Tag: Diocese in Europe

I do not have a criminal record in the Czech Republic

My certified 'Extract from the Criminal Records of individuals' which declares that 'there is no information about convictions regarding this person'.
My certified ‘Extract from the Criminal Records of individuals’ which declares that ‘there is no information about convictions regarding this person’.

This is what this two page official document, which I successfully obtained today, declares. In the nearly five years I have now lived in the Czech Republic, I have thankfully, done nothing to officially trouble the Czech Police or judicial authorities.

Whilst I can, and have 🙂 , made jokes about having evidence of my lack of criminality, the reason behind my obtaining this certified ‘Extract from the Criminal Records of individuals’ today, is quite serious. It is part of fulfilling the requirements of the ‘Safeguarding of Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults Policy’ of the Diocese in Europe and the wider Church of England.

When I was offered the post of being the Anglican Chaplain in the Czech Republic, back in May 2008, it was subject to a ‘UK Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) Enhanced Disclosure’ being obtained. This was despite already holding such a document, applied for by the Diocese of Oxford, some four years previously. Only when the new ‘Enhanced Disclosure Certificate’ came through, showing I had no criminal record of any description, could my appointment be officially confirmed and publicly announced.

The policy of the Diocese in Europe, in line with the rest of the Church of England, is that every person exercising a licensed ministry in the diocese, should be re-checked not less than once every five years. It was because my current UK CRB clearance dates from July 2008, that the Diocesan Safeguarding Administrator wrote to me some weeks ago, asking me to complete a fresh ‘Self Declaration Form’, but also to obtain the equivalent of a UK CRB clearance from the Czech authorities.

I was greatly helped in obtaining my Czech certified ‘Extract from the Criminal Records of individuals’, declaring that, ‘there is no information about convictions regarding this person’, by my good friend and colleague, Rev’d Dr Karen Moritz. She was previously required to obtain a similar document, before being licensed to help in the ministry of the Anglican Chaplaincy in the Czech Republic, under the Ecumenical Canons of the Church of England. However, whilst her certificate came out of the system within a couple of hours, mine ended up taking the full twenty working days that are officially allowed.

The reason for this discrepancy became clear today. For along with the official Czech documentation, there was a further two pages in English, declaring what the Diocese in Europe and I already know – that there is no record of any convictions against my name, recorded in the UK.

As a result of the EU Council of Ministers Decision 2009/315/JHA, each EU member state, shares with each other, evidence of criminality recorded within their jurisdiction. Therefore, although I had not requested it, I also effectively received, an updated CRB clearance from the UK. Actually, it is from the ‘Disclosing and Barring Service (DBS), which is what the CRB was renamed in September 2012, for reasons that are beyond my comprehension!

Whilst fulfilling all the requirements of the ‘Safeguarding of Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults Policy’ of my diocese, can at times, feel excessive and burdensome, I completely understand the reasons for them. For it has been the failure of the Roman Catholic Church to have a similar policy in place until recently, or even when belatedly put in place, the policy being bypassed or ignored, that has caused it so much adverse publicity in recent years, not forgetting the lives of the many innocent victims who have suffered at the hands of those who should have been caring for them.

Finally, on a lighter note, I could not help but notice the contrast in costs between the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. To obtain my Czech certified ‘Extract from the Criminal Records of individuals’ today, cost me CZK 100 / £3.33 at current exchange rates. A new CRB (now DBS 😉 ) enhanced disclosure, currently costs £44.00 to obtain!

The 2012 Eastern Archdeaconry Synod at Attica, near Athens

 
 
The sun rising over the Aegean Sea at Attica © Ricky Yates

Once a year, the clergy of the Anglican Chaplaincies scattered across Central & Eastern Europe, together with elected lay representatives of their congregations, meet together as the Eastern Archdeaconry Synod. This year’s synod meeting took place at the Cabo Verde Hotel in Attica, just outside of Athens, between Thursday 27th – Sunday 30th September.

This was the fifth Eastern Archdeaconry Synod meeting that I have attended. In the week prior to moving to Prague in September 2008, Sybille and I attended as observers, the Synod meeting held that year in Corfu. You can read about all the subsequent Synod meetings here on my blog. They were in Izmir in 2009, Vienna in 2010, and Bucharest in 2011.

