Prague Expat Life

Hosts or Guests?

Kardinal Schulte Haus - note the scaffolding! © Ricky Yates

I must apologise once more that, despite returning safely to Prague last Friday evening, other than approving a couple of nice comments (and deleting a host of spammers!!), I’ve taken far longer than originally intended to write a new post about last week’s conference.

As I explained in my previous post, the theme of the conference was ‘Entertaining Angels – Hospitality as Mission’. The title is based on a verse from the New Testament where the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews tells his readers, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for so by doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it” Hebrews 13 v2. But who are the hosts who give the hospitality and who are the guests that receive it?

One speaker, Professor Musa Dube from Botswana, pointed out that we are all guests on this earth. Basing her Bible Study on the creation narrative in Genesis 1, she rightly pointed out that that it is God’s earth, for he created it, and we are his guests, invited to live in it and care for it. However, in the context of being clergy serving in the Church of England’s Diocese in Europe, we are nearly all guests, living and working within host countries. I say ‘nearly all’ because, as a result of the Porvoo Agreement between the Anglican Churches of Great Britain and Ireland and the Lutheran Churches of the Nordic and Baltic countries, a number of Lutheran priests from the Nordic and Baltic countries work in Anglican chaplaincies in their own native countries and were present at the conference.

Not only are we guests in our host countries, many Anglican Chaplaincies in Europe, including mine here in Prague, are guests of another Christian Church or denomination using buildings that do not belong to us. Only in some of the long established chaplaincies in major capital cities or in resort areas where ‘Brits’ first settled in the nineteenth century, do Anglicans worship in their own Church buildings. But whilst we are guests in host countries and of host Churches, we in turn seek to be hosts and provide hospitality to expat English-speakers who find themselves well away from their normal support mechanisms. How we do that – how we fulfil that important mission, was a constant theme of both our speakers and of our resulting discussions.

As is so often the case at conferences such as this one, some of the most valuable and profitable learning and discussion took place over meals or in convivial late night sessions in the bar. Not too late I might add as we all had to be washed, dressed and in the Chapel for worship at 07.30 each morning! It was a privilege to meet up with five other clergy who all trained with me at Wycliffe Hall Theological College. 1987/8 was clearly a very good year!

It was also good to get to know many people who, up until now, were purely names in a directory or on a prayer list. It was valuable to listen to their experiences, some in similar major city locations like mine, as well as to others who work in more rural or coastal areas of France and Spain where so many English-speakers have moved for a ‘better life’ or to retire.

The Suffragen Bishop in Europe, The Rt. Rev’d David Hamid is also a blogger and you can read his take on the conference in his post appropriately entitled, ‘Entertaining Angels – Hospitality as Mission’. It also includes a link to a number of photos of the conference though I don’t appear in any of them.

One thing about the conference for me was a certain case of déjà vu. Our flat in Prague was built as part of the first stage of a major development of flats on the site of a former brewery. Ever since we moved in just over a year ago, we have had to live with the builders working on the fourth and final stage of the development directly in front and to the side of our balconies. The noise and dust can at times be quite irritating. What do I find when I arrive at Kardinal Schulte Haus? The building is under repair and there are workmen repairing the roof, directly outside my third floor bedroom window! At least the noise ensured I wasn’t late for Morning Prayer!

Clergy Pastoral Conference in Köln

St. Clement's Anglican Episcopal Church, Prague © Ricky Yates

At 08.00 CEST tomorrow, I’m setting off to drive to Köln/Cologne, Germany to attend a Clergy Pastoral Conference and won’t be back in Prague until late on the evening of Friday 25^th September. The conference will bring together all the Anglican clergy who serve in the vast Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe. This is only the second time this has ever happened, the first occasion being four years ago.

We are meeting at Kardinal Schulte Haus, a Roman Catholic conference centre just outside Köln/Cologne, and our theme is ‘Entertaining Angels – Hospitality as Mission’. There will be about 150 clergy present with our Diocesan Bishop Geoffrey Rowell & his Suffragen Bishop David Hamid, together with various visitors and speakers. It should be an enjoyable and stimulating few days. But it does mean that I won’t be able to add to this blog or moderate any comments until I’m back at the office computer next weekend. I hope that regular visitors to the blog will understand. However, I will write about the experience once I’m back.

