大象传媒

Introduction 鈥� Rev Joanna Udal
(Recorded at the ruined island monastery on Hoved酶ya)

Good morning. I鈥檓听Joanna Udal, Senior Chaplain of the Anglican Chaplaincy in Norway. I鈥檓 joining you from a small island, Hoved酶ya, on the Oslo Fjord, the place chosen by Cistercian monks from Britain in the Middle Ages to establish a small monastery.听 The stone ruins of their church are still protected by woodland, while the fjord offers a maritime highway connecting with Europe and particularly the British Isles.听 Several early Norwegian kings brought English bishops and priests back to Norway to establish the church here.

惭耻蝉颈肠:听Northern Lights 鈥� Ola Gjeilo
Voces8
CD: Ola Gjeilo - Voices, piano, strings (Decca)

Rev Joanna Udal
This island monastery was, unusually, dedicated to St Edmund as well as to the blessed Virgin Mary 鈥� a spiritual connection with the martyr St Edmund, King of the East Angles, and his shrine at Bury St Edmund鈥檚.听 Today, our church life continues to connect us across the North Sea, as it does around the entire continent of European, through the work of the Church of England鈥檚 Diocese in Europe.

From Morocco in the South to the Arctic Circle and from the Canary Islands in the West to Russia and Turkey in the East, the diocese encompasses an astonishing array of cultures and nationalities, united through our common faith and in Anglican worship within one ministry of the church.听 The communities which make up our chaplaincies are themselves diverse and welcome many visitors and regulars from both the UK and across the world, but each is rooted in their local soil and seeks to express unity with the local church through a shared Christian witness. In these lands we are both guests and hosts.

We begin our service today, just across the fjord from here, where the congregation and choir of St Edmund鈥檚 Church in Oslo are gathered, a testimony to these faith connections which began with the Cistercian monks and endure to this day. They open our worship singing the setting of Mary鈥檚 Magnificat: 鈥淭ell out my soul, the greatness of the Lord鈥�.

Hymn:Tell out my soul
Sung by the Choir and congregation of St Edmund鈥檚 Church, Oslo

Reflection
Fr Louis Darrant (St George鈥檚 Church, Malaga)

惭耻蝉颈肠:听Gather around for the table is spread
Sung by St Martin鈥檚 Voices (大象传媒 recording)

Rev Joanna Udal
Faithful God, we praise you for the zeal of those who brought the Gospel to our lands and for the church communities who have kept alive our Christian hope. Inspire in us compassion and courage to make known your love today. Overcome the wounds of conflict with your healing grace.听 Grant us vision and fellowship to transcend both nation and culture and unite us in your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ.听听

This place of worship, St Edmund鈥檚, was built as an Anglican Church for English speaking Christians living and working in Norway as industrial enterprises expanded in the late 19th Century. Although it appears a small church from the outside with its graceful slimline spire, it鈥檚 surprisingly spacious inside, combining a Norwegian style vaulted wooden roof with more English stained glass windows of the saints and scenes from the life of Christ.

Our communities here in St Edmund鈥檚 are English speaking but of many nationalities and origins.听 This offers a great richness of both culture and experience.听 While most people regard Norway as home, this diversity gives insight and concern into many events around the world.听 Lived experience becomes prayer, and our prayer leads us into new and unexpected lived experience.

In a few moments time, we will hear reflections on different aspects of ministry and mission from across the Diocese in Europe, beginning in Helsinki. But first we hear words from St Paul鈥檚 Letter to the Ephesians Chapter 2, read by a member of our congregation, Jill Almvang.听

惭耻蝉颈肠:听Give us the wings of faith 鈥� James Whitbourn
Westminster Williamson Voices
CD: James Whitbourn - Living Voices (Naxos)

Bible reading
Verses from Ephesians, Chapter 2

Reflection
Revd Tuomas M盲kip盲盲 (St Nicholas鈥� Church, Helsinki)

惭耻蝉颈肠:听A Touching Place 鈥� John Bell
RSCM Millennium Youth Choir
CD: A Land of Pure Delight (Lammas)

Reflection
Christina Laschenko (Christ Church, Kyiv)

惭耻蝉颈肠:听The Lord鈥檚 Prayer 鈥� Leontovich
Sung by St Martin鈥檚 Voices (大象传媒 recording)