Because of the very scattered nature of our Archdeaconry, synod meetings can only realistically be held once a year and have to be residential. They consist of a mixture of worship, Bible Study, talks and discussions. There is always also some input from the host country and this year we heard about the work the Greek Orthodox Church is doing, assisted by St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Athens, to provide welfare services to those suffering from the current economic crisis that has hit Greece so hard in recent times.

Jack Noonan with Bishop Geoffrey © Ricky Yates

During the Synod meeting, a Eucharist was celebrated by Archdeacon Patrick Curran, to mark the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels on 29th September. Within the service, our Diocesan Bishop Rt Rev’d Dr Geoffrey Rowell, licensed Jack Noonan as a Reader to serve the Chaplaincy of St. Clement’s, Prague in the Czech Republic.

Jack is an Irishman, originally from Cork, who has owned a flat in Prague for many years. Following taking early retirement from teaching just over five years ago, he moved to live permanently in the Czech Republic. As a licensed Reader, Jack will work alongside me, assisting both at St. Clement’s and in our recently established satellite congregation in Brno.

The licensing marked the culmination of a process that began more than two years ago, when a meeting of the Prague Church Council on 1st May 2010, agreed to support Jack being put forward for consideration for training as a Reader. Bishop Geoffrey was actually present at that meeting on his first visit to Prague since I became Chaplain four years ago.

Bishop Geoffrey has since taken a personal interest in Jack’s progress, frequently suggesting books which might further aid his studies. Therefore both Jack and I were very pleased that he was able to license Jack in person rather than by delegation to the Archdeacon or to me. Jack is also now in his third year as one of our two lay reps on the Archdeaconry Synod and is therefore well known by many of the other Synod members who were most supportive of him on this very special occasion.

From l to r, Jack Noonan, Bishop Geoffrey, myself, Archdeacon Patrick Curran © Ricky Yates
St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Athens © Ricky Yates

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Synod concluded with all the participants joining the congregation of St. Paul’s, Athens, for their regular Sunday Morning Eucharist at which Bishop Geoffrey was the celebrant and preacher. After the service, which lasted nearly two hours 🙂 , we enjoyed a sandwich lunch under warm sunny skies, sitting in the grounds surrounding the Church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Acropolis seen from the Acropolis Museum © Nikki Hertford

On Sunday afternoon, many of us including myself, enjoyed a most informative guided tour of the relatively recently opened Acropolis Museum, giving a wonderful insight into more than two thousand years of Greek history and culture. From the top floor of the museum, there is a superb view of the Acropolis itself which is currently undergoing major renovation work.

Canon Meurig Williams & Jack Noonan – two thirds of the Celtic Fringe © Ricky Yates

As always, the most valuable part of Archdeaconry Synod meetings is the opportunity to talk and share fellowship with other members of our scattered Anglican congregations over a coffee, glass of wine or even something slightly stronger 🙂 Here is the Bishop’s Chaplain, Canon Meurig Williams, glass of red wine in hand, deep in conversation with Jack Noonan who has a ‘wee dram’ immediately to his left 😉 Putting these two together with the Prague Church Treasurer Gordon McDonald Truefitt, who was attending his first synod meeting since his election as our second lay rep, and you really did have a gathering of the Celtic Fringe 🙂

Not being able to get a seat on one of the few direct Prague- Athens flights, I flew both ways via Geneva on Swiss airlines. My return trip on the morning of Monday 1st October, gave me this amazing view of Mt Blanc.

Mt Blanc © Ricky Yates

Inaccurate assumptions about the Prague Anglican Congregation

St. Clement’s Church spire from Letna © Ricky Yates

From time-to-time I get emails, or comments here on my blog, each of which make wholly inaccurate assumptions about the Prague Anglican congregation that I serve as Chaplain. So this post is intended to explode a few myths and instead, try to paint a more accurate picture.

We are the Brits abroad – Wrong!

Many people are surprised to discover that only about a third of our regular congregation are citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to give my home country its correct full name. The other two-thirds come from a variety of English-speaking nations from around the world. Or, they are second or even third language English-speakers, happy to worship using the medium of English. Every Sunday, you can almost guarantee that there will be double-figure nationalities making up the congregation.

We are funded by the UK government – Wrong!

Yes, we are part of the forty-fourth diocese of the Church of England, the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe. And yes, the Church of England is the ‘Established Church’ in England, (but not in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland). But despite being ‘established’, we receive no money whatsoever from the British government to pay the clergy or meet running costs. Contrary to popular opinion, the Church of England is NOT the spiritual arm of the Department of Social Security, nor here in the Czech Republic, the spiritual arm of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office!

