First e-newsletter

Posted by Steve on November 16, 2011

In case you didn’t receive it this is just to let you know that we’ve just published our very first e-newsletter

We’ve called it “Christ Church Connect” because we hope that through the newsletter you will get ‘connected’ with other people in the church, or a group / activity / ministry in the church where you would like to serve – and perhaps even share the newsletter (or parts of it) with your family, friends and neighbours.

You’ll see links to articles about the Christmas Programme, the Christ Church Christmas Tree Forest, and the Fayre the same day in aid of our 2011 charities, and how better to prepare for the Coming of Jesus than to discern your spiritual gifts and use them in his service – you can contact Becky for more information about the Spiritual Gifts Workshop that will take place on 26th November.

I hope you enjoy the first edition and I’ll finish this ‘advertorial’ by asking for your prayers for our Senior Chaplain’s endeavour to lead our Chaplaincy Council, local church committees and leaders on an Envisioning Day this weekend on Saturday 19th November. In any case, I look forward to seeing you at Christ Church or hearing from you through the website or on our new facebook page.

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Church Members – how active is active?

Posted by Steve on October 23, 2011

Every now and then I get a request from a British couple who are leaving Dubai for a letter of recommendation for their school back home to show they are active in the work and worship of the church. (I sometimes get requests from Asians when they move for their church back home too.) Competition for places in Church Schools are often quite intense because they are better than the secular equivalent, and are not so afraid of including their Christian heritage in their curriculum!

I have trouble sometimes though – on what basis do I write the letter of recommendation? I look first to my own knowledge – do I know them? Then can I remember how long they’ve been coming to church and how often? If I can say I know them, I can rarely say how long for and how often they’ve come to church. So I look for the paper trail – the membership application form, the Friday School registers, the Reader’s Rota, other people in church who know them and can remember that, ‘oh yes, they came on that parish pirate party in 2009 dressed as The Long John Silver Twins and have come to church ever since’. So they’ve been coming to church since 2009, but the school has to choose between hundreds of similar applications so they then look for how involved you were – i.e. were you really active as a church member or just an attender? This is the footnote to the form from one school I recieved recently:

“Active in the work and worship” of a Christian church means both 1. and 2. below:

1. Regular attendance at a Christian church’s worship for at least twice a month for two years before the closing date of application is required to be eligible to apply for a Foundation Place. NB: Parents/carers who have moved into the area within the two years preceding the closing date for application may still apply for Foundation Places if they are able to demonstrate an equivalent active participation in their previous Christian church and if this then brings the total time of active commitment to the required two year period. A letter from a previous priest will be required.
and

2. An active commitment to the life of your church for at least two years before the closing date of application is required to be eligible to apply for a Foundation Place. This active commitment can be expressed in any one of the following ways :

a. Parish Organisation: Being a member of any church committees. eg PCC, DCC, Maintenance, Activities or Church Action committees.
b. Being an office holder in the church: i.e sacristan, churchwarden etc
c. Music: Being a member of the choir.
d. Worship: Being involved in reading, serving, stewarding, the flowers or intercessions rota.
e. Pastoral Care: Being a member of the church’s visiting scheme.
f. Children: Being a Sunday school or Godly play teacher. Or being a youth club helper.
g. Hospitality: Being part of a team who organise church events or being on the coffee rota.
h. Communications: Being part of the team for either the web or the church magazine.

One sign we have on our noticeboard says: As you pass the church today, be sure to plan a visit, so when at last you’re carried in, God won’t ask, who is it? This school application form puts it much more strongly than that – it’s not mere aquaintance with the church, but ‘active in the work and worship’ that counts.You may not be a saint just yet (come and remember those who were, and others you knew, on All Saint’s Sunday, 30th October, 7.30pm – light a candle and pray for them and for yourself) but you could start to become one.

If you haven’t got one, get that paper trail started!

Symbolic rituals and All Saints Day

Posted by Steve on October 15, 2011

In an email I had recently it finished with the quote: “Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of them – Epictetus” Epictetus was on to a good idea because the principle applies to practically everything. To smile at someone or shake their hand is symbolic, all the solemn marching and lowering of flags etc. to do with 11/11 in Europe is symbolic, words are symbolic. The Arab spring, in which various protestors paraded and burned flags, used it as symbolic action containing power for those who shared the mindset.

Our thoughts, not least our religious ones, are manipulations of symbols of different sorts. We construe the actions of other people to be symbolic of all sorts of meanings which come from us rather than them (though we may be guessing right). If you say something of any consequence to somebody they will call up their data bank of symbols in their brain to find the closest meaning that seems to match it, which won’t be exactly what you thought in the same way, but they will believe it is, and if it’s close enough, we can converse.

Guests accept the host’s household rules when they receive his hospitality. In the early days missionary work was about the missionary as “host” – “Come to me and learn the set of rules that make up my mindset”, but now we try to learn to be “guests” and witnessing to our faith, whilst accepting the recipient’s mindset as being what the rules are. It was of course done in the past, which is why the Christian festivals are often adapted pagan festivals. They were sensitive to, and accepting of, other people’s mindsets in trying to adopt the old festival dates and some customs, but at the same time sought to draw them away from the old ways to the new bit by bit.

