Tag: Eastern Archdeaconry Synod

A profusion of unnecessary notices

What a surprise - the kettle might be hot! © Ricky Yates
What a surprise – the kettle might be hot! © Ricky Yates

I am just back from attending our annual Eastern Archdeaconry Synod meeting. Unusually this year, instead of being hosted by one of the Chaplaincies in our Archdeaconry, it was held in St. Columba’s Retreat and Conference Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. And whilst the Conference Centre was an excellent venue, it did feature one aspect of British life that I find irritating and absurd – an increasing profusion of unnecessary notices.

This first photograph illustrates what is probably the best, or worst 🙁 , example of what I am talking about. Yes – there is a kettle or electric jug for boiling water, to allow guests to make themselves a hot drink, either first thing in the morning or late in the evening. As it is there to provide hot water, do we really need to be told that it just might be hot? Do the management of the centre really believe that every guest they have, is as thick as two short planks?

It's a door - what's the danger? © Ricky Yates
It’s a door – what’s the danger? © Ricky Yates

The second example is hardly any better. Yes – it is a door. But I open and shut many doors, virtually every day of my life, as I suspect all other guests do to. Why do we all need to be told to ‘take care’?

As the passage leads from the first to the ground floor, stairs might be necessary :-) © Ricky Yates
As the passage leads from the first to the ground floor, stairs might be necessary 🙂 © Ricky Yates

This third example might have a little more justification, were the stairs to begin immediately beyond the door. But they don’t! They begin at least three paces later. And bearing in mind that this door obviously leads to the way from the first to the ground floor, most people with a few grams of common sense, would realise that to do so, there would be stairs.

There is a reason for the proliferation of all these totally unnecessary notices. It is the growth of a culture that actively encourages each and every person to believe that there must be someone to blame for anything adverse that ever happens in your life. No longer is even the slightest misfortune, just ‘one of those things that happens’, let alone actually being your own mistake. No – somebody else, human or corporate, is to blame!

Parallel to the growth of this culture of blame, has arisen a whole group of lawyers who offer to sue on your behalf, anyone or anything that can be remotely held responsible for even the most minor accident or injury, on a ‘no-win, no-fee’ basis. It is a case of ‘chicken and egg’ as to which came first – the culture or the lawyers. But both are now firmly embedded in British society, as they have been for far longer, in the USA.

To cover the risk of being sued for negligence, insurance is available. But because of the rise of spurious claims for damages, such as being burnt by a kettle because the complainant did not realise it was hot, insurance premiums have risen rapidly, with the cost being passed on to the consumer – in my example, the person like me, staying in the conference centre. These totally unnecessary notices, are insurance companies trying to cover themselves against future spurious claims.

I would hope that a Retreat and Conference Centre, run by a Christian charitable organisation, would be immune from the possibility of being sued for negligence by guests, past, present or future. But clearly, the management and their insurers, think otherwise. Hence all these unnecessary, and frankly absurd, notices.

Whilst here in the Czech Republic, there could be greater attention paid to certain aspects of health and safety, overall I am very glad that there is the presumption that citizens will use their God-given common sense. That if there is a hole in the pavement, people will just walk around it – not sue the local authority for failing to put up a two metre high fence to prevent someone falling in! Long may the ‘blame culture’ of the UK and USA, with the associated proliferation of silly notices, stay clear of the Czech Republic.

PS   A post about the 2013 Eastern Archdeaconry Synod itself, will appear here in the next couple of days!

 

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

Living in the light of one’s own mortality

Ancient tower and town gate in Tábor © Ricky Yates

I’ve become very aware that in recent months, my blog has been predominantly a travelogue with a bit of history thrown in, together with articles describing the changes taking place in and around the Podbaba area of Prague 6 where I currently live. The more spiritual or reflective posts have been somewhat absent. I hope that with this post, the balance will begin to be corrected.

Last week, the news was dominated by the death of Steve Jobs, the co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Apple Inc, whilst the sports pages reported the death of Graham Dilley, the former England test cricket fast bowler. What most struck me about the death of both these individuals was their age – Jobs was 56 and Dilley only 52 – therefore both were younger than I am now.

