Ricky Yates

From l. to r; Mgr Joel Ruml, Archbishop Dominik Duka, Bishop Dušan Hejbal leading the Ecumenical Service © Aleš Cejka and used with his permission

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity takes place each year in the northern hemisphere, between 18^th -25^th January. On the evening of Monday 23^rd January, Sybille and I, along with three other members of the St. Clement’s Anglican congregation, attended the main service held in Prague to mark this important week.

This Ecumenical Service was held in Kostel sv. Vojtecha, a large modern Church attached the Roman Catholic Theological Faculty of Charles University. It was led by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Prague, Dominik Duka and the preacher was Mgr. Joel Ruml, the Moderator of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, (by far the largest Protestant Church in the Czech Republic), who is also the Chair of the Czech Ecumenical Council. They were assisted by my Czech boss, Bishop Dušan Hejbal of the Old Catholic Church, who is also Vice-Chair of the Czech Ecumenical Council.

Members of various other smaller Czech Churches also took part by reading from scripture and in leading intercessions. It was noticeable that amongst all of these there was only one woman! Obviously the service was all in Czech so I didn’t understand too much though I did get the response to Psalm 122. ‘Do domu Hospodinova pujdeme s radostí’ – ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord with joy’.

I was disappointed that at the end of the service, the host Roman Catholic Church had made no provision of light refreshments to encourage those who attended to stay around for post-service fellowship. Also, there was no opportunity to meet with the various Church leaders who had taken part – they all just processed out during the last verse of the last hymn and disappeared! Thus there was sadly, little opportunity to build good ecumenical relationships.

The other matter that saddened me was the actual way the service was officially organised. The invitation to attend came jointly from the Czech Ecumenical Council and the (Roman Catholic) Czech Bishops’ Conference. The reason for this is that the Roman Catholic Church is only affiliated to the Czech Ecumenical Council, rather than being a full member Church. The evidence of this can be seen on the order of service below. On the left is the logo of the Ecumenical Council, whilst on the right is the logo of the RC Czech Bishops’ Conference.

Front page of the Order of Service

This situation reflects the official attitude of the Roman Catholic Church in any country where it can be described as the ‘majority Church’, which is the reality in the Czech Republic, even allowing for the general low level of Church attendance and Christian belief that there is here. When the Roman Catholic Church is a minority Church, as it is in England, Wales & Scotland, then it chooses to become a full member of the national ecumenical body.

This is not a criticism of individual Roman Catholics, many of whom are very ecumenically minded. Nor is it a criticism of Archbishop Duka himself as I have a great admiration for him as he spent time in prison during the Communist era, because of his underground Church activities. I’ve twice previously had the privilege of meeting him and found him warm and very supportive towards the English-speaking Anglican Church in Prague.

Rather, it is a criticism of the official view that emanates from Rome, which is that it alone is the Catholic (i.e. universal) Church and that the only way to bring about Christian unity is for everybody to rejoin the Roman Catholic Church! Sadly, under the current Pope, that attitude is unlikely to change.

Encouragingly, there are movements within Roman Catholicism that are calling for change such as ‘We are the Church ‘and the Pfarrer Initiative in Austria. I think there are one or two more blog posts coming shortly to address these issues. Watch this space!

Naši pevci and Nsango Malamu in Kostel Salvátor © Sybille Yates

Holy Week 2011 proved to be very eventful and, to be chronologically correct, I really should have written and posted this article before writing and posting about the Royal Wedding. Therefore, before we get too much further into the fifty days of the Easter season, here is a short illustrated résumé.

On Monday 18^th April, Sybille & I attended an evening concert given by the ecumenical choir Naši pevci who were the choir that participated in our service entitled ‘On the Feast of Stephen’, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 26^th December 2010. The concert took place in Kostel Salvátor, which like the Church building in which the St. Clement’s Anglican congregation worship, also belongs to the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren.

The concert celebrated the life and work of Dr. Albert Schweitzer and therefore featured works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Felix Mendelssohn. But to celebrate that part of his life spent as a medical missionary in Gabon, there was also African singing and dancing, performed by Nsango Malamu. In between each item, the life story of Dr. Schweitzer was narrated, unfortunately only in Czech. The photograph shows both Naši pevci and Nsango Malamu receiving the applause of a packed Church at the end of the concert.

With Bishop Dušan Hejbal after the Chrism Eucharist © Sybille Yates

On Tuesday 19^th April, I attended the annual Chrism Eucharist which took place in the Old Catholic Cathedral on Petrin Hill, overlooking the centre of Prague. At this service, the oils used to anoint candidates for baptism, confirmation and for anointing the sick, are blessed. The service was presided over by my Czech boss, Bishop Dušan Hejbal. After the service, as well as being served some very enjoyable refreshments, I finally managed to get a good photo of the two of us together.

