November 2020
Zooming in to pray. Lockdown meant that the prayer meeting that we had each week before the service had ceased. So for the last few weeks we have been having a Sunday morning prayer meeting at 10 am via Zoom.
This has proved to be a wonderful time of prayer fellowship that has attracted a group of people who have been praying about things close to their hearts – personal, political, local, distant, each other and our church community. We will be continuing this even though we are resuming physical services. It may be that we will also resume the prayer meeting in person before the service but that is for the future.
The Bordeaux Church website has lots of additional information. For example, how to get to our new worship place (see “Where are we?”), including public transport. Just head this way: www.anglicanbordeaux.org
Please check regularly on the website to check developments as and when the restrictions of the lock down are relaxed.
We cannot join together physically, but do not forget to join others throughout the Chaplaincy in virtual worship. Our clergy, readers, and technical team have been doing a sterling job! The worship service remains on-line so you may watch whenever is convenient for you . Online Worship Service
Coming up in December (to be confirmed) – please mark your diaries!
Last weekend in November – Christmas Bazaar Covid-style: A virtual event!
Due to the increased Covid alert in the Gironde, the Christmas Bazaar will not be held in its usual form.
The Christmas elves and organisers are working on another form for the Bazaar, with a SILENT AUCTION of Promises and hopefully WINE, jams and chutneys which you’ll be able to reserve from the warmth of your home (on-line or by telephone).
You will receive an email with an update and don’t hesitate to contact organiser Heather Gardiner (click here to email Heather) with any offers! The Chaplaincy and the Bordeaux charities need help now more than ever. Thank you in advance for your support.
Sunday 13 Dec. at 16:00 Christmas Carol Service Eglise Notre Dame – To be confirmed subject to covid related restrictions.
A new Sunday venue started on October 25th – The Protestant Temple in Talence! – As you are aware, due to the Covid-19 restrictions we were unable to continue with our services in the Chapel of Le Grand Bon Pasteur due to the presence of a retirement home on the same site. We are very grateful to the Sœur Solange and the religious community for their warm welcome to us for over a year.
We are now delighted to tell you that we have been invited by the Protestants in Bordeaux to hold our Services at the Protestant Temple in Talence. What a wonderful answer to prayer!
We give thanks to our Chaplain Tony, his assistant Amy, and the working group in Bordeaux, especially our local wardens, for their energy and perseverance.
We indeed have a lot to give thanks for! The Eglise Protestante Unie in Talence and Pastor Andreas Braun welcomed us with open arms to their church for worship on Sunday afternoons.
We held our first service in Talence in the afternoon of Sunday 25th October. The congregation was over 30 and we were all delighted to see each other once again and were looking forward again to our regular Sunday worship and fellowship. But ………. now we all have to lock down again. Please regularly check on our website anglicanbordeaux.org for updates about all our ‘virtual’ activities and resumption of our services hopefully in December.
Gardening. We also had a very successful working session at the Presbytery in mid-October, with 8 people working in their own space. Thanks to Adrien, Jean-Claude, Pamela, Barry, and Metrine the surrounds of the French doors and two windows on the front received their first coat of paint, while work continues scraping the paint off the back windows.
Liz and Anne led the gardening crew, with help from Metrine, Jerome and
Christine. You can really see the difference!
We give thanks for a visit from Ashley, now a fully-fledged paediatrician, who shared in Chaplaincy online worship with the Rychlewskis and joined in at Morning Prayer too. Ashley together with Jenny contributed so much to our church life in the past supporting our youngsters in Sunday School, Youth Group and other activities. Ashley will be working in Besançon for another year to become a specialist in Paediatric Palliative Care.