Possible future Anglican parish in Ostbelgien (Eupen)

On Wednesday 23rd September, the Chaplain-President and Secretary of the Central Committee met with Mr Stefan Pitz, from the chancelery of the Minister-President of the German-speaking Community (Ostbelgien), about the possibility for establishing a recognised Anglican congregation in Eupen.

The meeting happened in a very cordial and positive atmosphere, and we hope that this project for a congregation of a bridge-church as part of a bridge-region will come to fruition.

Photo below: Flag of the city of Eupen (wikipedia.org)

VILD meeting 18SEP2020

On 18th September, the Flemish Interconvictional Platform (Vlaamse Interlevensbschouwelijke Dialoograad) was graciously hosted by the Orthodox community at their cathedral in Brussels. Mgr Peckstadt, Metropolitan in Belgium, chaired the meeting. Representatives from Minister Bart Somers and the Homeland Department were also present.

Some of the subjects discussed were,

-Covid and how the various recognised life stances had dealt with the situation.

-The new future decree on the conditions for recognition of local convictional communities.

-The new lesson plans for convictional education in Flanders and Dutch-speaking schools in Brussels.

-The poverty project and Soligion.

The VILD will meet again in December.

Photo below: Mr Anton Van Dijck, representing the Union of Freethinking Organisations (UVV-demens.nu), next to a painting of H.H. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I.

Latest version of the National Anglican Protocol (September 2020)

This latest version of the National Anglican Protocol (NAP) includes guidelines on choirs and congregational singing, receptions after funerals, and the number of attendees allowed at the service (FR and NL).

Latest version of National Anglican Protocol concerning Corona

Here are the Dutch and French texts of the current version of the National Anglican Protocol, which guides the Anglican parishes in Belgium concerning the conduct of public worship during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Central Committee will meet in the first week of September to take stock of the evolution of the pandemic. We commit ourselves in action, service and prayer to the people of Belgium as we live together through the hardships of the pandemic.

National Holiday 21/07/2020

The Central Committee hopes that everyone enjoyed a happy Nationale Feestdag-Fête Nationale.

GEES imposes compulsory masks in places of worship

At its meeting on 9th July, the Belgian Government's Group of Experts for an Exit Strategy introduced a slight hardening of the de-confinement rules: until further notice, adults entering certain public places, including churches, must wear face masks at all times. The revised National Anglican Protocol which reflects this change can be seen here in Dutch and here in French.

Emouna Belgique: Rozemarijn and Eric tell us of their experiences

“Interreligious dialogue and leadership training weren’t new to me and yet I registered for Emouna, a one year formation experience for religious ministers of different faith traditions. Happy I did, even if I often felt the odd duck, as my work area and field of interest are rather focusing on spirituality and multiple belonging. Happy in the first place that religious institutions have put interfaith formation of their - future - leaders on the agenda and created a space for in depth encounter. No doubt the programme will grow through its teething problems and become a strong partner in interfaith peace networks.”

Rozemarijn Vanwijnsberghe, Master in World Religions and Interreligious Dialogue, in charge of inTOUCH - Fostering dialogue among cultures (www.intouchbrussels.com), coordinator HOPE Network (@hopenetworkbrussels)

“It was an immense joy and privilege to be part of the Emouna 2019-2020 training. I found the training very instructive and very rich. I learned a lot from my Buddhist, Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters. I intend to continue working for a world where people live together in peace. The various speakers were excellent and allowed us to ask questions and express our points of view. All of my misconceptions and misunderstandings about other religions have been clarified and explained. I highly recommend this training to all those who participate in interfaith dialogue or who work in prison ministry.”

Eric Sibomana, member of Holy Trinity Brussels, Reader in training, and Anglican prison chaplain

Further Relaxations to the Emergency Measures

The Central Committee wrote today to the Belgian parishes with a revised National Anglican Protocol (copies here in Dutch and French, version 8JUL2020), reflecting certain relaxations in the rules surrounding public worship ordered by the Belgian Government following a reduction in the number of people falling ill with Covid-19. The letter may be read here. We rejoice that the progress of Covid-19 is slowing in our land, and we continue to commit ourselves to the people of this country in worship and service.

Liège instructional video

Our parishes are slowly restarting, putting measures in place and informing people about the scenarios and protocols for coming to church and what worship services will look like. The English Church in Liège (https://www.englishchurch-liege.be/) made a video that explains step-by-step how people will gather and celebrate safely: well done Ruth and Bert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ05WDyJF5A&feature=youtu.be

Churches reopening

As our parishes prepare to reopen for public worship this Sunday, the Canon Chancellor of Holy Trinity Brussels, Paul Vrolijk (who also sits on the Central Committee) recorded this video to explain the new protocols and how they will be experienced by people coming to worship there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLtfYEdXfnE

Also, the Anglican clergy of Belgium (both Church of England and Episcopal) met by Zoom on 11th June to fine-tune the arrangements for Sunday worship. It is with great excitement that we approach this major step on the road to the end of the pandemic.

Anglican churches begin to re-open after lockdown

Following the issuing of this Ministerial Decree by Pieter De Crem, our Minister of the Interior, Anglican churches in Belgium are authorised from today to organise public worship. This must follow the Anglican protocol approved by the Group of Experts for an Exit Strategy (the French and Dutch versions are here). Each of our parishes has submitted its own protocol to show how its worship will accord with the national protocol. Our prison chaplains may also resume work inside the prisons from today. Letters from the Central Committee to the parishes and to our prison chaplains are here. We rejoice that the sacrifices made by the Belgian people have led us to the point where the lockdown can begin to be lifted, and we re-commit ourselves to the nation in worship, community, service and learning.

