On 21st July, the Chaplain-President attended the national Te Deum in the Catholic cathedral in Brussels. In the afternoon, The King and Queen again represented the Nation in the traditional military and civil parade in front of the Palace. This year, as Belgium recovers from the Covid pandemic, and after the terrible flooding in Wallonia the week before, there was a sombre tone in many of the speeches. Eendracht maakt macht! / L'union fait la force ! / Einigkeit macht stark !
Malines Conversations centenary
On 13th July, the Chaplain-President attended the steering-group of the Malines Conversations Centenary congress (https://www.malinesconversations.org/centenary-congress/) at the Archbishop's Palace in Mechelen/Malines. Decisions about the form which this major congress will take in December, given the evolution of the Covid pandemic, will be announced soon.
The Central Committee meets Sant'Egidio
On 10th July, the Chaplain-President and Vice-President met Mr Mario Marazziti, journalist, deputy in the Italian Parliament and a member of the Community of Sant'Egidio, in St John's Church Gent. They discussed the initiative of the Recognised Religions in 2018 to work with Sant'Egidio to set up a Humanitarian Corridor from the civil war in Syria to Belgium:
https://www.santegidio.be/fr/couloirs-humanitaires-santegidio-dresse-un-premier-bilan/
This involved a Syrian Muslim refugee family being looked after by St John's Gent for one year. On the agenda for this meeting was the possibility of undertaking a second edition of the Couloir Humanitaire Belgique.
Belgium flooded
The Central Committee extends its most fervent best wishes and prayers to all our fellow-citizens who are suffering from the terrible floods this week; our hearts are touched by the loss of life, property and well-being suffered by all involved. Our parish in Waterloo has also been affected and we wish them all the best. We assure the civil authorities in this land of our full support.
Bishop Robert and Bishop David have written a letter of support.
Meeting of the presidents of the Recognised Religions
On 5th July, the presidents of the Recognised Religions or their representatives met by zoom to discuss matters of mutual interest.
Central Committee present at ordination service
On 3rd July, the Vice-President welcomed Bishop Robert to St John's Gent, where he is chaplain (https://www.saintjohnsghent.com/about-us ), for an ordination service (which fully respected the National Protocols and Explanatory Documents) at which one ordinand was ordained deacon and three deacons were ordained priest. The Chaplain-President and the Secretary assisted. One of those ordained priest was the Revd Annie Bolger, who began her journey to ordained ministry as a ministry experience scheme intern (https://europe.anglican.org/vocations/mes ) at St Martha and St Mary Leuven when the Chaplain-President was chaplain there.(http://www.anglicanchurchleuven.be/ ).
photo: P. Murray-Jellema
The Security of Anglican Places of Worship
On 30th June, the Chaplain-President and the Secretary, accompanied by Mr David Sayers of Holy Trinity Brussels, attended a feedback session at the Ministry of Justice in which the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior presented their initial joint audit of the security of Anglican buildings in Belgium, having used Holy Trinity Brussels as an example. These findings will be fed to the council at Holy Trinity Brussels, and will be made public next year, when a larger report on the security of the buildings of the Recognised Religions, Laïcité/Vrijzinnigheid and Buddhism will be published by the two government ministries concerned.
Meeting of the Central Committee
On 29th June, the Central Committee met by zoom to discuss a full agenda. It was the first meeting in its new composition. The next meeting in September will hopefully be in-person.
Holy Trinity Brussels organises study-day on the Church of England's "Pastoral Principles"
On 26th June, a study-day took place at Holy Trinity Brussels, led by the Revd Annie Bolger and several others, including the Chaplain-President, on the Church of England's new "Pastoral Principles" (The Pastoral Principles | The Church of England ), which are a basis for Anglicans who have different stances on various issues to speak in charity and mutual trust together. The Pastoral Principles especially relate to the current discussions in the Church of England about LGBTQIA+ issues (Living in Love and Faith | The Church of England ) but clearly have a much wider use. One way in which this study-day facilitated wider discussion was its organisation in a totally bilingual English-French structure, a way of honouring the large francophone community in the parish.
Central Committee at the Protestant Faculty in Brussels
Both the Chaplain-President and the Secretary lecture at the university Faculteit voor Protestantse Theologie en Religiestudies te Brussel (Faculteit voor Protestantse Godgeleerdheid (fptr.be) ). On 24th July, the teaching staff of the faculty met to allocate student grades and to discuss the programme at the faculty next year. The Chaplain-President will be teaching a new course from next year on Global Anglicanism, using our own Belgian Anglican resources rooted in Nigeria, Congo-Kinshasa and Rwanda.
