My sincere apologies for the absence of a fresh blog post for over three weeks. It isn’t as though there is a lack of things to write about – quite the reverse. July 2015 has been far busier than than my previous Julys in Prague and I’ve got at least four prospective posts to compile. But the real problem has been the weather. In the words of Cole Porter and best known for being sung by Ella Fitzgerald, ‘It’s too darn hot!’
Sybille frequently describes the summer weather pattern in Prague as being pleasantly warm, followed by getting hotter, then much hotter, before there is a major heavy thundery downpour and the temperature returns to being pleasantly warm. After that, the same cycle resumes. But this year, especially since the beginning of July, the weather has been very hot and sticky with little or no relief and hardly any rainfall. According to news reports I read today, river levels and ground water levels in the Czech Republic are very low and the prevailing conditions are being described as a drought – the worst the country has experienced since 2003.
The weather has made even fulfilling my regular duties, a tiring exercise. As a result, rather than sitting down and compiling a coherent blogpost, all I’ve wanted to do each evening is either sit on the balcony and try to recover with a cool glass of wine, or head to the bedroom and lie down, with a total absence of the need of our duvet!
Today has almost certainly been the hottest day of the year so far. I took the photograph at the beginning of this post, of the clock and thermometer in my car, when I returned this afternoon, from conducting a wedding at Château Mcely, about seventy kilometres outside Prague. The thermometer actually reached thirty-eight degrees at one point but I was driving at the time and was therefore unable to photograph it. Currently my black clerical shirt is being washed in our washing machine, to remove a whole series of white sweat stains with which it had become decorated whilst I was officiating today.
According to the BBC weather forecast, we are promised some rain and reduction in temperature this coming weekend. But previous promises of rain and reduced temperatures have failed to materialise. As my wife often ironically comments, she doubts whether the Prague weather actually reads the BBC forecast 🙂
I do promise to start blogging properly once again, very soon, providing the Prague weather finally manages to return to something nearer to normality for July.
On Sunday 1st July 1990, in the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St. Alban, (to give what is commonly known as ‘St. Alban’s Cathedral’ its correct, full name), I was ordained priest by the then Bishop of St. Albans, Rt Rev’d John B. Taylor. Therefore this coming Wednesday will be the twenty-fifth anniversary of that significant day. So with today being the nearest Sunday to the anniversary, within our Eucharist at St. Clement’s this morning, I renewed my ordination promises or vows.
In the absence of a bishop, I arranged for Licensed Reader Jack Noonan & American Presbyterian Minister Karen Moritz, to once more ask the questions that were put to me within that Ordination Service twenty-five years ago. I found it both moving and challenging even when putting together the printed text for today’s service. All the more so, as I responded to each question in front of the St. Clement’s congregation this morning. If you want to know what exactly is asked at an ordination service, go here and scroll down to ‘The Liturgy of Ordination’.
After I had responded to the questions and had also received the loud support of the congregation, promising to both pray for me and to continue to uphold and encourage me in my ministry, I knelt and we sang the ancient hymn Veni Creator Spiritus – ‘Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire’, which is when the photograph at the beginning of this post was taken. Karen then led us in intercession, using the form of intercession from the ordination service.
Whilst I was warmly greeted when sharing the Peace, what I wasn’t expecting was what occurred just before the end of the service. In advance of the final hymn, I was giving the notices when both of the Churchwardens got up, wishing to also make an announcement. There followed an effusive eulogy written and spoken by Churchwarden Stephen Weeks, the text of which I was later told, had been approved by fellow Churchwarden Gordon Truefitt and gained the blessing of Jack Noonan. I was then given a most humbling long standing ovation by the congregation.
