Chaplaincy of Aquitaine
Anglican Church in Bordeaux – June 2020 Newsletter
The Bordeaux Congregation and Friends of the Church wish to:
THANK YOU, CHARLOTTE!
for all that you have done for us and all that you are.
.
Rev’d Charlotte Sullivan
Future Services and Virtual Fellowships
Morning Prayer Services – Live every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning at 9.30 a.m., from our Chaplaincy clergy and members’ homes (see Charlotte’s message below)
‘Chat and Worship’ – Live with Rev’d Liz Morris every Tuesday with Rev’d Liz Morris
Evening Prayer Services – Live every Tuesday and Thursday at 6.00 p.m., from the Chaplain’s home
Bible Study – Live every Wednesday at 6.00 p.m.
Sunday Services – Pre- recorded video. Just go to the Church Online link http://www.churchinaquitaine.org/churchonline/services-and-sermons/ click on Sunday worship and enjoy the beautiful video services, which unite us across the Chaplaincy. Please share the links that you receive with your friends and family!
‘Coffee and Chat’ – Live with Rev’d Liz Morris on Sunday’s at 11:10
Live Video links have changed this week
If you require the new video links for the Morning and evening Prayer Services, please ask via email here
The Rev’d Charlotte Sullivan writes:
Dear Friends,
I hope you are all well, and are managing to keep connected with us via http://www.churchinaquitaine.org/churchonline/ Please let the wardens know if you would like to belong to the Bordeaux WhatsApp group or receive the Zoom links to Morning/Evening prayer or Bible study.
Unfortunately, this will be my last news bulletin to you, as I am due to leave Bordeaux at the end of the month to take up my new post in Maisons Laffitte.
I wanted to let you know how sorry I am about the sudden announcement of my departure. Normally, I would have had the opportunity to tell you myself about my new appointment, and we would have had the chance to discuss, and slowly process the news together, at our services, fellowship and bible study.
Due to the confinement the message was delayed by several months, which meant my departure is as sudden as the announcement!
I am so very grateful for your best wishes, via emails, cards, telephone calls and for those who came to the presbytery to say goodbye even though the circumstances are so difficult at the moment.
I would like to take this opportunity to tell you that the decision to leave Bordeaux was not an easy one to make. After much prayer, reflection and discussion with my family, I felt that the time was approaching when I would leave Aquitaine and seek a new position, to experience ministry in a different context, (as is usual for a priest at the end of their curacy). My children are all doing well and have their own lives, without needing too much support from mum anymore, and my home in the Dordogne is rented and cared for.
Although I love Aquitaine, I felt that there was an opportunity for a new chapter in my life and in my ministry. As so often happens, once I had come to a decision, God provided the opportunity, perhaps sooner than I would have wished, but reminding me that everything is in His timing and not in mine!
I have enjoyed my time with you in Bordeaux, yes, there have been some challenges, but we have faced those challenges together and I think we have come out stronger as a community (and I as a priest) because of those challenges.
And whilst it is true that you still do not have a permanent place of worship, you do have a church, it’s the people of God who make a church and it’s you the congregation make that church a spiritual home, building or not.
I would like to encourage you to continue to be the worshipping community that you are, always ready to share hospitality, to welcome the stranger and to try new things. You are in such a blessed position to have some wonderful local worship leaders, in Christine, Nellie and Heather and I know that Tony will be continuing to guide and support you.
I want to thank you all for your support over the last 2 years, especially the wardens, Peter, Ian and Johnson and all the committee. I take away with me some lovely memories of the worship and the fellowship that we shared together. As life draws us apart please remember that our prayers will always keep us joined together. In His Holy name and with much love,
Charlotte
PS We were delighted to hear on Monday 25th Maythat Charlotte arrived safe and sound at her new home at the Holy Trinity Church, Maisons Laffitte (near Paris) together with Jaffa and her cats.
News from the past month (May)
.
More on-line worship … in French and Malagasy.
Praise the Lord for Stephen and Holi Razafindratsima who have continued to work hard for the Malagasy Anglican community in France. You’ll recall the bilingual services that they organized with the clergy in Bordeaux prior to their move to Paris.
During lockdown (and no doubt in the weeks to come), Stephen’s brother, the Revd Nicolas Razafindratsima at St George’s Church in Paris, is leading worship via Zoom.
Lindsay was able to ‘zoom in’ one Sunday – to find 80 participants joining together in worship … from Paris to Strasbourg to Toulouse and beyond. We are indeed One in the Spirit – thanks be to God.
Remembering our charities during the pandemic.
Please keep our local charities in your prayers:
The Foyer Fraternel Gouffrand which reopened its doors with the deconfinement. Your donations of all sorts are welcome (clothes, shoes, toiletries, nappies and baby formula, etc.). You may drop them off during daytime hours at 23, rue Gouffrand, Bordeaux. Please call ahead of time: 07 66 31 21 08.
La Maison de Marie and its large family survived “not 40 days in the desert but 80 days of confinement”! Good organization, outside help including regular food deliveries by a close-by Leclerc supermarket, and above all a concerted willingness of all of the residents to follow strict rules allowed them to survive this difficult period. They continue to be vigilant in this deconfinement period.
Lindsay receives newsletters that she can pass on (request a copy at: lmegraud@gmail.com).Messages of encouragement are very welcome and may be sent to Béatrice: blegrix33@gmail.com (just mention that you’re from the Eglise Anglicane).
Memories from other difficult “confinement” periods
Thanks to internet, some collective reminiscing on confinement has been shared – it’s a special kind of contagion which can’t hurt you!
Following Queen Elizabeth’s speech to the nation, Paul Dixon shared a favourite wartime song from 1943 “I’m going to get lit-up” recorded by Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Hotel Orpheans.
That incited the following interesting souvenirs from Freda Perris who left France with her family to go to England during wartime. Freda writes:
Yes, that music brought back memories. I was back during the war in Liverpool and we used to listen to the radio that Dad had made with a wooden box and a queer assortment of wires and batteries!!! I was 9 years old when the war ended but everything is so clear in my mind.
Talk about confinement: every evening Dad and Mum used to fix black curtains on all the windows to avoid any sign of light and of course nobody could go out after 10 p.m. until morning. Yes, life was completely different from anything we knew before and after
We used to go to school with our gas masks (masks again?). Had to make do with pencils made in rough wood. The exercise books were cut in two because they were scarce. I also remember the party in the road for V-Day. Also seeing the men coming back to their homes after five years of fighting.
All this is so far away and so clear. Amazing. Eric was 18 when the war ended and we came back at the end of 1945, so he had to leave all his friends from church. However, he is very faithful and there are still about 7 or 8 left and he is always phoning and enquiring about them.