Wednesday 3 May 2023

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It was a joy to share my 60th birthday celebrations with so many of you last Sunday. A very big thank you to those who helped to organise the apero with David and brought delicious food. I was very touched by the many cards and special messages. Thank you. I felt thoroughly spoiled by my family and my church family. I am very blessed and very thankful.

Coronation of Charles III
The coronation of His Majesty King Charles III will take place this Saturday 6th May. The service is at 12noon (Swiss time). We will be livestreaming the event in the upper hall, and the livestreaming will start from 11.30am, so that we can watch the King and guests arriving. We will provide sandwiches, scones and cakes and there will also be a Coronation Quiz. Do come along and bring any family, friends or neighbours who are interested. If you are intending to come, please let the office know by Thursday lunch time if possible. This will help us with catering.

King Charles is Supreme Governor of the Church of England (of which St Ursula's is a part), and we will be saying some special prayers for the King right at the beginning of the service on Sunday 7th May. These prayers will be led by The British Ambassador, James Squire. It has been a great joy to have James, Kate and their family worshipping with us at St Ursula's in recent weeks.

I attach some prayers here which you might like to use in these coming days before the Coronation.

Tuesday Studies
Our zoom studies on Tuesday evenings will start up again soon, and we welcome Benjamin Vaytet to lead us in reflecting on the classic little book Life Together written by the German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed by the Nazi regime in 1945. Benji and his wife Courtenay are new members of our congregation. Benji is doing his PhD at the University of Geneva on Bonhoeffer's vision of the church. Life Together is a very inspiring and encouraging little book about prayer and worship, solitude and community in the Christian life. Benji will be selecting particular passages for us to reflect on and we will send out the first passages soon. The first session will be on Tuesday 9th May, 7.00- 8.15pm, via Zboom. The following sessions will be Tuesday 16th May, Tuesday 30th May, and Wednesday 7th June. Please do come and join us for these sessions which I'm sure will be very encouraging and thought provoking.

I will send out a short video of Benji introducing himself and Life Together shortly.

Archdeaconry Choir Festival, Saturday 20th - Sunday 21st May
The Archdeaconry Choir Festival 2023 takes place in Basel. Choirs of the Chaplaincies of the Swiss Archdeaconry will be singing Choral Evensong, 17:00 on Saturday 20th May, and Choral Eucharist, 10:00 on Sunday 21st May. Everyone is welcome. Please see the flyer for more details.

Pentecost, 28th May
Looking further ahead, please do put this date in your diaries. This is a very special day in the life of the Church, when we celebrate the coming of the Spirit on the first disciples and the preaching of the gospel to people of different nations and languages. It is a good day to celebrate the international nature of our church community and to remember that we are all one in Christ.
There will be two special events taking place on this Sunday:

• Time and Talents Auction: We are one in the Spirit but we are all different, with different gifts. As we celebrate this, we are invited to offer our time and talents to raise money for the church. Please fill in a form with what you can offer (eg an hour's language lesson, an hour's gardening, cooking a meal, etc.) and put it in the red box in the upper hall. After Church on 28th May, we will hold the auction and invite bids for the different services offered.
• International Lunch: As we have done so successfully in previous years, we invite you to bring some food from your own nation or local area to share. If you have a national dress, we encourage you to wear it. This has been a very colourful and joyful occasion in the past, so don't miss it!

Christian Community is in Jesus Christ

Below are some words from Bonhoeffer's Life Together to ponder:

'Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate. The more clearly we learn to recognize that the ground and strength and promise of all our fellowship is in Jesus Christ alone, the more serenely shall we think of our fellowship and pray and hope for it.'

With love in Christ,
Helen