Ordination

A very hot summer and a visit to the UK

The dry stream bed of Olešnicka © Ricky Yates

I need to start this post with a sincere apology to those who regularly visit and follow my blog, for the very long gap between my post about further progress with the house and garden in early June, and my post about walking above Kanon Labe, published ten days ago. As a result of my blogging inactivity, July 2018 became the first month in the nine-and-a-half years of my blog’s existence, in which I did not publish a post 🙁

My main excuse for my lack of blogging over this summer has been the weather. For the past three months, the Czech Republic, along with much of Central Europe, has experienced a heatwave with daytime temperatures well in excess of 30°C and virtually no rain. These conditions have not been conducive to me sitting down and writing coherently. They have also not been conducive to making much further progress either with the house or the garden.

The photograph on the left shows the course of Olešnicka, the stream that runs through Stará Oleška. As you can see, it is completely dry! The only consolation is that the grass at the side of the stream bed is still green, unlike my front and back lawns which are completely yellow and rock hard 🙁

Some relief finally arrived two days ago when I was woken at 07.30 by the crash of thunder and a heavy downpour of rain. We then had further rain off-and-on during that day and yesterday. But we still need plenty more! However, what there has been is a most welcome drop in temperature with the day time high today being only 18°C and the forecast saying that it will only rise into the low 20s°C in the coming few days.

This improvement in the weather has made me determined to get my blog going again and start posting regularly here once more. I have plenty of things to write about, but for this post, I’ll confine myself to the week I spent in the UK, Monday 25^th June – Monday 2^nd July, which at the time, was also experiencing a heatwave.

I flew from Prague to East Midlands Airport (EMA), with Jet2.com, who now regularly fly the route twice a week on Mondays and Fridays. I have to say I was impressed, with both flights leaving on time and arriving early, a considerable improvement on my previous flying experiences with Wizz Air between Prague to Luton.

From Monday night until the morning of Saturday 30^th June, I stayed with my son Phillip and daughter-in-law Lisa at their home in Nottingham. And of course, I got to spend time with my granddaughter Pearl 🙂

Here she is with her Dad!

Whilst this is Granddad’s favourite photograph of his granddaughter, taken during his visit.

On the afternoon of Friday 29^th June, I also travelled down to Daventry to visit my daughter Christa, son-in-law Ian, and my grandson Finley. Here I am with Finley on his bike. Grateful thanks to Ian for the photograph.

I spent the weekend in Sheffield, in order to attend and take part in the ordination as priest, of my Czech friend Dagmar Wilkinson, whose ordination as deacon I attended on Sunday 2^nd July 2017. The ordination service took place in Sheffield Cathedral on the afternoon of Saturday 30^th June, presided over by the new Bishop of Sheffield, Rt Rev’d Dr Pete Wilcox.

Standing between Rev’d Frances Eccleston & Rev’d Dagmar Wilkinson © Ricky Yates

Here I am once more, standing in-between two ordained ladies – the newly ordained Dagmar on the right and her training incumbent Rev’d Frances Eccleston on the left. Frances and her husband Steve, kindly hosted me over the weekend as Dagmar had her parents and other friends and relatives staying with her.

Here is Dagmar, standing between her proud parents, following the ordination service.

With Dagmar, following her first celebration of the Eucharist © Ricky Yates

On the morning of Sunday 1^st July, I was privileged to be present at the Parish Church of All Saints, Aston cum Aughton, as Dagmar celebrated the Eucharist for the first time. Here she is with me, fully robed!

Following worship, there was an excellent parish lunch, held in the adjoining Church Hall, at the end of which we all got to share in a piece of this cake, especially made by one of the parishioners to mark the occasion.

Ordination in Sheffield

With the newly ordained deacon, Rev’d Dagmar Wilkinson © Ricky Yates

I spent from Thursday 29^th June – Tuesday 4^th July in the UK, staying with my son Phillip and daughter-in-law Lisa, at their home in Nottingham. I was able to spend time with them both and also with my daughter Christa, son-in-law Ian and grandson Finley, at their home in Daventry.

However, on the morning of Sunday 2^nd July, I set off early to drive up the M1 to Sheffield Cathedral, in order to attend a service for the Ordination of Deacons. One of those to be ordained was my Czech friend Dagmar Wilkinson.