We are a bunch of wealthy expats – Wrong!

Many people assume that my congregation consists of wealthy business people and/or diplomats. It doesn’t! Back in the 1990s, and even in the very early years of the new millennium, there were English-speaking expats living in Prague, who were here to set up and run the newly established Czech branch of major international companies. And several of these did worship at St. Clement’s and were generous financial supporters. But now, these jobs are held by well educated Czechs who will be able to speak English, but will not be looking for an English-speaking Church in which to worship.

Instead, the congregation currently consists of teachers of English, teachers in the various International Schools, students (numerous University courses here are taught through the medium of English), the English-speaking half of a Czech-English-speaker marriage, etc. Very few congregational members come anywhere near the category of ‘wealthy’.

We are all Anglicans – Wrong!

A survey undertaken a couple of years ago, revealed that only about half of the congregation are Anglican/Episcopalian by background. All the rest come from a wide variety of other Christian traditions. Fortunately, the Church of England allows those members of other Christian Churches who ‘habitually worship’ with us for at least six months, to join the Church Electoral Roll and fully participate in our congregational life. We use Anglican liturgy in our worship, we follow the laws of the Church of England which govern the way our congregation is administered, but we are far from all being Anglicans.

Amusing assumptions

A couple of assumptions that I’ve read or heard could probably best be described as ‘delusions of grandeur’ and each brought a smile to my face. One was a Czech lady, a member of the Old Catholic Church in the Czech Republic, who thought I was the Anglican Bishop of this country!

The other was a female Canadian lawyer who worshipped with us whilst visiting Prague at Easter, two years ago. A couple of weeks later, I received a letter from her, saying how much she had appreciated the service and enclosing 300 Kc in cash. Her request was that I ‘ask my assistant to send her a couple of postcards of the Church as she had forgotten to purchase them when she was there’. I did smile at the assumption that I have a full-time paid assistant!

Consequences and complications

Having a congregation with such a mix of nationalities and Christian traditions is a great joy. But it also raises a number of interesting issues, especially in two important aspects of our worship – liturgy and the hymns we sing.

The liturgy of the Church of England in various places asks us to pray for ‘Elizabeth our Queen’ and on occasions, for ‘the High Court of Parliament’.  For many in the Prague congregation, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is not their Queen! Fortunately, by producing our own Orders of Service, we can omit the inappropriate words. The formula those who lead intercessions often use is to pray for ‘….the President and government of the Czech Republic and for the leaders of all the nations represented here today’.

I had long been aware that in England, Anglicans and Free Church people often sing the same hymn but to different tunes. For example, Charles Wesley’s great hymn ‘Love divine, all loves excelling’, used normally to be sung by Anglicans to John Stainer’s tune called ‘Love divine’, whilst Methodists and others would sing it to the Welsh tune ‘Blaenwern’. In more recent times, many Anglicans have taken to using ’Blaenwern’ thus lessening the issue.

But what I have discovered since being in Prague, is what might best be described as the ‘transatlantic divide’. Americans and Brits know many of the same hymns but sing them to totally different tunes! We use a British Hymnal with a very wide range of hymns and more modern worship songs. But they frequently are not set to the tunes that Americans are familiar with.

One further practical problem also arises. What other important days beyond those of the Christian calendar, do you celebrate? For British and Irish people, last Sunday, the Fourth Sunday in Lent, was Mothering Sunday or Mother’s Day. But for Americans, Australians and many other nationalities, Mother’s Day, (or specifically for Americans, ‘Mom’s Day’), is the second Sunday in May.

Life might be simpler if the Prague Anglican congregation who I have privilege to minister to, would be monochrome. But I’m glad it isn’t, as it is much more fun to work and worship with such a diverse and fascinating group of people, even allowing for all the issues that arise.

 

The 2011 Eastern Archdeaconry Synod in Bucharest

Members of the Eastern Archdeaconry Synod outside the Church of the Resurrection, Bucharest © Ricky Yates

Once a year, the clergy of the Anglican Chaplaincies scattered across Central & Eastern Europe, together with elected lay representatives of their congregations, meet together as the Eastern Archdeaconry Synod. This year’s synod meeting took place in Bucharest, Romania, between Thursday 22nd – Sunday 25th September.

