On 1st June, the Chaplain-President and Secretary attended the first in a series of weekly meetings and workshops at the Ministry of Justice to learn the skills required to use the new computer programme from later this year at the Ministry of Justice for the payment of traitements/wedden to ministers/officiants of the Recognised Religions and Laïcité/Vrijzinnigheid. The creation and supervision of the dossiers for each minister will be devolved to the Central Committee. Pay-levels will remain exactly as before!
VILD meeting
On 21st May the Interlife stance dialogue (VILD) met to discuss the present Covid-19 stituation, the new draft decree of the recoginition of faith communities in Flanders, and the position of LGBTQIA+ people within the recognised religions. Also, the mandates of the working groups for poverty and the spiritual caregivers were renewed.
Christian churches in Belgium meet
The Concertation of Christian Churchers in Belgium met on 5th May to discus news for the member churches, and to organise future ecumenical activities and services.
New Archdeacon
Sam Van Leer, the Associate Chaplain in Utrecht (The Netherlands) has been appointed as the new Archdeacon of Northwestern Europe. Sam was already the interim Archdeacon after the resignation of Paul Vrolijk in November. We wish Sam all the best in his role.
Prison chaplains meet
For the first time since last summer, the full Anglican prison chaplains team (Prisons — Central Committee Anglican Church Belgium (centralanglican.be)) was able to meet with the Chaplain-President and Secretary on 27 May at Holy Trinity Brussels, observing all distancing and hygiene measures. In a full agenda, we had Bible study on the Ascension, followed by a full tour de table from the chaplains, speaking of their experiences in the prisons during the pandemic, then some points of administration before closing prayer.
New faces on the Central Committee
We are delighted to announce the appointment by the Minister of Justice of Mr Eric Sibomana as a Member of the Central Committee. Eric is the first member of the Central Committee to be born in Rwanda, and he brings a deep experience of Francophone Anglicanism into our counsels. He works as one of our wonderful team of stipendiary Anglican prison chaplains in Belgium. We also welcome as Observers on the Central Committee, appointed by the Chaplain-President, the Revd Sunny Hallanan and the Revd Augustine Nwaekwe. Sunny is the rector of All Saints' Waterloo (as well as of Mons, Charleroi and Namur) and Augustine the chaplain of the English Church Ostend (as well as of Knokke, Bruges and Kortrijk). They bring their vast experience of American and Nigerian Anglicanism to our deliberations. Chaplain-President Jack, Vice-President Stephen and Secretary Jo Jan welcome them with great pleasure and look forward to our first meeting in person soon.
#IDAHOBIT2021
On 17th May, International Day Against Homo- Bi- and Transphobia, the Chaplain-President and the Secretary joined the other heads of the recognised life stances and Buddhism and representatives of all Flemish political parties except one at the Flemish Parliament for the official signing of a charter (NL) calling for an end to discrimination and of homophobic harrasment and violence. The life stances commit to being a “safe haven” for all.
Meeting with Minister Somers
On Monday 10th May, the heads of the recognised religions met online with Mr Bart Somers, Flemish Minister of internal affairs, societal cohesion, and equal opportunities. This meeting was part of the regular contacts between the reconised religions and Mr Somers and his cabinet. On the agenda were the draft decree on recognitions, the fight against homophobia, and the current Covid-crisis.
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
New rules for outdoor worship
Following the national Covid vaccination campaign, the Recognised Religions and the Ministry of Justice have been discussing a new protocol to allow outdoor worship in Belgium. Mr Van Quickenborne, the Minister of Justice, desired that all the Recognised Religions and the Vrijzinnigheid/Laïcité should produce a common text - and this has given us all a great opportunity to welcome Mr Carlo Luyckx, president of the Buddhist Union of Belgium, to our deliberations, since Buddhism is now very close to achieving full legal recognition: https://justitie.belgium.be/nl/themas_en_dossiers/erediensten_en_vrijzinnigheid/erediensten_en_georganiseerde_vrijzinnigheid We therefore have two protocols for worship. The NAP#11 for indoor worship (the full text will be published next week) and the NP#1 for outdoor worship (the FR and NL texts are here). We hope to announce further relaxations to the indoor protocol in June.
Covid-19: Calendar for future steps discussed
On Friday 23rd April representatives of the recognised life stances met with representatives of the Ministry of Justice to discuss future steps in the Corona-pandemic. The meeting was chaired by Mr Abderrazak EL-Omari, aid to the Minister of Justice for the religions and humanism. Draft plans were discussed for in- and outdoor worship in the coming months.