CAGO signs agreement with City of Antwerp
On 23rd June, the Chaplain-President and Secretary were present at the headquarters of the City of Antwerp's Education Department to witness the signing by Canon Ann Turner, president of CAGO (https://www.centralanglican.be/onderwijs ), of a protocol between the Recognised Religions and Vrijzinnigheid and the City of Antwerp to guarantee openness, listening, and mutual support across the teaching of RE in Antwerp.
Consultation with the Recognised Religions about a new law in the Brussels Region
On 22nd June, the Chaplain-President and Secretary participated in a Zoom meeting with the other Recognised Religions and representatives of the Brussels Regional Government to discuss the text of a proposed law updating and streamlining the material arrangements for churches, synagogues and mosques in Brussels.
Panathlon webinar on the interactions between sport and religion in Belgium
On 23rd June, the Chaplain-President and the Secretary participated in a webinar organised by Panathlon Wallonie-Bruxelles (http://www.panathlon.be/ ) on "Interactions entre sport et religion : réalités de terrain". The Central Committee is a member of SportConsilium (https://sportconsilium.org/le-comite/ ), an organisation which seeks to maximise participation in sporting activities in Belgium by diminishing potential obstacles due to religious misunderstandings.
Further relaxations to the emergency measures in churches
From 27th June, further relaxations are possible in the public worship and parish life of our churches, agreed by the Concernation Committee on 18th June. These relaxations are governed by the ongoing National Protocols (NL binnen and buiten, FR intérier and extérieur) and the Explanatory Documents (1 & 2). We rejoice that the mass vaccination campaign is yielding such speedy changes to the level of personal security in our land!
The Central Committee on the Cathedral Chapter
On 17th June, the Diocese in Europe's cathedral chapter (Cathedral Chapter - Diocese in Europe (anglican.org) ) met by zoom. The chapter is the body of canons (senior clergy and laity), spread across the three cathedral churches of the diocese in Gibraltar, Valletta and Brussels, who pray for and advise Bishop Robert and Bishop David. Both the Chaplain-President and the Vice-President sit on chapter, as do Paul Vrolijk and John Wilkinson from Holy Trinity Brussels, and Andrew Wagstaff and Ann Turner from St Boniface Antwerp. The main topic was a presentation from the Missions to Seafarers (MtS), one of the principal Anglican mission and service organisations (The Mission to Seafarers | Working In Over 200 Ports Worldwide ). St Boniface Antwerp has enjoyed a close relationship with MtS for over half a century, and an appointment for a priest to share ministry at St Boniface and at the Port of Antwerp, to replace our much-loved colleague Brian Millson who died in March this year, is currently in process.
Emouna returns to HTB
After a period of nine months in which the interfaith training course Emouna Belgique (https://www.emouna.be/ ) has been organised online only, on 16th June, because of relaxations in the emergency measures, the final session this year was able to take place in person, and it was the Anglicans' turn to host. Observing the Covid-19 regulations, the day included presentations by students of their group projects, the giving of diplomas in association with UCLouvain, lunch in the courtyard, and an afternoon art session. The Revd Charles Kabera graduated from Emouna this year, and we offer him hearty congratulations! Next year, Emoena België will be organised in Dutch rather than French (https://www.emoena.be/ ) and another of our prison chaplains, Egbert van Groesen, will represent the Anglican Church as a student.
Licensing of the new chaplain to Leuven
On 8th June 2021 Bp Robert officially licensed Dr Catriona Laing as chaplain of St Martha and St Mary in Leuven. Adhering to all Covid-19 restrictions, the service went ahead in the chapel where St Damian of Molokai is burried and Bp Robert has written in his blog about the very spiritual experience. We wish Cationa all the best in her ministry.
The Central Committee masters Persopoint
The Chaplain-President and the Secretary continue to attend sessions at the Ministry of Justice each Friday in June in order to master the online Persopoint system from the summer, enabling the Central Committee to handle directly matters of the appointment, registration, pay and conditions of the Anglican clergy and readers who draw State stipends in Belgium.
Central Committee involved in new book
On 11th June, The Chaplain-President attended the online book launch of Religious Radicalism: Demarcations and Challenges (Brussels, Uitgeverij ASP, 2021), to which he had contributed a chapter on the historical relationship between Dutch Protestantism and aggressive Dutch colonialism. There are sobering lessons to be learned by the modern Churches from this difficult history, and the Central Committee commits itself to open, friendly and equal dialogue and action with the other faiths and lifestances in our land.
Evadoc AGM
On 19th June 2021 the Chaplain-President attended the online AGM of Evadoc (Protestant-Evangelical Documentation), a subgroup of Kadoc (Catholic Documentation), who tend to the parish archives of Evangelical and Anglican congregations in Flanders. Board members of the Evangelical Theological Faculty (ETF) also joined.
