After my two-day visit to North Wales, I headed back across Offa’s Dyke, to Nottingham in the English East Midlands, spending the weekend staying with my son Phillip and future daughter-in-law Lisa, in their recently purchased new home. This has a guest bedroom meaning no more sleeping in a cellar without windows, or in a sleeping bag on the settee, as I have in times past 🙂
Ever since his childhood growing up in North Oxfordshire, Phillip has been a fan of Oxford United FC and is currently a season ticket holder. Months previously, when I was organising this visit, we agreed that we would go down to Oxford together and watch OUFC play Hartlepool United on Saturday 23rd April.
At that time, we didn’t know how critical the match would be. As it was, with this match and two more to go, OUFC were in third place in League Two and would gain automatic promotion if they were to win all three games, irrespective of any other results. Not surprisingly therefore, the game attracted a big crowd.
I drove us down to Bicester, from where we were driven onwards to the ground by Len, the father of Phillip’s friend Jov. It was a good game which ended in a 2 – 0 victory for Oxford United. For those who don’t follow these things, OUFC did also win their final two games, finished second in League Two and will thus play in League One next season.
On the morning of Sunday 24th April, I took a five-minute walk from Phillip & Lisa’s home, to their parish Church of St Jude, attending the 09.15 service of Holy Communion. I did to the Vicar, Rev’d John Allister, what regularly happens to me in Prague, revealing myself as a fellow Anglican priest at the end of the service. In Prague, this happens with some frequency – on the Sunday after Easter, I even had a bishop in mufti, with his wife, worshipping with us.
John Allister and I had previously been in email conversation but this was the first time we had met in person. He has kindly given permission for me to officiate at Phillip and Lisa’s forthcoming wedding at the end of July, which will take place in his Church. As I have often said, the geography of the Church building, does influence the way a wedding is conducted, so it was good to see the inside of the Church as well as receiving some helpful practical advice from John.
Early on Sunday afternoon, my daughter Christa, son-in-law Ian, together with my grandson Finley arrived, having driven up from Daventry where they live. Lisa cooked us a late Sunday lunch which we all enjoyed together. I must apologise to the ladies, that I only have photographs of the male members of the family to illustrate this post. Below is Ian, reading to Finley, the book being a small present from me to my grandson.
As a teenager in the 1960s, I enjoyed several visits to North Wales – either on geography field trips, or walking holidays, staying overnight in youth hostels. On a number of occasions during those visits, I walked through the beautifully rugged Aberglaslyn Pass, following the line of a long defunct railway. This included walking through three short tunnels, hewn through protruding outcrops of rock.
Research using my local library back in Coventry, revealed that what I had walked along was part of the line of the narrow gauge Welsh Highland Railway, which had closed in 1937. A few years later in 1941, the track and rolling stock had been requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence, to support the ongoing war effort.
Much as I liked the idea that one day, what must have been a most wonderful scenic railway line, might be rebuilt and brought back into use, I never imagined that it would ever happen. Yet amazingly it has! Under the auspices of the neighbouring Ffestiniog Railway Co., who in 1995 gained control of the trackbed and other assets, from the Official Receiver, the Welsh Highland Railway has been progressively reopened so that it is now possible to travel 25 miles/40 km from Porthmadog to Caernarfon through the scenic delights of Snowdonia.
Therefore on the morning of Thursday 21st April, after an excellent night’s sleep and a hearty full Welsh breakfast, courtesy of Linda, my hostess at Bryn Derw B & B, I set off to drive the short journey from Talsarnau to Porthmadog, to enjoy a train journey I never thought I would ever experience. I was also blessed with a warm sunny day and clear skies, enabling me to see and photograph the rivers and mountains of this beautiful part of the world.
On my train journey north, from Porthmadog to Caernarfon, I had problems taking photographs, because of getting reflections back from the glass of the carriage windows. Below are a few least affected by this problem.
On the return journey to Porthmadog, I was in a carriage where it was possible to lower the windows and avoid the problem of glass reflection. Below are a selection of the many photographs I was able to take, without distortion or interference.
Following worship at St. Clement’s on the morning of Sunday 17th April, when I and the congregation bid farewell to Rev’d Dr Karen Moritz, I was away from the Czech Republic for the rest of the month, only returning to Prague on the afternoon of Saturday 30th April, ready to lead worship the following day. It was first a week of annual leave, which was then followed by attending my final ICS Chaplains Conference.
I drove from Prague to the UK over a period of two days, following the almost identical route I described two years ago, when I last made this journey. The only difference this time was that I spent the night of Sunday 17th, staying with the York family in Luxembourg. Then when I drove off the ferry in Dover the following afternoon, rather than heading north to the East Midlands, I instead headed west to Bournemouth to spend two nights with my eldest sister June and brother-in-law Garry.
