Over the last few years our church group has been growing. In the beginning the Costa Brava Chaplaincy was a far off dream. Now with the fundraising efforts which have been organised (please read nore information on the events page), we are getting closer to the time when we can have our own Chaplain. Please remember though that this is just the beginning and fundraising is more important than ever,
Although our current church is at Madremanya, the concept was always that we could have 3 more similar churches dotted around The Costa Brava. So that Anglicans and for that matter, non Anglicans who would prefer a church service in the English language, could come and worship in their area once a month. Even more importantly, our Chaplain would be there for pastoral care and would be a great comfort to many people who need spiritual guidance at various times of their lives.
On the weekend of the 14th and 15th of January, we entertained Father Hugh Broad who came on behalf of the Bishop to talk to our committee and to begin the process of finding our Chaplain. He was very helpful and although the ultimate conclusion is a little way off still, we do feel that we are on our way.
LETTER FROM JOHN
Dear Friends,
After the excitements of a couple of weeks ago when a great many of you were able to meet Fr. Hugh Broad, our Area Dean, you may well be wondering how our meetings went and what is the next step.
I need hardly tell you that your Committee prepared and presented our case for advancing towards a fully-fledged Chaplaincy of the Costa Brava, with a Resident Priest, in a highly professional manner. So much so that in his report on the visit to our Bishop and Diocesan staff, he used the phrase “I do feel very confident about this one….”, with the result that when I ‘phoned the Office on Monday to request them to expedite our negotiations, I had no difficulty at all in persuading the person responsible to send us, without delay, the “Vacancy Pack”. This rather daunting file of papers, questionnaires and forms which have to be processed, has now arrived and work will commence on it without delay.
Why the haste? Because if we do not move now, there is no hope of getting our Ads. in the Church Press and interviewing candidates before the end of the summer. As it is, we have been given an “interview slot” for May 9th (always, of course, assuming that we have an adequate response to the ad.) and, if all goes well, hope that Bishop Geoffrey would be prepared to confirm an appointment before the end of June. However, much work remains to be done and Melissa and I plan to advance the process when we meet Fr. Hugh (and the Bishop) at Synod next week.
It would be quite natural if some of you are wondering what we are letting you in for and whether we shall be capable of carrying the project forward. It is true that a real challenge is involved – this is an act of faith. I cannot stress too much that prayerful commitment is required from us all – please support us as we work this through. If you have questions or doubts, please bring them out into the open (perhaps after lunch on Sunday) and I shall do all I can to clarify any concerns you may have.
Looking forward to greeting you on Sunday, with our dear friend Marj. who will preside and preach at the service.
With every good wish,
John.