Wednesday 20^th April is probably best described as ‘media day’. As Karen, one of my most faithful commenters, has already pointed out in a previous comment, ‘The Prague Post’ that day published a feature article about me. This was the outcome of an interview I had given to their reporter Lisette Allen, a few weeks earlier. The original printed version contained two factual mistakes, together with a typo. I’m pleased to say that all three have now been corrected in the online version which you can access here.

Then in the afternoon came the phone call that I’ve already described in my previous post, inviting me to appear on Czech TV as part of their coverage of the Royal Wedding. And the Wednesday of Holy Week was also the day that we finally managed to bypass Czech bureaucracy and, much to Sybille’s pleasure, were allowed to adopt a dog! But that story requires another post!

New plaque outside Kostel sv. Klimenta/St. Clement's Church © Ricky Yates

Povolení k prechodnému pobytu v CR - Temporary residence in the Czech Republic that is neomezený - unlimited or forever but NOT permanent! © Ricky Yates

This week, my blog is two years old. But having written two posts last month, about all the reasons why I like living here in Prague, balanced by one dealing with my small number of dislikes, my experience earlier this week has forced me to return to a subject that I thought I had overcome and dealt with.

Back in March 2009, I wrote a post entitled ‘Dealing with Czech bureaucracy’. In it, I described our battle to obtain residency permits from the Czech Foreign Police to prove where we live, together with what I referred to as a social security number – rodné císlo – family number, both of which are essential if you want to do anything more than eat and sleep in the Czech Republic.

In May 2009, I wrote about how we had finally managed to achieve this goal even though threatened with ‘A 21^st Century defenestration of Prague’! In this second post, I did point out the absurdity of the wording on the stamp put into both our passports. We have been granted Povolení k prechodnému pobytu v CR – Temporary residence in the Czech Republic. But it is neomezený – unlimited or forever. Of course it has to be unlimited because we are both EU citizens and can stay here until we die, should we choose to do so.

As I wrote then, I took this granting of ‘unlimited temporary residence’ as being part of the ongoing Czech mentality that believes that no one would ever want to actually live here permanently. Earlier this week when eating in U Topolu, we shared a table with a young Czech couple because there was no where else where we could sit. Latterly, the young lady spoke and asked where we were from. I did the usual explanation saying that I’m English, my wife is German but that we live and work here in Prague. In return, I received an expression of shock and amazement as to why on earth we should ever want to do so!

Armed with this stamp in my passport, together with my little green folded paper Potvrzení o prechodném pobytu na území - Proof of temporary residence, inside of which is my full name, date and place of birth and, most importantly, my registered address, I have been able to register my car. Also, aided by Bishop Dušan of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic, a notarized copy of these documents has enabled me to be registered with the Ministry of Culture, as the person who can officially sign on behalf of my congregation. Whenever there has been a request for ID, just producing my passport and residency permit has satisfied the enquirer. That was until Monday this week.

Sybille has been on for quite some time that she would like to once more have a dog. She grew up with dogs and always had her own until her last one died, just before she went to live in Spain in 1999. Over the past two years, we have regularly walked past the stray dog and re-homing centre run by the city police, located on the other side of the Vltava River from where we live.

Recently, Sybille has been researching the website of the re-homing centre, aided by Google translate, to discover what is involved in adopting an unclaimed stray dog and giving it a new home. One thing was quite clear; you must produce ID to prove who you are and where you live. So last Monday on my day off, armed with Sybille’s German passport and Czech Residency document, we went off to the shelter for an exploratory visit.

Upon arrival, we did are usual explanation of having very little Czech but of being able to speak English, German, Spanish or French. We managed to communicate what we wanted and, upon being asked for ID, produced Sybille’s passport and residency document. The reaction was immediate. No – you can’t adopt a dog from the shelter – you only have temporary residence. Despite pointing out that it was unlimited and that we were EU citizens, the lady and her colleagues remained totally adamant. We had to have permanent, not temporary residence.

Despite being illegal under European law, the whole situation is also utterly absurd. I know of several non-EU citizens in my congregation who have been granted ‘Permanent residency,’ but for a set number of years, which is also a contradiction in terms! And the Foreign Police are not even consistent in their dealing with EU citizens. A fellow British blogger and her husband, who have recently moved to Prague and work together for the same firm, have also been to the Foreign Police to register. The husband was granted ‘Permanent residence’ – the blogging wife has been granted like us, ‘Temporary unlimited residence’.

I and several others have described this whole situation as Kafka-esque. I’ve recently bought myself a copy of ‘The Trial’ by Franz Kafka, to read and see if I can get my head around this utterly absurd mentality that I am experiencing. And rest assured, I am not going to stop until I have asserted my rights to be treated in exactly the same way as a Czech citizen, even if I leave a few strangled Czech bureaucrats along the way. Watch this space!

