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May 2016
(nr. 155)
MAGAZINE OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN HAARLEM
Church The English-speaking church community meets at
the Old Catholic Cathedral of St. Anna & St. Mary
Kinderhuissingel 74, 2013 AV HAARLEM
Website: www.anglican-church-haarlem.nl
Priest-in-charge The Revd David de Verny Tel: 023 547 3760 Mob: 06 10492 234 e-mail: [email protected]
Reader Jaap Theunisz, Tel: 023 537 4242
Rijksstraatweg 541-III, 2025 DE HAARLEM
e-mail: [email protected]
Warden Jaap Theunisz
Treasurer Renger Afman, Tel: 023 526 2295
e-mail: [email protected]
Secretary Rob Uittenbosch, Tel: 020 645 7103
e-mail: [email protected]
Organist & Martin van Bleek, Tel: 023 542 2133
Choirmaster
Safeguard officer Ann van Egmond, Tel: 0251-25 2189
Lifeline Editor Philip Whittaker, Tel: 0341 45 3507
e-mail: [email protected]
The English-speaking church community in Haarlem is part of the Anglican-Diocese of
Europe and seeks to serve all English speaking people in the wider Haarlem area.
All payments, donations, general, missions, subscriptions to Lifeline (minimum to
cover costs €12.50/year), please to:
Bank nr: NL87 INGB 0000 5776 41, Church of England Haarlem
indicating purpose of payment (donation, mission, Lifeline, etc.)
Lifeline contains the official Haarlem chaplaincy news and various articles. However,
the views expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the Chaplaincy or the Editor.
Recent issues of Lifeline can be found on http://www.anglican-church-haarlem.nl/category/all/lifelines/
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Letter from your Chaplain:
Dear Friends,
When I was younger (it suddenly seems a long time ago!) “alternative”
religions were all the rage: people who had been brought up in main-
stream Christian denominations (just remember the Beatles!!) became
Buddhists or Hindus, followed strange (and mostly money-grabbing) gurus,
discovered their “Inner Child” and/or fell in love with C. G. Jung. Oh, the
heady days.... And then Mrs T. arrived on the scene and we all became
either hard-line Evangelicals or hard-line Romanist Anglicans – only a few
remained easy-going Progressives....
And where are we now? Well, it seems that Progressives/Liberals are
dying out, Romanist Anglicans are either just Romans now or also battle
extinction and the Evangelicals still have high numbers and high turn-overs
and still have lots of money (it's the Dollar Gospel after all). People like to
hear what they already believe in: affirmation of one's own opinion is highly
desirable and makes one feel comfortable and safe. Being challenged is
“out”, creative insecurity is not wanted anymore– ahhh, for the 1970ies!
However, what I detect – in our own congregation as much as in churches
elsewhere – is the hunger and thirst for Spirituality. A tangible example of
that is this: it seems impossible to get a day retreat booked in any of our
Dutch monasteries! They are all fully booked for months in advance. This
is wonderful. I am truly very happy – although I regret that we haven't got a
booking fixed yet for our own group, either!! I shall be focusing on
spirituality in my talks over the next month.
And while I am writing about wonderfully “old/new-fashioned” things like
retreats and monasteries, let me remind you of more “modern” things: you
can now get your Lifeline copy on-line. This saves us some much needed
money. Our editor Philip and our Reader Jaap will be happy to advise.
And also: remember it costs about 4000 euros a months to run our
Chaplaincy (our Treasurer Renger will tell you the details!): please help us
to keep alive an Anglican/English-Speaking Christian presence in Haarlem.
If you think spirituality is important then you might want to keep on
supporting the Spirituality of Cranmer, Dunne, Herbert, Gore, Temple,
Ramsey, Williams... Thank you.
Your Chaplain,
David
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Music Matters
After the busy period of Holy week and Easter Sunday the choir is now focussing on the period up to the beginning of July. Our Good Friday devotions and Easter Choral Eucharist were very meaningful and the music and readings helped us focus on the meaning of the Passion and joyful Resurrection. James Pollard played for both the Good Friday Service and the Easter Eucharist.
