Wednesday 2 November 2022

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

This Sunday is a special celebration at St Ursula's as Cem Roser is baptised. Please come and join the celebration and especially pray for Cem, and for his parents Miriam and Dominic, and his brother Mael, and for the godparents, Anna and Gabriel.

Children Preparing to Receive Communion
This evening we start a course for children over 7 to prepare them to receive communion. We will be learning about belonging to God, belonging in the church, prayer, and following Jesus as well as about communion itself. This is NOT a confirmation course; we hope the children will go through a confirmation course and get confirmed at an older age.

Please pray for those children taking part in this course that it will be an important step in their faith and draw them together as a group. The children are: Zornitsa, Nayden, Aydon, Adriele, Lucas, Samuel, Gabriela, and Cem. They first receive communion at a special service on Sunday 20th November.

As part of the course, the children are encouraged to ask other members of the church to write their name on one of their work sheets and to have a conversation with them. So don't be surprised if some of the children approach you after church on the next few Sundays!

Nacht der Religionen, Saturday 12th November
Everyone is welcome to join in with the activities and services of the Nacht der Religionen which involves different Christian denominations and other faith communities across Bern. The theme this year is 'Play and Pray.' We will be joining together with the Old Catholics and the Lutherans; I will lead an Anglican service of Compline (Night Prayer) at 21.30 at St Peter and St Paul, Rathausgasse 2.
Before the service there will be various games and quizzes taking place at the church. There are flyers with more details available at church.

Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday Services
I will be leading the Remembrance Day service, 10.45am on Friday 11th November at the Vevey Commonwealth War Graves. Everyone is welcome.

Our own Remembrance Sunday service will be at St Ursula's on Sunday 13th November. During that service we will remember service men and women and victims of war past and present, and commit ourselves to working for peace.

Pumpkin Soup, 20th November
After the service on 20th November there will be a pumpkin soup to raise money for Cecily's Fund. This is one of the charities we support which works with orphans in Zambia. Basil Eastwood will join us for the lunch and give us an update on the work of the charity. Please do come along.

Books sent from St Ursula's to the Democratic Republic of Congo
We are delighted that a substantial collection of biblical commentaries and other theological books no longer in regular use at St Ursula's were recently transported safely to the Anglican University of Congo in Bunia, in the East of DRC. The group accompanying Bishop Gaddie from Uganda who came here to talk about the Kigezi Water Project a few weeks ago kindly took three suitcases of books with them to Kampala, from where they were transported to Bunia. This was not easy to organize but the outcome was very encouraging and it's very good to have had this cooperative contact with Christians in other parts of the world. We hope the books will be of great benefit to those studying at the Anglican University of Congo, which has sent a very appreciative note of thanks. A couple of photos are attached.

As we look ahead to Cem's baptism this Sunday, let us pray for him and his family and for ourselves that we might live as God's beloved sons and daughters.

A Prayer for Cem and his Family

Faithful and loving God,
we pray for Cem as he is baptised
that he might know your love for him.
Bless Miriam and Dominic and Mael,
and grant them all your gifts of wisdom, faith and peace.
Pour upon them you healing and reconciling love,
and protect their home from all evil.
Fill them with the light of your presence
and establish them in the joy of your kingdom,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

A Prayer for us All

God of grace and life,
in your love you have given us
a place among your people;
keep us faithful to our baptism,
and prepare us for that glorious day
when the whole creation will be made perfect
in your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.

With love in Christ,
Helen