Recognised religions and Flemish Parliament meet
On Thursday 22nd April the representatives of the reconised life stances were invited by MR Lorin Parys, MFP, to discuss a joint stance against homophobia. It was a cross-party meeting and representatives from the Walloon and Brussels Capital Region were present as well. A joint statement will be prepared condemning discrimination and violence against LGBTQIA+ people in time for the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia on 17th May.
In Memoriam
On 30th March 2021, our friend and colleague Brian Millson passed away. For many years Brian was the assistant-priest at St Boniface Antwerp and the chaplain for the Mission to Seaferers. We hold Brian’s family and loved ones in our prayers. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
In Memoriam
Zalig Pasen - Joyeuses Pâques - Frohes Ostern - Happy Easter
The Central Committee wishes everyone, Anglican and non-Anglican, a very joyful Easter Season. The season runs until Pentecost on 23rd May.
Canon chancellors meet
As Canon theologian at Holy Trinity Brussels, the Chaplain-President took part in a zoom meeting of the Church of England canon chancellors (the education officers of the cathedrals) on 23rd March, an excellent opportunity to catch up with news from around the English cathedrals. (The terminology of the Diocese in Europe is different from that in use in England: what we call here a Canon chancellor would be called a Dean in England.)
Chaplain-President speaks to Diocese in Europe Archdeaconry lay chairs
On 19th March, the Chaplain-President spoke for the third time in the same week to a diocesan audience about the new Church of England report on marriage and identity, Living in Love and Faith (https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/living-love-and-faith), this time it was to the lay chairs of the archdeaconries, meeting by zoom to catch up on major news in the diocese (https://europe.anglican.org/people/archdeacons). The aim of the LLF report is for the Church of England to come to a common mind about issues concerning marriage, identity, sexuality and relationships by the end of 2022. Bishop Robert has asked the Chaplain-President to be the diocese's LLF Advocate, outlining and explaining the debate to people within the diocese.
New staffers at the Flemish Bible Society (Vlaams BijbelGenootschap)
From 1st February two now functions have been filled at the VBG: Arne Willems is the new communications specialist in charge of press, and Marian Knetemann, a personal friend of our Secretary, is the new relations officer with the Church relations team (kerkrelaties). The press release can be read here.
The Diocese in Europe speaks about Brexit in La Libre
On 18th March, La Libre published an article by its London correspondent with the views of officers of the Diocese in Europe based in London on the consequences of Brexit for the good functioning of the Diocese. Bishop David and Canon William Gulliford expressed concern about the difficulties which British Anglican clergy now experience in arriving to work in the EU, as well as the difficulties which EU Anglican trainees and clergy experience in arriving to study and work in the UK. Their views reinforce the Central Committee's position that Brexit has brought not a single benefit to Belgium or to Britain; its effects are wholly and entirely negative. The article may be read here:
Lectio Divina during Lent
Annie Bolger, Deacon and Curate at HTB writes,
During the liturgy on Ash Wednesday, at the beginning of Lent, we are invited "in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy word." At Holy Trinity in Brussels, we are reading and meditating through lectio divina. What is lectio divina? Rather than reading or studying, lectio divina encourages us to listen and look and imagine. It involves a ‘slow reading’ of the Bible text, allowing the words to speak in a new way. The four steps are reading, reflecting, expressing, and resting. Our senior chaplain created a Bible bookmark which provides a guide to the four movements of lectio and I created a video guide as well. This approach to reading Scripture nicely compliments the beautiful collection of Lent reflections on the lectionary which is authored and compiled by the congregation here. We are finding that the two resources enrich reflection. There are many resources to explain the lectio approach to Scripture online and we encourage you to 'taste and see'!
Video and bookmark available from Annie.
Covid-19 vaccination campaign in Brussels
The Chaplain-President and the Secretary attended a webinar for the presidents of the recognised religions and the laïcité/vrijzinnigheid on 16th March, hosted by the cabinet of Minister Alain Maron of the Brussels Capital Region. Expert explanations were given of the clinical safety of the vaccines and of the various ways in which publicity for the vaccination programme could be distributed. The recognised religions and laïcité/vrijzinnigheid stand full-square behind the campaign for vaccination against covid-19.
Resources in various languages available from Home | (coronavirus.brussels) and two excellent ppt’s here and here.
