Blog – October 2017
Harvest Festival Weekend : 6-8th October 2017
Harvest Festivals are always a time of great celebration and of generosity towards others and this year we gave the congregation more guidance in foodstuffs to bring that could be used to provide for the needy through the ECC, the Mission to Seafarers and directly through our Cathedral Office, often the first port of call for those who have not been paid their wages or who are struggling for other reasons.
In addition to what the various congregations gave, Stephen and I also visited the St Christopher’s Junior and Infant Schools for their Harvest assembly, where I told the story of the Book of Ruth which hinges around failed harvests which force the family to flee as economic migrants to the neighbouring country of Moab and then when Naomi and Ruth return as widows to Bethlehem, Boaz’ faithfulness to the law of the harvest which eventually leads to his marriage to Ruth.
Our World Harvest Supper and Barn Dance was as ever a lot of fun; there is no better way in mixing people up from different countries, different congregations as well as guests than getting them involved in a Barn dance. And the food was excellent too: mostly homemade cuisine from many different countries represented in our congregations.
Our monetary gifts were directed towards the Ras Morbat Clinic in Aden, which despite the continuing war in Yemen, continues to provide service to patients.
This is Bahrain visit to Los Angeles
Anthony Perlman kindly represented the Cathedral in the recent visit to Los Angeles and made contact with the Episcopal Cathedral, St Paul’s, while he was there. In the aftermath there was a reception for the delegation at Sakhir Palace, where he met His Majesty the King and gave him greetings from the Cathedral.
Red Arrows Display: Sunday 8th October2017
The Red Arrows must be one of if not the best aerobatic display teams in the world and they certainly put on a spectacular display. We watched it from Karababad where thre was a good atmosphere of expectation. I met some of the children I’d met in the St Christopher’s School Assembly earlier in the day and those with a commercial eye were setting up drink stalls and bouncy castle.
National Evangelical Church Urdu-speaking congregation 50th Anniversary: Friday 13th October 2017
It was a privilege to represent and take St Christopher’s Cathedral’s greetings at this significant anniversary of the NEC Urdu-speaking congregation and be invited to pray a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s blessings on them as a community. The only danger of these occasions is that every pastor invited to take part has his own sermon tucked in his back pocket so there you have already had several sermons before the preacher gets to the pulpit! But as these things only happen every fifty years all is forgiven and our stamina was rewarde with an excellent dinner outside.
A Funeral and a Wedding: Saturday 21st October 2017
My voice was clearly rapidly disappearing through the latter part of the week, so I was especially grateful for colleagues who were able to help with a Memorial service at Awali in the morning and a wedding in the afternoon, the biggest funeral and wedding of the year! Thankfully I was able to get through a personal time with the family prior to the cremation and a prayer of committal at the crematorium and Stephen was able to lead the majority of the service at Awali Church. And Royal Navy Chaplain Martin Evans was kindly drafted in to help with the wedding in the afternoon.