ST BARTHOLOMEW’S ANGLICAN CHURCH ST BARTHS, F.W.I.
The Anchor MARCH 2014 Welcome to the March 2014 edition of our monthly bulletin - The Anchor. An anchor sits opposite the Church, and we hope that this bulletin will help anchor you to St Bartholomew’s, where God is always willing to act like an anchor to help make us safe during those storms which occur in our lives.
Sundays at 9am A contemporary service, filled with music and prayer, followed by refreshments.
Monday 3 March at 7pm Tuesday 18 March at 7pm Meditative chant in a candlelit & peaceful setting.
Wednesdays at 10am First-timers welcome. The current book is Richard Rohr’s ‘Falling Upwards.’
Thursdays at 7pm A bilingual group which has silent reflection at its core. See page 4 for more details.
Letter from the Vicar Dear Friends March brings us many contrasts: the revelries of Carnival followed by the start of the Lenten season. I hope that you can enjoy the rich traditions of both. Our Taizé Service is proving very popular with both regular churchgoers, as well as those who don’t often attend our services. Please note that due to Carnival, the first service of the month will take place on Monday, 2 March. We are pleased to welcome back Rev’d John and Mackie Rice at the beginning of this month. We then have Rev’d Canon Sandy and Margy Zabriskie joining us at the end of March. They are most welcome and are a great addition to the clerical resources of our Church. We are holding the first AGM of our Church Association this month, and all are welcome to attend after the Sunday Service. With love and blessings Charlie
Our Church Matriarch - page 2 What is Ash Wednesday? page 2 A Choir of Good Hearts! page 3 Annual General Meeting - page 3 Reflecting on Meditation - page 4 AA Group Meetings - page 4 Page 1
Wednesday 5 March - 11.30am A service to mark the beginning of Lent. See page 3. Sunday 16 March at 10.30am Croquet played competitively, but also for fun! Sunday 23 March at 10.30am The AGM of our local Church Association. See page 3 for more information Monday 24 March at 6pm Herman Wouk’s classic ‘Don’t Stop the Carnival’ Fri 28 & Sat 29 March at 8pm Featuring local island choir: La Chorale des Bons Choeurs Go to page 3 for more info
If you would like to receive The Anchor when you are not on the island, please let us have your email address. You can find more information about St Bartholomew’s on our web page: www.stbartholomewsanglicanchurch.com Or visit our new Facebook site: www.facebook.com/stbartschurch.stbarts
Editor: Philip Trangmar, 0690 54 17 99 Email: info.stbartholomews@gmail.com
Our Church Matriarch
For more years than most people can really remember, Miss Alice graced the pews of St Bartholomew’s Church. Her fellow churchgoers will always remember her as the elegant lady with a smile almost as big as her hat! Born in 1918 on Anguilla, Alice Brittelie Phillips moved to St Barts in her twenties. She settled in Gustavia, where she met Charles Hildevert Romney. Known to many on the island as “Bebelle,” to her friends at Church she was affectionately known as “Miss Alice.” Miss Alice was blessed with nine children: Arnold, Arlette, Clarion, Charles, Roy, Marjorie, Harry, Serge and Lucien. To all who knew Miss Alice, she was a wonderful, faithful and caring person with a love not just for her Church, but for everyone she knew. Her connection to Anguilla made it particularly apt that in 2003, at the 150th celebration of St Bartholomew’s, our Diocesan Bishop, the Rt Rev’d Bishop Errol Books, who helped us celebrate, also hailed from that island. It was also fitting that when Miss Alice passed away in August 2013 at the age of Page 2
95, after having suffered a heart attack and stroke in the previous year, the same Bishop officiated at the service in St Bartholomew’s Church to celebrate her life. The funeral service was attended by many people from across the spectrum of the island’s communities, as well as her numerous friends and relatives from St Barts and Anguilla. Along with her 7 surviving children, there were 13 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren, as well as nieces and nephews too many to mention, several of whom had flown in from overseas especially. La Chorale des Bons Choeurs was present and sang one of Miss Alice’s favourite hymns ‘Amazing Grace’ during Communion and Laurent Clequin sang Bach’s Ave Maria - both pieces touched the hearts of all who were there.
After the service, Miss Alice was laid to rest at the cemetery in St Jean, in a grave alongside her late husband. As Bishop Brooks said in his address, she was a true member of Christ’s community with a love for all. Never did she doubt that the Lord would not be there to shepherd her. We thank God for lending her to us for a time.
