churchoftheresurrection

Venice

2009-06-08T11:42:00.000-07:00

Last week we were in Italy for meetings, very close to Venice, and on Saturday afternoon, before returning to Macedonia we made time to visit the beautiful city.

Venice was as good, even better, than any preconceptions I had in my mind. It was unbelievable to park our car then walk across a bridge into a totally different world; no cars, no roads, no traffic noise, and everywhere canals. Some small, some large, and boats parked at every door.

St Mark's Basilica was as good as all the tourist guide books predicted, and the gondoliers as stylish as they needed to be to maintain their reputations! Oh yes, and the prices in St Mark's Square are as ridiculous as ever!

However, nothing can reduce the wonder of Venice, it is as wonderful as it is unique; another incredible example of God's handiwork.

Service of Blessing for Logan Dimitri

2009-05-31T05:55:00.000-07:00

On 31 May, Pentecost Sunday, as part of our Sunday worship we included a service of blessing for Logan Dimitri, son of one of our regular congregants, Scott Heaslet and his wife Daniela. Scott's parents had travelled from Texas for the baptism of their first grandson last week in Ochrid, as well as the Anglican service of blessing.

The blessing coincided with the visit of our Priest in Charge, Fr Robin Fox, from Belgrade. Father Robin presided and preached at the service.

The service was another challenge of concentration and perseverence as our Roman Catholic hosts had a major service of confirmation in the main church immediately beside the side chapel where we worship. However, we survived, and by the end of the service we numbered 16-including of course the newest member of our church family, baby Logan Dimitri!

Weekend in Halkidiki

2009-05-30T02:49:00.000-07:00

Not too far from Skopje is the beautiful area of Greece popularly known as the three fingers of Halkidiki. Each finger is a peninsula, equally beautiful and with plenty of places to stay, and enjoy the sea, sun, and sand.

Last weekend we visited the second finger and stayed in a wonderful family run villa close to Nikiti. It is only a four hour drive from Skopje but the contrast was incredible. It was wonderful to wake up to the sound of the cockerel crowing (took me back to growing up on our farm in England!). Then the birds took over the dawn chorus-it was nature at its most beautiful.

Our days were simple, catching the sun and swimming in the bay that was literally 30 metres from our apartment. The water was clear and warm, and hardly a wave in sight. Lunch each day was a hghlight-our local taverna had an incredible view overlooking the bay and the fish and salads were so fresh and delicious, it was like living a dream.

On Monday it was time to return to Skopje-back to life, back to reality, but much refreshed after a weekend in peace and tranquility!

Next time the first finger..............................

Sunday worship in Sofia

2009-05-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

On Sunday 17th May we held the mnothly service in Sofia. Following the departure for England of our Chaplain Martin Jacques we are currently starting an interregnum, where we are determined that the pattern of worship will not be affected.

It was a wonderful privilege to be back in Sofia particularly as the congregation there now has the use of a Roman Catholic chapel for their services. This was my first visit for almost three years and as I had expected almost all of the faces were new, although it was wonderful to renew acquaintances with one or two old and dear friends.

Martin had told me that my welcome would be warm and he did not exagerate. We had a wonderful congregation, eventually reaching almost thirty people, and the service was rounded off with great fellowship both in the immediate coffee time immediately afterwards and then in the second coffee break on the terrace of a nearby cafe.

All in a day's work.......!

2009-05-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

In that wonderful British classic "Open All Hours" Ronnie "Arkwright" Barker used to often round off the episode with a comment along the lines of -it's been a funny old day!

That comment came to mind last Sunday (10th May)-it was a wonderful and certainly action packed day. It started early with the Skopje Marathon at 9am. The early start was very well timed because even at such an early hour the sun was really powerful. A group of colleagues from the EU Mission, led by our Ambassador Erwan Fouere took part in the 5km run along with many hundreds of other fun runners. By the end of the 5km many of us were wondering where the fun part was!

After a long hot shower and a much appreciated breakfast it was time to head for church for our 1200 service. Getting there proved an enormous challenge as most of the access roads were still closed off because of the Marathon and even then our problems were not over. Our hosts, in the Roman Catholic cathedral ,were holding a major service to celebrate the election of a new Bishop and their service went on and on and on and on. In the end we made a very quiet start in the side chapel and gradually spread our wings and lifted our singing voices when their service finally ended.

The day was rounded off in spectacular style with a barbecue in our garden, very kindly provided by the family that owns our house. The house was wonderful, the food tasted great, and after the morning run a glass of beer tasted like nectar!

All in all, a wonderful, if funny old day. And yet another day when God's gifts were powerfully displayed-wonderful weather, great fellowship shared with family and friends, the chance to worship Him, delicious food and drinks. Praise be to Him!

May 1st in Macedonia

2009-05-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

As with most countries in Europe, May 1st is a holiday in Macedonia. Although the weather was not so good, we joined many other citizens of Skopje in heading the beautiful Matka canyon.

Matka is a wonderful combination of the works of man combined with the gifts of God. A beautiful valley has been even further enriched by the building of a hydro electical dam that has created both beautiful scenery and a really interesting path for walking.

Unfortunately the day that started cold very soon had rain as an added bonus, proving once again that man can plan holidays and places to visit, but only God decides what will be the weather!

Easter Service in Skopje

2009-04-11T12:17:00.000-07:00

This year we held our Easter Service on Easter Eve, completing the Easter Vigil with the beautiful Service of Light. Following readings and contemplations, we shared the light of Christ symbolically as we lit candles and gradually filled the side chapel of the Roman Cathoplic church with light.

It was wonderful to have over 20 people in the congregation to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, particularly as many of them were with us for the first time, including a goodly number of children and babies.

Immediately after the service we shared a glass of wine and/or juice as well some cakes and dyed eggs. The eggs were red, following the local custom of symbolising the blood of Christ. This led to one very amusing moment, that raised memories of the fabled "curate's egg"!

We were "jarbing" eggs, hitting the ends together to see which egg broke first. Unfortunately (for me) it turned out that the one given to me was not even soft boiled never mind hard boiled-it was fresher than fresh even though it had a fine red hue!!! Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your viewpoint no photographs were taken but suffice to say that after much cleaning of the floor the side chapel was restored to its former glory in time for the Roman Catholic Service of Light that followed later in the evening.

A happy and blessed Easter to you all. Hristos a inviat! Adeverat a inviat!

Spring in Skopje

2009-04-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, expertly guided by our dear friend Joan Pearce, we had a lovely walk in the hills immediately on the edge of Skopje. Having grown accustomed (although never happy) to needing at least one and a half hours in the car to get out of Bucharest it is still a wonderful feeling to be able to walk out of our door of our house and head straight for unspoilt natural beauty on foot!