The Canon Theologians address the Diocesan Chapter

The Diocese in Europe has two Canon Theologians, appointed by Bishop Robert to pay special attention to theological reflection in the diocese. They are Robin Gill in Gibraltar (http://eurobishop.blogspot.com/2012/11/professor-robin-gill-installed-as-canon.html) and the Chaplain-President in Brussels (https://www.fptr.be/nl/page_docenten_111.aspx). This year's gathering of the canons of the diocese, which would normally occur during the annual Diocesan Synod in Cologne, happened on 28th May by Zoom, with Paul Vrolijk and John Wilkinson from Holy Trinity Brussels also present. Robin Gill presented a theological response to the current pandemic, which may be read at the top of the Diocese in Europe's "Exploring Faith in Europe" blog here: https://faithineurope.net/ The Chaplain-President's response to Robin Gill is here:

The Central Committee supports the Panathlon Sport Consilium

On 26th May, the Chaplain-President recorded a message of support (strictly observing social distancing) for a new initiative by the Panathlon, the national organisation which works towards ethics and fair play in sport (Panathlon Wallonie-Bruxelles may be found here: http://www.panathlon.be/ Panathlon Vlaanderen here: https://panathlonvlaanderen.be/). Panathlon Wallonie-Bruxelles has set up Sport Consilium, a group of interconvictional experts (including the Chaplain-President) dedicated to giving advice on widening participation in sport to include people of all faiths and none. 

Central Committee submits Protocol for resumption of Anglican worship

The Central Committee submitted to the Minister of Justice today its national Protocol with a view to the resumption of services in Anglican churches in Belgium. This was the fruit of an extensive collaboration between Bishop Robert (Church of England), Bishop Mark (Episcopal Church) and the Central Committee. In addition to the national Protocol, the Central Committee has asked all Anglican parishes in Belgium to submit at their earliest convenience detailed parish protocols explaining how they will organise worship in the context of a country slowly emerging from the Covid-19 emergency measures. You can read the national Anglican Protocol in French here and in Dutch here.

Funerals in Anglican churches in Belgium are now again permitted with an attendance of up to 30 appropriately-spaced people.

Weddings and worship services are not yet permitted in Anglican churches. We look forward to recommencing these ministries as soon as the pandemic emergency subsides.

Religious representatives meet with Minister Somers

On Wednesday 20th May, the representatives of the recognised religions in Belgium plus the Sikh and Buddhist communities met with Mr Bart Somers, Flemish Minister for Social Cohesion (Samen Leven), at his offices in Brussels. The Secretary of the Central Committee attended on behalf of the Anglicans. Also present, was a representative from the cabinet of Mr Koen Geens, Federal Minister of Justice. Topic of the day: the reopening of places of worship. Both minister are very supportive that this should happen in the near future. Each community put forward their wishes and concerns, and the minister was very sympathetic to offer any practical and legal help where possible. Each faith community has put together a general protocol for the restart, and each local congregation will have a protocol in place for their specific circumstances. The National Security Council will hopefuly decide and communicate this week or next week.

The Presidents of the Recognised Religions meet with the Minister of Justice and GEES

On 11th May, the Chaplain-President participated in another meeting of the Recognised Religions and the Minister of Justice, this time with two members of the GEES (the Federal government's group of experts for the exit strategy) present to advise, the virologist Professor Marc Van Ranst and the legal expert Ms Inge Bernaerts. The discussion centred on the detail of lifting the current lockdown in synagogues, churches and mosques. Practical information will be passed to the parishes as soon as the Central Committee is in a position to do this.

Presidents of the Recognised Religions meet to discuss the lifting of the lockdown

The Chaplain-President participated today in a meeting in Brussels of the presidents of the recognised religions to agree common policies across all the faiths on the timing and the practical details of lifting the current lockdown in churches, synagogues and mosques. The presidents will present their common findings to the Minister of Justice on Monday 11th May.

The presidents of the recognised religions meet with the Minister of Justice

The Chaplain-President participated in a meeting on 4th May with the other presidents of the recognised religions at the offices of Prof Koen Geens, our Minister of Justice. On the agenda was the process whereby churches, synagogues and mosques will manage the lifting of the emergency measures imposed by the National Security Council during the Covid-19 pandemic. Two further meetings are scheduled in the next few days to press ahead with this matter, and the Central Committee will be in touch with the parishes as soon as concrete measures have been agreed.

Study day for English students on the Anglican Church in Belgium

We have warm relations with several English theological colleges: most of our ordinands train at the Eastern Region Ministry Course (https://www.ermc.cam.ac.uk/) and we host an annual mission study course for ordinands from Cranmer Hall Durham (https://community.dur.ac.uk/cranmer.hall/). For a few years, St Augustine's College of Theology (https://staugustinescollege.ac.uk/) have visited St John's Gent to explore the life and ministry of the Anglican parishes in Belgium. Because of the pandemic, this year's visit occurred on 2nd May by Zoom, with the Chaplain-President and Vice-President speaking on how Anglican parishes are organised in Belgium. We promised to welcome the students in person as soon as this is possible.

Canon theologians meet

The Chaplain-President is also Canon Theologian at Holy Trinity Brussels. Each Anglican cathedral normally has a staff-member responsible for education (called a canon theologian, canon librarian, canon chancellor or canon for education depending on the diocese). The Diocese in Europe has two: Jack McDonald in Brussels and Robin Gill in Gibraltar. The canon theologians typically meet for a conference once each year. Because of the pandemic, their last meeting, on 30th April, originally scheduled for St Paul's Cathedral in London, took place by Zoom. The main topic was the pandemic and how cathedrals can best respond to it creatively when their doors must be locked. The canon theologians are planning to meet in person next year. The picture shows the canon theologians at their meeting in Brussels in 2017, hosted by Holy Trinity.