“In these days of uncertainty and fear, we pray that each of us might again turn to the Lord and receive God’s gift of peace, work for God’s justice, know God’s reconciliation and love, and choose paths not of hatred or destruction, of violence or retribution, but God’s way of justice, mercy and peace.”

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have written a pastoral letter to the clergy and people of the Church of England, calling on them to pray for peace in Ukraine.  Read the letter below:

Ukraine Pastoral Letter from the Archbishops

Last Sunday 23 January St Alban’s joined with the neighbouring congregations of  St Matthew’s Protestant and Christ Ressuscité/ Très Sainte Trinité for the annual commemoration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  The Anglican, Catholic and Protestant churches came together at St Matthew’s around the theme : “We saw his star in the East and have come to worship him” (Matthew 2.2)  The theme for 2022 was proposed by the Middle East Council of Churches, where Christians face many hardships.

The church of St. Matthieu was packed! There was a special programme for children of all ages, and for the bilingual order of service translations were provided. There was a tangible feeling of celebration within the congregation and a real sense of  mutual esteem amongst the clergy.

The pastor of St. Matthieu bids everyone welcome

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was first established in 1908 by an Anglican religious order as an eight-day period of prayer (octave) between 18 January (Confession of St Peter) and 25 January (Conversion of St Paul). The octave has since been observed by Christians of all sorts from around the world.

St Alban’s Mark Barwick gives the final blessing.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was first established in 1908 by an Anglican religious order as an eight-day period of prayer (octave) between 18 January (Confession of St Peter) and 25 January (Conversion of St Paul). The octave has since been observed by Christians of all sorts from around the world.

Many many thanks for all the hands that came together to make last Sunday’s Concert and mini Christmas market a rousing success.  All proceeds will go to famine relief efforts in south Madagascar.

Ni le froid, ni l’épidémie grandissante ne vous ont tous freiné pour assister joyeusement au magnifique concert de l’Avent dimanche dernier.

Au nom du peuple du Sud en dénuement total et qui a faim, nous Malagasy de St Alban’s vous remercions chaleureusement de la générosité que vous avez manifestée. Que ce soit en amont,  les préparatifs,  que ce soit les prises de paroles, que ce soit dans la confection des gâteaux et spécialités culinaires salés qui étaient bien appréciés, la gestion des recettes, le rangement d’après et surtout votre présence, vous étiez formidables! Merci infiniment pour tous les dons recueillis!

Que notre Seigneur vous rende au centuple et vous garde dans son amour. Bravo!                               Voahangy Ramananjatovo.

The Orchestre des jeunes Guitarristes et Mandolinistes de Schiltigheim played to an enthusiastic audience on Advent Sunday at St. Mathieu in Strasbourg.

For the second time ACAS, the Association caritative anglicane de Strasbourg, is organising an Advent concert together with the Madagascan community in the area.  A number of Malgaches are gifted musicians and play together in the Orchestre des Jeunes Guitaristes et Mandolinistes de Schiltigheim under their conductor Marine Mairet.  What may sound like an ensemble with rather limited appeal is in fact quite the opposite: two years ago the orchestra gave their first Advent concert to a packed hall and swept the audience of its feet with their enthusiasm, skill and sheer musicianship.

This year’s concert will take place on Advent Sunday, 28 November, at 15.30h in the church of St. Matthieu, 97 boulevard d’Anvers, Strasbourg.  Entrance is free but donations are requested to help combat the terrible famine ravaging southern Madagascar at the present.  The Anglican Bishop Gilbert Rateloson Rakotondravelo of the Diocese of Fianarantsoa in the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean warns that at least one million people may be at risk.

“The situation south of the country is not good. Out of our 22 regions, it has been hit the hardest. Some crops have also been destroyed by bandits,” he says, noting that while people want to farm their lands, there is no rain.  Within his own diocese, which was founded in 2003, Rakotondravelo says reports continue streaming in of high malnutrition.  “The situation has worsened since March 2021, especially for our women and children. We need short-, medium-, and long-term interventions,” he says.

https://livingchurch.org/2021/10/26/bishop-cites-indescribable-suffering-in-madagascar-famine/?utm_source=The+Living+Church+Email+Updates&utm_campaign=b189123c98-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_08_26_11_12_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0826f52b83-b189123c98-128519789

All are welcome to this concert; in the interval mulled wine and Bredele will be available and there will also be a miniature Marché de Noel to celebrate the start of the Advent season.

N’oublier pas SVP votre Passe Sanitaire !      Please don’t forget your Covid Pass !

                                                        Let us give with generous hearts – Donnons de coeurs généreux!