In previous years, along with Sybille, I’ve driven by car to attend these annual synodical meetings – in 2009 to Izmir in Turkey and in 2010, a somewhat shorter journey to Vienna. This year, a combination of Sybille choosing not to stand for re-election as a lay representative, together with Sam the dog still getting used to long car journeys, we decided that I would attend the synod meeting alone and fly to get there.

Malev Hungarian Airlines plane at Budapest Airport © Ricky Yates

When I finally got around to booking my flights, I discovered that the cheapest way to get from Prague to Bucharest was to fly by Malev Hungarian Airlines, initially from Prague to Budapest and then by a second flight, from Budapest to Bucharest. Unfortunately, the outward journey did involve sitting in Budapest Airport for in excess of four and a half hours whilst waiting for the onward flight to Bucharest. Fortunately, the return flight involved a far shorter wait in Budapest which nearly turned out to be too short, after the departure of the Bucharest- Budapest flight was delayed by over forty-five minutes!

One of the Churches within the Cernica Monastery complex undergoing major restoration work © Ricky Yates

The synod met in a conference centre which is part of the Romanian Orthodox Cernica Monastery, located about 20 kilometres east of the centre of Bucharest. The whole complex is situated on an island in the middle of a lake with access via a causeway. The conference centre is a fairly new development and we were certainly the first Anglicans ever to use the facilities and also the largest group for which they had ever catered.

 

Accommodation block at the Cernica Monastery Conference Centre © Ricky Yates

With daytime temperatures in the high twenties Celsius, though much cooler at night, we ate all our meals on a verandah overlooking the surrounding lake. The only disadvantages of this arrangement were an abundance of mosquitoes from the lake and many wasps who were particularly attracted by the jam served at breakfast time!

Dining on the verandah © Ricky Yates
The view across the lake © Ricky Yates

The two major items of synod business were consideration of the two issues under current debate in the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion. The first is the proposed Anglican Covenant which seeks to make explicit what has previously been implicit as to what unites the 44 member Churches of the Anglican Communion. The second is the proposal to allow for female bishops within the Church of England and what provision should be made for those who cannot accept the idea.

Dr Walter Moberly led three excellent Bible Studies on the theme of preaching from the Old Testament. The Diocesan Secretary Adrian Mumford, gave a presentation on how the Diocese in Europe works; Canon Malcolm Bradshaw the Senior Chaplain in Athens introduced us to various resources for worship in small congregations; whilst Rev’d Jady Koch, the curate of Christ Church, Vienna, spoke about all the possibilities that are available in the area of digital communication. In his talk, Jady very kindly singled out Sybille and myself, expressing his admiration for all that we do via our Church website, this blog and our use of Facebook and Twitter. Hint, you can follow us on both 😉

As always, the reports from each of the Chaplaincies reminded me that many of my colleagues face far more difficult situations than I do here in Prague. Most notably, the Russian government is making life very difficult for the Moscow and St. Petersburg congregations. Likewise, the increasing Islamist tendencies of the Turkish government are not helping the cause of our congregations in Ankara, Izmir and Istanbul.

The charismatic auctioneer, Canon Simon Stephens © Ricky Yates

Going once, going twice..... © Ricky Yates

Whilst the synod does mean spending time in worship, learning together and discussing Church business, it does also provide for times of fellowship and fun together. One regular feature of the Eastern Archdeaconry Synod is an auction. Synod participants are asked to bring an item from their respective countries with a value of no more than 50 Euros. These are then auctioned to the highest bidder with the funds raised going to the Archdeacon’s discretionary fund. Over a few glasses of wine, this event is always most enjoyable, especially with Canon Simon Stephens, the Chaplain of St. Andrew’s, Moscow, as the auctioneer. Mainly due to his persuasive efforts, this year the sum of 1413 Euros was raised.

Archdeacon Patrick in conversation with Bishop Geoffrey. But what are they saying to each other? © Ricky Yates

 

 

 

As so often with gatherings such as these, conversations over coffee or at meal times with other synod members are most valuable and helpful. The photo here is of our Archdeacon Patrick Curran, deep in conversation with our Anglican Diocesan Bishop Geoffrey Rowell. However, I am very tempted to print out this picture and take it to next year’s synod meeting, pin it on a noticeboard and ask for suggestions as to what the Bishop is saying to the Archdeacon &/or vice versa. If anyone wants to participate in this caption competition now, contributions are most welcome by leaving a comment here.

