Wednesday 14 September 2022

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

I look forward to seeing many of you in church this coming Sunday. If you cannot come to the service in person on Sunday you can find the readings and hymns for the service here: Service Resources at St Ursula's Church, Berne. The sermon will be recorded and put on the website afterwards, at this same link.

Intergenerational Climate Change Project
After the service this Sunday, 18th September, Louise Rapaud, a member of our congregation, will speak about an intergenerational project she is launching in relation to climate change. The project encourages older generations to apologise to younger members of their families over actions they have taken (or not taken) which have contributed to the environmental crisis. The positive purpose is to encourage the old and the young to take action together. Please do come along to listen to Louise and join in the reflection and discussion afterwards.

Commemoration Service for the life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
There will be a special service of thanksgiving, commemoration and prayer at St Ursula's on Thursday 22nd September at 2pm. There will be refreshments following the service. The British Ambassador will be present and other Commonwealth Ambassadors are invited. Everyone is welcome.

Assisted Reproductive Technology and the Christian Faith
After the service on 25th September, there will be a talk and discussion led by Jorum Kirundi. Jorum works in Reproductive Biology at the University of Berne. I am sure this will be a fascinating discussion and will follow on from some of the questions raised by Professor Wyatt a few weeks ago. Please do join us!

Outreach to Students
We have produced a flyer giving information about St Ursula's which will be put up in the University of Berne and the University of Fribourg especially for new international students who arrive next week. Those in our congregation who have links with students have taken some flyers to distribute to anyone who is interested. We will also be holding a special lunch for students on Sunday 2nd October. If you know any students who might be interested to come along to church that day and come to the lunch, please let me know.

Coffee After Church
We still need more volunteers to set up the coffee and clear up afterwards. If you can join the team let the office know. Otherwise there will be no coffee after church on many of the forthcoming Sundays.

Use of the Beamer in Services
I am very grateful to those who produce the slides and operate the beamer for our services. However, in recent times there have been a number of technical and other issues preventing the smooth running of the beamer. This can be stressful (certainly for those leading services) and can distract us from our focus on worship. We therefore agreed at Council to have a trial period of two months, beginning this coming Sunday, 18th September, when the Bible readings and the words of hymns and songs will not be projected by the beamer. Instead we will use the hymn books for the traditional hymns, and the sheets for the other songs and the Bible readings. Incidentally, this will involve no extra paper as we already have to produce the sheets anyway. (Large print copies will be available for those who need them.) The notices will continue to be projected by the beamer before the service.

At the end of the trial period, we will invite your feedback at feedback@stursula.ch.

To clarify, the issue is not whether the beamer is a good thing. When it works well it can certainly aid our worship. The issue is that we often have problems of different kinds and this can seriously detract from worship. We are seeking to find a way round this and to ensure a smooth and worshipful service.

I end with a prayer, composed by a former Archbishop of Canterbury, which is suitable for this Creation Season:

Prayer
Eternal Father, source of life and light, whose love extends to all people, all creatures, all things: grant us that reverence for life which becomes those who believe in you; lest we despise it, degrade it, or come callously to destroy it. Rather let us save it, serve it, and sanctify it, after the example of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury 1921-2000)

With love in Christ,
Helen