” Si ton frère devient pauvre, et que sa main fléchisse près de toi, tu le soutiendras.” Levitique 25:35a

Madagascar est le premier pays au monde à connaître la faim à cause du réchauffement climatique. Plus d’un million des gens du Sud Ouest du pays ont faim dont la moitié sont des enfants qui souffrent de la malnutrition. A cause de la sécheresse, rien ne pousse, sauf les cactus qui leur servent d’aliments ou ils mangent de peau de zébus. Dans ces conditions, la mortalité infantile croît exponentiellement.

C’est une tragédie qui mobilise des organisations internationales, des différentes communautés religieuses et laïques, des personnes sensibles au devenir de cette population.

Nous aussi à St Alban’s, très touchés de la situation, nous faisons appel à votre générosité en envoyant vos dons sur le compte bancaire de l’ ACAS, ci dessous.

Association Caritative Anglicane de Strasbourg

IBAN: FR76 1027 8010 8800 0202 3490 172     BIC: CMCIFR2A

Ces dons sont gérés par la suite par une association de l’Anglican Church St Mark de Versailles en France, qui œuvrent dans la région du kéré, diocèse épiscopalien du Sud de Madagascar.

La population du sud vous remercie de tous vos dons. Que Dieu le Père tout puissant vous bénisse !

” Partage ton pain à celui qui a faim…” Esaie 58:7

https://mobile.francetvinfo.fr/monde/afrique/madagascar/secheresse-a-madagascar-les-terres-du-sud-ne-permettent-plus-de-nourrir-les-villages_4780041.html#xtref=android-app://com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/

FAMINE IN MADAGASCAR

“If any of your kin fall into difficulty and become dependent on you, you shall support them.”

Leviticus 25:35a

Madagascar is the first country in the world to suffer famine as a result of climate change. Over a million people in southwest Madagascar are suffering from hunger, half of them children who are severely malnourished. Several years’ drought mean that nothing can grow except for cacti. These and the skin of zebu cattle are the only food available. Under these conditions, infant mortality is increasing exponentially.

This tragedy has mobilised international aid organisations, religious and lay communities and all those concerned about the future of this population. We too at St. Alban’s, with our long-established personal links to the Malgache community in Strasbourg, are very much affected by the situation and appeal to your generosity in making donations to the Association Caritative Anglicane de Strasbourg:

IBAN: FR76 1027 8010 8800 0202 3490 172     BIC: CMCIFR2A

These donations will be managed by the charitable association of St. Mark’s Anglican Church Versailles, which has links to the Episcopalian diocese of Southern Madagascar already working in the famine region.

The people of the South thank you for all your donations. May the all-powerful God bless you!

“Is it not to share your bread with the hungry … ”  Isiaiah 58:7

https://mobile.francetvinfo.fr/monde/afrique/madagascar/secheresse-a-madagascar-les-terres-du-sud-ne-permettent-plus-de-nourrir-les-villages_4780041.html#xtref=android-app://com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox/

The Rentrée this year felt a bit like the end of a long winter’s hibernation; a great surge of energy and joy at seeing faces long missed and resuming some of our most cherished customs.

Our Reader David Cowley, whose guitar-playing in particular we had missed while he was recuperating from a major operation, was back in church again to accompany Sunday’s All Age Worship.

David Cowley playing during Communion

We were able to welcome the children and their teachers back to a new Sunday School year, and celebrated that with a blessing of the school bags.

Children and Sunday School teachers are   blessed

And not to forget the Coffee after Church – again, a custom long and sorely missed.  For the first time since Covid restrictions were imposed we were able to meet together in the Centre Mounier for coffee and a chance to catch up with old friends and get to know visitors and new members of the church.  Out of “hibernation” came Frederick William-Smith, at 92 the oldest member of St. Alban’s – and so we were able to celebrate the Rentrée of two former invalids as well!

Frederick with wife Maryline and David      Cowley

At St. Alban’s Annual General Meeting, held as an online Zoom meeting on Sunday 21 March, our priest Mark Barwick presented his report on the life of the church in 2020. As well as mentioning the activities that did actually take place in spite of Covid restrictions, and reminding us of all those that didn’t, he outlined some specific areas on which he thought St. Alban’s should concentrate in the coming year:

– Post-Covid (?) Rebuilding and Spiritual Development

• –  Areas of Diocesan concern:
•  – the Environment, piloted by St Alban’s Environmental Committee;
•  – Living in Love and Faith, concerning matters of human sexuality, relationships and identity;
•  – Diversity and Race.
•  – Stewardship and Sustainability Review.
• Read Mark’s report here to find out more.