We are delighted to announce the appointment by the Minister of Justice of Mr Eric Sibomana as a Member of the Central Committee. Eric is the first member of the Central Committee to be born in Rwanda, and he brings a deep experience of Francophone Anglicanism into our counsels. He works as one of our wonderful team of stipendiary Anglican prison chaplains in Belgium. We also welcome as Observers on the Central Committee, appointed by the Chaplain-President, the Revd Sunny Hallanan and the Revd Augustine Nwaekwe. Sunny is the rector of All Saints' Waterloo (as well as of Mons, Charleroi and Namur) and Augustine the chaplain of the English Church Ostend (as well as of Knokke, Bruges and Kortrijk). They bring their vast experience of American and Nigerian Anglicanism to our deliberations. Chaplain-President Jack, Vice-President Stephen and Secretary Jo Jan welcome them with great pleasure and look forward to our first meeting in person soon.
#IDAHOBIT2021
On 17th May, International Day Against Homo- Bi- and Transphobia, the Chaplain-President and the Secretary joined the other heads of the recognised life stances and Buddhism and representatives of all Flemish political parties except one at the Flemish Parliament for the official signing of a charter (NL) calling for an end to discrimination and of homophobic harrasment and violence. The life stances commit to being a “safe haven” for all.
Meeting with Minister Somers
On Monday 10th May, the heads of the recognised religions met online with Mr Bart Somers, Flemish Minister of internal affairs, societal cohesion, and equal opportunities. This meeting was part of the regular contacts between the reconised religions and Mr Somers and his cabinet. On the agenda were the draft decree on recognitions, the fight against homophobia, and the current Covid-crisis.
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
New rules for outdoor worship
Following the national Covid vaccination campaign, the Recognised Religions and the Ministry of Justice have been discussing a new protocol to allow outdoor worship in Belgium. Mr Van Quickenborne, the Minister of Justice, desired that all the Recognised Religions and the Vrijzinnigheid/Laïcité should produce a common text - and this has given us all a great opportunity to welcome Mr Carlo Luyckx, president of the Buddhist Union of Belgium, to our deliberations, since Buddhism is now very close to achieving full legal recognition: https://justitie.belgium.be/nl/themas_en_dossiers/erediensten_en_vrijzinnigheid/erediensten_en_georganiseerde_vrijzinnigheid We therefore have two protocols for worship. The NAP#11 for indoor worship (the full text will be published next week) and the NP#1 for outdoor worship (the FR and NL texts are here). We hope to announce further relaxations to the indoor protocol in June.
Covid-19: Calendar for future steps discussed
On Friday 23rd April representatives of the recognised life stances met with representatives of the Ministry of Justice to discuss future steps in the Corona-pandemic. The meeting was chaired by Mr Abderrazak EL-Omari, aid to the Minister of Justice for the religions and humanism. Draft plans were discussed for in- and outdoor worship in the coming months.
Recognised religions and Flemish Parliament meet
On Thursday 22nd April the representatives of the reconised life stances were invited by MR Lorin Parys, MFP, to discuss a joint stance against homophobia. It was a cross-party meeting and representatives from the Walloon and Brussels Capital Region were present as well. A joint statement will be prepared condemning discrimination and violence against LGBTQIA+ people in time for the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia on 17th May.
In Memoriam
On 30th March 2021, our friend and colleague Brian Millson passed away. For many years Brian was the assistant-priest at St Boniface Antwerp and the chaplain for the Mission to Seaferers. We hold Brian’s family and loved ones in our prayers. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
In Memoriam
Zalig Pasen - Joyeuses Pâques - Frohes Ostern - Happy Easter
The Central Committee wishes everyone, Anglican and non-Anglican, a very joyful Easter Season. The season runs until Pentecost on 23rd May.
Canon chancellors meet
As Canon theologian at Holy Trinity Brussels, the Chaplain-President took part in a zoom meeting of the Church of England canon chancellors (the education officers of the cathedrals) on 23rd March, an excellent opportunity to catch up with news from around the English cathedrals. (The terminology of the Diocese in Europe is different from that in use in England: what we call here a Canon chancellor would be called a Dean in England.)
Chaplain-President speaks to Diocese in Europe Archdeaconry lay chairs
On 19th March, the Chaplain-President spoke for the third time in the same week to a diocesan audience about the new Church of England report on marriage and identity, Living in Love and Faith (https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/living-love-and-faith), this time it was to the lay chairs of the archdeaconries, meeting by zoom to catch up on major news in the diocese (https://europe.anglican.org/people/archdeacons). The aim of the LLF report is for the Church of England to come to a common mind about issues concerning marriage, identity, sexuality and relationships by the end of 2022. Bishop Robert has asked the Chaplain-President to be the diocese's LLF Advocate, outlining and explaining the debate to people within the diocese.