Our choir joined the European Cathedral Singers to sing at Manchester Cathedral from 1-3 April. During this week-end we also sang at Fr Derek Akker’s church in Bury, near Manchester. A congregation of around 80 members from the 5 local churches attended. Afterwards the choir was royally fed on Lancashire hotpot and cakes.
Looking ahead, on Sunday 29 May we will sing Choral Evensong in our own church and on Saturday 4 June we will join other choirs in the Archdeaconry for the Choral Festival in Ghent. This service is also part of the celebrations for 200 years of the Anglican Church in Ghent. The next day, Sunday 5 June, we will have a special service in our own church as Bishop Robert will be confirming candidates during our service.
The choir is already practising for our European Cathedral Week at Wells Cathedral from Monday 8 until Sunday 14 August. As always we should be delighted to see you if you happen to be in the area at that time.
Our final choral service will be Sunday 3 July, after which the choir will be on holiday until the second half of August.
An advance notice: the choir, together with the Anglican Singers, will be singing its annual Choral Evensong in the St. Bavo on Sunday 21 August at 7 pm.
Martin A. van Bleek, Director of Music
♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫
As announced in the last Lifeline, the Chaplaincy is looking critically at
its finances, including the cost of producing and mailing Lifeline.
Readers were asked to confirm whether they wished to continue
receiving Lifeline as a printed copy, or to receive it electronically free of
charge. This edition of Lifeline is being distributed according to your
stated preference.
For those who have not responded and for whom we have no e-mail
address we must assume that they no longer wish to receive Lifeline,
and they have regrettably been removed from the distribution list.
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From Fr.Derek Akker, Bury, Manchester
The visit of the Haarlem Choir and other members of the European Cathedral Singers was well received by members of our congregation and those from nearby parishes, the choir adding to the experience of our Saturday evensong for the congregation. For many it was a rare opportunity to hear what is quintessentially a traditional Anglican act of worship. For Sue and me it was good to share with our church something from our travels in Europe. And at a personal level it was good to share in the worship, as it was the first time I had led worship since my health issues. It was a real boost for me.
It was lovely to see and hear the choir again and brought back some happy memories.
Blessings to you all, Derek and Sue
Saints - Remarkable Christians in the Anglican Church
Remarkable Christians who are remembered by the Church in May include:
May 8th; Julian of Norwich
On this day in the year 1373, when she was 30 years old and suffering from what was considered to be a terminal illness, a woman of Norwich, whose name is unrecorded, experienced a series of 16 visions, which revealed aspects of the love of God. she unexpectedly recovered, and, following her recovery, she spent the next 20 years pondering their meaning and recorded her conclusions in what became the first book written by a women in English: 'The Revelations of Divine Love'. At an unknown point in her life, she became an anchoress attached to the church of St. Julian in Norwich, and it was by the name Julian that she came to be known to later generations. She died around the year 1417. Her book is still in print.
May 25th: The Venerable Bede
Bede was born in Northumbria around the year 670. When still a child, his family sent him to the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul in Wearmouth. From there he moved to Jarrow where he lived as a monk for the rest of his life. His monastery became a centre of learning and Bede studied extensively. He wrote a most complete history of Christianity in England up to the year 729, as well as commentaries on the Bible. He was a great teacher, much loved by his pupils. He died in 735 and is now buried in Durham Cathedral. His book “The Ecclesiastical History of the English People” is still in print.
5
Lent Discussion Group 2016
‘The Mystery of Everything’ was the latest Lent course book written
by Hilary Brand. It was based on the award-winning film about the
life of Stephen Hawking: the famous Cambridge professor and
cosmologist. The course book covered themes such as the wonder
and mysteries of the universe, everyday life, relationships, weakness
and hope. It provided opportunities for group discussion and
meditation as well as individual readings for each day of the week
during Lent. In total there were nine participants who attended one
or more sessions. There were inspiring and thought-provoking
interactive exchanges thanks to Gert Dammer and Jaap Theunisz
who led the sessions in turn.
A highlight was the guided tour at Space Expo (ESA in Noordwijk)
with the opportunity to experience both past and recent space
exploration, which included entering a life size model of the space
station. The exhibition left us in awe of the immense vastness of the
galaxies and unknown universe yet to be discovered. The wonder of
God’s creation!
