A Message

A fter experiencing a few Taize prayers in our services and using a few myself  and hearing much about them, the day had arrived to visit and experience the Taize community and spend a weekend with them. The Taize community was started by Br. Roger from the Reformed church, who in 1940, traveled from Geneva on a bicycle, in search for a place to be purchased. It is in the village of Taize that he found an old house which he purchased, and began by showing hospitality to the refugees of the war. Today this is a community which welcomes young people, which shows hospitality, has it's presence around the globe and is on a Pilgrimage of Trust.  Prayer around the cross. Photo credit, Park The Brothers of this community live by their work and also spend time in prayer. They are from various denominations and countries and are celibate, which make them available to serve others at all times. Prayers in the Taize community is at the heart of daily life. Prayer are ...

La Cote Anglican Church Service of Evening Prayer Christ the King - 24.11.2019 4.00pm "In Christ all things hold together" Another opportunity to worship in this small church, led by Rev. Carolyn Cooke. The group playing the instruments and leading the singing were different. An elderly lady was in charge of the sound system the projector. Seeing different people coming forward and being involved was a motivation. the service too is very informal. As usual in all the churches I have been to the service started with a prelude and the postlude was "Amazing Grace". The service had different songs which included the Taize chants "The Lord is my light" and "Bless the Lord my soul". How great thou art and Heart of Worship and Shine Jesus shine were the other songs that were sung. The music and those who lead were not the same as when I was here a few weeks back. The readings were from Colossians 1:11-20 and Luke 23:33-43. The sermon ...

Sunday the 1st of December 2019 Reformed Church, Muri, Switzerland. Psalm 24 Greetings to you from Sri Lanka and from the Anglican church. And the Ecumenical Institute of  Bossey where I am studying. I am happy to be here this Sunday, specially as we begin a season of advent today. Today we also begin the last month of this year. I wonder if we are to reflect on the pasg 11months and see how we have journeyed, what kind of experiences could we recollect. Have they all been happy and good, have we had struggles and disappointments? Have we faced uncertainties? While we recollect our own journeys when we look outside our own world's we can see that  the world of others is different. It is in such a background that we turn to Psalm 24. A psalm that reminds us of where are hope  should be in every situation. Psalm 24 is believed to be written by David when he brought the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem. He calls upon the people to look...

Service at the Bossey Chapel Sunday 8th December 2019 2nd Sunday in Advent @ 10.15am The first time to attend a service at the quaint little chapel above the Bossey chapel which is situated at the top of the tower. The service was Roman Catholic but didn't matter much since the liturgy is the same as ours. Just that none Roman Catholics cannot participate in the the Eucharist. The sermon was on the the three readings for 2nd Sunday in Advent - Isaiah 11:1-10, Psalm 72:1-2.7-8.12-13.17, Romans 15:4-9, and Matthew 3: 1-12. Reflecting on sermon that was given, some thoughts that struck through, "the Advent is a season of Hope, courage and goodness. The prophet is giving hope of the kind of peace that is hoped for. John the Baptist the voice in the wilderness preparing the way for Christ who is the word. We are the voice. To be the voice one needs the word". This message while quite relevant to the times as well as to me it was also a message of waitin...

La Cote Anglican Church Service of Evening Prayer Christ the King - 24.11.2019 4.00pm "In Christ all things hold together" Another opportunity to worship in this small church, led by Rev. Carolyn Cooke. The group playing the instruments and leading the singing were different. An elderly lady was in charge of the sound system the projector. Seeing different people coming forward and being involved was a motivation. the service too is very informal. As usual in all the churches I have been to the service started with a prelude and the postlude was "Amazing Grace". The service had different songs which included the Taize chants "The Lord is my light" and "Bless the Lord my soul". How great thou art and Heart of Worship and Shine Jesus shine were the other songs that were sung. The music and those who lead were not the same as when I was here a few weeks back. The readings were from Colossians 1:11-20 and Luke 23:33-43. The sermon ...

Sunday service at St. John xxiii Parish Sunday the 17th of November  10.00am A Roman Catholic church in Geneva which has as members of it's congregation people of from many nations and who speak many languages. This church serves the English speaking community. After waking up to the reality of the election results back home, wondering what the future holds for our country and walking into this church for service was really helpful. The readings were from Malachi 3:19-20, Psalm 98:5-9, 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 and Luke 21:5-19. The words of scriptures and the sermon were words of hope and encouragement and reminder that we have to trust in God. The sermon began with a reminder of the state of the world and the cause being the actions of humanity. The gospel is warning to the church.  In such situations when their is persecution and oppositions and you may be wondering what to do the Prophet Malachi encourages us to fear the Lord, to trust in him and put our hop...