This afternoon, I have been searching through two boxes that sit in my office, famously ‘waiting to be sorted’, trying to find a photograph of me standing before St. Alban’s Cathedral in cassock, surplice and stole on that special day. Unfortunately, I’ve drawn a blank. But below is a scan of the legal document confirming my ordination, signed and sealed by Bishop John. I do love the line, ‘Of whose sufficient learning and godly conversation We were assured’ 🙂
The Prague and Brno Anglican congregations of which I am Chaplain or Priest-in-Charge, are two of just over three hundred congregations that together form the Church of England’s Diocese in Europe. However for both legal and ecumenical reasons, my two congregations also function as as the English-speaking parish of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic, or Farní obec Starokatolické církve pro verící anglického jazyka v Praze.
The Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht were formed in the late 19th century by Roman Catholics who could not accept the doctrine of papal infallibility and other teachings that came out of the First Vatican Council of 1870. The Church in the Netherlands has a slightly earlier history. As well as the Netherlands, there are Old Catholic Churches in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland and the Czech Republic, together with a scattering of outposts elsewhere. More information can be found in this Wikipedia article and their own website . The Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion, have been in full communion with the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht since the Bonn Agreement of 1931.
Once a year, the Bishops of the various Old Catholic Churches get together for a few days for their International Bishops Conference (IBK). The IBK is held in each different country by rotation. This year, it was once more the turn of the Czech Old Catholic Church to host the IBK. They previously did so in January 2009, the event being the subject of my first ever blog post nearly six and a half years ago.
As in 2009, following directly on after the IBK, there was a twenty-four hour meeting between the Old Catholic Bishops and those Anglican Bishops working in continental Europe. This took place between 14.00 on Friday 19th June until lunchtime on Saturday 20th. Back in February, I received a request from my Anglican Diocesan Bishop, Rt Rev’d Dr Robert Innes, for me to be the minute taker for this meeting. Apparently at some point since the January 2009 meeting, it was agreed that the Old Catholics would provide the interpreter whilst the Anglicans would provide the minute taker. Thus the lot fell on me 🙂
On the morning of Friday 19th June, I once more provided Episcopal Taxi Service, first of all picking up Bishop Robert from Prague Airport having flown in from Brussels, and delivering him to Hotel Kampa in Mala Strana, where the meeting was to take place. Then I returned to the airport to pick up Bishop David Hamid, Suffragan Bishop in Europe, flying in from London Heathrow. A combination of Bishop David’s flight arriving late and then me getting slightly confused in a maze of one-way streets, meant that we both arrived about fifteen minutes after the meeting was meant to begin. The whole experience was a good reminder as to why I don’t normally drive my car in the centre of Prague!
It being a private meeting, it is not my place to reveal here, the various matters that were discussed by the bishops other than the perennial issue of continental Europe being famously an area of ‘overlapping ecclesiastical jurisdiction’ 😉 I only really had two problems with minuting the meeting. One was on Saturday morning when both the German and the Swiss Old Catholic Bishops spoke in German rather than English. Trying to listen in one ear to the English translation of what was being said whilst also hearing the German, which I partly understood, made my task almost impossible. The other was frequently having to stop myself from joining in the discussion 🙂
Late on Friday afternoon, we all left the hotel and took the funicular railway to the top of Petrín Hill, in order to reach the Old Catholic Cathedral of Sv Vavrince. There Archbishop Joris Vercammen of Utrecht, celebrated the Eucharist with Bishop Robert as the preacher. Afterwards, we all duly posed for photographs.
An explanation as to who is who. From left to right: Petr Jan Vinš, Czech Old Catholic priest who interpreted from German and English into Czech. Bishop David Hamid, Anglican Suffragan Bishop in Europe. Bishop Matthias Ring, Bishop of the German Old Catholic Church. Bishop Dušan Hejbal, Bishop of the Czech Old Catholic Church. Bishop Pierre Whalon, Bishop in Charge of the Convocation of American Episcopal Churches in Europe. Archbishop Joris Vercammen of Utrecht, Dutch Old Catholic Church. Bishop Harald Rein, Bishop of the Swiss Old Catholic Church. Bishop Mike Klusmeyer, Bishop of West Virginia and the delegate of the Episcopal Church of the USA to the IBK. Andrzej Gontarek, representative of the Bishop of the Old Catholic Church in Poland who was too ill to attend. Bishop Carlos López-Lozano of the Spanish Episcopal Reformed Church. Bishop Dirk Schoon, Bishop of Haarlem, Dutch Old Catholic Church. Bishop John Okoro, Bishop of the Austrian Old Catholic Church. Bishop Robert Innes, Anglican Diocesan Bishop in Europe. Bishop Jorge Cabral of the Lusitanian Church – Portuguese Episcopal Church. Yours Truly. Petr Brzobohaty, Czech Old Catholic Deacon and Secretary to Bishop Dušan.
