By Ricky, on February 28th, 2009 Former Anglican Church in Mariánské Lázne © Sybille Yates
On Tuesday 17th, I returned to the flat from our Breakfast Study Group & visiting a family who had enquired about the baptism of their child, to a request that I return a phone call from a retired Pastor of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren.
The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren are a united Lutheran/Reformed Church and are by far the largest Protestant denomination in the Czech Republic. Once I got through, the retired Pastor asked me what I knew about the Anglican Church building in Mariánské lázne and about a person who claimed to be the Anglican Bishop of the Czech Republic and was conducting services there.
Mariánské lázne is a spa town in the far west of the Czech Republic, near to the German border. Better known in the past, by its German name of Marienbad, . . . → Read More: Another ‘Bishop’ in the Czech Republic?
By Ricky, on February 21st, 2009 Last Friday, Sybille and I went to eat at our favourite local Italian restaurant. Grosseto is on Jugoslávských partyzánû, (Yugoslav Partisan Street!), about 15 minutes walk from our flat. On the table next to us were a young couple, clearly in love. His left hand was holding and squeezing her right hand, across the table!
Image Source by Lumaxart
Then I noticed that they were speaking to each other in English. But in both cases, it was English spoken with a distinct foreign accent. Clearly, neither spoke the other’s native tongue. They were each using their second language – English, to communicate with each other.
It soon became apparent that she was Czech. She placed their order with the waiter, without using English. But where was he from? It was a bit of a mystery. The answer only came after she had said to . . . → Read More: La langue d’amour
By Ricky, on February 16th, 2009 Once a month, a number of English-speaking priests/ministers/pastors based in Prague meet on a Tuesday morning to share news, pray for one another and end by having lunch together. We are generously hosted by the Roman Catholic Augustinian Community alongside St Tomáš Church in Mala Strana. We use their refectory which the American Pastor who organises our meetings always calls the ‘refractory’ in his emails!
imagesource courtesy of lumaxart
The denominational spread is wide ranging from Father William, RC priest from New York, via me, to Gareth, Welsh Pastor to the International Baptist Church, through to several ex-pat Americans who lead various independent free evangelical churches/fellowships.
Last Tuesday we were joined by Tomáš, the Chief Economic Strategist for one of the leading Czech banks and a friend of one of the American Pastors. He has been asked by the Czech Prime Minister to participate on a . . . → Read More: Economic Crisis & Spiritual Challenge
By Ricky, on February 9th, 2009 We commence Czech language classes in two weeks time. So at present, we only have a few words of Czech. But going about daily life in Prague, it is noticeable how many English words have entered the Czech language but usually with the addition of the letter ‘y’ on the end. For example, in the supermarket there are signs for ‘snacky’ and for ‘chipsy’. When I commented upon this to a Czech speaking friend, he explained that adding the letter ‘y’ is what makes the word plural. But it does produce some rather humorous results.
A bookshop will have sections that are devoted to ‘Thrillery’ and ‘Detektivey’, whilst nearby you can purchase ‘notebooky’! At the Lekarna (Pharmacy), it is possible to purchase for feminine hygiene purposes, a box of ‘tampony’ whilst I have seen several machines in gentlemen’s toilet and washroom facilities, which will provide you with ‘condomy’. However, the . . . → Read More: The Addition of the letter ‘y’
By Ricky, on February 4th, 2009 The Anglican Episcopal Congregation who meet in St. Clement’s Church in the centre of Prague, is part of the rather unusual 44th Diocese of the Church of England with the unwieldy title of ‘The Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe’. Fortunately, it is usually shortened to ‘Diocese in Europe’. It covers the whole of the European continent, together with Turkey, Morocco, Mongolia and all of the former Soviet Union in Asia. Within that area, (which is roughly one sixth of the world’s landmass), there are about 250 congregations. You can find out more about it at Diocese in Europe website.
As well as being part of the Anglican Diocese in Europe, we also function as the English-speaking parish of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic or Starokatolická církev v Ceské republice if you would like it in Czech. The Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht . . . → Read More: Episcopal Taxi Service
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Sybille has written a book ;-)
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