Our objective last weekend was to enjoy the wild primroses in the hills leading up to Mount Vodno, the spiritual retreat for the vast majority of Skopje citizens. We were not disappointed, the primroses were beautiful, the weather was warm anbd spring like, and the views over Skopje and the surrounding countryside indescribable. God's handiwork was evident everywhere we looked, and at its most beautiful!

Western Macedonia

2009-04-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

Last week we had the opportunity to spend some time in Western Macedonia in the area around the ski-ing resort of Mavrovo. Although sadly for him the blog was working rather than ski-ing, the visit did give the opportunity to see a little of the natural beauty of Macedonia!

Mavrovo is a small town that nestles in the mountains on the edge of Lake Mavrovo, and is located very close to some wonderful ski slopes that have been developed without being spoiled. While we were there, winter transformed into spring and hundreds of small waterfalls appeared bringing melt water rushing from the mountains into the lake. It was a truly spectacular sight.

A highlight of our visit was the opprotunity to see one of the many beautiful orthodox monasteries that are located all over Macedonia. This one is dedicated to St John the Baptist and exuded an atmosphere of peace and prayerfullness that could not be ignored.

Although Mavrovo is only one and a half hours drive from the capital city Skopje it is also located very close to the Albanian border-this gives an indication of how small and compact is Macedonia! However, Macedonia is living proof that small can indeed be beautiful. So, stand by and watch for more photos and commentary from this living jewel!

Martin's final service in Sofia

2009-04-07T11:01:00.000-07:00

First of all, sincere apologies for the long silence. Moving to Skopje has proved to be a time consuming adventure. Now, after eight months Skopje is starting to feel like home, and there are even green shoots showing of an emerging Anglican community in our new home city!

Of course, things have been happening also in Bucharest while we have been finding our feet in Skopje. Not least, has been the decision of Martin and Alex to return to England after almost three years of devoted service to the Church of the Resurrection in Bucharest. Last Sunday, Palm Sunday, was their last service in Sofia, and these photographs show what a wonderful send off the congregation there gave him.

Jonathan Dunne who sent the photos, gives the following description of them:

1- Martin's last service in the Catholic Chapel of the Annunciation

2 - Martin in good voice! (the hymn was "My song is love unknown")

3 - Gino presenting Martin with some farewell gifts (an icon of Christ and a smart fountain pen!) in the presence of Walter and Steve

4 - Elodie, Lauren, Els, Lisa and Mira look on

Martin still has two more weeks left in Romania, with his final service being on 26th April.

With God's help, the blog will now resume its meanderings around Central Europe and in particular the Balkans. So, watch this space and who knows what you might see!

Church Garden Party 2008

2008-06-29T04:41:00.000-07:00

On Friday evening the second annual Great British Garden Party was held in Bucharest in the beautiful settings of Aleea Alexandru. After ten days of unbroken sunshine and despite warnings of imminent storms, the sun shone on both the righteous and the unrighteous and a very large number of friends of the Church of the Resurrection attended and helped to raise over 5000 euros to support the mission of the Anglican church in Romania.

Preparations over the previous days had been frenetic and we waited anxiously to see what would go wrong on the day! Fortunately, the only problem was one of interpretation with our very kind sponsors, Metro, who provided all of the food for the evening. Next year we will know to ask for the different ingredients of the salad seperately, rattr than just for "salad" (if you know some Romanian, you may be aware that the Romanian word for lettuce is salat), and that is exactly what we got-20 euros worth of salat, in various forms and varieties-but all lettuce! We survived, and every guest was invited to take home as much lettuce/salat as they could use at the end of the evening!

All of our guests enjoyed a wonderful barbecue grill, washed down with cold draft beer or a variety of Romanian wines. For dessert there was Dutch pancakes and cheese. For entertainment for the children there was face painting and balloons, and our funds were bolstered by an auctions of gifts as well as a mega raffle. By the time the final guests left the sun had well and truly set on a wonderful and successful evening. Thank you to everyone for their support for the eveeng in many different ways, and in particularto our Chaplain, Martin Jacques, for the enormous and largely anonymous work that he put in to ensure that the Party was so well organuised.

and a very special dinner party

2008-06-23T07:54:00.000-07:00

Following the evensong service; HM Ambassador to Bucharest, His Excellency Robin Barnett, and his wife Tesca hosted a dinner party in honour of Bishop David's visit to Bucharest. Present at the dinner, as well as representatives of the Church of the Resurrection, were guests from the Orthodox Church, Greek Catholic Church, and Armenian Church in Romania.

Over dinner, many stories were shared about life in Bucharest and in particular the life of the Christian churches in Bucharest over the last 40 years and through these conversations it emerged the the Archbishop of the Armenian Church in Romania has served in Bucharest for over 50 years, and so was here already when Bishop David was Chaplain at the Church of the Resurrection.

The food was wonderful and the company and conversation outstanding. All in all, a perfect way to conclude the visit of our former chaplain. Bishop David, we are waiting for you to return on your next visit!

A very special evensong.................

2008-06-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

On Thursday evening we held a very special evensong in the Church of the Resurrection with Bishop david Hope as our Visiting Preacher and President. Even though it was a working day and Bucharest traffic was its usual 6pm chaos a large congregation gathered and we were privileged to listen to an insprired homily from Bishop David on giving thanks for what we have in our lives through living our lives for God.

It was a strange feeling to understand that we were worshipping God in the very same church were Bishop David had presided as Resident Chaplain so many years ago.

Queen's Birthday Party in Bucharest

2008-06-23T07:36:00.000-07:00

On June 18th the Official Birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was celebrated in Bucharest. One of the guests of honour was Bishop David Hope, who was from 1967-68 Chaplain of the Church of the Resurrection in Bucharest, and then later Archbishop of York. Now enjoying a very active retirement, Bishop Hope is now one of the Assistant Bishops in the Diocese in Europe and in this way maintains his links with and interest in the life of our church in Romania.

For three days we were honoured to have Bishop David with us in Bucharest and in this time he increased our understanding of what life was really like in Bucharest some 40 years ago.

On the Tuesday evening members of the church council were invited to share a barbecue with Bishop David in the delightful gardens of Dieter Stanzeleit and then on Wednesday the QBP was held in the wonderful location of the Museum of Contemporary Art that is located within the Palace of Parliament.

After church barbecue at Peris

2008-05-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, immediately following our morning service, we continued the summer tradition of the Church of the Resurrection to drive out to the village of Peris, home of long standing church members Nancy and Eugen, for a totally informal barbecue.