Just a week after conducting my first wedding of 2015, on Saturday 6th June I conducted my second of the year. But for the first time in nearly seven years, this wedding was conducted under laws governing marriage in England and Wales.
It was in July last year that my son Phillip’s best friend, Adam, wrote to me, saying that he and his long-standing girlfriend Claire, were planning to be married in late May/early June 2015 and that they would like me to officiate, and asking whether I was willing and able to do so. As I normally travel to the UK for a week, once a year, I replied agreeing to their request, planning for the wedding to be at the centre of my annual UK visit. Adam did also tell me that he had already asked Phillip to be his best man, so I did fully understand from the start, what I was letting myself in for 🙂
I flew from Prague to Luton by Wizzair on the evening of Tuesday 2nd June, picked up my hire car, and set off to drive to Phillip’s current home in Nottingham. Unfortunately, whoever is in charge of Britain’s motorway network was clearly conspiring against me.
First of all, the spur road from Luton Airport to the M1, was ‘closed for overnight resurfacing work’, resulting in a tour of parts of Luton I had no desire to see! Then a very long stretch of the M1 through Northamptonshire, had a 50 mph speed limit because of road works. Finally, just as I was getting near to Nottingham, I found another stretch of the M1 completely closed overnight, sending me on a long detour, deep into the Leicestershire countryside.
I spent the Wednesday recovering, then on Thursday, headed back down to Oxfordshire. I enjoyed lunch at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, followed by meetings and a tour of the college and grounds. The reason for this visit will be revealed in a future blogpost, probably in a month or so’s time. Then it was on to the wedding rehearsal in the evening.
Adam and Claire’s wedding was arranged to take place in the Parish Church of St. Michael and All Angels in the North Oxfordshire village of Fringford, one of the Churches I was Rector of until moving to Prague in September 2008. It is the village where Adam grew up and where his parents still live. It did seem strange being back in Church where I hadn’t taken a service for nearly seven years. It took me some time, remembering where all the light switches were located!
At the rehearsal, we went through the service together, got Adam and Claire to practice making their vows and the words used at the exchange of rings, as well as answering various questions that the couple & other participants had. I also picked up the two marriage registers, blank quarterly return for the Oxfordshire Registrar and the marriage certificate book, to enable me to fill them all out correctly, ready for the big day.
Saturday 6th June dawned fine and sunny, though somewhat windy. Fortunately, whilst both the mother of the bride and mother of the groom wore fascinators, there were no ladies wearing hats that would get blown across the churchyard. Quite honestly, it would be difficult to ask for better weather for a wedding day.
One of the privileges of ordained ministry is that you get to share in peoples ‘major life events’, as sociologists would describe them. When conducting a marriage service, there always needs to be a balance kept between the solemnity and joy of the occasion. As I said in my address, after the couple had given their consent, (said ‘I will’ and not ‘I do’), but before they made their vows to each other and exchanged rings, they were about to make very important promises; with God, and those who know them best of all – their family and friends – as witnesses. But I was also able to crack a joke at Phillip’s expense, well aware there would be at least one at mine in his best man’s speech later in the day. And when speaking about the third reason that ‘marriage is given’ – as ‘the foundation of family life in which children may be born and nurtured’ – according to the preface of the marriage service, I did speak of ‘little Garners’ being produced, much to the amusement of the congregation and bringing smiles of pleasure from the prospective grandparents.
