September 2010 (nr. 121)

MAGAZINE OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN HAARLEM Church

The Anglican Church of St. Anna & St. Mary Kinderhuissingel 74, 2013 AV HAARLEM

Chaplain

vacant: all information via the secretary

Reader

Jaap Theunisz, Tel: 023 537 42 42 Rijksstraatweg 541-III, 2025 DE HAARLEM

Warden

Martin van Bleek, Tel: 023 542 21 33 Pieter Kiesstraat 76, 2013 BK HAARLEM

Warden

Annelies Dix-Swart, Tel: 023 529 12 06 Heemsteedse Dreef 175, 2101 KD HEEMSTEDE

Secretary

Rob Uittenbosch, Tel: 020 645 71 03 Groenhof 260, 1186 GE AMSTELVEEN e-mail: [email protected]

Organist & Choirmaster

Martin van Bleek, Tel: 023 542 21 33 Pieter Kiesstraat 76, 2013 BK HAARLEM

Lifeline Editor

Philip Whittaker, Tel: 0341 45 35 07 Schaapskamp 7, 3849 PS HIERDEN

Website

www.anglican-church-haarlem.nl

e-mail: [email protected]

The Anglican Church in Haarlem (Anglican-Episcopal) is part of the NW Europe Archdeaconry within the Diocese in Europe. It seeks to serve all English speaking people in the Haarlem area. All payments, donations, general, missions and subscriptions to Lifeline (€10/year), please to: Bank nr 43 70 02 667, Church of England, in Haarlem, or Postbank nr 57 76 41, Church of England Haarlem indicating purpose of payment (donation, mission, Lifeline, etc.)

Chaplaincy letter Recently a group from Holy Trinity Utrecht attended a study day about ‘“Back to Church Sunday” at Christ Church Amsterdam led by Michael Harvey. Michael is a very entertaining speaker and we really enjoyed our day. One of the questions he asked us all during the course of the day really struck home and it is this: - when I am in church do I regard myself as a guest or as a host? If you think about it there is a very big difference in attitude underlying this question. Basically, if you think of yourself as a guest than it follows that the people around you are there to look after you. On the other hand, if you think of yourself as a host, you are there to look after the people sitting around you. So the next time you are in church, do you think of yourself as a guest or as a host? Thinking about being a host, makes people much more aware of how they treat the people sitting next to them. If you are a host you won’t sit at the end of the pew so that anyone joining you has to climb over you. As a host you might decide to sit further in. As a host you won’t be irritated when people come in late and glare at them. You will simply assume that the bus was late and give them a welcoming smile. As a host you won’t mind at all if the small child next to you screams it’s head off, because that’s what baby’s are paid to do anyway. You will just look at the embarrassed parent with a sympathetic and encouraging smile and remember that you too where once that size! As a host you will notice when the person standing next to you can’t find the right page in the Prayer book or doesn’t know which Hymn we are singing and you will gently offer them your book instead. As a host you will of course turn to your neighbour at the end of the service, smile and ask them whether they intend to stay for coffee. And as a host you will of course ask them if they would like to come with you to coffee if they are staying. As a host you will be delighted to get to know your new friend and particularly to get to know their name so that you can introduce them to someone else in the congregation at coffee. Every church needs both guests and hosts but the important thing is that all of us should be in the business of changing from guest to host the longer we are part of the church community. So next time you are in church try and see yourself more as a host than as a guest. You will definitely become a blessing for others but in the process you will receive blessings yourself. John de Wit

Music Matters After a musically quiet summer in Haarlem the choir are back on Sunday 5 September for our Choral Eucharist. The choir have to make a quick getaway after the service as we sing Choral Evensong in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam at 6 pm. As you will have read in the last issue of Lifeline, for the choir it has not been quiet during the summer holidays! As part of the European Cathedral Singers we sang the service this year for a week in Chester Cathedral, which was a very stimulating and rewarding experience. The cathedral staff made us feel most welcome, and it was great to be part of the cathedral ‘fabrics’ for a week. To be able to contribute something to the worship in the cathedral, and also ourselves benefit from the worship in such a beautiful place is a real blessing. Together with other members from the choirs in the Benelux and friends from the UK we sang a total of 8 full services, one accompanied by a consort of viols. The Dean and Canons expressed real pleasure and appreciation to have us, and have even invited us back. And we also managed to sing some music that was not in the cathedral’s own repertoire! After our return we sang Choral Evensong in the St. Bavo Church in Haarlem. It was good to see many of our own congregation there! Thanks for your support. The choir are happy to be back in Haarlem, as the support of worship in our own church is of course the reason for the choir’s existence. Coming special services will include our Harvest festival, a Choral Evensong and the Advent Carol Service leading up to the Christmas period. During the interregnum we need to support each other and also keep our community together – both spiritually and musically - in readiness for our new chaplain. Martin van Bleek Organist and Choirmaster

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From the council The interviews with possible candidates for the position of Haarlem chaplain will be held on 4 January 2011 in London. If all goes well this could mean an appointment somewhere in May. In the meantime we are trying to secure locums for the period between now and May. But we are grateful for all the visiting chaplains taking our services, and of course the help of our reader Jaap Theunisz. The church accounts will soon be ready to be presented during a special meeting after a church service. Martin van Bleek, Warden and acting treasurer

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Invitation to the Ladies Bible Study Group The Ladies Bible Study group will meet for the first time after the summer break on Tuesday 7 September in the church hall. We shall continue to follow a series of studies on the book of Acts published by Scripture Union. We meet on the first and third Tuesday evening of the month from 8pm till 10pm. All ladies are most welcome to join us. For further details, please contact Diana Dammer (0251-241139).