Around the same time as the deaths of these two well-known individuals, I passed a significant milestone in my own life – I am now at least ten days older than my father was when he died nearly forty-one years ago from an acute myocardial infarction or a heart attack as it is commonly known. I was just eighteen years old at the time of his death.

In some ways, I feel a certain sense of satisfaction that I have now passed this landmark. And whilst I cannot change my family history, my father being only fifty-nine when he died and my mother dying ten years later aged sixty-three, I do find it somewhat reassuring that both my sisters are now older than our mother was at the time of her death. But having said that, I have also become very aware of my own mortality. Who but God knows when my time to die will come?

In reporting the life and recent death of Steve Jobs, numerous journalists have made reference to a speech he gave to graduating students at Stanford University, California, a few years ago, soon after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In it, he spoke quite openly about the one fact of life that most of us rarely dare to mention – the fact that sooner or later, each one of us will die. He reminded his audience of what he himself had read when he was 17 which went something like, “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.”

In one other memorable quotation from that address he declared, “No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it” In the light of this important truth, he encouraged his hearers to make sure that each day in the future, they were doing something worthwhile and something that they wanted to be doing, recognising that their lives are finite.

On Sunday 18th September, the last Sunday I officiated at St. Clement’s before attending the Eastern Archdeaconry Synod and then taking two weeks annual leave, we celebrated Harvest Festival, giving thanks to God that ’All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above’. For the service, I used the Biblical readings set for Harvest Festival in Year A of the three year lectionary cycle. This meant that the Gospel Reading was Luke 12. 16-30 which begins with Jesus telling the parable of the rich fool – the story of the farmer who pulled down his barns and built bigger ones in order to store the abundant harvest from his lands.

Whilst the parable does have a harvest theme in its story line, that isn’t the reason Jesus told it in the first place. In fact the compilers of the lectionary have unfortunately omitted the three previous verses, which clearly put the account in context. In Luke 12. 13-15, the Gospel writer tells us that a person in the crowd asked Jesus to instruct his brother to more fairly divide the family inheritance of their late father. In response, Jesus both declines to do so and reminds his hearers that, “life does not consist of an abundance of possessions” – a verse I’ve referred to previously in this blog.

In telling the parable of the so-called ‘rich fool’, Jesus does not condemn him for pulling down his barns and building bigger ones. No – it was a perfectly sensible thing to do. It is his attitude that he can, ‘Take life easy, eat, drink and be merry’, that causes God to call him a fool. It is his failure to recognise in the words of Steve Jobs that, “Death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it”.

The challenge to me and to us all, is to live our lives in recognition that, in the words of a well-known Negro spiritual, ‘This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through’. We do not know when our lives will end and, when they do end, to recognise that we will not be able to take our possessions with us. Whilst I hope to be able to retire in just over five year’s time, I cannot guarantee that I will still be here to do so. Who knows when God will say, “This very night your life will be demanded from you.”?

 

Bucharest

View along a side street in Central Bucharest © Ricky Yates

I spent a further 24 hours in Bucharest following our Archdeaconry Synod meeting, not least because flying back to Prague on Monday afternoon was far cheaper than flying back on Sunday evening! I used the time exploring the city centre by bus and on foot, and I hope that these photographs will give readers of my blog, some impression of what Bucharest is like.

Looking at the photograph on the left, it would be very easy to think that it was taken in Paris or another French city, rather than in Bucharest. And many of the most attractive buildings dating from the latter half of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century do display a French architectural style. This is because of the strong French-Romanian links during this time period with many French architects working in Romania and Romanian architects training at French architectural schools.

Below are three more examples of attractive buildings in the French architectural style all located within Central Bucharest. As can be seen, they have each been renovated in recent times after many years of neglect during the communist era.