On Tuesday 19th April, I had a delightful day out with June and Garry, visiting Brownsea Island, situated in the middle of Poole Harbour. We first drove to nearby Sandbanks, where Garry parked the car, and then took the small passenger ferry across to the island.
It is also one of the few places in southern England where indigenous red squirrels survive, largely because non-native grey squirrels have never been introduced to the island. The red squirrels are normally quite shy but this one came near enough for me to photograph.
The island is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and 0.75 miles (1.2 km) wide and consists of 500 acres (202.34 ha) of woodland (pine and oak), heathland and salt-marsh. We walked right around the island, stopping for our picnic lunch en-route. The weather was kind to us and I was delighted to visit somewhere I had seen from a passing cross-channel ferry, but where I had never previously set foot.
On Wednesday 20th April, I set off from Bournemouth on the south coast of England, heading for North Wales. I had arranged to stay that night at Bryn Derw, a small Bed and Breakfast establishment located just outside Talsarnau. This was to enable me to enjoy a scenic train journey the next day, about which more in my next post.
This was the view from in front of Bryn Derw, with blue skies, warm sunshine, and being able to see the tops of the mountains – a relatively rare event in Wales 🙂
After putting my belongings into my room for the night, I drove up a steep narrow lane into the hills behind, hoping to get a better view across to the mountains of Snowdonia and the nearby estuary of the Afon Dwyryd. On both counts, I was not disappointed as you can see.
But what was even more pleasing, was finding this beautifully located and very peaceful little Church. It is dedicated to St Tecwyn, an ancient Welsh saint. These days, it is only used for occasional services in summer – Evening Prayer in Welsh. But the Church is kept open for visitors and as a peaceful place for prayer. I only discovered it by pure chance but was thrilled to do so.
On Sunday 17th April, I, together with the St Clement’s congregation, bid a sad farewell to my friend and ministerial colleague, Rev’d Dr Karen Moritz.
As I explained in a post in May 2011, Karen is an ordained minister of word and sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). She has been in the Czech Republic since September 2010 as a mission co-worker, working with the Ceskobratrská církev evangelická (CCE) / Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (ECCB), the main Czech Protestant Church, which is a united Lutheran/Presbyterian denomination. The Kliment congregation of the CCE/ECCB own Kostel sv Kliment, the Church building where we worship in Prague.
Since successfully getting Karen licensed under the Ecumenical Canons of the Church of England, she has contributed enormously to the life of St Clement’s during her time in Prague. She has regularly preached, led non-Eucharistic worship in my absence, helped with the administration of Holy Communion, and led intercessions.
Karen has also been a great supporter and contributor to our midweek activities. In 2014, she organised and led our Lent Study Course entitled ‘Discovering your spiritual gifts’ which was much appreciated by all those who attended. Then in 2015, she was the main organiser, as well as one of the speakers, at probably our best attended Lent Course during my time as Chaplain, looking at the Bohemian Reformation.
During her time with us, Karen has become a good friend of many in the congregation and on occasions, has given a listening ear, together with pastoral care and support, to a number of people. As I know from having, at various times in the past, three different ordained female colleagues working with me, sometimes an individual needs the insights that a female minister brings, rather than mine. None of us are gifted in all areas!
At a personal level, what I have very much valued and what I will miss the most, is having someone with whom I have been able to share issues or particular situations that I’ve faced in my ministry. Being able to talk with Karen, have the insights and understanding that she has gained from her many years of ministry in a variety of situations, knowing that anything said will be kept with complete confidentiality, has been invaluable to me.
The reason Karen has now returned to the USA is tied up with decision making, or lack of willingness to make a decision, within the Synodal Council and HQ of the CCE/ECCB. It is my personal view that they have basically shot themselves in the foot! They will only fully realise all that Karen has contributed, most notably getting a whole variety of things into English rather than Czenglish, and organising various events and visits for members of partner Churches, when she is no longer there to do these things.
As I write this, Karen still does not have a definite new position to go to. She will continue to be employed by Presbyterian World Mission until the end of June and over this month and next, will be carrying out deputation work as well as hopefully attending interviews for a possible future post. I am very much hoping for positive news very soon.
On Sunday 17th April, when the photograph at the beginning of this post was taken, Karen was the preacher at our 11.00 Sung Eucharist. You can listen to her sermon here, though the sound quality is not as good as I would like it to be. My Licensed Reader Jack Noonan, led our intercessions and Karen and Jack administered the two chalices.
Because Karen had already packed and dispatched most of her belongings back to the USA, including her black preaching gown and stoles, Jack and I dressed her up as an Anglican 🙂 , wearing my black cassock and surplice, together with a white stole that lives in our wardrobe in the Church vestry.