Reflection
Rev Dr Kirk Weisz (Bergen Anglican Church)

Prayers and 惭耻蝉颈肠:听Beauty for brokenness
CD: Piano Worship (Kevin Mayhew)

Reflection
Haven Hightower (Holy Trinity Brussels)

惭耻蝉颈肠:听Let us build a house
Sung by St Martin鈥檚 Voices (大象传媒 recording)

Reading
verses from Hebrews, Chapter 11

Sermon: Bishop Robert Innes

The Diocese in Europe听 feels like one of the Church of England鈥檚 front lines. It is the diocese where we encounter the harsh reality of war. Our communities in the south of Europe face new arrivals from the global South. Our project worker in Calais works amongst refugees stranded on the French coast and caught between the French police and UK immigration rules. We are part of the Church of England, but in the countries we serve we are not the majority, established church as in England. Sometimes we have our own buildings, other times we borrow church buildings or meet in schools. We share with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that sense of being travellers, living in tents, being guests in a foreign land.

Our diocesan strap-line is 鈥榳alking together in faith鈥�. The Christian life is a journey, from this world to the life of the world to come. As our Bible reading suggests, all Christians have a sense that we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth, travelling in faith towards a heavenly country. Members of our diocese are frequently on a physical journey too. Sometimes they are travelling on fixed term business contracts to an international centre. Sometimes they have come to a warmer European country to retire. And sometimes they have made dangerous and difficult journeys. Earlier this year I had the privilege of confirming a young man in France who told me how he had crossed the Mediterranean in a small boat which had capsized, how frightened he was and how he had very nearly drowned.听听

For all our people, we try to provide a spiritual home. If you are away from friends and family this church community can be extremely important as a place to give and receive love and care, particularly when trouble, illness or bereavement strike. What鈥檚 more we don鈥檛 simply want to float in a detached way in the places where we have settled. We intend to belong and contribute. I recall a senior city council official in Leipzig saying to me, 鈥榊our Anglican church is very important, because your people have learned how to live well in Eastern Germany, so they know how to help others do that too.鈥� It is indeed a matter of being both guest and host.

One of the biggest issues our continent faces at present is the Ukraine war. We have churches in both Kyiv and Moscow, as well many of the neighbouring states, like Poland, Finland and Romania. In the face of immense suffering and danger, we do what we can. We have regularly brought our diocese together across Europe online to pray for Ukraine. We have raised large sums of money for aid. And many of our churches are involved in caring for refugees from Ukraine either individually or with social projects. You heard earlier about the community feeding project in my home city of Brussels.

A modern Christian worship song, which we will hear shortly sung by the Choir of St Nicholas Church Helsinki, runs:

鈥淲e are pilgrims on a journey
Fellow travellers on the road.
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.鈥�

As those often away from our maternal homes, operating with languages that are not our maternal tongue, we have a heightened sense of the spiritual journey. We are perhaps especially open to faith in God and to our need for God鈥檚 leading and direction. We know our need of love from God and from our Christian brothers and sisters. And we live as those whose hope is in the city which is to come, the transformed earth where God truly dwells amongst us and there are no more tears.

Whatever your own circumstances, I warmly invite you to join us on that journey. Seek and draw near to God. Become more confident in Christian faith. Be thankful for those you love and who love you. And in what often feels a difficult and dangerous world, be a person of steadfast hope.听 听 听

惭耻蝉颈肠:听Brother, sister, let me serve you
Sung by the Choir of St Nicholas鈥� Anglican Church, Helsinki

Lord鈥檚 Prayer

Rev Joanna Udal
Justice and concern for the stranger are at the heart of Judaeo Christian belief. As diverse congregations of many backgrounds, we appreciate this central element of our Christian calling, not only as the service which we are invited to offer but also in the kind of communities we are called to be.听 We often don鈥檛 manage the full picture and we all 鈥渕iss out鈥�.听 But how rich the perspectives on our faith and in our life together when we truly can make place to encounter each other in the fullness of who we are.

Blessing

贬测尘苍:听Let all the world
sung by Westminster Abbey Choir
CD: The Queen's Diamond Jubilee (Griffin)

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