First Anniversary in Prague

Bridges over the Vltava River, Prague, as seen from Letna © Ricky Yates

Today, Saturday 19th September 2009, is a significant date. It marks the first anniversary of my arrival in the Czech Republic, together with my wife Sybille and Oscar the cat. In the late afternoon of Friday 19th September 2008, we arrived outside our Chaplaincy flat in Prague 6, at the end of a two day, 885 miles/1416 km drive across six countries + an English Channel ferry crossing. One year on, I’ve spent the last few days doing a little bit of reflection about how I feel about the move and all that has happened these past twelve months.

Firstly, I have no regrets about making the move. Fifteen and a half years was long enough to spend looking after ten Churches in North Oxfordshire. If I’m honest, probably two or three years longer than I would have wanted to be there. But God has his timings and I am convinced now, difficult though it was at the time, that it was worth waiting for the right move even though I had to wait more than two years and several interviews before being appointed to a new post. I’m also pleased that, nearly twelve months after I left, my former parishes finally have a new Rector. May she, (Yes – I’ve been suceeded by a lady!) take those parishes forward, building on what, under God, I and my Ministry Team colleagues, began.

Secondly, it is wonderful to no longer have responsibility for ten mediaeval Church buildings and their associated churchyards. Despite what so many people think, the Church is not a building or even an organisation. Rather, it is the people of God. Of course, mediaeval Church buildings do speak of God – they are holy stones and places where people do find space to be quiet and to pray and to worship. And I’m not a Philistine – such buildings need to be maintained and preserved. However, sometimes the conservation lobby needs to be reminded that Churches were built for Christian worship which should remain their prime purpose, rather than insisting that they become museums to the whims of the way Victorians thought they should look.

Here in Prague, the building we worship in isn’t ours – it belongs to the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren Ceskobratrské Církve Evangelické. The CCE are a joint Lutheran – Reformed denomination formed in 1918 and are by far the largest protestant grouping in the Czech Republic. Their congregation meet for worship at 9.30am each Sunday hence our service is at 11am. We pay them a modest rent for the use of their Church building and the facilities at Klimentská 18. In 2008, this amounted to around 48,000 Kc (about £1,600.00). As a result, we have no heating or electricity bills, no building insurance to pay, and no building repairs and maintenance to have to be concerned about. Instead, we can get on with being ‘Church’ without any concerns for the Church building.

However, just occasionally I do get frustrated at not owning our own Church building. Back in May when a member of the congregation died, it took two whole days before I could get confirmation from our hosts, that I could have the use of the Church building for a particular time and date in order to conduct a funeral service. The next of kin were left in complete limbo whereas, back in Oxfordshire, I could have immediately confirmed a date and time without reference to anyone else.

More recently, when our Sunday School was due to resume meeting on Sunday 6^th September after the summer break, we discovered on the day, that our Sunday School room in Klimentská 18 was unavailable. Our hosts hadn’t thought to tell us earlier! But these minor irritations aside, to be able to spend time and energy on people rather than buildings, is a great joy.

What lies ahead? That is a big question. There is a saying amongst clergy that when you move to a new parish or situation, “The first year you can’t do anything wrong – the second year, you can’t do anything right!” So far, people have, almost without exception, been very supportive. But I’m about to enter my second year……! Watch this space!!!!

The Weak Will

Although Saint Clement’s Church is located in the centre of Prague, it does lie slightly away from the streets most frequented by visiting tourists. It is situated in Klimentská, the street taking its name from the Czech form of Saint Clement, Svatý Kliment. Klimentská is accessed from Revolucní, which runs from Námestí Republiky to the River Vltava. Whilst Námestí Republiky is bright and busy, particularly since the opening in October 2007 of the Palladium Shopping Centre, Revolucní has always struck me as being a little run down, with a number of empty premises at street level.

It was therefore a most pleasant surprise a couple of months ago, when alighting from the Number 8 tram at the Dlouhá Trída tram stop on Revolucní, to see that one of these vacant premises directly alongside the tram stop, had been transformed into a new Bar-Restaurant entitled U Slabé vule. A quick examination of their menu and price list displayed in the window convinced us to try it out for Sunday lunch after our service.

For their city centre location, prices at U Slabé vule are remarkably reasonable. 0.5l of Staropramen is 25 Kc (£0.90). Meal prices range from 120 – 150 Kc (£4.00 – £5.00) with generous portions very nicely presented. Their printed menu, in Czech, German and English, is most notable for the almost complete absence of ‘Czenglish‘.

