Category Archives: Homepage Posts

Christmas Message on YouTube

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It’s a double premiere for St. Alban’s: our own site on YouTube and a filmed Christmas message from our priest Mark Barwick, in English with French subtitles.  Recorded in the church of our kind hosts, the Dominican community in Strasbourg, his thoughts centre around the word Emmanuel: God with us, even in these difficult times.

To see and hear what he has to say, just follow this link.

Mark Barwick recording his Christmas message.

A blessed and peaceful Christmas to all!

Our Christmas Day service of the Holy Eucharist starts at 10.00am (half an hour earlier than usual!)

 

Back to church! Retour à l’église!

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Enter his gates with thanksgiving
Entrez par ses portes en rendant grâce

In keeping with the government’s plan progressively to ease lockdown measures, we have resumed worship services at the Dominicans’ Chapel. You will find procedures will be similar to those in place before the most recent lockdown, except that the space between seats has been somewhat widened.  Our service of Holy Eucharist will be at 10.30h.

Don’t forget your masks!

Conformément au plan du gouvernement visant à alléger progressivement
les mesures du confinement, nous avons repris les services de culte.
Vous trouverez des procédures similaires à celles en place avant le confinement le plus récent,
sauf que l’espace entre les sièges a été quelque peu élargi.  À 10.30h  nous célébrons l’Eucharistie.

N’oubliez pas vos masques !

Giving to others: ACAS

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At its 27 September meeting, ACAS (Association Caritative Anglicane de Strasbourg) approved financial support to the following projects:

Lors de sa dernière réunion, l’ACAS a accordé son soutien financier aux projets suivants :

  •  – CASA and CIMADE, local groups which support asylum seekers / CASA et CIMADE, associations locales pour leur aide apportée aux demandeurs d’asile ;
  •   – Girls’ and boys’ education in Pakistan / Scolarité d’enfants en Pakistan; 
  •  – Reconstruction of Anglican church in Foulpointe, Madagascar, damaged by hurricanes /
  • Communauté anglicane à Foulpointe, Madagascar, pour la consolidation de leur église détruite par les cyclones.

   Thank-you for your continued support of ACAS !

He’s made it! – Frederick completes his walking challenge for ACAS

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Sunday 5 July: the supporters have assembled with masks and plenty of social distance, the barbecue is fired up, Nigel and Bill’s cameras and microphones are at the ready and the hero of the hour, Frederick William-Smith, embarks on his 89th lap around his house with his walker.

The last-but-one lap

For the last, the 90th lap, however, he discards the walker and relies instead entirely on his two sticks. 35 days after he embarked upon this venture, he completes the last lap and achieves the goal he set himself, to walk a total of 9 km. around the perimeter of his house. Neither heat nor cold, sunshine or rain have deterred him.

90 laps completed

 

 

 

Aged 90 – hence 90 laps – and only three months after having had a toe amputated, Frederick has proved equal to the challenge of raising  as much money as possible from donations to support the charitable giving of St. Alban’s. All those who have sponsored Frederick’s 90 laps are helping Christian school children in Pakistan to complete their education, are enabling the storm-ravaged church of the Anglican church in Foulpointe, in Madagascar,to be rebuilt and are supporting refugees in Strasbourg.

Thanks and congratulations to Frederick and his wife Maryline, and to all those who have supported this venture. Frederick has proved that even under the most arduous of Corona restrictions a man with a sense of purpose can achieve great things!

Congratulations Frederick William-Smith

Plenty of encouragement

Frederick’s Walk for ACAS

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On 2nd June, the day after Pentecost, Frederick started on his 90-lap walk around the perimeter of his house in order to raise money for St. Alban’s charitable wing, ACAS.  In a short ceremony he was sent on his way by St. Alban’s priest Mark Barwick and other enthusiastic supporters.

Now, three weeks later, he has completed well over 70 laps, that is more than 7kms / 4 miles, and he is still going strong.  His goal of 90 laps is now well in sight. No mean feat considering his age – he turned 90 this year, hence 90 laps – and his reduced mobility after a recent foot operation.

The response so far has been all that he has hoped for: €2900 have already been pledged and more has been promised.  That means that ACAS (Association caritative anglicane de Strasbourg) will be able to continue supporting its long-term projects: caring for refugees in Strasbourg, educating Christian school children in Pakistan, and supporting an Anglican church in eastern Madagascar which has repeatedly been harried by hurricanes.

All are asked to continue supporting Frederick with both encouragement and donations as he completes his 90 laps and tots up the grand total of 9 km.

Through the garden, round the side of the house and along the pavement outside = 1 lap

Frederick walking in mid-June with the support of physio Stéphane and cheered on by Chantal.

ACAS Walking Challenge / Défi de Marche pour ACAS

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Frederick and Maryline William-Smith have been inspired by the UK’s 99-year-old Captain Tom, who walked around his
garden with his walker to raise funds for the UK National Health Service. Frederick, by comparison a mere chicken at 90, had to have a toe amputated in March and since then has slowly but surely been recovering his mobility. He now feels up to the challenge of walking 90 steps through the front and back gardens around his house and trying to do four circuits a day. That would amount to 400 metres a day, and in 22 days, starting on 1 June, he hopes to complete 90 circuits, walking a total of nine kilometres. You are invited to sponsor Frederick’s walk to raise much-needed funds for ACAS, St. Alban’s organisation for charitable work. At present ACAS is supporting agencies in Strasbourg looking after refugees, an Anglican community in Madagascar much battered by hurricanes and students at a Christian school in Pakistan.

