NEWS
Good news for our Chaplain-President and his family: on 11th February, his older brother Simon was introduced to the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the UK Parliament, after a distinguished career in British diplomacy.
Both Lord and Canon McDonald are invested in good relations between the UK and the EU, and the Chaplain-President looks forward to talking to his brother about ways in which warm Belgian-British relations can be rebuilt following Brexit.
Each Lent, the bishop of the Anglican diocese in Europe organises a financial appeal for a parish or project in the diocese, to which the 280 communities in the diocese (https://europe.anglican.org/where-we-are/church-locations) are encouraged to contribute. This year, Bishop Robert has asked the diocese to contribute to the Eglise anglicane à Liège (https://englishchurch-liege.be/index.html), which has been led in the past couple of years by pastoral support worker Ruth Nivelle and which is awaiting in March the licensing of its new chaplain, the Revd Guy Diakiese, originally from the Congo and most recently curate in St John and St Philip's Anglican Church, Den Haag (https://www.stjohn-stphilip.org/people/guy-diakiese/). Here is a letter from Bishop Robert which explains the situation and which gives information about how to contribute towards the appeal. The Central Committee welcomes Guy warmly to Liège and to our Anglican family in Belgium!
Given the length of the ongoing emergency measures against covid19, Bishop Robert and Bishop Mark have agreed that the Belgian parishes may avail themselves if they wish of the relaxations negotiated by the chefs de culte and the Ministry of Justice on 14th December 2020. In-person services may recommence on Sunday 14th February. The National Anglican Protocol is therefore removed from suspension. It may be read here in French and Dutch.
The annual New Year speech and reception offered by King Philip to Belgian political, military, educational and religious leaders took a new form on 28th January, when he spoke by internet. The Chaplain-President represented the Anglican Church. The King spoke about the necessity of rebuilding Belgian society and economy as the struggle against the covid-19 pandemic begins to be slowly won. It goes without saying that the Central Committee is ready and willing to play its part in this great national endeavour.
The Emouna session (https://www.emouna.be/) on Tuesday 27th January coincided with the internationalr emembrance of the Holocaust (https://www.hmd.org.uk/). It was especially appropriate that one of the speakers was Rabbi Marc Neiger from Beth Hillel Synagogue in Brussels (https://www.beth-hillel.org/communaute/cilb/rabbi_neiger), who debated the meaning of the sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22 with Radouane Attiyah (Islam), Dominique Janthial (Catholic Church) and Geert Lorein (Evangelical Church). Anglicanism was represented by the Chaplain-President and by the Revd Charles Kabera (https://www.centralanglican.be/prisons-fr).
On Tuesday 26th January, the Conseil de Dialogue/Dialoograad (the permanent consultation between the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice and the recognised religions) met by Zoom chaired by Minister Van Quickenborne. This body normally meets every six months, but this meeting was in fact its first since the first Corona lockdown was announced in March 2020. The Chaplain-President represented the Anglican Church. On the agenda were the Covid-19 pandemic, the new charter agreed by the federal government and the recognised religions concerning fiscal transparency and independence, and the recent initiative made jointly by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior concerning the physical safety and security of places of worship.
Since the beginning of the new year, Belgium has begun rolling out its ambitious vaccination plan against Covid-19. Every Belgian and every individual resident in the country will be receiving a personal invitation in the coming weeks and months to present themselves at the appointed vaccination centre. The Central Committee encourages all Anglicans in Belgium to consider getting vaccinated, as this will protect not only ourselves but also our loved ones and all others around us.
Panathlon Wallonie-Bruxelles has published its annual revue for 2020. In it you will also find on p. 4 coverage of the installation of the SportsConsilium last October.
The Central Committee of the Anglican Church wishes everyone a blessed Christmas and a happy New Year!
On Wednesday 16th December the representatives of the religions and humanism were back at the offices of Minister Somers, who this time was able to join the meeting himself. On the agenda was a further discussion on the proposed legislation for the recognition of local faith community. The recognised religions will put their remarks and concerns in writing at the beginning of the new year.
