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The Anglican Church of St Thomas à Becket in Hamburg is pleased to announce that its next Chaplain will be Revd Jules A. Barnes, currently priest in charge of St Margaret’s Warnham in the Diocese of Chichester in England. We expect Jules to join the chaplaincy in March 2021.

Before moving to Warnham, Jules was Chaplain to the Bishop of Bristol and a minor Canon at Bristol Cathedral, with a range of diocesan involvements. She started her ordained ministry ten years ago, in Wilton, Salisbury. 

Jules brings with her a breadth of pre-ordination work experience, too, having worked in contexts from the London Stock Exchange to easyJet and from NHS project management to media and family history research. Her initial university was Durham, where she read music as an undergraduate. This was followed by an MBA and then later, when her calling to ordained ministry was discerned, she studied theology at the Cuddesdon College, University of Oxford.

‘I can’t wait to move to Hamburg and to take up my new role as Chaplain to St Thomas à Becket Anglican church,’ she says. ‘I look forward to getting to know you all, and the city, and to our future mission and ministry together. I want the church to be a sign of hope, that deals in abundance of life, and welcomes all who come there.’

From the Churchwardens and Chaplaincy Council

Download a PDF of this announcement

The St Thomas Handicrafters (and friends) have been hard at work over the summer and have a lovely selection of handicrafts this year for you. This year the offering includes the usual jewellery and scarves, but there are also wrist warmers, hot water bottle covers, and lots of other wonderful things.

You can virtually peruse the Handicrafts Stall and reserve items here: https://forms.gle/Aaxg9USMseTTxJFu7
New items will be added as additional contributions come in, so it’s worth checking back in occasionally.

Once you have had your selection confirmed, and have transferred payment to the church account, then you can either pick-up your selection at church on a Sunday or have it posted to you.

Any questions please contact: handicrafts@anglican-church-hamburg.de

A new edition of “European Anglicans”, the Diocese in Europe magazine, has just been published, with news and views from around the diocese. You can read it online or download it here.

Under the present pandemic circumstances, it has unfortunately become clear that holding a mini-market in place of the traditional Christmas bazaar on 21 November is not feasible, as it would not only expose stall-holders and visitors to possible risk of infection, but also entails too many risk mitigation measures to be practical, since Christmas markets across the country have been banned. Therefore the Chaplaincy Council has taken their decision not to go ahead with this in line with many other organisations.

However, all is not lost. British products such as tea, English biscuits, Christmas crackers and puddings, home-made jams, marmalade and chutneys, the renowned recycled Christmas cards, mince pies and Christmas cookies, handicrafts and books, can be ordered by sending a mail to bazaar@anglican-church-hamburg.de and the order picked up after the Sunday service from 12:00–13:00. The preference is for products to be ordered in advance to avoid long queues. However, these products will also be sold on small stalls every Sunday until Christmas from 12.00–13.00.

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An order form with information about products available and how to order and pay for them can be found here. Please see separate information regarding online ordering of Christmas cards.Please see separate information regarding online ordering of Christmas cards.

Junior Church on 8th November

Our leisurely walking group, the Church Wanderers, is meeting again. On 3 October, we’ll be walking through Wohldorfer Wald from Ohlstedt station (meet at P+R car park opposite the station to start at 11 o’clock). Please let Jo Dawes know if you plan to join and haven’t already said so: mail(at)dawescom.de or 01724058736.

Despite the difficult times we are all currently facing, the chaplaincy council has decided to go ahead with preparations for our annual church bazaar which we plan to hold on Saturday, 21 November 2020.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we have to be very flexible with the management and organisation of the bazaar this year.

Eric Lord has been so kind to once more offer his assistance as Chief Organizer. Madeleine Herring, Wendy Sprock, Emma Richter and Valerie Müller will assist him as well as they can under the circumstances.

Eric has made a start on planning the bazaar without any open food and drink on offer (according to the current regulations) but this is an ongoing planning exercise as we move forward in time, and this may change. At the bazaar we may also have to come up with alternate fundraising ideas due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and so we are grateful for any new ideas on items, stalls or activities we could offer to raise more money. Therefore, please support us and we will do our very best to keep you informed at all times. Should you have any further questions, or if you would like to organise something new this year or can donate any handicrafts, please do not hesitate to contact the team. We are open to new ideas and suggestions.

The final bazaar date will be confirmed as soon as possible.

We were told already when we were kids: You can pray anywhere. And at the same time people have their favourite spot and also their favourite time to spend some moments in prayer. 

When I had a phase where the Daily Office was very important to me I had of course a corner in my bedroom with a candle and an icon. That was my spot for Morning and Evening Prayer. Setting apart a time and a place helped me stay in a healthy rhythm. Now I am rather unstructured. I have suggested reading (or praying or singing) through the psalms. And honestly these days I would just read them lying in bed before sleep. That’s my time and place. And that’s it at the moment. 

What about you? Do you have a favourite spot for prayer? Is it at your kitchen table? Is it somewhere in a park? Or do you have a little corner for a candle, or a cross, an icon or some other symbols? Easiest way would be to send in a picture. We’d collect and share them next week!

Yotin Tiewtrakul, Choirmaster