For further details about how to sponsor Frederick’s walk follow this link.  All contributions are welcome!

       

Frederick et Maryline William-Smith ont été inspirés par l’aventure du capitaine Tom au Royaume-Uni qui a parcouru son jardin avec son déambulateur jusqu’à son 100e anniversaire pour collecter des fonds pour le Service National de Santé du Royaume-Uni. Ils ont pensé que cela constituerait, pour Frederick, un excellent challenge pour améliorer sa santé.  Le 12 mars, deux semaines avant son 90e anniversaire, il a subi l’amputation d’un orteil. Depuis, il se remet lentement mais sûrement. Voilà le défi d’aujourd’hui : il doit faire environ 90 pas pour faire le tour de la maison par le jardin et les portails. Ils essaient de faire 4 tours par jour, ce qui les amène à environ 400 mètres. Ils estiment que 90 tours de la maison lui prendront environ 22 jours, commençant le 1er juin. En même temps, c’est un bon moyen de réunir des fonds extrêmement nécessaires pour financer les différentes activités de l’ACAS (dons aux organismes locaux d’aide aux réfugiés, soutien à divers projets à Madagascar et scolarisation de jeunes chrétiens au Pakistan). Ils vous lancent un appel :

Accepteriez-vous de le parrainer ?  Pour en savoir plus, suivez le lien. Tous les dons seront bienvenus.

Getting off to a good start with plenty of support.

Staying/Getting in touch in times of corona // Rester ensemble aux temps de Covid-19

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It’s been seven weeks now since St. Alban’s last service at the church of the Dominicans in Strasbourg, but thanks to the internet and the web-based system called Zoom, Fr. Mark is able to make direct contact with listeners and viewers on computers, mobile devices and telephone. On Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and all the Sundays since we have been able to join in worship with each other, to see and speak to each other and catch up on news.

As well as regular Sunday worship at 10.30h, Tuesday Prayers are taking place again as Zoom sessions.  These are from 18.30h to 19.15h on Tuesdays and use as a framework the Evensong service.

On Wednesdays at 11.00h Andra Muiznieks  is offering to lead us in a series of half-hour sessions of Contemplative Prayer as a way of  managing stress, cherishing silence and deepening our inner life.

And on Thursdays at 10.00h you can drop in via Zoom for Coffee with Mark; a visit and gentle conversation with your favourite morning beverage for as little or as long as you’d like. For children aged 8 to 12 the regular Children’s Class is resuming on Sundays at 18.00h, again via Zoom.

Times of Zoom sessions and log-in details can be found in “News and Views from St. Alban’s”, Fr. Mark’s regular newsletter sent out via email.  If you would like to take part in services or other activities, contact Fr. Mark on +33 3 69 57 40 03 or write an email to:
anglican.chaplaincy.strasbourg @gmail.com

Fr. Mark writes/Mark écrit:

“This is the Easter Season. For Christians, it is a time for hope and the renewal of life’s possibilities. This is one thing that resurrection teaches us: we mustn’t give in to death and despair. The words of a gospel song of my youth still ring true: “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone, because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives.”   And until that future comes, whatever that may be, let’s take care of ourselves in the here and now. And let’s be attentive to the lessons that we have to learn in this time.  And of course, there is Sunday worship online at our regular time. There are many opportunities for us to stay connected, be nourished spiritually and challenged intellectually. And it’s all just a few clicks away!”

“Ceci est la saison de Pâques. Pour les chrétiens, c’est un temps d’espérance et de renouvellement des possibilités de la vie. Nous ne devons pas céder à la mort et au désespoir. Les paroles d’une chanson gospel de ma jeunesse sonnent toujours vrai : « Parce qu’il vit, je peux affronter demain. Parce qu’Il vit, toute peur a disparu, parce que je sais qu’il détient l’avenir, et la vie vaut la peine d’être vécue simplement parce qu’il vit. »

Et jusqu’à ce que cet avenir arrive, quel qu’il soit, prenons soin de nous ici et maintenant. Soyons attentifs aux leçons que nous apprenons en ce moment.   Et bien sûr, il y a le service du dimanche en ligne à notre heure habituelle. Il existe de nombreuses opportunités pour nous de rester connectés, d’être nourris spirituellement et stimulés intellectuellement. Et tout cela en quelques clics !”

2 Psalms as Litanies / 2 Psaumes comme litanies.

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Here are two litanies which you might find helpful for your prayer in these days. What is a litany?  It is a series of petitions with a refrain which is repeated in such a way as to allow us to focus and enter more deeply into the words of the prayer. The first is inspired by Psalm 1 and the second brings together the words of  Psalm 23 and the mystic Julian of Norwich.

Voici deux litanies qui pourraient vous être utiles pour votre prière de ces jours. Qu’est-ce qu’une litanie? C’est une série de pétitions avec un refrain qui se répète de manière à nous permettre de nous concentrer et d’entrer plus profondément dans les paroles de la prière.
La première est basée sur Psaume 1 et la seconde rassemble les paroles du Psaume 23 et celles de Julien de Norwich.

Psalms as Litanies