The sun shone on the righteous (and the rain failed to fall on the ungodly!) so it was wonderful to relax in the sunshine, to enjoy the beauty of Nancy and Eugen's wonderful house and garden, and to share the rich variety of foods and drinks that everybody who attended had brought along.

Our enormous thanks to Nancy and Eugen for once again making their home available to us. It was a wonderful when God's goodness was clearly visible in everything from the songs of the birds to the delicious taste of the foods that we were privileged to eat.

Another very special member of our congregation

2008-05-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

Another very special member of our congregation is Andrew Littauer. Andrew is also from USA, although he has been spending the vast majority of his time in Romania since he arrived as a USAID volunteer many years. It seems that he enjoyed his time as a volunteer very much because he stayed on in Bucharest and has established a very successful business that is constantly expanding and now provides employment for a large number of Romanians.

Andrew is a long standing member of our Church Council and an active supporter of every aspect of our work and witness. All members of the congregation were understandably shocked and distressed last year when he heard that Andrew had been diagnosed as having a brain tumour that gave a very poor prognosos for the future.

While Andrew received treatment and very extensive surgery in America his friends in Bucharest maintained a vigil of prayer and support. Those prayers have been answered because all the medical odds Andrew has made a full recovery and is now back in Bucharest, looking better than ever and is once again to be seen, week in and week out in his favourite position at the back of the Church of the Resurrection.

Welcome back home Andrew! We thank God for sharing you with us!

Pat and Lionel leave our Sofia congregation

2008-05-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

For many years our congregation in Sofia has been enriched by the presence and support of Pat and Lional Sainsbury. Pat has also been deeply involved in the International Womens Group in Sofia, whilst Lionel has used his skills as a mining engineer to try to ensure that the extension to the Sofia metro will work both safely and efficiently.

Lionel has been a faithful servant of the Church of the Resurrection in Sofia, ensuring the continuity of the congregation there and providing essential support to a succession of chaplains, including providing bed and breakfast on occasions!

Now Lionel and Pat move to a new life challenge back home in their beloved north east of England, and as a token of their love other members of the congregation presented them with a beautiful icon at the end of their last service in Sofia last Sunday.

Pat has written a poem, partly describing her emotions and feelings for Sofia. It is beautiful, and I hope that she does not mind it appearing in this blog! Here it is:

S is for sadness at the parting of ways
But also for serenity of more leisurely days.

O is for Oberishte, the chapel at Number 5,
And the onus on a faithful few to keep our small church alive.

F is for friends made here over the past six years.
Faith that we’ll keep in touch banishes tears

I is for the inspiration of the IWC,
Whose initiatives show how dazzling international efforts can be.

A is for appreciation of the privilege it has been
To live here in Bulgaria. May it realise its dream.

Happy retirement Lionel and Pat-and haste ye back to Sofia!

A very special member of our congregation

2008-05-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

Our congreagation comes from many different countries and many different church backgrounds. However, we have always had within our congregation a solid base of ex-patriate American citizens, many of them from the Episcopalian church. One of these is Irvin Dyer, father of Grace Victoria, who was baptised in the Church of the Resurrection last Saturday.

Irvin, and his father also before his untimely death, have been stalwart members of our church since the 1990s, and Grace is the fourth of Irvin's children to be baptised in the Church of the Resurrection.

Irvin is a tireless supporter of the church and is also deeply involved in the wider community in Bucharest and Romania. He is a personal counsellor on a totally voluntary basis to General Pavel Abrahams, President of the Romanian Anti Drugs Agency, and his efforts relating to the worldwide fight against drugs was recognised in January of this year when he received a personal citation from the United States Government. This was read on the floor of the House and is now included in the official records of the US Congress.

Grace Victoria is baptised!

2008-05-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning in the Church of the Resurrection Grace Victoria Dyer was baptised as a member of the Church of the Resurrection in Bucharest. This was a very special service with the combined participation of priests from the Romanian Orthodox Church and our own Church of England. This confirmed the long tradition of mutual recognition of our faiths beliefs and traditions and our close co-operation both in Romania and elsewhere.

The church was beautifully decorated and baby Grace believed perfectly throughout the service.

Sunday service in Westminster Abbey

2008-05-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning presented a wonderful opportunity to attend Sung Matins in Westminster Abbey. The service was well attended by a very cosmopolitan group from all over the world, and most if not all were enchanted and enthralled by the quality of the singing in the wonderful atmosphere of our national treasure.

The service was both refreshing and thought provoking, with a sermon given by the Resident Dean who turned out to be also an Assistant Bishop in our own Diocese in Europe!

On the following morning, I went back again to visit the Abbey to spend time again in the haunting beauty of where centuries of tradition are combined with a profound sense of prayer and contemplation. The queues of people waiting to visit the Abbey were extensive, proof again of its enduring appeal.

PS the photographs of the inside of the Abbey almost got the Blog into deep trouble with a seriously devoted usher!

The Blog in London

2008-05-18T10:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we visited London, it was a first visit for a long time and it was interesting to see how much had changed-including Heathrow Airport. Our British Airways flight landed in Terminal 5, which on that day at least was working seamlessly; although it did leave you with the feeling of being a midget in a house built for giants! One interesting reality was the number of Romanians who were arriving in heathrow with very little if any idea (and in one case money!) of how to connect either their ongoing flight (in one case via Terminal 3 and in another case from Gatwick) or with the evening bus journey to Street in Somerset. All was well that ended well!

The gardens in suburban Chelsea were as beautiful as ever, and in central London it was amazing to see how the London Eye has integrated into the mix of attractions that are "must sees" for visitors from all over the world. House Guards Parade and Trafalgar Square were as beautiful as ever-although as if nothing compared to Westminster Abbey........................

A visiting concert in the Church of the Resurrection

2008-05-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from a concert held at the Church of the Resurrection last Saturday by the Bucharest Christian Academy ensemble. They gave a lovely concert titled "Music through the ages" to a packed church. At the start of the year they had never sang together but this international collection of young people gave a thoroughly professional performance and had just cut their own CD a week before they sang in our church. They received a standing ovation at the end.

Sunday School.............and cakes..............and more

2008-05-04T07:43:00.000-07:00

One of the many encouraging signs of the presence of God in our worship at the Church of the Resurrection is our ever growing Sunday School, which is capably and enthusiastically led by Frans and Hankey, a family from the Netherlands who are currently living in Romania. They bring with them an immediate class as they have four beautiful daughters who brighten our worship every week with their sunny smiles and their wonderful range of clothes!

At the end of each service the Sunday School shares with us their work of the morning and it is always a much looked forward to part of our worship.