New staffers at the Flemish Bible Society (Vlaams BijbelGenootschap)
From 1st February two now functions have been filled at the VBG: Arne Willems is the new communications specialist in charge of press, and Marian Knetemann, a personal friend of our Secretary, is the new relations officer with the Church relations team (kerkrelaties). The press release can be read here.
The Diocese in Europe speaks about Brexit in La Libre
On 18th March, La Libre published an article by its London correspondent with the views of officers of the Diocese in Europe based in London on the consequences of Brexit for the good functioning of the Diocese. Bishop David and Canon William Gulliford expressed concern about the difficulties which British Anglican clergy now experience in arriving to work in the EU, as well as the difficulties which EU Anglican trainees and clergy experience in arriving to study and work in the UK. Their views reinforce the Central Committee's position that Brexit has brought not a single benefit to Belgium or to Britain; its effects are wholly and entirely negative. The article may be read here:
Lectio Divina during Lent
Annie Bolger, Deacon and Curate at HTB writes,
During the liturgy on Ash Wednesday, at the beginning of Lent, we are invited "in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy word." At Holy Trinity in Brussels, we are reading and meditating through lectio divina. What is lectio divina? Rather than reading or studying, lectio divina encourages us to listen and look and imagine. It involves a ‘slow reading’ of the Bible text, allowing the words to speak in a new way. The four steps are reading, reflecting, expressing, and resting. Our senior chaplain created a Bible bookmark which provides a guide to the four movements of lectio and I created a video guide as well. This approach to reading Scripture nicely compliments the beautiful collection of Lent reflections on the lectionary which is authored and compiled by the congregation here. We are finding that the two resources enrich reflection. There are many resources to explain the lectio approach to Scripture online and we encourage you to 'taste and see'!
Video and bookmark available from Annie.
Covid-19 vaccination campaign in Brussels
The Chaplain-President and the Secretary attended a webinar for the presidents of the recognised religions and the laïcité/vrijzinnigheid on 16th March, hosted by the cabinet of Minister Alain Maron of the Brussels Capital Region. Expert explanations were given of the clinical safety of the vaccines and of the various ways in which publicity for the vaccination programme could be distributed. The recognised religions and laïcité/vrijzinnigheid stand full-square behind the campaign for vaccination against covid-19.
Resources in various languages available from Home | (coronavirus.brussels) and two excellent ppt’s here and here.
Overlegorgaan / Concertation
On 11t March, the national council of Christian Churches in Belgium met by zoom to discuss matters of mutual concern. Among other items, on the agenda was a national service to commemorate and pray for those lost in the covid-19 pandemic, set to take place on Thursday 20th May at 19:00 in the Eglise protestante du Musée / Museumkerk in Brussels (which will be advertised). Some emergency measures will still be in force at that time, but the service will be broadcast so that the whole Christian community in Belgium can pray together.
Stations of the Cross
Catriona Laing, Chaplain at Leuven writes,
“I have been co-curating Stations of the Cross with Professor Aaron Rosen (Professor of Religion & Visual Culture Religion Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC) in different cities around the world for five years. Having visited the exhibition in its first incarnation in London in 2016, I was captivated by the way in which the themes evoked by the Stations of the Cross evoke so many of the issues of suffering and despair that we experience on an individual or collective scale today. They also speak into many of the fights for social justice in which we are engaged.” https://www.luceartsandreligion.org/global-2021
Suspended, A. Dorman, 2018, Canterbury Cathedral
Hemelsbreed: divers religieus erfgoed in Vlaanderen
We are most grateful to announce the publication of Hemelsbreed, which gives a clear historical description in Dutch of the "minority" recognised religions in Belgium: Judaism, Protestantism, Anglicanism, Islam and Orthodoxy. This impressive book was published through a collaboration of KU Leuven (https://kadoc.kuleuven.be/english) and Parcum (https://www.parcum.be/), with generous financial support from the Flemish government. We are especially grateful to our friends Dr Aaldert Prins and Ms Julie Aerts for their assiduous and professional help in spearheading this fascinating project, which has set down Belgian Anglican history for posterity, a resource valuable long into the future for our parishes and the public.
New NAP 11
New chaplain in Liège
The Revd Guy Diakiese, an Anglican priest from Congo-Kinshasa who has served most recently as assistant priest in The Hague, was licensed as the Anglican chaplain in Liège on Sunday 7th March. Bishop Robert took the service and the Chaplain-President represented the Central Committee. We wish Guy every blessing and happiness as he begins ministry in the exciting and adventurous city of Liège! His staff team includes pastoral support worker Ruth Nivelle, who will soon be licensed as the parish lay-reader (Reader): we thank her for taking such good care of the parish during the vacancy.
