Catholic Priest asks for information to be put up in his churches

When Paul Gath went to the Church the other day to collect something from our cupboard, the Catholic Priest was working in the vestry & had a chat with Paul.

It seems that the priest has been asked by people if & when there is an English Service in Cómpeta, and so he has asked us if we will produce some posters - in English - to be put on the notice board at the entrance to the church.

But it is better than that even. He told Paul that he also looks after the Catholic Church in Cannillas, Archez & a satelitte congregation somewhere else close by, and if we let him have more posters he will put them up in those churches aswell!!

So, we have produced the posters, laminated them to make them look 'posh' and left them in the Church Vestry last night for the Priest.

We are really pleased about this development, because - it spreads the word about our congregation and our services; it is a good example of both faiths working together, and it is a cracking example of ecumenicalism at work (ecumenicalism - big word eh!).

Hopefully, the word will spread in other Catholic Churches, and they will soon be following Cómpeta's lead - where Cómpeta goes today, the rest will follow on later!

Well done Paul, and thanks for practising your Spanish with the Priest!

Chaplaincy Council

The Chaplaincy Council met yesterday, for the first time since the AGM last month. There were two new members of the Council - your own Congregational Warden - Adrian Wilkinson & Stuart Smith from Torre del Mar.

The agenda for the meeting was a mixture of routine business, such as Minutes of the last meeting, Treasurers report, when Mike Smith presented several spreadsheets showing the current state of the Chaplaincy finances, along with new items such as the times of the summer services & a look at priorities & plans for the future.

Rather pleasingly amongst the financial figures was a comparison of offertery giving by each congregation year on year, and Cómpeta for the first 4 months of 2008, showed a 58% increase in its giving compared with the same period last year.

The Council agreed to move forward on a plan to have a look at the publicity for the whole of the Chapliancy , and a small sub-committee is being brought together to produce some proposals.

The Chaplain gave an upbeat Report to Council on his work and progress that he has made with things, such as involvement in wedding & funerals, which had been something of a difficult area to get into. This he told Council had allowed him also to become more involved in each of the local communities that form the Chaplaincy, and to begin to extend his pastoral ministry.

A discussion also took place about the development of the congregation at Torremolinos, which is part of the St. Georges Chaplaincy, and a wide ranging number of views were exchanged, which will in due course allow the Council & the Chaplain to move forward again in this part of the Chaplaincy.

The meeting close with the saying of the Grace.

If you ever want anything to be discussed by the Chaplaincy Council - why not have a word with one of your Congregational Wardens, and ask them to have it put on the Agenda.

Remember - this is your Chaplaincy - your congregation - and TOGETHER we shall move forward in the service of God.

More from 'the blogger' soon!

Today is Trinity Sunday - so what does that mean?

Many of us, have been gong to church since we were children, and have grown up in the faith of Christ. And yet what do we really know about the background to the key dates in our church year?

So this set me thinkinng about Trinity Sunday, and here is the answer -

Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

In the early Church no special Office or day was assigned for the Holy Trinity. When the Arian heresy was spreading the Fathers prepared an Office with canticles, responses, a Preface, and hymns, to be recited on Sundays. In the Sacramentary of St. Gregory the Great (P.L., LXXVIII, 116) there are prayers and the Preface of the Trinity. The Micrologies (P.L., CLI, 1020), written during the pontificate of Gregory VII (Nilles, II, 460), call the Sunday after Pentecost a Dominica vacans, with no special Office, but add that in some places they recited the Office of the Holy Trinity composed by Bishop Stephen or Liège (903-20). By others the Office was said on the Sunday before Advent. Alexander II (1061-1073), refused a petition for a special feast on the plea, that such a feast was not customary in the Roman Church which daily honoured the Holy Trinity by the Gloria Patri, etc., but he did not forbid the celebration where it already existed. John XXII (1316-1334) ordered the feast for the entire Church on the first Sunday after Pentecost. A new Office had been made by the Franciscan John Peckham, Canon of Lyons, later Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1292). The feast ranked as a double of the second class but was raised to the dignity of a primary of the first class, 24 July 1911, by Pius X (Acta Ap. Sedis, III, 351). Since it was after the first great Pentecost that the doctrine of the Trinity was proclaimed to the world, the feast becomingly follows that of Pentecost.

So now you know!

Chaplaincy Council - Tuesday 20th May 2008

The first meeting of the new Chaplaincy Council will take place next Tuesday at St. Georges, Malaga.

The Council is made up of the Congregational Wardens from each of the churches in the Chaplaincy, plus the Chaplaincy Wardens, Synod representatives, the Honorary Treasurer, the Honorary Secretary, and is chaired by the Chaplain.

It is responsible for overseeing the work & ministry of the Chapliancy, and meets about every six weeks.

We will be featuring a report of the Council's activity at regular intervals on the weblog.

Congregational Committee meeting - 13th May 2008

The Congregational Committee will meet tomorrow, for the first time since the recent AGM, and amongst the topics it will be discussing - in addition to the standard items like the Chaplains Report & Treasurers Report etc are -

 Nativity

 Service books

 The church inventory

 The Church Recipe Book

 Publicity

 Meeting & greeting

A report of the meeting will appear on the weblog in the coming days.

If ever you having anything that you would like the committee to discuss or reflect upon, just send an email to competacongregation@stgeorgemalaga.org

The Songs of Praise recording

Sorry that I have not updated the weblog for a bit, but have been really busy with SoP and then recovering from a very busy weekend.

On Saturday 3rd May, the airwaves around Fuengirola Castle were filled with the voices of over 1500 people singing popular hymns & worship songs at the recording of the popular BBC Songs of Praise programme.

After months of planning, the sun shone down on the many people – old & young, who had gathered from churches and congregations all along the Costa del Sol, and who, led by worship leader and well known hymn-writer Graham Kendrick & his band, followed patiently the instructions of the Conductor, Programme Producer and cameramen, to record two programmes which are to be shown later this year in June & October.

Also at the recording were Aled Jones & former premiership footballer Gavin Peacock, who will each be introducing the programmes when they are broadcast.

The hymns & songs were a mixture of traditional & modern, ranging from Blessed Assurance & the Old Rugged Cross, to Shine Jesus Shine & Heaven is in my Heart, but all were met with approval and hearty voices throughout the three hour recording.

The recording was also attended by the British Ambassador – Denise Holt & her husband and by the British Consul in Malaga – Bruce McIntyre & his wife, as well as by guests from the Ayntamiento in Fuengirola.

At the end of the recording, everyone was invited to enjoy refreshment of paella & sangria, before settling back into their seats for a concert given by Graham Kendrick & Band. As the sun went down over the castle, the floodlights came on and torches lit the walls of the castle, creating an atmosphere that remained with everyone as they made their way home.

I have put a couple of pictures at the top to give you a flavour of the event