Author: Jo Dawes

The next edition of Becket News is due at the end of March.

The editor would appreciate articles, event news, reports on activities and other information for inclusion by Saturday 22 March at the latest. Please send to becketnews (at) aol.com.

This coming Saturday, 8 March, Nicki and Johann Schiller will lead the Church Wanderers on a walk along the Elbe from Schnackenbek to Lauenburg with its historic town centre.

Please meet at the 8800 bus stop outside Bergedorf station to catch the 10.45 bus (direction Lauenburg), alighting at Schnackenburg. Those coming by train from Hamburg, please note that the S21 dep.10.04 from Hbf arrives Bergedorf 10.25, or the 10.14 arriving 10.35 should also enable you to catch the bus. Allow plenty of time, as the next possible bus would be Schnellbus 31 at 11.24.

Tickets to Schnackenbek and Lauenburg are in the HVV Gesamtbereich. If you have a season ticket for Grossbereich only, you will need an “Ergänzungskarte für 2 Ringe”, costing €2 one way, available on the bus or on the internet. Others should buy a Tageskarte for Gesamtbereich, unless you are driving by car to Bergedorf, of course.

Please bring a picnic lunch and come with smiling faces, even if the sun is not shining.

Important Please let Nicki know by the evening of Friday, 7 March if you are planning to come. If you have any questions, please contact her:
email: nicki.schiller@gmx.de Tel: 04104/69 55 37
A call or text message to 0176 30 393 063 will reach her for any last-minute messages on the day of the walk.

It's Ash Wednesday on 5 March. There will be two services of Holy Communion and Imposition of Ashes: at 10.30am and 7pm.

If you've signed up for the Lenten study course, don't forget that the first session is on Wednesday, 12 March at 7pm in Fr Matthew's flat. The group will be looking at the film “Chocolat” and using the study guide “Christ and the Chocolaterie”. Please speak to Fr Matthew if you haven't put your name down but would still like to attend.

Lent Appeal
We will be collecting during Lent for the Bishop's Lent Appeal. This year's appeal is in partnership with Christian Aid for money to support the education and empowerment of over 1,000 women in Afghanistan. Read more on the Diocese in Europe website.

Servicegoers yesterday (23 Feb) got a sneak preview of Rachel Harris's coming concert when she provided solo violin meditations during the parish eucharist. She will be playing works by J.S.Bach, Telemann and Pisendel in a programme entitled “à Violino Solo” on Saturday 1 March at 7.30pm in the Anglican Church of St Thomas Becket – admission free. We're in for a treat!

Would like to join the parish choir to sing The Crucifixion by John Stainer on 10 April? If so, our choir director, Yotin Tiewtrakul would like to hear from you. You can find details of the project, rehearsals, and how to reach Yotin here.

The General Synod of the Church of England has voted to pave the way for the legislative process to enable women to become bishops to be completed this year. The legislation now goes to the dioceses for approval. An audio interview about the latest approval of legislation with the Bishop of Rochester, James Langstaff, who chairs the steering committee on the issue, is available here.

The 50th Ecumenical St Ansgar Vespers take place on Monday, 3 February at 7pm in the Hauptkirche St. Petri. Organised by the ACKH (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen Hamburg), of which STB is a member, the service honours Ansgar, the first Bishop of Hamburg, and gives thanks for the bringing of the Gospel to this city. Further details on the ACKH website.

The Church Wanderers will be going once round the Außenalster on Saturday, 8 February, a short walk (7km) so as to be back in time for the Altobasso concert in the evening. Meet at Dammtor station by the exit facing the bus stops at 11 am and bring a packed lunch, though a visit to Bobby Reich for a bowl of soup may be tempting as well.

Please let Cicely know by midday on Friday, 7 February if you are planning to come: cicely-hollingsworth (at) t-online.de, tel: 040/86 07 90, mobile:0172 635 93 98.

BRIDFAS (The British Decorative and Fine Arts Society of Hamburg e.V.) welcomes guests to a lecture by Jon Cannon on English medieval cathedrals on Thursday, 20 February.

Entitled “A Thousand Years of History: Medieval Cathedrals”, the lecture uses the English cathedrals as “time machines” to the medieval period, tracing their story from the revolutionary birth of English Christianity in about 600AD, through the great rebuilding that followed the Conquest of 1066, to the decades around a century later when gothic was invented in an atmosphere of febrile change and political tension. See full details on the BRIDFAS website.

Venue is the DESY Hörsaal (Notkestrasse 85, 22607 Hamburg). Doors open at 7.30pm and the lecture begins at 8pm. Guests pay an entrance fee of €12 (students €5).

BRIDFAS is planning to start a Church Record for our church. This will be a joint project with volunteers from within the church community and members of BRIDFAS. If you're interested in getting involved, you can find out more by clicking on the logo on the right of the page or following this link.

With barely six months to go till the Commonwealth Games open in Glasgow, Pause for Thought focuses on running to win. Click on “Pause for Thought” on the left of the page or follow this link.