The mission focus for June is CARE.  The loose plate collections at all 4 services on Sunday 20 June will go towards the work of CARE. If you would like to support the work of CARE but know you will not be in church on the 20th, please place your gift in an envelope (clearly marked for CARE) today or on 27 June.  See under Information below for more about the work of CARE.

 

CHAPLAIN’S NOTES

Grand Opening We were delighted to welcome many guests this weekend for the grand opening. We were so pleased that the Bishop of London, who is also our Patron, was able to come out for the opening yesterday. He was also able to give some of his time to work with the Council as they seek together to identify my successor.

We were and are delighted too to welcome back former staff members – Alan Strange (who is also Chair of the ICS Council), Marc Boutan (now based in South Carolina) and Paul Yiend (Liege & Namur). From ICS we extend a very warm welcome to Ian (Chief Executive) and Denys Watson and Marilyn Sertin, Vice Chair of the ICS Council. Also a great welcome for a number of former members of the congregation who have come over for this special occasion. A great welcome too to many other guests who have taken the trouble to be with us including members of my former congregation near Chester in the UK.

Council are gently encouraging the congregation to make one last big heave to fund the cost of the kitchen as an act of thanksgiving for the whole project which has so transformed all our buildings and made them all useable once more. During the months of June and July the fund will be open and our prayer is that we will be able to have the kitchen in place for September.

Our thanks We owe a huge debt of gratitude to many people who have contributed so much to this very necessary project. There is no doubt in my mind that many gave sacrificially of both their substance and their time. It has been relentless for almost two years now with self-help taking place over many Saturdays during that time. Sometimes it was very messy and fearfully dusty. Many had to wear nose masks. It was not easy giving up valuable Saturday mornings. Yet many did and sacrificially. Many, however, have testified to the pleasure of working with people they did not know before and building up strong fellowship one with another. Our sincere gratitude to everyone.

The part, however, that Peter Mackenzie has played has been, by common consent, beyond praise. There is no doubt in my mind that this project would have been very different without him and much smaller in scope. Renovations would have been limited and the whole application much less thorough. The church, therefore, owes Peter (and Pam his wife) a huge debt of gratitude. Naming the Bar after him was the very least we could do and we are delighted that his name is thus etched into the building in this way.

Our thanks too to Richard Craddock our architect who designed the new arrangements and who has done such a splendid job, to Peter Walley and Mark Madeley who have brought considerable management, expertise and ideas, and who formed the Committee overseeing the project with Peter Mackenzie. Our thanks go too to the splendid work of Messrs Compté, the contractors who have been pleasant and helpful and tolerant of us constantly going in to the buildings throughout much of the period.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

praise him you creatures here below;

praise him above you heavenly host,

praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

                                                                                            Nigel Walker

 

COMING SOON . . .

Come and celebrate next Friday, 18 June at 20.00 at Holy Trinity! The first public event in our newly renovated buildings will be a concert to raise funds for the ‘Wish List’ of the Centenary Renovation Project, so come yourselves and invite your friends! Vivaldi’s joyful ‘Gloria’ and Mozart’s ‘Solemn Vespers’ (including the celebrated ‘Laudate Dominum’) make a tuneful programme for a happy occasion. Well-known local soloists, including our own Richard Craddock and Marie-Rose Herman, will be backed up by the International Chorale of Brussels and the ‘Friends-in-Music Instrumental Ensemble’, directed by Pam Clements. Tickets are available in advance (Tel. 02 768 13 27) at €9 (€4 for Seniors and students), €10 (€5) on the night. Children 12 and under, gratis. For further information, go to www.internationalchorale.com

If you would like to participate as a performer, it is not too late for experienced singers or string players. Choir practice Monday evening 20.00 (British School). Instrumentalists, please leave a message on Pam’s answerphone (02/731 72 17) with your contact number.

20 June: Barnabas Fund petition Christian converts from Islam are frequently persecuted and killed on the basis of Islamic shariah law which prescribes the death penalty for adult male apostates. Such legislation is contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union which asserts an individual's "freedom to change religion".

    A petition is being collected by the aid agency Barnabas Fund to lobby the UK government and the European Parliament on this matter. You will have an opportunity to sign it on Sunday 20 June. We encourage you to do so.

Lots of fun for children aged 5 - 11 at this year's Vacation Bible School, August 16-20, with the theme - 'Lava, Lava Island - Where Jesus' love flows.' VBS takes place at the International Baptist Church, Wezembeek-Oppem. Enthusiastic (grass-skirted!) helpers will also be required! More information later, but book the date now! Please see fliers at the back of church.

INFORMATION

Charles Le Jeune Centre We would be very grateful to hear of any firms or companies changing their furniture and seeking to sell at second-hand prices - or better still giving away their previous, good quality, ‘as new’, office furnishings. We would be most happy to be informed. We still have to find items such as spare chairs and tables for the new Centre. Any pointers would be most welcome. If you know of any possible contacts, please get in touch with a member of clergy or Vicki at Church Office. Thank you!

URGENT: The Translation Team needs a few more volunteers to help with the weekly translation into French of Holy Trinity’s Newsletter. This requires a regular but only occasional commitment. If you are interested and a good French speaker, please contact Vicki at Church Office. 

Our Mission Focus for June is on CARE - Christian Action Research and Education.  CARE was founded by Christians in the UK in the 1970s to express Christian concern at legislators beginning to move away from the country's historic dependence on Christian values as the basis for public policy. CARE continues to be a Christian voice on public policy issues in the UK, but is also now represented here in Brussels for liaison with the EU institutions and follows the work of the UN.  It also supports a range of caring services for those suffering as a result of the decline of Christian ethics in modern society including a network of 160 crisis pregnancy counselling centres in the UK mirrored in the Alternatives centre here in Brussels.

David Fieldsend, who manages CARE's work in Brussels, will be preaching at our evening service on 20 June and our plate offerings at all services that Sunday will be going towards the work of CARE.

Flowers every Sunday can be offered in memory of loved ones. Total contributions or part payment of the weekend's flowers’ costs are welcome. Please contact Sue Cox on 02/767 29 11.

Are you about to leave school, leave university or take time out from university or career? Do you need thinking space to consider God's purposes and your calling? If so the West Yorkshire School of Christian Studies (near Leeds) could be the place for you. They run programmes of one month, four months or nine months. You would be able to talk to leading Christians who are active in the worlds of science, philosophy and the arts, and take up placements, sometimes paid, in Britain or overseas. Website: www.wysocs.org.uk.  E-mail: admin@wysocs.org.uk. Tel: 00 44 113 258 93 00. Information cards and prospectuses available from Mary Walker

I went to Taizé last summer and loved it: Biblical teaching, small groups, worship music, special encounters, quiet places for those who need it.  Would anyone like to join me this year?  Loving camping and speaking French helps.  11-18 July and 1-8 August. Bus organised from Brussels.  Call Machteld 02/267 80 41.

The Prayer Chain welcomes requests for prayer for any situation with complete
confidentiality. Please pass your request to Sue Cox 02/767 29 11 or cottoncox@hotmail.com or to Ann Milton 02/772 47 04.

 

Items for the Newsletter Please send these, at the latest by 9.00 on Tuesday, to the Church Office at admin@htbrussels.com