Halloween is one of those old festivals which celebrates the destruction of evil as a prelude to All Saints (or All Hallows) when we celebrate the victory of those who conquer evil and live godly lives as a result of their faith in Jesus Christ. We aspire to follow in their godly ways in our own days. We remember them with symbols – lighting a candle, placing it on the table where the bread and wine have just rested, singing songs of today and yesteryear. As we sing the old songs we proclaim our sharing in the ways of those who sang them, eating the same holy meal, from a table set apart, with our lights now upon it set apart as those who are before us are set apart and dwell with God.

Come and give thanks for those who have been an example to you in the past who are now set apart and dwell with God. Follow their good example, and walk in the way of Jesus Christ.

All Saint’s Sunday Service: 7.30pm in the main church, Sunday 30th October.

How do you know if God is talking to you?

Posted by Webmaster on October 4, 2011

As in previous years we are privileged to welcome Maggie Le-Roy and Judy Cannan from the Diocesan Retreat Centre in Cyprus, visiting us for a week in October as part of one of their regular ministry trips around the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf.

They will have a ‘taster day’ for those unfamiliar with personal retreats to show you how to use the time you set aside on a retreat – this will be in our St. Nicholas Church, Fujeirah on Saturday 15th from 10am-12.30pm. There’s a nice cafe nearby so you could make a day of it and explore Fujeirah – I like Fujeirah Fort and the corniche .

At Christ Church Jebel Ali Maggie and Judy will be teaching at our 9.30am service at Christ Church on Friday 14th October where they will be talking to us about ‘how do we know when God is talking to us’ – the gift of discernment.

To reinforce their teaching, Maggie and Judy will be leading our three Home Groups during the following week, which is a great opportunity for you to learn more – and perhaps to connect with one of these groups close to where you live.

If you are not in a Home Group but would like to come along (and bring a friend too!) to one of them to hear more from Maggie and Judy, please just get in touch with the relevant contact person, or call the Church Office on 04 884 5436.

Monday 17th at 10.00am
Al Safa Home Group – Jenny – Friday congregation

Tuesday 18th at 7.30pm
Marina Home Group – Neil and Sharon – Friday congregation

Wednesday 19th October at 7.30pm
Tecom Home Group – Chris – Sunday congregation

I encourage you to take advantage of this great opportunity to discover ways in which you can listen better to what God is trying to tell you!

After us, they go on to visit St. Andrew’s Abu Dhabi for a week, and then head for Church of the Epiphany, Doha.

And if any members of our congregation feels led to make a contribution to the costs of Maggie and Judy’s visit, please contact Chaplain Steve or Administrator Irene.

So you thought getting a visa was hard?

Posted by Steve on September 27, 2011

Our church is part of ‘The Province of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East‘. The Province has four dioceses, one of which is centred in Jerusalem.

Like us here in Dubai, they have problems with visas for clergy sometimes, most recently with the bishop who has been denied a visa for the last year to live in the same country as his diocese! The good news is (from the Anglican Communion News Service) that…

Rt. Revd Suheil Dawani, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem

Bishop Suheil Dawani

‘the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem and his family are celebrating today after finally getting permission to remain in the city after many months of legal and diplomat appeals. The Rt. Revd Suheil Dawani, who is also Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, today spoke of his delight at finally getting the Residency Permits that as someone born in Nablus in the West Bank must have to stay in East Jerusalem, where St. George’s Anglican Cathedral and the bishop’s offices are located.

“It is with great pleasure, and with God’s help, that I and my family have received our Residency Permits,” he said in a statement to his supporters. “I want to thank all of you, my friends and colleagues throughout the Anglican Episcopal Communion and the Worldwide Christian Community, for your continued support throughout this time. It has been deeply appreciated and most encouraging knowing that we have been kept in your thoughts and prayers as we awaited this most heartening outcome.

“I have been overwhelmed by the support given to me from His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Honourable Lord Rowan Williams, and all the Primates, Archbishops and Bishops of the Anglican Communion; and the Greek and Latin Patriarchs of Jerusalem. Also our Partners throughout the world including the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and the United Kingdom; and the worldwide community including Washington, D.C.; the State Department of the United States and the American Consul-General in Jerusalem, and the office of the British Foreign Secretary.”

Bishop Dawani was denied the renewal of his Residency Permit by the Israeli government in August last year. Initially he had sought confidential support through religious and diplomatic channels. He revealed that the Archbishop of Canterbury had been in contact with the office of the Prime Minister of Israel and Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amer to try and resolve this issue. Bishop Dawani had also met personally with the Chief Rabbi, who is a good friend of both Bishop Dawani and the Anglican Church and who did what he could to try and resolve the issue. After many months of little success, Bishop Dawani resorted to the law and his legal advisor sent a letter to the Attorney General of Israel seeking an explanation of the allegations against him which had been the basis for the denial of the residency rights for himself and his family. After waiting one month without an explanation of the allegations from the Attorney General and upon the recommendation of legal counsel, Bishop Dawani chose to take his case to court seeking redress through the Israeli legal system.

What it was that finally resulted in him and his family being granted the Residency Permits has not been revealed, but there will be little doubt at Bishop Dawani’s relief at being able to concentrate on his work in Jerusalem.’