On the first Sunday of every month we hold a produce sale at the end of the service, and today it was possible to get a wonderful photograph of Frans and Hankey's youngest daughter eating a much deserved cake after her morning study in the Sunday School!

Visitors from the USA

2008-05-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

This Sunday we had a full house at the Church of the Resurrection, as we welcomed over 30 visitors from an Episcopal church in Connecticut, USA, as well as their families and friends who are living and working all over Europe.

It was a pleasure to have them with us as they begin a week long visit to Romania, visiting churches and monasteries all over the country.

News from Sofia

2008-05-04T07:24:00.000-07:00

GINO AND MIRA TIE THE KNOT... FOR THE SECOND TIME

Having already had their civil ceremony, Gino and Mira from our Sofia congregation tied the knot for the second time on Saturday, in the Greek Catholic Church in Sofia. A lovely service was given in Bulgarian by a priest who also spoke Italian, having trained in Rome. Gino's father is Italian, his mother is British (hence the Anglican connection) and they met in Switzerland, so a plethora of languages was in evidence and a few children added to the song!

Gino and Mira are now off on their honeymoon to the Sinai desert to spend time with the Bedouins and gaze up at the night sky. We wish them a long and happy marriage!

Photo 1 - someone caught the bouquet!

Photo 2 - the happy couple.

May Day in Bucharest-running for life!

2008-05-02T10:46:00.000-07:00

May Day in Romania is a national holiday, and there are lots of different activities organised all over the country to take advantage of the free time.

One of the leading schools in Romania is the American International School of Bucharest (AISB). For the last 8 years AISB has organised an annual fun run linked to the charity Terry Fox Run for Life. Terry Fox was a Canadian who contracted cancer and even though he lost a leg as part of his treatment he started to run all around Canada to raise awareness of cancer and to raise funds for the fight against this vicious killer.

Sadly, he died before he completed the challenge, but his spirit lives on and all over the world the spirit of running for life is maintained. In the first seven years of holding the runs in Bucharest, AISB raised over $70, 000 for cancer research and this will be further augmented when the funds are all gathered in for the 2008 Run.

This year the sun shone on the righteous (and even on the unrighteous) and literally hundreds of people from very young children right through to rather old bloggers ran the five plus kilometres to ensure that Terry Fox although no longer with us in person, remains firmly with us in spirit. Before we ran there was a superb mass warm up organised by the World Class Fitness Academy of Bucharest and then the torture started!

Unbelievably, the Blog ended the run in fourth position. However, the results were immaterial, the only important result is that as well as having a fun day in the fresh air it was possible to raise lots of money to continue the fight against cancer.

Terry Fox-Rest in Peace!

Easter (again!) in Romania

2008-05-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend it was Easter again in Romania. This time it was Orthodox Easter (in church we sang Thine be the Glory but observed also Easter 6).

The tradition in Romania is to tidy the churches and churchyards before the Easter festival, and these photographs show that in Comisani, a small village around 100km from Bucharest (Ella's home village) the tradition has been very firmly maintained in 2008!

Hristos a inviat!
Adeverat a inviat! Alelujah!

Martin and Claire in Sofia

2008-04-24T10:41:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Martin and Claire were able to travel to Sofia for the monthly service at our sister chaplaincy there using our new chaplaincy car. The car ran beautifully, although unfortunately it does not have an automatic pilot and so getting out of Bucharest and getting into Sofia proved to be quite a challenge! However, all was well that ended well and on Sunday there was a very encouraging congregation at the morning service, followed by friendship and fellowship before the return journey to Bucharest.

Claire took her camera with her, and here are someof the photos that she took, as well as her description:

" Hello, I didn't take very many photo's I'm afraid... but hopefully next time will present more opportunities. There is one of the Vitosha Mountain from Sharon's house - the lady we stayed with - (it was late so its a bit dark), one of the front of the chapel that we use (it is actually a catholic chapel), one of Dad talking to the organist, and then after the service in the coffee room where dad is talking to the ambassador and his wife (Steve and Fiona) with Gino and the mining engineer Chris (the woman Gino is talking to) in the background.

I really wish I had managed to take some photo's of Sharon's beautiful house and her lovely dog Honeybelle, and of the short walk we went on past Roman ruins and extraordinary churches/cathedrals and of the restaurant we went to. C'est la vie! Next time...Best wishes Claire."

It all sounds great Claire, we're waiting to see the photos-watch this blog!

Palm Sunday in Bucharest-again!

2008-04-20T05:15:00.000-07:00

Today is Easter 5 for us in the Church of England. However, in the Orthodox calendar today is Palm Sunday, or Duminica Floriilor in Romanian. Yesterday afternoon there were services and parades all over Romania symbolising the entry into Jerusalem and today as well as church services there are markets and exhibitions in almost every park and public area in the towns and cities around the country.

These photographs are taken from the Peasants Market in Bucharest, where craftsmen had gathered from all over Romania to display the fruits of their labours. The sun was shining, the meat from the grill was tasting delicious, and everywhere there was evidence of God's goodness and glory.

The Church of the Resurrection has a car!

2008-04-20T05:05:00.000-07:00

For some time we have understood that the cost of flights to Sofia are becoming increasingly uneconomic for the monthly visits of our Chaplain, Martin Jacques. Recently, we had the opportunity to make a change when we received a substantial financial grant spread over threee years from CMS Ireland to support the work of the Church of the Resurrection in Bulgaria.

Following a lot of prayerful planning and preparations, this last week the Chaplaincy has purchased a Skoda Octavia for the use of our Chaplain. On Saturday Martin, with his daughter Claire, set off for Sofia in the car. They took with them a camera so hopefully the blog will soon show visible proof of the success of their visit!

Thank you CMS Ireland for assisting us in extending our mission and witness in Romania and Bulgaria.

Back to the pension

2008-04-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Around the pension was a rich variety of local life and culture, including sheep and goats grazing along the roadside, small wine cellars selling excellent local vintages at unbelievable prices (and offering free tasting without obligation before making any purchases), and everywhere the most spectacular views.

After two days there, we felt as if we had been away from Bucharest for at least a week, and returned on Sunday evening feeling ready to face the challenges of a new week.

If you would like to see and read more about this rural paradise that is less than two hours driving from Bucharest (including getting out of the city) take a look at www.lapadure.ro

Muddy volcanoes

2008-04-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

From the sublime to the ridiculous................................. After visiting a monastry and a schit, and then some hermits caves, we discovered that Romania also has volcanoes-more precisely muddy vocanoes!