Ψ Ψ Ψ Mystical meaning in Hebrew letters In Hebrew, the letters have in addition to their basic meaning a symbolic role, carrying for the reader mystic knowledge and wisdom. In the mysticism of the Kabbala of the early middle ages and Hasidism (Chassidism) the letters play an important meditative role. In each letter the precise form, name and numerical value are combined to convey particular meanings. During Israel Sunday on 3 October in the Sint Bavo in Haarlem, Ruud Bartlema, theologian and artist, talks about this subject, beginning with a special service and continuing with a conducted tour. He has spent many years working intensively with Jewish mysticism, and under the title "Wisdom in colour", he has painted a number of mystical aspects of the 22 Hebrew letters. Using the images of his paintings, he explains during the service the special meanings and wisdom that the Hebrew letters portray. After the service Ruud Bartlema will give a tour of his exhibition, which is to be seen in BAVO from 19 September till 1 October. You are most cordially invited to this special service and tour.

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Chaos – extract of sermon by John de Wit Jesus said to the man who had been possessed with a legion of demons: “Go back to your family and tell them everything God has done for you”. The middle of Luke Chapter 8 is all about the forces of chaos and how Jesus has authority – the ability to make order – where there is complete disorder. If you remember, the story of the man possessed with a legion of demons happens just after the story of Jesus calming the sea. And it is no accident that St.Luke puts these two stories next to each other. To the Hebrews, wind and sea, and particularly a stormy sea, were symbolic of the forces of chaos and of death. That is why – in the creation story of Genesis 1, and also in some of the psalms – creation has something to do with setting boundaries to water. So God separates the waters above the firmament from the waters beneath the firmament. And God separates the waters of the sea from the land. So to the Hebrews wind control is also about setting limits and boundaries to the waters of chaos. So of course, when Jesus stills the storm, the disciples are almost bound to ask “Who is this man? When he gives a command even the wind and the waves obey him”. In other words, ‘if setting limits to the chaos of the waters is one of the main creative actions of God, who on earth is this, who can still a storm?’ Interestingly, it is the demoniac who articulates the answer in Luke 8:28; ‘As soon as he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down in front of him. Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?’ So even the disciples cannot quite work out who Jesus is; but the demons can see it only too well. They recognise God’s presence in Jesus, and they know that God is the enemy of all evil, chaos and death. The story of the man with the legion of demons is a story about the chaos and darkness in all of us. Mercifully, most of us are spared the kind of deep mental instability that had completely wrecked this man’s life. And I think we are often spared that, because we are 3

surrounded by the loving support and affirmation and prayers of other people. There are times in our lives when any one of us might slip over the edge into the chaos that is inside us – but we are held back by the social structures and contacts that provide a kind of matrix for our lives. Our job, family responsibilities, community, church – all these help to hold us in place when we might be overcome by feelings of helplessness or self-pity or that we simply cannot cope with everything that is thrown at us. We are all at times threatened by this inner chaos, but also by what I would call ‘collective chaos’. During the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930’s they perpetrated what has become known as the Nanking Massacre – the army leaders competed with each other in killing innocent civilians in the cruellest and most bestial ways. But this collective human insanity is more common than we would like to think. It is tempting to distance ourselves from these things and believe they could never happen here or that we could never take part in such actions. But I fear that it is only by the grace of God that we are personally spared the collective insanity that is active in the world to this day. We should not underestimate the subtlety of the demons, chaos, in and around us. So what does Jesus do when confronted by a man whose life has been racked by inner chaos? He has just come across the lake to find some peace an quiet away from the crowd. He could have avoided the problem and asked his disciples to row a bit further up the coast, but instead he faces the anger and hostility head on. And then he patiently tackles the problem; he has to command the spirits to leave the man, over and over, until they were completely gone, and the man is restored to order and peace. And what happens to the evil spirits? They enter into a herd of swine and destroy them by running into the sea - symbolically into the place of chaos and death. So the evil has been swallowed up and the man is restored and free to be himself again, a child of God. One couldn’t think of a better metaphor for what Christ has done for us all on the cross. All our demons, all our inner chaos taken away and buried in the depths of God’s love, so that we can be united with Christ, and restored to our calling as Children of God.

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Annual barbecue once again a success On Saturday 21 August the annual barbecue was held in Heemskerk. Once again Rene and Ann van Egmond were so kind to be our hosts and to take care of the catering. At the end of the summer this was an excellent opportunity to catch up on each other's news and to enjoy wonderful food. This is an example of how our congregation is continuing important traditions and social occasions even as we are waiting for a new priest to be appointed. The weather was mild and the people were of good cheer. A big thank you to Ann and Rene!