Wooden Church in Bílá, Moravia © Ricky Yates

The modern-day state of the Czech Republic is made up of what was historically known as Bohemia and Moravia, together with a small part of Silesia. Bohemia forms the western part of the country with Prague at its centre, whilst Moravia forms the eastern part where the country’s second city Brno, is located. The bulk of Silesia now lies in Poland with only a very small part being contained within the borders of the Czech Republic, in the far north-eastern corner of the country.

On the afternoon of Thursday 30^th September, we drove from Litomyšl, which is in East Bohemia, further eastwards into South Moravia, to the little town of Vizovice. The main claim to fame of Vizovice is that the very best variety of Slivovice (Czech plum brandy) is distilled within the town, a fact that we were told every time we ever mentioned that we were going there!

We spent from that Thursday evening, through to lunchtime on Saturday 2^nd October, in a simple but pleasant ‘glorified youth hostel’, located in the beautiful wooded hills above Vizovice, attending the synod of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic. We were given the synod dates after we had booked our holiday dates so decided to incorporate our synodical attendance into our travel plans. As the discussions were all in Czech and mainly about a new Church constitution which was finally adopted early on the Friday evening, I won’t write anything more about it here in this blog post other than saying that we were very well looked after and enjoyed the fellowship.

Following the end of the synod, we left Vizovice and set off to drive through the beautiful wooded hills of the far east of Moravia. Our journey took us through numerous small towns and villages, many of which welcome walkers and cyclists in summer and skiers in winter. Our scenic journey briefly took us across the border into Slovakia before, a few km later, we returned to the Czech Republic. Soon afterwards, we passed through the village of Bílá and spotted this beautiful wooden Church. Apparently, there are only a few of these in Moravia but are more commonly found in Slovakia.

We ended the day in the somewhat industrial town of Ceský Tešín which is located in the Czech part of Silesia. In many respects, Ceský Tešín is only half a town – the other half lies across the Olše River in Poland and is called Cieszyn. As part of the settlement that followed the end of the First World War, in July 1920 the town was divided between the newly formed nation of Czechoslovakia and Poland, using the natural divide of the Olše River.

Having found a very pleasant and reasonably priced room in the Central Hotel in Ceský Tešín, we decided to take the advice of our guidebook which declared that the most interesting and historic parts of the town were on the other side of the river. So we set out on a short walk and crossed Hlavní Most, one of the two bridges across the Olše, and entered Poland, the first time I had ever set foot in the country and only the second time that Sybille had.

Unfortunately, it was just getting dark as we walked up a cobbled street into the main square of Cieszyn so I don’t have any pictures though we were able to enjoy the architecture as some buildings were floodlit. And after Sybille had withdrawn some Zloty from a Polish ATM, we enjoyed a pleasant drink and meal in a bar-restaurant on the main square before returning across the river to our bed in the Czech Republic.

Chapel dedicated to the late Brother Roger of Taize, Ceský Tešín © Ricky Yates

The next day being Sunday, we joined the congregation who worship in this rather unusual Church. It is located behind a supermarket and the building was formerly a flower shop and a shoe repair shop! Now it is the Chapel dedicated to the late Brother Roger of Taize where a small Old Catholic congregation worship, led by Dr Cezary Mizia. Cezary is Polish and was originally a Roman Catholic priest. He conducted the service, partly in Czech and partly in Polish. He preached in Czech and English for our benefit!

Interior of Chapel dedicated to the late Brother Roger of Taize, Ceský Tešín © Ricky Yates

The Olše River & Hlavní Most - Poland on the left & the Czech Republic on the right © Ricky Yates

After the service, we walked with Cezary’s wife Alice and their little baby Jeremias, back over the border into Poland where I took this photo from the castle mound looking down on Hlavní Most and the Olše River. We did this whilst Cezary was busy back in their apartment, preparing lunch for us all. Lunch was a little like French Sunday lunch with innumerable courses! However, it did have a Polish flavour as Sybille & Cezary both downed at least three shots of Polish vodka which had to accompany certain courses! Alice and I were fortunately able to avoid the vodka as we both had the excuse of needing to drive later in the day.

It was late afternoon on Sunday 3^rd October before we finally bid farewell to Cezary, Alice & Jeremias and set out once again to explore more of the Czech Republic. Before doing so, I helped with feeding Jeremias his lunch as you can see below!

