News

We are delighted to announce the appointment of the Revd Canon Dr Leslie Nathaniel to be the new Chaplain of St Thomas Becket Church. He is expected to arrive in Hamburg in mid-September.

Father Leslie is currently the Archbishop of Canterbury’s International Ecumenical Secretary and European Secretary of the Council for Christian Unity. Born and brought up in South India, he has previously lived and worked in Germany, and is married to a German priest. Father’s Leslie’s own experience of crossing cultural boundaries will resonate with many of us.

A fluent German speaker, Father Leslie is also a keen church musician and a cricket enthusiast. A press release containing further details can be downloaded here as a PDF: English (291 KB), German (293 KB)

We featured briefly in NDR’s 21 May “Nordtour” broadcast. For those who missed it, here’s a link to the Mediathek. Our bit starts about 41 mins into the programme.

A bone fragment purporting to come from the elbow of our patron saint, the 12th century English martyr St Thomas Becket, has arrived in the UK from Hungary. On display in the UK for the first time since it was taken to Hungary 800 years ago, the relic is the centrepiece of a pilgrimage from London to Canterbury. You can read further reporting on the BBC and Church of England websites.

On 14 May, the Church Wanderers will be exploring Katinger Watt nature reserve alongside the Eider estuary and the North Sea coast in a walk of about 10 km. For transport reasons, numbers are limited for this walk. If you would like to join the group and have not yet let Nicki Schiller know, please do so by 10 p.m. on Thursday, 12 May: 0176 30 393 063, nicki.schiller(at)gmx.de

Saturday’s flea market raised €1,000 for the church. A big thank-you to everyone who helped. Every penny counts.

Your Becket News editor has finally managed to get her act and the spring edition together. You can find it here.

No, it’s no joke, Chloe who is a member of Windsor Morris would like to start a morris dancing group in Hamburg. So come along to church on 4 May at 7pm and let’s do it! For more info, see our Facebook page.

Don’t miss our flemarket in the church on Saturday, 30 April from 10am to 4pm. There’ll be bric-a-brac, clothes, jewellery, sports items, second-hand English books, DVDs/videos/CDs/records plus local and Indian food, and hot and cold drinks. And it’s all in aid of the church. Please come – and bring your friends.

Today is the 90th birthday of Her Majesty The Queen.

Heavenly Father,
as we celebrate the ninetieth birthday of Her Majesty the Queen,
receive our heartfelt thanks
for all that you have given her in these ninety years
and for all that she has given to her people.
Continue, we pray, your loving purposes in her,
and as you gather us together in celebration,
unite us also in love and service to one another;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(A collect approved by Her Majesty for use in services celebrating her 90th birthday this year.)