Dagmar comes originally from Kuncice pod Ondrejníkem in North Moravia but has been living and working in the UK for about seven years. She discovered the Church of England whilst working in a pub which was adjacent to Portsmouth Cathedral. She started worshipping there and in due course, became Head Server.

Dagmar first found me via this blog over four years ago, at the time when she was beginning to explore the possibility of a vocation to train for ordained ministry. It has been my privilege to support her through the various hurdles she has had to jump through, culminating in being recommended for training following her Bishop’s Advisory Panel (BAP), earlier in 2015.

Dagmar has spent the past two academic years, studying theology at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, just outside Oxford. She was very fortunate in being to arrange for her four-week long summer placement in July 2016, to be at Westminster Abbey. But one thing not allowed by this Royal Peculiar, was for her to preach, something that is normally part of a long summer placement – see my post about Lea Williams and his time in Prague.

Therefore at the suggestion of her Placements Tutor, Rev’d Dr Jane Baum, Dagmar asked if would be possible for her to preach at St. Clement’s, Prague, whilst in the Czech Republic visiting her family. So on Sunday 7^th August 2016, Dagmar was the preacher at our Sung Eucharist that morning. She also willing agreed to help me with a bilingual wedding the previous day, between William (English man), and Kristýna (Czech lady), held at Chateau Trebešice, near to her brother’s home in Caslav.

At the wedding of William & Kristýna © Ricky Yates

Having been released by Portsmouth Diocese, Dagmar found a training parish for her curacy lying between Sheffield and Rotherham – the Benefice of Aston-cum-Aughton with Swallownest and Ulley. Hence her Ordination as Deacon, took place in the Diocesan Cathedral in Sheffield.

The ordination service was a wonderful occasion featuring hymns and music across the Christian spectrum – from Graham Kendrick’s ‘Restore, O Lord, the honour of your name’ to ‘Veni Creator Spiritus – ‘Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire’. I very much enjoyed meeting members of Dagmar’s family who had flown over for the occasion, along with several of her UK friends. Equally enjoyable was meeting Dagmar’s training Incumbent, Rev’d Frances Eccleston and discovering amongst other things, that like me, she was born in Coventry. And it was to the day, the twenty-eighth anniversary of my own ordination as a deacon on 2nd July 1989.

Standing between Dagmar & her training Incumbent Frances, surrounded by Dagmar’s family & friends © Ricky Yates

Here we all are, following the ordination service. A great privilege to stand between two ordained ladies!

Lea Williams – an Anglican ordinand in Prague

Lea with me in the chancel of St Clement's Church © Sybille Yates — Lea with me in the chancel of St Clement’s Church © Sybille Yates

From the morning of Sunday 5^th July, through to the morning of Monday 13^th July, Sybille and I had the pleasure of having Lea Williams staying with us at the Chaplaincy Flat, as part of his ‘Long Summer Placement’. Lea is training for ordained ministry in the Church of England at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, just outside Oxford. As part of his training, he is required to spend at least four weeks, gaining experience in a parish setting, in advance of his final year of theological study.

Because prior to commencing studying at Cuddesdon, Lea had worked for three years in a parish setting as a full-time Children’s Worker, it was thought that he ought to experience a contrasting setting for his ‘Long Summer Placement’. Therefore, the recently appointed new principal of Cuddesdon, Bishop Humphrey Southern, suggested Lea should go and spend his time with my colleague Rev’d Clive Fairclough, the Anglican Chaplain in Moscow. Clive had been Bishop Humphrey’s curate when Humphrey was an Incumbent in the Diocese of Salisbury. But because Clive and his wife Joanna, could only host Lea for three weeks, it was agreed that he should spend the balance of his placement time with me.

Observant readers of my blog may have noticed that I mentioned enjoying lunch and having meetings at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, during my recent visit to the UK at the beginning of June. This was in order to meet with the Placements Tutor, Rev’d Dr Jane Baum, as well as to discuss practicalities and expectations with Lea. But at this point, I should say that I already knew Lea and his Czech wife Petra, because I conducted their wedding at Bouzov Castle near Olomouc, in July 2009. It was, as the blogpost is entitled, ‘My first Czech Wedding‘ 🙂

As explained in a most helpful booklet produced by Ripon College, Cuddesdon, the placement is, ‘a significant milestone in the transition from lay to ordained ministry. It is a chance for the student to observe and experience for themselves the role of an ordained minister, and to reflect on what it will be like for them to exercise this role.’ Whilst the eight days Lea was with me were far from being typical, there were fortunately, plenty of interesting things going on. And I hope that he gained some insight into what is like being an ordained priest in charge of a continental European Chaplaincy.

