My Dear Friends,

Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again, rejoice.

In these tough times there are so many things to worry about, and to concern everybody, but there is even more to be thankful for, and to rejoice in. Little things can mean such a lot. On Sunday I was taking the services at Albir and Campello, and they were both delightful.
At Campello we are not able to use the church building yet, so we meet in the house of two of our members, Keith and Janet, and we celebrate the Eucharist in their garden. It was such a simple affair, yet it meant the world to me (and I hope all those who were taking part). Here we were, keeping our social distancing, outside in the midst of God’s creation doing that thing that Christians have found no better thing to do, and that is breaking bread together. It was beautiful in it’s simplicity.
While I was preaching a little bird had a wash in the bird bath, then tried to drink from the swimming pool, and fell right in. But it fluttered it’s wings and climbed out, and went and sat in the tree. Keith told me about this, but I could not see it as it was behind me.
On my way home, riding my bike through the beautiful countryside I thought of St Francis preaching to the birds when there was no one in church, and perhaps that little bird had heard the Gospel and my sermon, and offered himself for Baptism. (Look at me and St Francis being brothers!)

I tell this just because although It is although it is my far fetched imagination, the idea brought me joy, and we need plenty of that.

Our Chaplaincy Council has been meeting and exploring the state of our Chaplaincy, and financially we are in a very worrying place. No services for months meant no cash collections, but huge thanks to those who give by direct debit, and those who have made up for missed services since we have been back. No funerals took place during lockdown, no wedding blessings or fund raising events and yet our expenses remained close to average. Less travel but the same financial obligations.

We are planning a Gift Day, and more about that in the next couple of letters, but today I want to put some of our expenditure in to perspective. Each year we have to pay our contribution to the Diocese, and I am keen to explore what we get in return.

Do you remember the Monty Python sketch ‘What did the Romans ever do for us?’
( if you want a reminder, here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xad5Rl0N2E )

Well our Diocese is much the same.

Sometimes we think of the Diocese as just those people who work in the office in Tufton  Street in London, or in Brussels, who impose things upon us, normally with an expense attached! But that is not the case. We are the diocese. Most of us view the diocese through the life of our local chaplaincy, and each chaplaincy is an expression of the diocese, with our own particular ministries and patterns of living the faith and building the Kingdom. The Diocesan Offices and Officers are just another expression of it, and we couldn’t function without them.

So, what do we get in return for our contribution.
Firstly it sounds odd, but we get the brand. Church of England. That recognisable and traditional body to which we belong. We couldn’t function without being part of the C of E. Fr Jim, Fr Rodney or myself could not lead services, we probably wouldn’t be able to share the churches that we do, we are accepted as part of the mainstream denomination which is C of E, we have the legal status of being part of the diocese, with all the safeguarding checks that go with that. We are able to appoint our clergy from the C of E pool, and know that they are properly trained, qualified and checked.

Plus when we introduce ourselves, folk know that we are genuine. So being part of the diocese in Europe is a big plus. But that is just the beginning.

Being part of the Diocesan Structure means we share with our Diocesan family in the great plan of the church.
The diocesan strategy commits us to:• Building up the Body of Christ and fostering growth• Sharing with other churches and agencies in the evangelisation of Europe• Striving for the creation of a just society and a sustainable environment• Work for Reconciliation in communities and in the wider world• Providing the Resources to do these things

It is never just about us. It is always about Mission and Growth. We have a stories to tell, so are personal to us, and some are definitely to do with the Gospel, and we should never isolate ourselves from the wider church, but rather work together to tell of the great things that God had done.

Let us just get a little picture of some of the things that happen.
The number of clergy in the Diocese holding a Bishop’s licence as at 31 December 2019 was 141.  This includes 105 clergy in post as Chaplains and 31 assistant priests who hold a licence in a chaplaincy as well as the Archdeacons and the Director of Ministerial Development.

At the close of 2019 the Diocese had 41 vacancies which, when filled, will have licensed clergy (including both Chaplains and assistant priests).  Posts requiring a licensed priest total 182 .  There were 13 new appointments during 2019.

The number of Readers holding a Bishop’s licence or permission to officiate as at 31 December 2019 was 102 .   

At 31 December 2019 there were 22 Ordinands on either residential or short course training , and there were 30 Readers in training. 

The Diocese was successful in its bid to the new Strategic Ministry Fund to support curacies established by the Church Commissioners.  This will fund 70% of the costs of curates in the Diocese for three years from the Summer of 2020.  Posts confirmed so far are in Voorschoten and Brussels.  A further bid has been lodged for 2021.

So, you can see the Diocese is a huge organisation and has to be administered accordingly. All of these posts and appointments have to be managed and recruited safely and fairly.

Although on the news you often hear of the 27 member states that make up the EU, our Diocese has chaplaincies in over 40 Countries across Europe and beyond. (The ones beyond don’t fit in to any other diocese.)

The Diocese have to manage, and check all those clergy, readers and appointments and ensure that welfare of those involved in ministry, and make sure those who are paid, and are in deceipt of pension contributions are paid properly.

To put some of this into perspective across the diocese in 2019 we had 411 Baptisms, 89 Marriages (I have no idea how many Wedding Blessings) 24 Confirmation Services with 192 candidates. Our Easter Day attendance was 15, 723 which averages 112 per chaplaincy. In the rest of the UK the average is 83.

Our Diocese is remarkable, not only in it’s size, but in it’s growth and diversity. The Chaplaincies in Casablanca, Padua and Rotterdam are doing incredible work among migrants and refugees many coming from parts of Africa and South Asia.
Moscow has had a tough time when many of the UK diplomats were expelled in 2018 it has recovered and re grown. 

There were two completely new Chaplaincies created in 2019 Amersfoort and Heiloo (Nr Amsterdam)

To help with all of this the Church Commissioners gave a grant to the Diocese of £163,000 per annum for 3 years starting in 2019.

Next time I shall talk about Archdeacons, Lay Leadership, Safeguarding, Synods and communications. Plus the legal protection we have from being part of the Diocese.

In the meantime, if you want to see some more good stuff check out the Diocese in Europe website, and in particular the online magazine The Europeans Anglicans.

Bless you, Bless you, Bless you.

As ever,

Marcus