” items for auctioneer Manfred Struck to put under the hammer. If you have something “antique” or “collectable” that you would like to donate, please let Father Matthew know.

STB's new chamber choir, the Anglican Consort, will be singing choral evensong in the church on 11 September at 7pm. Music director Yotin Tiewtrakul says: “The Anglican Consort will sing pieces by Henry and Daniel Purcell. Father Matthew Jones, chaplain of our 400-year-old Hamburg parish, will conduct this distinctive Anglican service where beauty meets spirituality.” You can find details of the music on STB's Facebook page.

You are invited to the second Church Recording meeting at St Thomas Becket on Tuesday 9 September at 6 pm. The meeting, to discuss next steps, will take about an hour.

Pat Pledger of BRIDFAS, who is coordinating the project, reports that the person in charge of church recording for NADFAS in London (the head office of the Decorative and Fine Arts Societies) will come to Hamburg later in the year to provide some training, take the group around the church and point out details and aspects that should be considered.

Pat will also be bringing some Church Recording Manuals to the meeting. She says, “please think about giving this project your support and come along to our meeting anyway to see what it is all about – there are no strings attached”. For more information, click on the BRIDFAS logo on the right of this page or visit the BRIDFAS website.

St Thomas Becket's first ever flea market was a great success, coming in over budget at more than €1200. Well done to Deb Zeni for organising it and to everyone else who helped make it happen.