St Thomas Becket on Facebook!

For social media fans there is now a St Thomas Becket community on FACEBOOK!.

Wanderers on amphibious excursion!

Saturday 14th May sees the Wanderers off for a 'Wattwanderung' from Cuxhaven to the island of Neuwerk.

Travel instructions: 9.45 meet at Hamburg Main Station Travel Centre.
10.07 depart on Metronom Train to Cuxhaven, arriving 11.50.
Walk to harbour and along the coast westwards.
13.00 picnic lunch near Duhne
14.30 tide should be low enough to walk away from shore.
17.30 approx. walk onshore to Sahlenburg. Coffee and cakes.
Bus to Cuxhaven. 18.10 or 19.10 train from Cuxhaven to Hamburg, arriving at either 20.00 or 21.00.
Walking all the way to Neuwerk and back in one day may be rather ambitious, but there is the option of walking there and returning on a horse-drawn coach!

Your Wanderer-in-chief advises 'Do bring amphibious footwear and wear shorts! If we don't walk as far as the shells and stones, it is possible to go barefoot, but ideally wear shoes that can be either washed or thrown away afterwards, e.g. old jogging shoes or tie-on plastic shoes, which don't slip off in 20cm of sludge. Bathroom flip-flops are useless.

Group train tickets will be purchased as usual, so please let Stuart know by Friday 13 May if you intend to come.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Church of England on a splendid wedding which apparently 2 billion people are said to have watched.

In case you wish to ponder more on the articulate and warmn address by the Bishop of London, the The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dr Richard Chartres, it is up on the Diocese of London website.

We wish the married couple a long and happy marriage.
Both dresses were beautiful!

Services for May posted

Please click here for the list of services for May and June.

During the Vacancy Period the church is being served by locum chaplains. Currently our locum is Canon Paul Rose. The next locum will be The Very Revd Dr John Arnold from May 22nd - 5th June. The locum chaplains provide the full ministry as chaplain and are available for pastoral matters.

Interviews for the position of Chaplain are due to take place 10th May - please pray for Renu and Stuart who are representing the Chaplaincy Council in this important decision. There has been a pleasing response to the advertisement with apparently many good candidates. This website has had just under 150 referrals from the job vacancy section of the Church of England website, that of the Church Times and Diocese in Europe. We seem to have given a good account of ourselves, thanks to the hard work of many people - not least the churchwardens who have had to shoulder a huge burden. Keep up the good work.

William and Kate's big day

On Friday HRH Prince William and Ms Kate Middleton will do what many millions do - get married the Anglican way - except their wedding is just a bit more public than most.

The media frenzy is in full swing, but perhaps this short webcast reflection by the Archbishop of Canterbury helps to put it all in context.

Prayer for the Royal Wedding from Church of England website
God of all grace,
friend and companion,
look in favour on William and Catherine
and all who are made one in marriage.
In your love deepen their love
and strengthen their wills
to keep the promises they will make,
that they may continue
in life-long faithfulness to each other;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Archbishop of Canterbury's Easter Sermon

In his Easter sermon preached at Canterbury Cathedral, The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, spoke on the theme of joy, and the capacity to be surprised by it. He makes the point that ultimately, joy is about discovering that the world is more than you ever suspected, and so that you yourself are more than you suspected.

Click here for the full text.

You might like to note that the Archbishop's website has been redesigned - now better than ever.

Easter 2011

The Easter Eucharist is at 10:30 am this Sunday. Please do come along and join in the celebration.

On Easter Monday there will be a ecumenical celebration of Easter Vespers at the St Michaelis Church at 18:00 featuring the choir of the Ghana Catholic Mission in Hamburg.

Bishop Geoffrey's Easter Message has been posted on the Diocese in Europe website. It looks at the context and meaning of this celebration.

Episcopalians might like also to note the Easter Message from Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori link here .

Wishing all readers of this website a very Happy and Blessed Easter!