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Prayer – Part.5, The Lord’s Prayer (continued from Lifeline no.115) (this is part of Sister Stephanie-Thérèse’s essay on Prayer)

The Disposition of the Heart Romans 8.35-39, though not speaking directly to prayer, is essential for understanding true prayer: ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? As it is written, “For thy sake we are being killed all day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ This has to be one of the most moving passages of all scripture, because it promises that nothing can separate us from the love of God. But can nothing separate us? Look through the list carefully, and we find that everything listed is external to the believer, which means perhaps that things internal can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is our heart, the disposition of our heart, that is the only thing that can separate us from God. So, too, in prayer. The disposition of our heart is of paramount importance to prayer. The discipline of prayer is to tame the passions (both good and bad) of our hearts, so that there is no longer anything to separate us from the One whom we are seeking. External things end up not mattering when true prayer comes from a heart completely open to God. ‘Fling wide the portals of your heart, make it a temple set apart, from earthly use for heaven’s employ, adorned with prayer and love and joy’

Blessings continued

J. Theunisz

In this second short article about blessings we will consider the blessing which is normally used at the end of a service of Holy Communion. In particular, I would like to draw your attention to its beautiful preamble: “The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord”. When I used this during a noon-time prayer 7

service in the Bavo, Grote Markt, the organist thought it was the blessing itself and started to play the final music, giving me no time to finish! He could be forgiven for this, because this sentence could well be used as blessing in its own right. Note how, in this sentence, the peace of God precedes knowledge and love of God. In everyday life we are inclined to think that knowledge is the key to everything, but some things can only be known by experiencing them with a certain amount of peace. A peace even, which does not always seem to be justified by our circumstances, and therefore has a mysterious origin. That which is beyond understanding helps us to have understanding. And God, if we let Him, will even give us the peace that is necessary to love Him. Note also that the heart is mentioned before the mind. But they are both involved in our “reasonable worship”. Like Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (NIV Matt. 22:37). The expression “peace of God, which passes all understanding”, is taken from the epistle to the Philippians (4:7). Here the peace of God is said to guard our hearts and minds. Fear leads to all kinds of negative feelings and thoughts. In that sense peace is the opposite and protects our hearts and minds. But this peace has to be more than the absence of violence. It is a deep kind of peace and acceptance as only God can give. I believe that its meaning is best expressed in the so-called Serenity Prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” By the way, this prayer does not, as is often thought, originate from Francis of Assisi, but from the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, who wrote it for use in a sermon, no earlier than 1934. The blessing itself again mentions God (the Father) and his Son, and adds the Holy Spirit, to make it a truly Trinitarian blessing. The unity of the Three is underlined by the fact that we have one blessing from three Persons. When this blessing is pronounced, the minister desires for it to be “among us”. This shows that it is not just a blessing for individuals, and not just for a group, but it is something that is to be active among people, i.e. in all their relationships. And finally it is reassuring to know that God’s blessing is not only intended to see us through to the next time when it is pronounced over us, but that it is a lasting reality, something that will always stay with us, whether we recognize it or not.

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During this interregnum period the type of service may be changed – please check the weekly service sheet or contact our secretary Rob Uittenbosch (020-6457103) to be sure.

Sunday 5 September 14th Sunday after Trinity

14.30 Choral Eucharist Retiring collection for Mission 18.00 Choral Evensong in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, sung by our Choir and The Anglican Singers

Tuesday 7 September

20.00 Ladies Bible Study group recommences (see details herein)

Sunday 12 September 15th Sunday afterTrinity

14.30 Sung Eucharist

Tuesday 14 September

Coffee morning at the home of Mrs Daphne van Wijk, Generaal Spoorlaan 112 2025 ND Haarlem 023-5385646 19.30 Meeting for the Healing group. Compline and Laying on of hands

Sunday 19 September 16th Sunday after Trinity

14.30 Evening Prayer and Holy Eucharist

Tuesday 21 September

20.00 Ladies Bible Study group

Sunday 26 September 17th Sunday after Trinity

14.30 Holy Eucharist (said)

Sunday 3 October 18th Sunday after Trinity

14.30 Choral Eucharist Harvest Festival and Gift Day

Tuesday 5 October

20.00 Ladies Bible Study group 9

Sunday 10 October 19th Sunday after Trinity

14.30 Sung Eucharist

Tuesday 12 October

Coffee morning at the home of Mrs. Mary Brunt M.Vaumontlaan 20 Heemstede 020 5295045

Sunday 17 October 20th Sunday after Trinity

14.30 Morning Prayer and Holy Eucharist

Tuesday 19 October

20.00 Ladies Bible Study group

Sunday 24 October Last Sunday after Trinity

14.30 Holy Eucharist (said)

Sunday 31 October All Saints - All Souls

14.30 Choral Evensong

Sunday 7 November 3rd Sunday before Advent

14.30 Choral Eucharist Retiring collection for Mission

(from Lifeline September 1990)

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LIFELINE MAGAZINE OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH HAARLEM afzender: Schaapskamp 7, 3849 PS HIERDEN (ISSN 0920 – 6914)