 

 

 

The Anglican Church of the Resurrection, Bucharest © Ricky Yates

 

 

The synod concluded with all the participants joining the congregation of the Anglican Church of the Resurrection, Bucharest, for their regular Sunday Eucharist at which Bishop Geoffrey was the celebrant and preacher. During the service, David, a member of the small Anglican congregation in Skopje, Macedonia, was confirmed.

After post-eucharistic coffee and tea, we adjourned for lunch in Chez Marie, the restaurant across the road from the Church which seems to gain good business from the Bucharest Anglican congregation. After lunch, some participants headed for the airport and their return flights. However, many including myself, stayed on for a bus tour and exploration of the city of Bucharest about which I shall write in my next blog post.

The Eastern Archdeaconry Synod in Vienna

Christ Church, Vienna © Ricky Yates

On Thursday 16th September, only a week after our previous trip, we once more drove the length of the Prague – Brno motorway. This time we then headed further south over the border into Austria and travelled onwards to Vienna in order to attend the annual meeting of our Eastern Archdeaconry Synod.

As I’ve blogged previously, St. Clement’s Anglican Episcopal Church, Prague is part of the Church of England’s forty fourth diocese, the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe. As with the other 43 dioceses that make up the Church of England, the Diocese in Europe is divided into Archdeaconries – in our case, into seven Archdeaconries. Even the smallest of these, the Archdeaconry of Switzerland, covers the whole of one country. And Prague belongs to the largest of the seven, the Eastern Archdeaconry, which consists of everything eastwards from Poland, Czech Republic and Austria, including all of the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey and all the former Soviet Union except for the Baltic States.

Once a year, each Archdeaconry has an Archdeaconry Synod where the clergy, together with elected lay representatives, meet to discuss and report on issues facing our scattered congregations, to pray and to study, as well as to make decisions regarding the common life of our chaplaincies. Because of the distances involved, the synod meetings have to be residentiary. However, unlike in 2009 when the synod meeting took place in Izmir, Turkey, this time it was hosted by Christ Church, Vienna, meaning the car journey to get there took half a day rather than three & a half days!

The synod meeting took place in Pallottihaus, a Roman Catholic retreat house situated in the Vienna suburbs. It was an ideal venue with its own Chapel for worship, an excellent meeting room for listening to speakers and the discussion of synod business, as well as comfortable double and single rooms for overnight accommodation.

The major item for discussion was a plan, approved in principle by the Diocesan Synod earlier in the year, for the creation of four so-called ‘freestanding Archdeacons’ to provide better pastoral care and support for the clergy and Chaplaincies of our far flung diocese. The seven current Archdeacons have the almost impossible task of both being Archdeacon and being the Chaplain of a large Chaplaincy. My Archdeacon Patrick Curran is both Chaplain of Christ Church, Vienna as well as Archdeacon of the East.

The major issue regarding the scheme is, not surprisingly, one of cost. There is hope of some central funding coming from England and also the possibility of a private donor helping with accommodation. But inevitably, part of the funding will have to come from increased contributions from individual Chaplaincies. The Archdeaconry Synod gave its backing to the plan recognising the need for it and accepting the inevitable additional costs that will ensue.

On the morning of Sunday 19th September, the synod concluded with a Eucharist at Christ Church, in the centre of Vienna. The synod members joined the regular Vienna congregation and Archdeacon Patrick was the celebrant and preacher.

The Christ Church building itself is a typical product of nineteenth century British diplomacy and politics. It is situated directly opposite the British Embassy and even has a memorial on an inside wall commemorating the reign of Queen Victoria! However, like nearly all the Chaplaincies in our diocese, the Christ Church congregation has long since ceased to be solely ‘the Brits abroad’. As with St. Clement’s, Prague, there were a large variety of nationalities represented within the packed congregation including many black Africans.

After the service, refreshments and a sandwich lunch were served in the nearby parish centre, just around the corner from the Church. Unfortunately, I had to decline the alcoholic liquid refreshment on offer because of needing to drive back to Prague straightaway afterwards.

Next year, the Archdeaconry Synod will meet in Bucharest and as in 2009, Sybille and I will probably try and combine our attendance with two weeks of annual leave making the journey to Romania all the more worthwhile.