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The spring flea market at St Thomas Becket is fast becoming a tradition as a counterpart to our winter bazaar. This year it will be on 30 April from 10 am to 4 pm, offering bric-a-brac, clothes, jewellery, sports items, second-hand English books, DVDs, videos, CDs and records, refreshments and more. It’s an event not to be missed. Download the flier (178 kB).

BRIDFAS raised €2000 for the church at the Dickens lecture on 17 March. What a tremendous result! A big thank you to the BRIDFAS team for all the work that went into the event and for their generosity.

BRIDFAS chairperson Pat Pledger says,”I was delighted with both the lecture and the turnout. We still have a large picture that was donated to us, so we are planning to auction it at one of our lectures”. The proceeds from the auction will also go to the church fund.

The Anglican Church of St Thomas Becket will hold its Annual General Meeting on 24 April after the 10.30 service. This is where we review reports for the year and elect the Church Wardens and Church Council members for the coming year. All those on the electoral roll are eligible to vote. If you’re not on the electoral roll and wish to be, please contact Norbert Schoen. If you wish to stand for elections, please approach one of the wardens or the CC secretary, Peter Alexander.

Tickets are selling fast for the fundraising lecture in church on “Dickens – the man and his life through his characters” on Thursday 17 March. BRIDFAS is hosting this event with lecturer Bertie Pearce, supported by well-known British actor in Hamburg, Mark Lyndon, in aid of the church. Tickets are still available in church or as detailed in this PDF invitation. Do come and bring your friends!

In this year’s Passiontide concert on Saturday 12 March 2016 at 6pm the “Englische Kirche” in Hamburg presents hymns from the “West Gallery Music” repertoire: Music from the 18th century sung and played in English parish churches. The organ wasn’t very common in that time and melody instruments helped the village choir to keep the pitch. The Anglican Choir together with singers from the Sacred Harp singing group invite you to the reading of Jesus’s suffering and death interspersed with hymns and psalms of the Georgian era. For further details see Calendar or our Facebook page.

The Wanderers’ March walk will be in and around the charming town of Glückstadt. We aim to walk through the historical old town, admire the Stadtkirche and the harbour and walk along the dike. On our return to the town centre, we’ll take a break for coffee and a snack before going back to the station to return to Hamburg in good time for those who plan to attend the Passion of Christ – 11 Lessons and West Gallery Hymns – at 6:00 p.m. at STB.

We meet at 8:45 in front of the Reise Centrum at Hamburg Hauptbahnhof to get our Schleswig-Holstein small group tickets together before catching the RB61 train to Itzehoe at 9:06.  We should reach Glückstadt at 9:50. Please let Nicki know by 10 p.m. on Friday 11 March if you plan to come: 04104 695537 or 0176 30 393 063.

We welcome Bishop Rupert Hoare as our new locum chaplain. Meanwhile Revd Tania Witter, who had been with us since January, has now returned to the UK. You can read her final sermon here. We are grateful to all our locum chaplains for looking after us so well while we seek to appoint a new permanent chaplain.

BRIDFAS of Hamburg is generously holding its 17 March lecture in the church at 7pm, with all proceeds donated to church funds. Tickets must be bought in advance.

The lecture, entitled “Charles Dickens, the man and his life through his characters”, is by Bertie Pearce from the UK. The well-known British (Hamburg) actor and comedian Mark Lyndon will be supporting Bertie with several Dickens readings. There will a wine bar, and a raffle of art/heritage and Dickens books is planned.

Pat Pledger, Chairperson of BRIDFAS, hopes to fill the church, so please come along with some of your friends and spread the word about the event. It is open to everybody, but tickets must be bought in advance to ensure there are enough seats. Tickets cost €5 for members of BRIDFAS and the church and €12 for all others. They are available in church or as detailed in this PDF invitation.

Do not miss out on what promises to be a very enjoyable evening – get your tickets now!

Have you had a “mountain-top experience”, a moment of revelation, a turning point in your life when you see Jesus for who he really is? That was the question asked by Tania Witter, our locum chaplain, when she preached last Sunday on the Transfiguration. You can read the full text of her sermon here.

Tomorrow (10 Feb) is Ash Wednesday, when we enter the season of Lent, remembering the 40 days and 40 nights that Jesus spent fasting and praying in the wilderness and beginning our own spiritual journey towards Holy Week and Easter. You can join us in church at 7 pm for an Ash Wednesday service of Holy Communion and imposition of ashes. If you can’t be there, why not tune in to Ash Wednesday live from Lambeth Palace on Facebook – from 1.35 pm German time?