See our web-site: http://www.anglican-church-haarlem.nl/photo-
album
Diana Dammer
Whitsun 15 May
Please note that there will be an ecumentical service at 10.00 in
the Grote of St.Bavo Kerk, and Choral Eucharist in our Church
as normal at 14.30.
"Watch for opportunities to help someone else”
- from "Small straws in a soft wind", a daily devotional on the internet,
named as these devotions are short: http://ft111.com/smallstraws.htm
“I speak to nations of people who have become self-focused and
concerned about their own needs and desires. I would have you
deliberately rise above selfishness to develop kindness and
generosity. Remember that reward always exceeds sacrifice, says
the Lord. You will not regret becoming a giver. Luke 6:38 ‘Give,
and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken
together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the
same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.’"
[submitted by Prayer Group member, Catharina Schroor]
6
From Ms Miscellaneous
Cinnamon
The bullet is through the church, I’m over the next hill: mid-April I reached the birthday milestone of 50. Half a century, five decades. I don’t know; it somehow is a magical number.
In Dutch tradition I should know now where Abraham and Sarah get the mustard, meaning that the 50-year old person at last has accomplished wisdom. But it turns out that Abraham had nothing to do with mustard! Where the expression comes from is a bit of a mystery, but one of the possible explanations is that it comes from the word ‘mutsaard’ meaning a bundle of firewood, which Abraham needed to sacrifice his son Isaac. Luckily in the end he did not have to do this, but found a ram trapped in a bush to offer up to God. Is it a coincidence that I am Aries (ram) by horoscope?
Anyway, I am glad this 50 year mustard thing is rubbish, because – let’s be frank – mustard is not very nice to eat. It’s sour and bitter and only tolerable with a bit of honey added or underneath a bitterbal. Some would maybe draw the parallel with life, which also is sour and bitter with only the occasional highlight.
But I would like to turn it around. Looking back at my 50 years of life, I must conclude that it compares better to a typical Oosterhout (the town I grew up in) sweet, a kaneelstok (the dictionary gave me ‘cinnamon flavoured Edinburgh rock’ as a translation for that). It is long and soft and spicy and sweet, with the occasional hard bitty or a tiny air bubble.
Thanks to the love of God, my family and so many dear, dear friends, my life has been and is good. It’s as simple as that. And even though the hard bits can be really hard and the empty bits really lonely, I have love all around me – no matter what. That is the wisdom I have accomplished.
Veronique Ruiz
☺ ☺ ☺ ☺
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Our Church Choir
The next choir member to sit in the interview chair is Francis Gordon, another long-serving and regular member:
Experience: From an early age singing 3 services a day with the school
choir. Joined the Anglican Singers Amsterdam in January 1990 and the Haarlem church choir after Easter of that year.
Sings: Bass
Favourite music To listen to Bach, Handel, Mozart operas, birdsong and Dolly Parton
To sing Psalms
Daily life: Used to work in Organ building and here in Holland Organ
pipe making (see photo). Have worked for the last 18 years with the Homeless in Amsterdam for The Salvation Army
Hobbies: Gardening, bird keeping and breeding, and quite a lot of
singing
Enjoys: Friends, holidays to Italy, and trips home to both England and
Scotland. Occasionally a few pints of Guinness in good company
Wishes: I have a strong desire for peace in my daily life. To have good
health enough to create a beautiful garden in my retirement years.
♫ ♫ ♫
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Even the gods
Often we are inspired by that which has inspired others before us. Since 2014 Mieke van Opheusden has been working for Peace Brigades International (PBI) in Guatemala, helping human rights advocates when they are threatened. Years ago she was inspired by the following quote from David Whyte’s ‘Self Portrait’ in “Fire in the Earth” (1992), which quote she fixed to the wall next to her bed:
“I want to know if you know how to melt into that fierce heat of living falling toward the center of your longing. If you are willing to live day by day with the consequence of love and the bitter unwanted passion of your sure defeat. I have heard in that fierce embrace even the gods speak of God”.