Thank you, Karen, for everything you have given in the five and half years you have been such an intrinsic part of St. Clement’s. We will miss you enormously!
As I have explained previously in this blog, the Prague Anglican congregation legally functions as the English-speaking parish of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic or Farní obec Starokatolické církve pro vericí anglického jazyka v Praze. This came about as the result of a covenant signed in September 2000 by Bishop John Hind, the then Anglican Bishop of the Diocese in Europe, and Bishop Dušan Hejbal of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic.
Under the covenant, we are treated both as a Chaplaincy in the Anglican Diocese in Europe, and as a constituent parish of the Czech Old Catholic Church. One consequence of this is that I am expected, along with one lay person from my congregation, to attend any meeting of the Synod of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic when they take place. Fortunately, this is normally only once every three years as the meetings, which usually take place over a couple of days, are conducted entirely in Czech 🙁
Back in October 2010, Sybille I broke into our holiday to attend a Synod meeting held in Moravia, as mentioned in this post, whilst three years later in 2013, I attended the next Synod meeting, along with a lay representative, which was conveniently held in Prague. But last year, Bishop Dušan called an extra Synod meeting, in order to gain approval for his proposal to stay on as Bishop for a further three years beyond his sixty-fifth birthday in July 2016, exercising a provision within the Church’s constitution. Unfortunately, the date of that Synod meeting fell in the middle of our previously booked holiday in Poland, so I was unable to attend, nor could we find a lay representative to go either.
At that meeting in October 2015, the Synod decided not to accept Bishop Dušan’s proposal. Thus was set in motion, a procedure that had not happened for over twenty years – a further Synod meeting was called to take place in April 2016, to elect a new Old Catholic Bishop. As I have said numerous times, I do realise that ‘a new Old Catholic Bishop’, does sound like a contradiction in terms 🙂
This Synod meeting took place between the evening of Thursday 7th and the morning of Saturday 9th April at Želiv Monastery, located in the Vysocina/Highlands, about 100km south-east of Prague. I was accompanied by one of my Churchwardens, Stephen Weeks, who the Church Council had previously elected to be their lay representative. After an opening Eucharist, followed by our evening meal, the Synod meeting began.
Fortunately, whilst having supper, Stephen and I were overheard speaking to each other in English, by a lay member of the Synod called Vlad’ka. Like many of the Old Catholic laity, she had no idea of our existence as an English-speaking parish in the Czech Old Catholic Church and asked us in English, who we were and what we were doing there. Once we had explained, she kindly offered to interpret for us as she is a teacher of English to vocational students in Brno. She sat between us, interpreting all that was being said, enabling Stephen and I to follow the proceedings.
The evening session began with the two candidates to be the new Bishop, each making a presentation as to their understanding of the role and what they hoped to achieve if elected. There was then a short break, during which time written questions could be submitted to the moderator for the candidates to answer in the following session. Stephen and I compiled a couple of questions which we wanted to ask, which Vlad’ka kindly translated into Czech for us to submit.
The question and answer session went on until it was 22.00 which had previously been agreed as the finishing time for that evening. But it resumed again after breakfast, the following morning. Issues raised included the candidates attitude to same-sex blessings, what was the first things they would do upon becoming bishop and the question of the ordination of women as priests. Currently, the Czech Old Catholic Church only ordain women deacon, unlike their fellow Old Catholics in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Switzerland who do ordain women as priest.
We raised the specific question of their attitude to us being able to advertise for a successor to me, being open to ordained Anglican priests of either gender. My Church Council are unanimous that this should be the case, and fortunately we now have an Archdeacon and Bishop who are committed to supporting us in this. We did not get as clear an answer as we would like from the candidates, but we certainly did not get an outright rejection on the issue.
By the middle of Friday morning, there were no further questions. So we moved to a coffee break, to be followed by the election of the new Bishop. However, before the election could take place, a technical issue was raised. There were meant to be fifty-six Synod delegates but only fifty-five were present. The constitution provides that to be elected, a candidate needs a three fifths majority. Was it to be three fifths of fifty-five or fifty-six? After some debate, we voted that it should be three fifths of fifty-six 🙂
It took three rounds of voting before a conclusive result was achieved. The Synod elected Pavel Stránský, currently the Old Catholic priest in Zlín, to be their new Bishop. He was given a standing ovation and presented with a chain and crucifix, showing him to be the Bishop-elect. He then made a formal declaration, signed various papers and both he and Bishop Dušan were presented with flowers.
After lunch, the Synod meeting elected a new Synodal Council, who with the new bishop, will run the Church for the next three years. Various other committees were also elected and then, with no further business to conduct, the meeting ended with the singing of the Te Deum.
Exactly when Bishop-elect Pavel will be consecrated has yet to be decided but I’ve been told informally that it will probably be sometime in September or October.
