This chaplaincy article is by the Rev Grant Crowe, Amersfoort & Zwolle chaplain Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: 68 ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. 69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David 70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), 71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us –72 to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant,73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham: 74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.’(Luke 1:67-74). These are the opening words of the biblical song called the Benedictus – called that due to the first word of its Latin translation. The entire text – up to v79 – has two halves. The first half – as quoted above – looks back to the promises of God now being fulfilled. The second half focuses on the prophetic role of his eight day old son. We focus on this first section. The section can be summed up in the name of Zechariah’s Son – John means ‘Yahweh is gracious’ – in this canticle Zechariah celebrates the grace of God. God is praised – because “he has come.” He praises the Lord for the fulfilment and culmination of the Old Testament which is occurring. As Anglican Bishop NT Wright reminded us in November’s session on ‘Anglicanism and the New Testament’: the New Testament as a whole declares itself to be how the Old Testament reaches its goal and climax where the plans of God were going – a single story focused on Jesus Christ. The season of Advent therefore has a strong theme of adoration and praise – even though Anglican tradition is that we omit the Gloria in our Sunday worship! – for the fulfilment of the promises so far (that the Messiah has come), and as those promises have been fulfilled, we look forward to the glorious return of our Lord. Advent has praise woven into its fabric and being. And two significant biblical characters are mentioned – Abraham and David. Both representing two major periods of Israel’s
7 A survey course introducing our Church, offered in the Chaplaincy in Utrecht and Amersfoort, AD 2016-2017 September 20 – History / Current Structures October 18 – Approach to the Old Testament November 15 – Approach to the New Testament January 17 – Worshipping the Lord February 21 – Hymnody March 21 – Approach to Ethics May 16 – Parish Mission June 20 – Anglicanism and Islam
looked out over Jerusalem in grief, longing to have his message heard and received. He knew the ‘apparent failure’ of a mission. Hanging on a cross he knew physical pain. He saw his grief- stricken mother weeping at his feet. He felt the abandonment of his Father. He knew what it is to be human. He sang. He danced. He wept. He died. In this time of Thanksgiving, the life of Jesus is a model with a message. What has this message to say to us? And how can we move on in our own and loss? Rituals are one way of claiming the power of healing. The ‘ritual of affirmation’ is a beginning point. We can say ‘thank you’ for the life of the one we loved. Writing a letter, creating a poem, drawing a picture are all ways to express thanksgiving for the life we miss. The ‘ritual of reconciliation’ is an act in which we can ‘let go’ of residual anger and pain toward the person. ‘I’m sorry or I forgive you’, said in our hearts or written on a paper which we may later burn, make the act of reconciling tangible, the forgiveness real. Lighting a remembrance candle or creating an event to honour the person are ways in which we may ‘give legs’ to our grief and in so doing, honour the person or thing we love. In these simple acts, we can remember the joy brought to our lives with thanksgiving! t around_the_world/ **Kübler-Ross, E. (1969). On death and dying. NY: Macmillan ***KJV ****Meyers, L. (2016). Counseling for grief and loss. Counseling 59 (3), 27-32. Our chaplaincy reaches out to God in prayer to hold up the chaplaincy and its members in particular need. We are offer this ministry both in Utrecht and Zwolle. If you have requests for the prayer chain, or if feel called be a part in this ministry of intercession, please contact: Anne Miechielsen organizes and participates in this ministry at Holy Trinity in Utrecht: Janie McCloughin organizes and participates in this ministry at Zwolle Anglican Church:
The Problem With a capacity of just 100, St. John’s is bursting at the seams every week. Pews are filled to overflowing. Folding chairs fill the back and are squeezed into the aisles to provide extra seating, leaving little room to pass by. Ceiling fans whirring overhead can’t provide sufficient relief in the crowded sanctuary during the summer months. The average attendance during Sept-Oct 2015 was over 200 in a church that can only seat a hundred! Moreover, St. John’s has limited space for meeting. A temporary tent structure serves as a fellowship hall, and a repurposed shipping container houses Sunday school classes, with the 1 -14 Sunday school class meeting in a coffee shop across the road from the Church. The Solution St. John’s would love to be able adequately to accommodate its congregation, serve the children better during Sunday school time and have proper space for social interaction and fellowship. At the beginning of 2015, St. John’s began to consider a development project. In May 2015, they commissioned an engineering firm, International Design and Development (IDD), to look at how the site could be developed. In September 2015, they appointed a local architect. Plans are now well developed. They involve a westward extension of the church to include a mezzanine level and the redevelopment of an existing parsonage building to provide Sunday School, meeting rooms and a roof-top terrace. You can find an inspirational U- Tube video of their plans here: St John’s Casablanca. How You Can Help The current estimated cost of the project is 300,00 GBP. Promised donations so far amount to about 100,000 GBP. I would be thrilled if the diocese could raise a significant sum to help them on their way. St. John’s is a church of historical significance operating under special conditions in a majority Muslim country with an extensive ministry to Sub-Saharan migrants. As usual, we invite each chaplaincy to make its own arrangements for the collection of money towards the Bishop’s Appeal and then for the local church treasurer to forward collections to the diocesan office. With every blessing,