We visited a large field, literally covered in mud, and saw at first hand the bubbling brew of mud that is constantly on the move as a result of its proximity to the earthquake prone fault line in nearby Vrancea county. Although more than a little surreal, this place showed yet again the rich variety of God's work in this world that we like to call ours but which in fact is most certainly His!

Hermits caves close to the schit

2008-04-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

While we were visiting the schit we met, by chance, a walking and talking expert on the local environment, Catalin. He showed us a place, very close to the schit, where monks had lived as hermits in tiny sandstone caves. It was astonishing, and humbling, to see how these men had communed with God in conditions of total isolation and minimal comfort.

Close to the caves was a totally spectacular view of the valley of the river Buzau, no doubt a source of inspiration to those hardy souls.

After this short detour we walked back down the hill and through some more of the sculptures, we were even able to get some shots of the cows!

A schit close to Ciolanu

2008-04-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

After we left the monastry we found close by a number of fields that were shared by the cows from the monastry and some hundreds of sculptures, made over a number of years by sculptors who have come to the region each summer to draw inspiration from the pure air and wonderful nature in this isolated part of Romania.

However, for us the highlight of our stop was to discover that if you have the strength and perseverence to climb for 30 minutes up a not a not too steep hill and through a wonderful forest you find on the crest of the hill and standing in splendid isolation an Orthodox schit (mini monastry).

The schit is run by two resident nuns, one a mere 62 years and the other a slightly more matronly 81 years. Again, the church (for now there is only one but construction of the second is well advanced-honestly! If you don't believe, climb the hill and see for yourself. You will not regret the climb!). The place is totally inaccessible except by four wheel drive vehicles. An ancient Romanian 4x4 stood nearby the church, we resisted asking which of the nuns usually did the driving!

The monastry at Ciolanu

2008-04-14T11:36:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we toured the surrounding countryside, and marvelled at its beauty as well as its contrasts. Some 30km from Buzau we stumbled upon a beautiful monastry at Ciolanu. Run by, literally, working monks (including a dairy herd!) the monastry exuded peace, tranquility, and God's presence.

Of course, there was not just one church, we found at least two, and there were also beautiful living houses for the monks, and the large grounds were immaculately cared for.

We also discovered a living relic, a larger than life monk who gladly allowed us to take his photograph on condition that we sent him a copy by mail. Marvelling at the computer literacy of a man of his vintage, Ella asked for his address and was given the full postal address of the monastry! It was great to learn than in Ciolanu at least normal mail still rules ok!

Back on the road again

2008-04-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

Last week saw the blog back on the road, this time in the area around 100km to the east of Bucharest, close to the city of Buzau. Combining work with pleasure, we stayed for the weekend in a new rural pension in the wine region just outside Buzau. We arrived just in time for the blessing of the pension by the local Orthodox priest.

This ritual was both pleasant to observe and pleasantly short to be part of (at least by Orthodox standards!). The priest blessed every room in the pension and left the mark of the cross in various places. Maybe you can see it on the wall in the fourth photograph?
At the end of the service he left some more oils to be sprayed in each room every day until the supplies run out.

As Mihai, our genial host commented after the service, he was not certain how much it will help him to make a success of his business but he is firmly convinced that it will not do him any harm! Good luck with your venture, you certainly looked after us as if we royalty-watch this blog to see more of this wonderful pension........................

Back at Casa Ioana

2008-04-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

This week the blog reeceived a call from one of the British staff at our Embassy, Joan Johnson. Her mum, who is head mistress of a school in Fife is visiting Bucharest and has brought with her some hand made blankets-made by pupils from her school.

We agreed that the Casa Ioana centre for the homeless in central Bucharest would be an appropriate recipient for the clothes, and these photographs show our visit to hand them over. The blankets and some other toys and clothes were gratefully received. One of the blankets was for a baby, and will be perfect for the youngest resident at the Centre-a one month old baby!

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To the Johnson family and to everyone at the school in Fife who helped to make the blankets.

Low Sunday in Bucharest

2008-04-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

Low Sunday and the clocks going forward on the same morning.......................... Ten minutes before the service started we had an organist, one church warden, plus the chaplain and reader and their families, and that was all! And then, in true Church of the Resurrection style the church changed from being almost empty to being almost full.

It was wonderful to have flowers in church again after our Lenten abstenance from colour (and Gloria!). The Sunday School continued their studies in the school room and at the end of the service Laffy shared with the rest of the congregation a summary of what they had covered.

Pride of place close to the altar was given over to the Pascal candle and our newly received painting of Christ on the cross

The blog on the move again!

2008-03-26T11:20:00.000-07:00

Easter Monday morning at 8am saw the blog on the move again, but this time only as far as the beautiful north east Romanian city of Iasi.

One of the highlights of the city is the Orthodox Cathedral that is dedicated to Saint Paraschiva and whose annual festival of remembrance draws literally thousands of Romanians to Iasi each September. These photos show a glimpse of the inside and outside of the Cathedral. It is currently under renovation but thankfully it was still pssible to see inside and to marvel at its majesty.

Laffy and Noldy-one year on!

2008-03-26T11:12:00.000-07:00

Last Easter Sunday our faithful members from Indonesia won this blogger's prize as the smartest congregants! If you missed last years photos then trawl down and you can see just how much Laffy has grown in one year! This year, they won again (and hands down!) Here they are, Laffy and Noldy, looking superb in their new Easter suits.

This is their final year with us, God willing-Noldy will complete his Ph.D. studies and return to their family. Our loss will be their gain!

Easter Sunday

2008-03-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday dawned bright and beautiful in Bucharest and even by the beginning of the service we had run out of orders of service for Easter Day! The church was totally full and we counted 99 people in church at one point in the service, from our memories a record, at least in recent memory, for a major church festival.

It was a beautiful service, and included the usual surprises that are part and parcel of our witness in Bucharest. We received as a gift a beautifully painted image of Christ on the cross from one of our long standing church members. We will display it with pride in church.

At the end of the service most people stayed for coffee and cakes, and a little bit like the loaves and the fishes, what we had available proved to be sufficient even for the bumper congregation!

Happy Easter from Bucharest-Hristos a inviat!

Thank you-unsung heroes!

2008-03-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

The Easter Eve service demonstrated clearly the number of people who work tirelessly and anonymously to ensure that our worship in the Church of the Resurrection can be both comfortable and meaningful.

As these photographs confirm, at the close of the service we were able to continue the Romanian tradition of jarping coloured boiled eggs, whilst the preceding service was enriched by the spring floral arrangements and the inspired performance of our long serving organist Florin,

To Florin, and to all the unsung heroes (actually mainly if not exclusively heroines) who provided the flowers and the refreshments that we enjoyed so much at the conclusion of the service, an enormous and heartful THANK YOU.