Me feeding Jeremias © Sybille Yates

Rev'd Ken Dimmick, Chaplain of St. Catherine's Anglican Church, Stuttgart © Ricky Yates

When Bishop Geoffrey Rowell visited the Prague Chaplaincy at the beginning of May this year, he mentioned during a Church Council meeting, about how under the ministry of Rev’d Ken Dimmick, the Anglican Church in Stuttgart had grown both numerically and financially. At a more recent Church Council meeting, some members made reference back to Bishop Geoffrey’s remarks and suggested that it might be good for the Prague Chaplaincy to learn from his experience.

Taking note of what had been said by the Church Council, I wrote to Ken in July, asking if I could visit him in Stuttgart and as suggested, ‘learn from his experience’. His reply was both prompt and positive – he would welcome me to visit though in his very modest way he declared that, “I’m not sure that I have any secret answers to church growth or financial success… Perhaps we were just lucky!”

Last Thursday 19^th August, just before 9am, I set out to drive to Stuttgart. It is a journey of just over 300 miles/480 km but, having reached the outskirts of Prague; it is then almost entirely on Czech motorway or German autobahn. I broke the journey with a coffee stop near Amberg in northern Bavaria and then had a sandwich lunch at a Rasthof about 20km north of Stuttgart.

I only had problems with the very last part of my journey as my Google map didn’t indicate that I needed to pass through a road tunnel near the centre of Stuttgart and I therefore avoided the tunnel and ended up several streets away from where I was meant to be. Eventually, I found the name of the street I was in and worked out from my downloaded Google map, how to reach the St. Catherine’s Church Parish Centre where I had agreed to meet Ken at 3pm that afternoon. I finally reached my intended destination with ten minutes to spare.

I spent the following twenty-four hours in Ken’s company, both going with him to a few fixed appointments as well as sharing an enjoyable evening meal together in a Stuttgart beer garden. Ken is an American priest, three years younger than me and a bachelor. He took up the Stuttgart appointment just over four years ago, wanting to do something different rather than remaining in parish ministry in Texas.

When Ken took up his post as Anglican Chaplain in Stuttgart, there were about nine people remaining in the congregation and no real money to pay him. So in advance of his arrival, he successfully raised $US 100,000 from friends and supporters in Texas to help fund the first few years of his ‘Mission to Germany’! This enabled him to rent an apartment in the Stuttgart suburbs and have enough to live on whilst he sought to grow the congregation.

In just over four years, the congregation has grown to between 80-90 on a Sunday and they are now able to pay Ken a modest stipend. He still has some of the US money to fall back on if need be – what he refers to as his ‘Texas slush fund’! Whilst the Church building, (which they share with the German Old Catholics), will hold around 120 people, it has no other facility other than a small meeting room added to the side of the Church over twenty years ago. This began to prove increasingly inadequate as the Anglican congregation grew.

St. Catherine's Church Parish Centre, Stuttgart © Ricky Yates

In November 2008 St. Catherine’s took a lease on a former bakery which has gradually been renovated and transformed into a parish centre and office. The Parish Centre is located only a few minutes walk from St. Catherine’s Church. Initially, Ken gave up his suburban apartment and lived in a couple of rooms at the rear of the bakery. Just under a year ago, a small flat in the complex above the bakery became vacant. Ken now lives in this small flat allowing the Parish Centre to be increased in size. Instead of living ‘behind the shop’ he now lives ‘above the shop’!

The Parish Centre is used for after service refreshments on Sunday morning together with Sunday School. During the week there are a variety of events including services of Morning and Evening Prayer, Bible Studies and a Mums and Toddlers Group. Ken has his office in the front of the building which in turn, becomes the shop window for the Church, both figuratively and literally! On the Thursday afternoon whilst I was sitting there talking to Ken, three German youths dropped by wanting to know more about the Anglican Church!

However, being located in an old bakery does attract interesting requests. As can be seen in the photo below, there is still sign protruding from the building with the picture of a pretzel on it. More than two years after the bakery closed down, people still call in wanting to buy bread or cakes. Ken’s response is to say to all who enquire that he offers ‘The bread of life’!

More than anything, it was this Parish Centre with Ken being based there, that most impressed me. Whilst Sybille and I live in a very nice flat, it is out in the suburbs and not in the city centre of Prague. And we have nowhere which is a ‘shop window’ for St. Clement’s during the week. In other respects, what Ken has done to build up the Church in Stuttgart both numerically and financially, is very similar to what I have been doing since arriving in Prague nearly two years ago. In that respect, my conversations with Ken were very reassuring.

St. Catherine's Church Parish Centre, Stuttgart. Note the protruding sign with a picture of a pretzil © Ricky Yates

So is there somewhere in Prague, not too far from St. Clement’s Church, which could become our ‘Parish Centre’ and office? Even better, somewhere with accommodation above where we could live? Am I dreaming or have I caught a vision for what under God, we might possibly be able to do?