Romanian Atheneum, Bucharest © Ricky Yates
Central University Library, Bucharest © Ricky Yates
Military Officers Club, Bucharest © Ricky Yates

The French influence even extends to a small version of Paris’ Arc de Triomphe. The Romanian version pictured below, celebrates the re-unification of the country in 1918 at the end of the First World War. Alongside the photograph of Bucharest’s ‘Triumphal Arch’, is a view along another city centre side street which once more illustrates the influence of French nineteenth century architecture. However, the photograph also shows more recent Czech influence with the Staropramen Beer logo featuring on the sun awning and sign of the street-side bar-restaurant!

Triumphal Arch, Bucharest © Ricky Yates

Side street in Central Bucharest with a Staropramen Bar © Ricky Yates

However, as in Prague and the other capital cities of the former Warsaw Pact countries of Central and Eastern Europe, you cannot avoid seeing the impact of over forty years of Communist rule. Below is a photograph of Casa Presei Libere/Press House, a wonderful example of Stalinist-Baroque architecture, completed in 1956. During the period of Communist rule, all print media emanated from this building, hence it was always known informally as the ‘House of Lies’.

Casa Presei Libere/Press House, Bucharest © Ricky Yates

This building in the photograph below, is a large Communist era Conference Centre, built to facilitate the holding of Communist Party Congresses.

Communist era Conference Centre, Bucharest © Ricky Yates

The Communist Party leader of Romania from March 1965 until he was overthrown in the revolution of December 1989, was Nicolae Ceausescu. Following a visit to North Korea in the early 1970s, Ceausescu embarked upon an extraordinary scheme to refashion an entire section of Bucharest according to his own megalomaniacal vision. As part of the scheme, about one sixth of the capital’s buildings were demolished, many of considerable historicity including thirteen Churches.

The pinnacle of Ceausescu’s scheme was the construction of the second-largest building in the world (after the Pentagon in Washington), now known as the Palace of Parliament. Started in 1984 but never completed, it has 12 storeys and 3100 rooms and covers an area of 330,000 square metres.

Palace of Parliament, Bucharest © Ricky Yates

From the Palace of Parliament, a four kilometre-long boulevard was created, deliberately designed to be a few metres wider than the Champs–Élysées in Paris. All this was done to satisfy the egotistical whims of Ceausescu and his wife Elena, around whom was built a major personality cult.

The boulevard leading from the Palace of Parliament, Bucharest © Ricky Yates

Ceausescu was overthrown in the revolution of December 1989. Still under the delusion that he was popular with the Romanian people despite a revolt in the western city of Timisoara, Ceausescu tried to address the crowds from the balcony of the headquarters building of the Central Committee of the Communist Party on 21st December 1989. A few minutes into his speech, instead of cheers and applause, the crowd began to boo and heckle him. Unable to control the crowd, he withdrew from the balcony into the building.

The former headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Bucharest with the balcony from where Nicolae Ceausescu made his last speech © Ricky Yates

The crowd outside was broken up by military force using live ammunition which resulted in the death of many of the protesters. The following day, Ceausescu tried again to address the crowds who had once more gathered outside the building. This time, they responded by throwing rocks and missiles and eventually broke into the building, forcing him, together with his wife Elena, to flee by helicopter from the roof. A couple of days later, the couple were arrested, put on trial for two hours before an Extraordinary Military Tribunal, given death sentences and then shot by a three man firing squad.

Memorial to those killed in the December 1989 revolution outside the former Communist Party HQ © Ricky Yates

Fortunately, despite all that Ceausescu and his regime did to the city of Bucharest, many Orthodox Church buildings have survived. Here are two examples that I was briefly able to visit and photograph.

Cretulescu Church, Bucharest © Ricky Yates
Romanian Orthodox Church, Bucharest © Ricky Yates

And finally, here is a third example which, as you can see, is currently undergoing restoration work. This Church belongs to a Romanian Orthodox Convent and where several of us had the privilege of listening to a small group of young nuns sing Vespers on the evening of Sunday 25th September.

Romanian Orthodox Convent Church under restoration, Bucharest © Ricky Yates

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.