Easter Eve at the Church of the Resurrection

2008-03-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

Our Easter services began with the Maundy Service liturgy and continued through Good Friday culminating with our service of light and renewal on Easter Eve. We followed the traditional style, sharing the light and renewing our baptismal vows.

The Church of the Resurrection looked even more beautiful than usual, warm, welcoming and prayerful in the semi light of candles and subdued electricity.

Hristos a inviat!

a Palm Sunday apology!

2008-03-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

When we read the Palm Sunday narrative, one of our key readers was one of our Church Wardens, Nick Hammond. How I forgot to include this long serving servant of the Church of the Resurrectionin the earlier blog I will never know-and this blogger is truly apologetic.
This photo shows Nick at our Easter Eve service, sharing the light with his beautiful wife Stephi.

Nick-mea culpa!

And now............ Palm Sunday in Sofia

2008-03-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

On Sunday this blogger "held the fort" in Bucharest while our Chaplain paid one of his regular visits to Sofia. I'd always understood that this was a difficult and hard pilgrimage-but now this myth is well and truly exploded!

Seriously, I have received these wonderful photographs from our dear friends in Sofia, and it is a real pleasure to add them to the blog. Jonathan, one of our stalwart members in Sofia has sent the following description of each picture:

1 - Martin getting to know a younger member of the community in Sofia, baby Gabriel (or is that the other way round?)

2 - a trip to one of the new metro tunnels being dug in Sofia, led by master engineer Lionel (L to R: Lionel, Gino, Martin, Mira and Pat)

3 - after church, a visit to Dragalevtsi Monastery, a very popular destination in Sofia on August 15, the Feast of Our Lady (L to R: Gino, Mira, Martin, Pat, Lionel and Jonathan)

4 - followed by a relaxed lunch at Vodenitsa, a traditional Bulgarian restaurant on the skirts of Mt Vitosha (L to R: Jonathan, Lionel, Pat, Sofia's "radical priest", newly weds Gino and Mira)

Back Home at last! Palm Sunday in Bucharest

2008-03-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

Back home again (Thank God!). On Palm Sunday we celebrated our Eucharist in truly traditional style, starting with our Sunday School children waving their (not quite) palm branches in the air while we sang our first hymn. Then we blessed and distributed the palm crosses (thank you Lillah, Victoria, and John for your really hard work in creating the crosses!). The crosses were wonderful.

The Ministry of the Word focused on the Passion Narative as described by Matthew, superbly re-created by Philip, Alison, and Lelda-thanks to them all for their presentation!

Now we move into Holy Week, watch this space to see how we celebrate this in Bucharest!

The blogger as a true tourist.................

2008-03-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

And finally, before we leave the USA, here are some typical tourist photographs from Washington. First there is Capitol Hill, where the blogger was privileged to meet a Congressman and be there when a member of our congregation, Irvin Dyer, received a Congressional Commendation!

Next is the White House, now sadly out of bounds to tourists following 9/11, and finally a glimpse of Watergate, where Richard Nixon's downfall began all those years ago!

And now the blog goes to America

2008-03-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

These last weeks have seen the blog travelling far and wide! Latest stop was America (although my dearly beloved Church of the Resurrectiuon was never out of my mind for more than one second!). As a typical Brit my preconceptions of America were , without exception, misconceptions!

In reality, our cousins across the water have created a wonderful homeland. The blog was based close to Washington and quickly realised that this is an area where the Anglican Communion is more than alive-in fact it is flourishing!

A highlight from the visit was to see Washington Cathedral (actually it closely reminicent of Durham Cathefral!). The first two photographs show the cathedral, whilst the third, in total contrast, shows a typical parish church, this one is even an Anglican Church, that you can find, as in Romania, on almost every street corner.

A last look at Italy.....................

2008-03-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

In the north of the country (like everywhere else in Italy) there are beautiful churches almost on every street corner. Here is a small selection, from near Lake Como and in Parma.

Mothering Sunday in Parma

2008-03-04T11:46:00.000-08:00

On Mothering Sunday we were in Parma and visited a wonderful church in a cobbled part of the old city centre. The sung responses were led beautifully by an unobtrusively placed choir, and the large congregation were totally involved in the service.

For a while I was confused by the lack of references to mothers and their central place in our lives-until I understood that in Europe this Sunday is simply the fourth in Lent................. Mothering Sunday will be later in the year!

The blogger on the move

2008-03-04T11:37:00.000-08:00

This last weekend saw this blogger in Italy, enjoying the break and savouring visits to new places. On Saturday we visited Lake Como and apart from having a delicious lunch in a lake side restaurant (delicious fish!), and the obligatory cruise on the lake (spectacular!) we also discovered in a maze of narrow lanes a wonderful church, complete with its own micro version of Lourdes.

When we were there there was no sign of either pilgrims or miracles but it was still very beautiful and peaceful, as well as in a very pleasant shade.

Next stop Parma, and Mothering Sunday service in a Roman Catholic church and in Italian......................................

Spring comes to Bucharest

2008-02-24T06:15:00.000-08:00

In the last days of February there has been a sudden and dramatic improvement in the weather in Bucharest. Only last weekend it was essential to switch on the heating in church the evening before our Sunday service. This weekend the daffodils are threatening to start to bloom, children are playing in the parks, and generally life seems wonderful!

It may not last, and maybe we will have more snow before winter leaves us, but for now everyone is enjoying the chance to leave heavy coats hats and gloves at home, even if it is only for a few days! Thank God for the mysteries of our climate.

Our church-as we see it and as others see it................

2008-02-24T06:10:00.000-08:00

Very close to the Church of the Resurrection there is a wall that has become the place of expression for a very gifted group of street artists. They regularly get together and use their talents to portray various aspects of life, some relating directly to Bucharest and Romania, whilst others have a much broader perspective.

Some time ago, a wonderful portrayal of our church appeared on the wall, and for some reason it has never been painted over. Here you can see a photograph of the west end of the church alongside the artists impression. Below that, a broader vista of the wall.

Helping to make our Britannia Ball a success

2008-02-18T10:11:00.000-08:00

Many people worked tirelessly to make our first Britannia Ball a success. Some worked behind the scenes leading up to the great event while others worked hard during the evening as well. One of our church members, Ella, who is a professional singer, gave her services free and provided two much appreciated cabaret spots during the evening. We also had three very beautiful and hard working young hostesses who helped to make sure that we were all very comfortably looked after.

One is Ella's daughter, can you guess which one?

