Rentré !
Back together at last !
Sunday 12th July and Sunday 26th at 15:30 – Open Air Communion Services at Floirac – Rev’d Tony Lomas
We are delighted to be able to have our first Service since the lock down started three months ago and this will be a Communion Service led by Rev’d Tony Lomas. The first Service will take place in Floirac on Sunday 12th July starting at 15:30.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus hygiene restrictions, if you would like to receive the details please click here to record your name and email address and we will reply with all the information.
Sunday 5th July – Bordeaux: ‘He who received you received Me’ – Video Service at 15:30 (3:30 in the afternoon). Led by Nellie Salvi. Open to everyone (of course!).
Please click here to view the service.
Morning Prayer Services – every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning at 9.30 a.m. by Zoom
Evening Prayer Services – every Tuesday and Thursday at 6.00 p.m. by Zoom.
Chaplaincy Sunday Services – from 10.30 on. Just click here: www.churchinaquitaine.org/churchonline/ so on Sunday we can all worship and enjoy the beautiful services, united together across the Chaplaincy.
To receive an email each week with the various links and information, please sign up via email with Amy Owensmith, Chaplaincy administrator, by clicking here
Farewell to dear Charlotte & Holding strong in Bordeaux!
For those of you in the Chaplaincy unfamiliar with the Bordeaux congregation and supporters, we’re an upbeat and resilient group. So when it came time to say “Farewell” to Charlotte, we did it with happy hearts and warmest of wishes. Indeed, we are so very bereft that our wonderful leader Charlotte has moved to this new calling in Maisons-Laffitte and we hope that the people there will be as inspired by her as we have been.
In our new situation in Bordeaux, we are endeavouring to pray more and worry less! God is good.
The Local Bordeaux Church Committee gathered together from the safety of their homes to raise their glasses and share in fellowship with Charlotte for the last time, shortly before her departure. We look forward to seeing her again when she returns later in the year for a proper thank-you celebration.
So … WhatsApp?
‘Bordeaux Church Family’, that’s whats up!
During these very difficult times everyone across the Chaplaincy has been very creative with use of technology so that we can still participate in services and fellowship. In Bordeaux we started a Church Committee Group on WhatsApp so that committee members could easily keep in touch and share ideas.
This proved to be successful so Charlotte formed a ‘Bordeaux Church Family’ group also on WhatsApp. People use the group to share their thoughts and prayers to support others and to generally strengthen our belief and church fellowship in spite of the long lockdown.
Even though we are now to a large extent ‘unlocked’, use of the group continues and goes from strength to strength. Charlotte has now departed but continues to be a loving member of the group albeit from afar. Charlotte transferred the administration of the group to Ian. If you would like to join the group, then please ask Ian Couper via email at iancouper1@gmail.com
Zooming into Bible Study:
Throughout lockdown we continued our Bible Studies using Zoom. This was a real blessing as our weekly attendance rose by 70 percent and several people who had been unable to join at the presbytery could join on Zoom.
After Easter, Charlotte introduced a series from a book called “Questions God Asks” by Dale and Sandy Larsen. This is a series of 9 studies focusing on questions God asks of various Bible characters and the relevance of those questions to us. There were questions such as “Where are you?” to Adam and Eve after they had eaten the forbidden fruit, and “Is it right for you to be angry?” of Jonah. Lastly, a question that is very apposite for us in
Bordeaux “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your panelled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” – God asked this of the people through Haggai when the temple was in ruins.
We have been thinking about returning to Church after lockdown and what that church will “look like” and we are thinking about what God wishes us to do in Bordeaux. The need for mission and building the Church was discussed – but the “building” that needs to be done is building the congregation – reaching those who do not know the gospel. We do also need rooms to meet in. Please pray with us while we try to hear God’s will for us.
We are going to be moving on – still on Zoom – to continue a study series that we started some time ago on the Fruit of the Spirit – using material from Holy Trinity Brompton. Our most recent discussion was “Goodness” – gracious me!!
If anyone wants to join our Bible study it is on Wednesdays at 18.30 on Zoom.
Please look at the Bordeaux Church Website for details or email Heather Gardiner ( heathermariongardiner@gmail.com ).
And speaking of churches as we knew them pre-COVID …
Pamela Prior writes:
On Thursday last week during a BBC (Bordeaux British Club) walk, which took us through the Jardin Botanique on the right bank, we stopped at the Church of Sainte Marie de La Bastide. As the door was open, we went inside. There was no-one there but it was interesting to see the measures that had been taken. Alternate pews had been completely blocked off with the habitual red and white tape and in the intervening pews a number of the seats were blocked off to allow as much distancing as possible. There was also a container of antibacterial gel on a table just inside the entrance. We did not stay long but it was a wonderful feeling to be in a church after so long.
‘Should you walk by an open church door, why not enter and take time to be quiet in His presence?‘
Pray fervently for our charities and those in need:
On the Maison de Marie’s website, you will see these words and pictures:
Good practice for your French!
May we all pray fervently for the Foyer Fraternel Gouffrand and the Maison de Marie as they take timid steps in deconfining, in order to keep their families, workers and the needy safe and strong.
Wishing everyone a safe and relaxing summer, especially our young ones!