The premises themselves are large, reaching through as far as the street parallel to Revolucní to the west. It is almost divided in two by the kitchen and bar with the whole of the section on the Revolucní side being ‘non-smoking’, a rare provision in the Czech Republic. What is more, they enforce it!!! In several other bar-restaurants we have frequented, whilst there is nominally a non-smoking area, as soon as a smoker lights up, rather than telling him/her to move, the waiter brings an ashtray. At U Slabé vule, the customer is told to move to the smoking area – Halelujah!

The last two Monday evenings, U Slabé vule has become the venue for a new activity in the life of St. Clement’s Anglican Episcopal Church – Czech conversation classes led by my native English, Czech-speaking Churchwarden, Gerry Turner. Over a glass or two of various varieties of liquid refreshment and a simple nicely presented meal, a small group of us are trying to lose our inhibitions and converse in Czech. Will I be successful or will I have what the name U Slabé vule actually means which is – ‘The Weak Will‘!!

PS – As you will see from the photo above, vule should really have a kroužek (ring) above the ‘u’ which is meant to lengthen the vowel sound by 30%. As with many other diacritics, most web browsers can’t cope and would render it as ‘?’, hence I’ve had to leave it out.

Terezín

The imposing fortress and small town of Terezín lies about 80 km north of Prague. It is situated at the strategic location of the confluence of the Labe (Elbe) and Ohre (Eger) rivers and was constructed on the orders of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Joseph II in order to keep the Prussians at bay. It was formerly known as Theresienstadt in honour of the Empress Maria Theresa. On the eastern side of the Ohre lies the original small fortress whilst on the western side there is a far larger fortress within which there is a small town with a sizeable central square and a grid iron pattern of streets.

In 1940, soon after the outbreak of the Second World War, the Gestapo took over the small fortress to use as a prison. A year later, the resident population of about 3000 people were evicted from the town inside the main fortress and the whole complex was then turned into a transit camp for European Jews as part of Hitler’s ‘final solution‘.

Over the following four years, more than 140,000 Jews passed through Terezín. Around 33,000 died here because of the appalling cramped conditions. At one point, there were over 58,000 inmates in a town that previously had a population of 3000! More than 87,000 were sent on to their death in concentration camps further east, in particular to Auschwitz. Only around 17,000 survived and some of these died from an outbreak of typhus around the time the camp was liberated by the Red Army in May 1945.

Ironically, despite the horrific role Terezín played in the Jewish holocaust, it was also used as a vehicle for Nazi propaganda and portrayed to visitors from the International Committee of the Red Cross as a self-administering ‘Jewish Refuge’. Despite the awful conditions, there was an amazing amount of community life with plays and concerts being performed and artwork and literature produced.

The Terezín Memorial was established in 1991 in order to retell the story of what happened here, to preserve and display art and literature produced by those interned, and to preserve numerous buildings including the crematorium, a fascinating Jewish Prayer room with Hebrew inscriptions from the Psalms on the walls, together with the whole of the small fortress, little changed from how it was in 1945.

Terezín had been on Sybille’s and my list of places to visit since we moved to the Czech Republic. Therefore when my sister Jenny stayed with us recently and also expressed an interest in going there, we took the opportunity to do so. It is not an enjoyable day out – far from it. Rather it is quite a sobering experience but certainly one I’m very glad I’ve experienced.

There is an excellent museum in two parts. The Ghetto Museum itself tells the story of Terezín and puts it in the context of the wider events of the Second World War. Then within the nearby Magdeburg Barracks there are displays of the amazing cramped conditions in which internees were forced to live, as well as displays of artwork, music and literature, all of which was produced in these appalling circumstances. You can then walk around the town to visit the other sites including exploring the whole of the small fortress. Everything is explained in four languages, Czech, German, English and Hebrew, and for once, the English is excellent with hardly any examples of that peculiar language I call Czenglish.

Terezín is a slightly eerie place and it must be somewhat strange for the nearly 3000 people who once again reside in the town to be surrounded by all this horrific relatively recent history. But as the seventieth anniversary of the outbreak of World War Two is currently being marked in Poland and elsewhere, it is important that all that happened at Terezín is preserved and re-told to the next generation.

National Cemetery in the foreground of the Small Fortress, Terezín © Ricky Yates