Lent 2

2008-02-18T10:01:00.000-08:00

On the second Sunday of Lent our Chaplain led worship in Sofia, Bulgaria. In his absence, we received a visit from a former Chaplain, Revd Steve Hughes, who presided at the Eucharist. It was a lovely morning, with sunshine streaming through the windows of the church and helping us to forget, at least for an hour, that outside the temperature was below zero and there was snow on the ground!

We were honoured to have as visitors two representatives of the Church Missionary Society Ireland, Robbie Symes and James Price. It was particularly appropriate that they came on this Sunday because we receive from them an annual grant that helps us to cover the cost of ensuring the presence of the Church of the Resurrection in Bulgaria.

Our Inaugural Britannia Ball

2008-02-18T09:53:00.000-08:00

On Friday 15th February we held our inaugural Britannia Ball at the Hotel Intercontinental in Bucharest. It was a wonderful evening, attended by over 140 people and enjoyed by everyone who was there. We ate well and danced enthusiastically and at the same time raised much needed funds to ensure the continuing presence of the Church of the Resurrection in Romania and Bulgaria.

Our Sunday School

2008-02-18T09:48:00.000-08:00

Our Sunday School is going from strength to strength with the enthusiastic support of different members of the church congregation who help each week to prepare and lead their activities. Curently they are working their way through the season of Lent. At the end of each service they share their stories and their designs with all of the congregation-sometimes it can be the most interesting part of the service!

Ladies Bible Group in Bucharest

2007-08-07T08:53:00.001-07:00

One of the recent initiatives at the Church of the Resurrection has been the introduction of a weekly Ladies Bible Study Group, led by our Chaplain the Revd Martin Jacques. The idea came from one of new members, Johana Soper (photo above on the left), who with her husband Jonathan has recently moved to Bucharest from Istanbul.

The meetings are held at the home of the Soper's, and even though this blogger is a man he has managed to get some photographs of this weeks meeting! From all accounts the coffee and cakes are excellent, but even more interesting and fulfilling is the sharing of experiences, thoughts and ideas that are stimulated through the careful and caring leadership of the Chaplain.

So,if you're a lady and in Bucharest any Tuesday morning between 1000 and1200 you will be most welcome to join the group. You can find full details on our new Church of the Resurrection website; the address is www.churchoftheresurrection.eu

Flowers for the Patriarch's Funeral

2007-08-07T08:39:00.001-07:00

One of the traditions associated with funerals in Romania is to present floral tributes in memory of the deceased.

For the funeral of the Patriarch, wreathes were received from individuals and organisations from all over the world. The Chaplain and Reader presented wreathes on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Diocese in Europe (in the name of Bishop Geoffrey) and on behalf of the British Embassy in Bucharest.

For the church wreathes we requested the two flowers that were the particular favourite of the Patriarch, white lilies and white roses.

2007-08-05T08:08:00.001-07:00

On Friday morning the funeral of the Romanian Patriarch was held at the Patriarchy cathedral in Bucharest. The Church of England was invited to send three representatives. The Bishop of Woolwich, the Rt. Revd. Christopher Chessun, represented the Archbishop of Canterbury, and was supported by the Chaplain and Reader from the Church of the Resurrection in Bucharest.

From 9-11am eulogies to the Patriarch were read in the imposing Synod, where the wall behind the visiting Patriarch was dominated by a wonderful fresco. Representatives of churches from all corners of the world presented tributes. At 11am the funeral was held in the cathedral, with many thousands of people who were unable to be inside the cathedral following the service on screens outside.

At the conclusion of the service the Patriarch was buried inside the Cathedral. During the traditional Orthodox forty days of mourning we will burn a candle in the Church of the Resuurection in memory of a true servant of Christ. May his soul rest in peace.

2007-08-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

On Monday at 5pm we heard the very sad news that Patriarch Teoctist, Head of the Orthodox Church of Romania had died, aged 92. Only one month ago the Patriach received Bishop Geoffrey during his pastoral visit to Romania for a meeting that lasted one hour.

Today, Thursday 2nd August there were queues of people waiting to pay their last respects to the Patriarch. On behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury, our Chaplain the Revd Martin Jacques delivered a floral tribute to the Patriachy Cathedral and wrote on behalf of Archbishop Rowan in the memorial book. The chaplaincy Reader delivered a similar floral tribute on behalf of Bishop Geoffrey of Gibraltar in Europe.

Tomorrow there will be the funeral service at 1100. Enormous numbers of people are likely to attend to pay their respects to a much loved servant of the Orthodox Church of Romania.

Dumnezeu sa-l ierte!

2007-07-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

On Sunday 22nd July we hoped to welcome the world famous Tiffin Boys Choir from England to support us in a sung eucharist. Unfortunately, it was not to be.......... Because of the heavy rains in England, the flights to Bucharest from London were severely disrupted, and at 1000 on Sunday morning we had to start our service with neither choir nor organist!

The service was led by the Reader, who proved that although he is a reasonably proficient reader, his singing skills leave much to be desired! However, by 2pm part of the group reached Bucharest via Frankfurt and at 4pm they performed an impromptu concert in church before a small but very appreciative audience. Before they left they learned a Romanian version of "If you're happy and you know it......" which they intend to sing during their tour of Romanian cities over the coming week.

Yet another confirmation about the best laid plans of mice and men................... Thank you God, for proving once again never to take anything for granted!

Church of the Resurrection Garden Party

2007-07-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

On Friday 13th July the church held a British Garden Party at the home of Philip and Karine Hall. We were very lucky with the weather and over 150 people came along and enjoyed a fun packed evening with barbecued food, cold beer and wine, and lots of good company.

One of the highlights of the evening was a live auction where different gifts were auctioned-everything from two tickets for the Rolling Stones concert in Bucharest to 365 bottles of beer-one for every day of the year! Guest auctioneers included both the British Ambassador and Deputy Ambassador.

We are incredibly grateful to the large number of local businesses and individuals who gave so many things to help the evening be such an enormous success. In total we managed to raise over 6500 euros for our church funds. Even more important than that, everybody who attended seemed to enjoy their evening.

The blessing part!

2007-06-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

Here we are in church before the children took thre tree out into the garden. Our Chaplain, Revd. Martin Jacques, blessed both the tree and the wall hanging (photographs to follow of that wonderful creation!)

Planting the Jesse tree!

2007-06-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

Our Sunday School continues to go from strength to strength! Last Sunday therre were around 11 of them in church, with ages starting at less than 1 year! They had a very busy day. First of all we blessed in church a wall hanging that they had made the previous week (at the same time as enjoying pizza at the home of their leader, Cate Johnson!). Think it's called mixing work and pleasure?