Whilst I didn’t have to cope with using a bilingual liturgy as I had the previous weekend, I did have to ensure the correct completion and signing of the marriage registers, quarterly return and marriage certificate, something I hadn’t done for nearly seven years. And I couldn’t just sign as ‘Rector’, as I had previously for over fifteen years, but instead as ‘Priest-in-Charge of St. Clement’s, Prague, Czech Republic – Officiating Minister’. A bit of a mouthful I’m sure you’ll agree 🙂
The wedding was followed by a most enjoyable reception, held in a splendid marquee, erected in the grounds of the home of Claire’s parents on the outskirts of the nearby village of Middleton Stoney. Both the bride’s father and the groom, apologised for not being used to public speaking, but both made excellent speeches, rightly sticking to their previously well-prepared text.
The best man was inevitably, somewhat longer, with some additional ad-libbing. But he did keep us all amused. In thanking his Dad for conducting the marriage service, he described it as ‘a cracking gig’, which caused much laughter. It really was a great wedding and a privilege to be part of it.
On Saturday 30th May, I officiated at my first wedding of 2015, between Lee, an Englishman, and Petra, his Czech bride. The wedding took place at Letohrádek svatý Vojtech, Pocátky, in the Vysocina/Highlands, close to from where Petra originates.
The happy couple met whilst both working for the Irish budget airline, Ryanair. As they acknowledged when I first met them, theirs was the classic romance – dashing airline pilot falls in love with tall, beautiful air stewardess 🙂 They now live in Dubai, where Lee flies with the Emirates airline.
Lee and Petra first contacted me about their wedding in September last year. Lee was very keen to have a Church of England wedding whilst Petra wanted the wedding to take place near her Czech home. Therefore, when through a little bit of internet research, they found me, they were thrilled to discover that I could fulfil the wishes of both bride and groom.
Letohrádek svatý Vojtech seeks to maintain the atmosphere of the era of what Czechs refer to as the ‘First Republic’ – the period 1918-1938 when Czechoslovakia was an independent nation. Follow this link for more information, though the English does leave a little bit to be desired 🙁 It did make for an excellent location for the wedding.
The photograph above shows where I conducted the wedding ceremony in advance of it taking place. It was a delightful setting except that the heavens decided to open just before I pronounced the blessing. Of course, if we had started on time, rather than ten minutes later, no one would have got wet. Fortunately, the heavy shower soon passed and all the guests were able to drink a toast to the newly married couple, whilst out in the gardens surrounding the building.
As I always do when conducting an English-speaker to Czech wedding, I made sure that the Order of Service had the complete liturgy in both English and Czech, enabling everybody to follow the service, whichever language was being used. I was greatly assisted by Zuzka, a friend of the bride’s brother and who teaches English in a Czech secondary school, who interpreted for me and helped Petra to give her consent and make her vows in Czech, whilst I did the same for Lee in English.
Whilst out in the gardens, the manageress of Letohrádek svatý Vojtech, organised a Czech wedding tradition. Just as the happy couple were posing for a few photographs, she smashed a plate behind them, and then presented them with a pan and brush, to clear up the broken pieces. The idea is that it should help them to cooperate together in their marriage. Having seen this happen at previous Czech weddings, and seeing the manageress surreptitiously bringing out a pan and brush, I knew what was coming. But it did come as quite a shock and surprise to the British relatives and friends 🙂
Soon afterwards, Lee and Petra were driven away in a vintage Daimler, duly decorated as you can see. The car was right-hand drive and therefore presumably dated from the First Republic, as Czechoslovaks drove on the left in right-hand drive vehicles, until Hitler unilaterally changed things, after he invaded.
There was an evening reception in nearby Jihlava which I wasn’t able to attend, because of needing to get back to Prague for worship the next day. But it was delightful to receive an email from Lee and Petra the following Saturday, thanking me for making their day ‘a special one to remember’, just before I was setting off to conduct another wedding which will be the subject of my next blog post.
As a thank you, I was presented with these gifts, photographed by me the following day on our balcony.