Whilst Lea is on placement, (I use the present tense because he is currently in Moscow until early August), Petra, together with their two children, is staying with her father and other family members in Olomouc. On the morning of Sunday 5^th July, Lea travelled by train from Olomouc to Prague, to be at our 11.00 Sung Eucharist. He then travelled with me all the way to Brno, for the regular monthly evening service there, at which he led intercessions, before we made the return journey together back to Prague. As a result, Lea did see rather a lot of the Czech Republic in one day!

On Monday 6^th July, we attended a whole series of events marking the sixth hundredth anniversary of the martyrdom of Jan Hus about which there will be a separate blog post shortly. Tuesday 7^th was mainly taken up with admin, whilst we took Wednesday 8^th as our ‘day off’.

We spent Thursday 9^th in Dresden, visiting the Frauenkirche and meeting the two Protestant Ministers who work there. This was the first step in preparation for me taking responsibility, from January 2016, for the monthly English Anglican service that is held there on the third Sunday evening of each month. This is also to be the subject of another blog post 🙂

Then we spent Friday morning, attending the last part of the Fifth Conference of representatives of the Cross of Nails Community in Central and Eastern Europe which was being held in Prague that week. The conference ended with a Festive Service at which the Dean of Coventry Cathedral, Very Rev’d John Witcombe, gave a address on the theme, ’75 Years of Peace Efforts by Coventry Cathedral – Turning enemies into friends’. This in turn, will be the subject of a third forthcoming blog post!

Lea’s Prague placement culminated with him being the preacher at our 11.00 Sung Eucharist on Sunday 12^th July. He experienced what I often call the ‘Discipline of the Lectionary’ in that the Gospel reading set was Mark 6. 14-29, which tells the rather unedifying story of the beheading of John the Baptist. But he bravely tackled the story head-on and received much positive feedback from several members of the congregation who I asked to complete ‘Sermon Evaluation Sheets’ for him. We posed for the photograph at the beginning of this post, in the chancel of St Clement’s Church, following the service.

However, it wasn’t all work. Being married to a Czech lady, Lea was already aware of the delights of Czech beer. Here he is, enjoying another 0.5l of his favourite Cerný Kozel.

Lea enjoying his dark beer © Ricky Yates

On the Twenty-fifth anniversary of my Ordination as Priest

Renewing my ordination vows © Sybille Yates — Renewing my ordination vows with Jack Noonan & Rev’d Dr Karen Moritz © Sybille Yates

On Sunday 1^st 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 legal document confirming my ordination

The Eastern Archdeaconry Synod in Izmir

The seafront Izmir, Turkey © Ricky Yates

The 2009 meeting of the Eastern Archdeaconry Synod of the Diocese in Europe took place in the Kaya Prestige Hotel, Izmir, between 17.00 on Thursday 8^th October until mid-afternoon on Saturday 10^th October. We met in a large conference room on the second floor of the hotel and were able to set up the furniture so that one part was suitable for worship whilst the other could be used for listening to our speakers and for round-table discussion. However, like so many hotel conference rooms, there were no windows through which daylight might appear so it was good to be able to get out and walk around the city on the Friday afternoon during a two-hour break in proceedings.

In our Eucharist on Friday morning, we remembered Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna who was martyred for his faith c155 AD, not so far from where we were meeting – Smyrna being the ancient name for what is now known as Izmir. We were reminded that Polycarp, when asked to forswear his faith and curse Christ famously declared, “I have served him for eighty-six years and he has done me no wrong; how can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour.” He was burned alive!

Our main speaker was Dr Colin Podmore, a Church Historian who has worked for the General Synod of the Church of England in various capacities since 1998. He gave three talks entitled ‘Aspects of Anglican Identity’. Not surprisingly, he has also written a book of the same title! Whilst one might not agree with everything he had to say on the topic, he certainly was a lucid a thought provoking speaker to listen to.