After that we blessed a Jesse tree that the children had dressed during advent last year. They then planted it in our tiny church garden. Bucharest cats and city pollution permitting, we hope that it will survive and can come back into church next advent season!

From the shouts that came in through the church windows during the sermon it seems that they were also mixing work with pleasure while they were planting the tree!

Thank you children!

new baby in Sofia!

2007-06-17T06:58:00.000-07:00

Our congregation in Sofia has received a wonderful addition with the birth of baby Gabriel, son of Jonathan and Tsveta Dunne. Jonathan and Tsveta are leading members of our congregation in Sofia, with Jonathan acting as "treasurer" for our activities there, as well both assisting and leading services.

We give thanks to God for the gift of Gabriel, and we remember in our prayers Jonathan, Tsveta, and Gabriel. In the coming week the Bishop of Gibaltrar in Europe, Bishop Geoffrey, will visit both Sofia and Bucharest. He will be able to see that our congregation in Sofia is very much alive and growing!!!

Our beautiful country

2007-06-14T08:37:00.000-07:00

Bucharest is a typical capital city, big and beautiful but also very congested, busy, and incredibly noisy at times! Some people say that it is

even too noisy and too busy!

However, get away from the capital and there is beauty almost impossible to describe. These are just two pictures that prove that God's handiwork is by no means confined to humanity!

Church of the Resurrection-a truly international fellowship!

2007-04-09T08:03:00.000-07:00

Our Anglican church is located in Bucharest, but within our congregation there is a multitude of nationalities and Christian denominations represesented. This is the first of a series of introductions to members of our church from around the world.

Arnold (Noldy) and Lavie Lengkey are long standing members of our church. Noldy is studying for a doctorate at the Agricultural University in Bucharest and Lavie is here with him and attending the German school in Bucharest. They enrich our worship every Sunday, with Lavie an enthusiastic member of our Sunday School. On Easter Sunday they easily won the prize for the "most smartly dressed couple attending church" as these photographs confirm.

Noldy's wife has stayed in Indonesia with Lavie's sister, and they are waiting eagerly for Nlody's studies to finish in the autumn of 2008! From Bucharest we send Christian greetings to them in Indonesia!

2007-04-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

On Palm Sunday our service was enriched, both by the children giving us a wonderful start to the service by entering waving willow branches and leading our singing of the opening hymn "Make way, make way, for the King of Kings!", but also by a baptism. We welcomed through baptism as a member of the church family, Valeria Turp, tha daughter of Craig and Amelia.

It was wonderful to have a full church, a combination of family and friends of Valeria and our regular worshippers. Although our Chaplain, Martin Jacques, was taking many baptisms in his former parish in England, this was his first baptism in Romania. Suffice to say that he handled it magnificently with not even a sign of a potentially dropped baby! It was overall a great day-welcome to the church family, Valeria!

The Bedingfield's return to England

2007-03-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we said a sad farewell to two of our regular church members, John and Helen Bedingfield. John and Helen have been living in Bucharest for more than one and a half years, while John has been working as an EU resident advisor in the Ministry of Public Finance. Now that his contract is coming to an end they are returning to England.

We wish them well, although we will miss them greatly. Visit us whenever you are able to please, John and Helen!

Mothering Sunday at the Church of the Resurrection

2007-03-20T12:42:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was Mothering Sunday, and during the service all of the ladies in the congregation received daffodils from the children, at the same time as we shared the Peace.

We held our usual service of Holy Communion and at the end of the service the children shared with us their stories of the day-during Lent they are thinking particularly about prayer and its place in their lives.

Fund Raising Concert

2007-03-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

On Saturday 17th March we were privileged to be invited to the Residence of H.M. Ambassador Robin Barnett for a fund raising concert. Visitng musicians Nicolas Koeckert and Kristina Miller entertained us by playing two sonatos for violin and piano.

After the music we were invited to stay for a buffet meal of traditional Romanian food that was truly delicious. It was a wonderful evening, enjoyed by everyone who attended. It also raised a significant sum of money to offset the costs of maintaining our church-almost 2000 euros.

Enormous thanks to H.M.Ambassador as well as to Nicolas and Kristina for sharing their talents and to our dear friend Dieter Stanzeleit, whose inspiration the evening was.

Our Sunday School

2007-03-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

Each week, as part of their worship, younger members of our church have their own private time. At present, they are thinking about the significance of Lent, and what it means to their lives.

Under the care and love of their leader, Cate Johnson, every week they share their work with other members of the church at the end of the service. We always look forward to hearing their stories!

They also have a very active social diary-sometimes visiting families in villages around Bucharest, sometimes a pizza party, sometimes catching a film in one of the malls.

Iulia's Art Exhibition

2007-03-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

In mid March one of our most active young church members held her own art exhibition in Bucharest. Members of the church had been given an exclusive preview, as Iulia's paintings (some of them anyway) had been on display earlier this year during our services.

The exghibition was a huge success and many members of the church attended and supported our talented young star! Well done Iulia!

Learning new songs

2007-03-04T04:04:00.000-08:00

At present (March 2007) we are lucky to have as a visitor to our church David (Ned) Kelly. Ned comes from a church in Northern Ireland. He has wonderful musical talents and is helping us to extend our range of songs of praise that we use in church. As you can see from the photographs, our response has been positive and enthusiastic. What we lack in musical talent, we compensate for with volume!

An introduction to our church

2007-02-18T08:37:00.000-08:00

The Church of the Resurrection is located in the centre of Bucharest. For over 100 years there have been Anglican priests resident in Romania and for over 80 years there has been an Anglican church, with its resident chaplain, in Bucharest. Even during the years of Communist domination, for most of the time Anglican services continued to be held every Sunday morning.

Since 1989, the Anglican presence in Romania has gone from strength to strength. Our services follow the Anglican tradition but are open to worshippers of all denominations and nationalities. The church itself is in a traditional Victorian style, but with a very warm and welcoming atmosphere.

We attract many visitors, both Romanian and international. If you will be visiting Bucharest, even if only for a few days, you will be very welcome at any of our services. We hope to see you soon!

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

2007-02-18T07:55:00.000-08:00

In January we took part in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. For 8 days we attended services in different churches around Bucharest. On the Friday evening it was our turn to host the service and it was a wonderful experience to see our church totally full (more than full actually) with over a hundred people of differing faithes and nationalities. Our Chaplain, Martin, hosted the service and representatives of the Romanian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, German Lutheran, and Hungarian Reformed churches all took part in the liturgy.

The photographs show the clergy at various stages of the service. Particularly moving was the Sharing of the Peace.