Mieke did not really understand why these words struck a chord, but she noticed that there were only “big” words. Nothing was put in perspective and reduced to something small. Life is magical and overwhelming. She had been raised with the idea that it is always good to look at things from more than one point of view, to always look for an “however”. She did not disagree with that approach, but noticed that she had problems with disinhibition, with just letting herself go. In this text there was no “however”, and that was liberating. Whyte’s poem is an urgent call to live, and to live fully.
At some point in her life Mieke met the Quakers, and through them discovered that having a calling was essential for her. To live according to what is being asked of us. In order to practise this, Quakers use the opposite of disinhibition: silence. Questions as to what to do are laid down in the middle and then they will wait until the answer presents itself. That’s not always easy. Often enough she found herself standing in the way of the answer, because of her own thoughts, her pride and hurry. In order to live fully, restraining yourself is as important as letting yourself go.
Often it would also mean waiting until you are needed, or until you are ready for something. She had never expected that so often the answer would just be to do ‘nothing’. That is the beauty of “being
9
called to live”: we are inclined to think that a calling always involves doing something, that it is about a large or important task. But that is not its essence. We are called to life itself. It is not the destination, but the road to which we are called. It is good to be reminded of this. Thus life remains something magical. Even the gods speak of God.
From: “Geroepen om te leven” – jaarthema doopsgezinden 2015-2016. Translated, edited and introduced by Jaap Theunisz
☺ ☺ ☺ ☺
A quiz for our bright readers
These are not trick questions, they are all straight questions with
straight answers:
1. Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the
participants know the score or the leader until the contest
ends.
2. What famous North American landmark is constantly moving
backward?
3 Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for
several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be
replanted every year. What are these only two perennial
vegetables?
4. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?
5. In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real
pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the
bottle is genuine; it hasn't been cut in any way. How did the
pear get inside the bottle?
6. Only three words in standard English begin with the letters '
dw' and they are all common words. Name two of them.
7. Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen,
canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.
8. Name 6 or more things that you can wear on your feet
beginning with the letter 'S’.'
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Should you require further information about a service or event
please contact our secretary Rob Uittenbosch (020 6457103)
Sunday 1 May
6th Sunday of Easter
14.30 Choral Eucharist
Thursday 5 May
Ascension Day
10.00 Old Catholic Eucharist (in Dutch)
Sunday 8 May
7th Sunday of Easter
14.30 Sung Eucharist with hymns
Tuesday 10 May 10.00 Coffee morning at the home of
Joan Parfitt
Wednesday 11 May
19.30 Compline and Prayers for healing
20.15 Leadership Team Meeting
Saturday 14 May 10.00-
12.00
Training session for those who do
intercessions in church during the
services.
Sunday 15 May
Pentecost
10.00
Ecumenical service in St. Bavo
Church, Grote Markt, Haarlem,
all welcome
14.30 Choral Eucharist on Whit Sunday
Sunday 22 May
Trinity Sunday
14.30 Family Eucharist
Tuesday 24 May 20.00 Prayer and Discussion group
Sunday 29 May
Trinity 1
14.30 Choral Evensong
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Saturday 4 June all day Archdeaconry Choral Festival in Gent,
Belgium. Choral Evensong
Sunday 5 June
Trinity 2
14.30 Choral Eucharist with Baptism and
Confirmation
The Rt. Revd. Dr. Robert Innes
Wednesday 8 June 19.30 Compline and Prayers for Healing
Sunday 12 June
Trinity 3
14.30 Sung Eucharist with hymns
Tuesday 14 June 10.00 Coffee morning at the home of
Ann van Egmond
Sunday 19 June
Trinity 4
14.30 Morning Prayer and Eucharist
Sunday 26 June
Trinity 5
14.30 Family Eucharist
Sunday 3 July
Trinity 6
14.30 Choral Eucharist
As Gentle as Silence
The Love of God is the essence Of all that I love here on earth:
All the beauty I see God has given to me, And God's giving is as gentle as silence.
Every day, every hour, every moment have I been blessed by the strength of God's love.
At the turn of each tide is God by my side, And God's touch is as gentle as silence.
There were times when I turned from God's love And walked other paths, other ways,
But I've called on God's name in the dark, And God's grace is as gentle as silence.
(after Estelle White)