We also heard from David Healey, Communications Manager and General Manager of the Intercontinental Church Society (ICS), an Anglican mission society who support Christian work among English-speakers in countries where English is not the first language. ICS financially enabled the appointment in 2000, of John Philpott my predecessor as Prague Chaplain, and currently continue to meet about 10% of the Chaplaincy’s running costs as well of supporting us 100% prayerfully. Within the Eastern Archdeaconry, they also support the work of the Chaplaincies in Corfu and Kiev.

As well as speaking about the work of ICS, David also gave an illustrated talk about the impact of consumer culture upon belief and unbelief from a mission perspective. This was a revised version of a talk I’d heard him give last April at the ICS Chaplains and Families Conference. Part of his theme is one I have referred to more than once in this blog – that as Jesus said, “Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” Luke 12 v15b.

A very important part of synod proceedings are the reports from each of the Chaplaincies. Many have financial struggles; those in St. Petersburg and Moscow have ever increasing difficulties regarding visas for chaplains and congregational members alike. Others have problems regarding their legal and tax status.

But there were also many positive things in several reports, particularly in the area of ecumenical cooperation. There are also possibilities of new Chaplaincies being established, notably in areas where increasing numbers of English-speakers are settling. One of these is on the west coast of Turkey. Members an expat group of Christians based at Didim attended the synod in an observer capacity and there is another similar group based around Bodrum. I understand that both these groups would like come under the ‘Anglican umbrella’. Our Archdeacon Patrick Curran, together with our Suffragan Bishop David Hamid, were staying on in Turkey after the synod, for a meeting with these groups to explore possibilities.

Although the synod had its serious moments, it was also a time for fellowship and fun. For the clergy, who in England would normally meet up with their near neighbours about once a month for a chapter meeting, it is rare opportunity to get together and mutually support one another. All of us in the Eastern Archdeaconry work in quite isolated situations. Geographically, my nearest colleague is my Archdeacon Patrick Curran who as well as being Archdeacon, is also Chaplain in Vienna. Vienna is about four hours from Prague either by car or train!

One of the slightly unnerving aspects of our meeting was security presence that surrounded us most of the time. There were always police in and around the hotel and often a private security man was hovering outside our meeting room. When on Saturday afternoon at the end of synod business, we set off to walk as a group to St. John’s Church, led by the Izmir Chaplain, Rev’d Ron Evans, we were followed by several police officers.

So far as one could ascertain, all this was organised by the hotel. There have in recent years been terrorist attacks in a number of tourist areas in Turkey which have usually been attributed to either the Kurdish PKK or Islamic extremists. The Turkish government is very keen to maintain and increase the number of tourists visiting the country as tourism makes a major contribution to the economy. Therefore they clearly want to deter and prevent anything that might damage the image of the country abroad. Later in our Turkish travels, we visited various tourist sites and an armed police presence was always very visible.

Ordination at Izmir © Ricky Yates; From left to right, Canon Malcolm Bradshaw, Bishop David Hamid, Rev'd Tony Lane, Mrs Suzanne Lane, Christine Saccali. — Ordination at Izmir © Ricky Yates; From left to right, Canon Malcolm Bradshaw, Bishop David Hamid, Rev’d Tony Lane, Mrs Suzanne Lane, Christine Saccali. Reader in the Greater Athens Chaplaincy.

The final part of the synod meeting was our Sunday morning Eucharist, held in the Church of St. John the Evangelist, at which Bishop David presided. During the service, he ordained Tony Lane deacon, to serve the congregation of the Church of St. Thomas the Apostle, Kefalas, Crete. This congregation, which is now about 50 strong, was started by Tony a few years ago as half a dozen people meeting around his kitchen table. Since then he has personally built the chapel where the congregation now meet which was dedicated by Bishop Geoffrey in 2008.

Due to previous theological study, Tony was already a licensed Reader and this past year, he has undergone further training and been mentored by Canon Mike Peters, a recently retired priest from Somerset, who has spent the last six months in Crete, leading the congregation. Canon Mike was the preacher at the ordination service. The Crete congregation come under the umbrella of the Greater Athens Chaplaincy led by Canon Malcolm Bradshaw.

The Eucharist and Ordination Service were a wonderful way to conclude our synod meeting. It was followed by refreshments laid on by the Izmir congregation which we were able to enjoy in warm sunshine in the grounds of St. John’s Church.