On Friday 11th December, the members of the VILD, the Flemish inter-life stance dialogue, met with the cabinet of the Flemish Minister for Social cohesion, Bart Somers. The meeting took place in light of the Flemish government’s new draft text on the recognistion of local faith communities.
On Wednesday 9th December, the heads of the recognised religions and humanism met with the Federal Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne. The meeting followed a decision byt he Council of State regarding the Covid-19 measures and public worship.
The Black Lives Matter worldwide momevent has also found a voice in the churches, and we need to talk about racial issues in our own faith communities. This is why St Martha and Mary Leuven are organising an online series to talk about the issues involved. Please see the poster below for details. Do join the conversation! Tickets available at The Church needs to talk about race Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite
Photo St Martha & Mary
Advent is different this year, however, all our chaplaincies remain committed to offer services during this time. One example is Holy Trinity Brussels, who have put together an online programme (see the poster below). Do go and visit them!
Photo HTB
The representatives of the federal, regional and community governments in Belgium met last Friday 27th November, and have decided that there will be no changes to the Covid-measures for places of worship at this time.
This means that public in-person worship for Advent and Christmas will not be allowed, most likely until the middle of January. While this is a tough decision for all of us, this will undoubtedly be an especially hard blow for all those in our congregations who will be spending the holidays on their own. Our parishes are encouraged to provide online services and pastoral care if possible, while adhering to the Covid restrictions for live-streaming and recording.
The Church of England's House of Bishops has just published a major report on personal identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage entitled Living in Love and Faith (LLF) (see here: https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/living-love-and-faith ). Each of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England is now asked to discuss the report during the next year and to report back to Dame Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London, with a view to the General Synod of the Church of England debating the issues covered by the report in 2022. Each diocesan bishop will appoint a part-time LLF Advocate to oversee this process and liaise with the Bishop of London. Bishop Robert Innes has appointed the Chaplain-President as the Diocese in Europe's LLF Advocate. There is more information about this appointment here: https://europe.anglican.org/main/latest-news/post/1624-living-in-love-and-faith-advocate
photo from the House of Bishops
15th November marks King’s Day in Belgium, traditionally with a Te Deum at the Cathedral in Brussels and a special session at the Federal Parliament. Unfortunately, due to the Covid restrictions this year the festivities had to be cancelled. The Chaplain-President and other members of the Central Committee would like nonetheless to offer HM the King and the Royal Family their best wishes for the occassion.
In these lockdown times, the Anglican congregations in Belgium are connecting to parisheners and friends in many different ways: live Morning Prayer and Compline, pre-recorded services and Eucharist, Philosophy Café, live Sunday services and midweek services to watch at your leisure, etc. A whole array of options!
Please refer to the CHAPLAINCIES page for the parish websites and news on what they have on offer.
At one of his regular meetings with fellow canon theologians of Anglican cathedrals (at the moment conducted by Zoom), the Chaplain-President learned from his friend and colleague from Norwich, Canon Dr Peter Doll, that the final letter written by Edith Cavell to her mother before her arrest in August 1915 has been gifted by its private owner to Norwich Cathedral, where Edith Cavell is buried. The full story may be read in this press release. Almost Edith Cavell's last words before being shot were: "Standing as I do in view of God and eternity, I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone", words which continue to resonate across history. The Church of England remembers Edith Cavell in our calendar of saints, commemorating her on 12th October, the anniversary of her execution.
The commemoration of the Armistice of 11:00 on 11th November 1918 has become in Anglican practice an annual opportunity to remember before God and neighbour all those whose lives have been cut short or damaged in human warfare, and to give thanks for all those who have fought and died in the service of peace, freedom, justice and brotherhood. During this time of pandemic, this annual commemoration has taken different forms. Here is the service from Gent, led by Canon Stephen Murray of the Central Committee:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF7qYApgBBc&feature=youtu.be