The Auditoire de Calvin Auditoire de Calvin Sunday 3rd November 2019 11.00am Note the orange windows which depicts the teaching  Alas it was an opportunity to worship at the the Auditoire de Calvin, a service conducted by the Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian church. Passed by this church during our orientation week visit to Geneva and heard about this place as where Jean Calvin had preached and taught.  This is the church in which Jean Calvin preached and lectured during the reformation. The window painted in blues depicts the preaching This service was a well planned service with prayers and readings and songs and the sermon connected with each other. It was a joy to sing known the hymns Immortal invisible God only wise and Brother, sister, let me serve you and newly learned hymns, Praise I will praise you Lord, too .  The service began with a call to worship and the first hymn followed by an opening prayer. Lord, how can we hope...

Temple de Celigny 13th October 2019 10.00am Welcome Service for the students of the Ecumenical Institute of Bossey. Temple de Celigny is build on a a 5th century church. It was burned forty years ago but built up again. It's called Temple instead of church in French to differentiate between the people and the building. The people are the church and the building which is commonly called church is known as Temple. What captures the attention as you enter the church is a beautiful stained glass window. An organ to the right of the church, very hard to say which is front or the rear of the church. The altar area is on the left side and the congregation sit around.  The service was in French with some hymns, readings and a summary of the sermon in English. Some colleagues shared some reflections of  Ecumenism from their parts of the world while some participated in the intercessions. The readings were from Romans 4:23 & 5:5 and John 17:6 - 11 with Ps...

The Evangelical Lutheran Church, Geneva. Evangelical Lutheran Church of Geneva 17th Sunday after Pentecost, 11.00am on 6th October 2019 Another Sunday and another opportunity to attend a worship service, and this time at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Geneva. As ususal the students who signed up just three this time were picked up by Valerie. A small compact homely church in Geneva. Friendly, welcoming and makes you feel at home. Lively, inclusive worship, with an informal atmosphere.  An interaction on the countries of focus The service started with children gathering around a world map and the countries that are prayed for in the ecumenical prayer circle are Children gather at the font explained to the children. There after they are led to the baptism font, and there takes place the thanksgiving for baptism, with the children standing around the font with an adaption from 2 Tim 1:1-14 being read interspersed with prayers and an sung antiphon...

La Cote Anglican Church A service of Evening prayer La Cote Anglican Church 4.00pm on 29.10.2019 The opportunity to participate in an Anglican church evening prayer during my stay at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, Switzerland. Students who signed up were taken for this worship by two members of the church, Peta and John. We we warmly welcomed by the priest Rev. Carolyn Cooke the Chaplain of the parish. A very small cosy little church, where we could see quite a lot of participation from the lay people. Music was led by a two ladies on guitar and flute. And other parts of the service too were led by lay people. Whilst speaking from the text for the day Psalm 146, 1 Timothy 6:16-19, Luke 16:19-31, she spoke about the quality of life that the people enjoy. In the midst of all the prosperity that we have we should not be like the rich man to took no notice of Lazarus at his gate. Often in the pressure to seize all that comes our way many people are tramples and i...

Genesis 1:1-25, Revelations 3:14 – 22, John 1:1-5 The amazon is burning and no one cares, cyclone Idai in the African countries costs so many lives and many damages, the tropical storm Pabuk that hit Thailand costs many damages, the third fire for the season at the ella rock, floods and drought in Sri Lanka has become an annual occurrence.   Each year we see natural disasters increase, and some of these disasters strike the most unexpected places affecting the rich and the poor, humans and animals and bringing on effects that will takes years to heal. We are living in times where awareness on climate change, protecting environment and planting trees are becoming the order of the day. When we look at most of the natural disasters that happen and when we find reasons most often than not the figure points at none other than the very same persons who were chosen with the responsibility of tending and keeping creation. We read in scripture that God creates the earth and all t...

Christ Church Warleigh Thanking God for 140 years “Jesus Christ: the foundation of the church” Reign of Christ Sunday 25 th November 2018 10.OOam At 9.50 the Bishop, Clergy, congregation, altar servers, choir and cross bearer gather at the main gate.  As the bell is rung the Bishop will say…. Gathering We gather from the world and prepare ourselves to focus on God and worship Leader: (T)             The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; Response:            let the earth be glad; Leader: (E)             The Lord, he is the head of the body, the church Response:         He is the beginning and the first born. Leader: (T)         Let us enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; Respo...