What is Ash Wednesday? Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten Season. It follows the day of Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday!), Shrove Tuesday or Carnival depending on your heritage, but all these names are meant to symbolise excess the day prior to Lent! On Ash Wednesday, we remember “Man is dust, and unto dust you shall return.” The ashes are made from burning the blessed palms used in the Palm Sunday Service of the previous year, to which is added Holy Water.
Ashes have been used since ancient times to express mourning; and dusting oneself with ashes was also the penitent's way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults. During the service, foreheads are marked with ashes to humble our hearts and remind us that life passes away on Earth towards Heaven. Lent marks an important season for the Church and provides a time for us all to prepare for Holy Week and consider Christ's suffering and his sacrifice, as well as his life, death and burial; and finally his glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday.
A Choir of Good Hearts For a small Caribbean Island, visitors are often surprised by the quality and quantity of the culture on offer. One of these surprises is the island’s ‘amateur’ choir - but don’t let the use of the word amateur fool you, it is only a reference to the fact that for all choir members, singing is not their full-time job. For many it could be! La Chorale des Bons Choeurs was established some 17 years ago by a group of people living on St Barts who had a passion for singing which was equally matched by the quality of their voices; be it Tenor, Bass, Alto or Soprano. The Choir’s name is a play on words as Choeurs (meaning Choruses) is pronounced in French exactly the same as Coeurs
(meaning hearts) - hence becoming the Choir of Good Hearts! As the number of members grew, they established a professional attitude to their craft. They also decided to appoint a choir director to help develop their talent and enthusiasm. Charles Darden took charge for more than 10 years from 1999; and it was during this time that the Choir developed a close association with St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church; singing at Easter and Christmas Eve services, as well as weddings and other important days in the Church’s calendar. This continued after Charles’ untimely death, with Shirley Dern now leading the Choir. The Choir has always enjoyed putting on Concerts for the members of the pub-
lic on St Barts, particularly around Thanksgiving and Spring. This tradition continues and the upcoming concerts will take place on Friday 28 and Saturday 29 March. Tickets are €20, and available on the door. These concerts offer a wide range of musical traditions. La Chorale enjoys singing all styles of classical compositions from Puccini’s Gloria to Vangelis’ film theme tunes. Recently the Choir has added a new dimension to its musical profile by the addition of a small band: consisting of electric and bass guitars and a drummer. Its repertoire now includes such hits as Abba’s Mamma Mia, Pink Floyd’s The Wall and Queen’s Somebody to Love. Without doubt, the concerts will keep the island (and the Church!) rocking.
Annual General Meeting come to join as supporting
10.30am (after the Sunday Service). The Agenda includes the yearly report from the President and the Treasurer, as well as the consideration and approval of the 2013 Accounts and the 2014 Budget. All regular worshippers are invited to attend.
At the end of 2012, the Church decided to establish a local French Association, L’Eglise Anglicane de Saint Barthelemy, for the management of the Church. The Association’s voting membership is open to all permanent residents on the island who are regular churchgoers. Non-resident churchgoers are also wel-
members. We are holding this year’s Annual General Meeting on Sunday 23 March at
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Reflecting on Meditation Meditation has long been recognised as a tool to increase spirituality and calmness in one’s life. It is practised by almost all world religions, including Christianity. The word meditation comes from the Latin word meditari, which has a range of meanings including to reflect, to study, to think and to practise. Christian meditation can be considered similar to prayer, during which time one can reflect in inner silence upon the words of God or simply his presence. It can also involve focussing on specific ideas, such as the words of a bible passage or some thoughts or images; and then allowing them to penetrate into our inner Donations: We are an entirely volunteer church and dependent on your generosity and regular giving. Do please talk to Father Charlie or one of the Church’s leadership about how to most effectively support the Church. If you are a US citizen, giving through our US charitable foundation, Friends of St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church, is tax deductible. Photos: Thanks to Philip Trangmar, Mandie Vere Nicoll and Tony Duarte for the use of their photographs. All are copyrighted.
being, as we become more silent and in a state of loving listening. The Group aims to help beginners … calm their busy minds; become more conscious in their daily lives; gain more insight into who they really are; and experience the divine.
space, with the participants seated in a circle of spirituality. After some ethereal wooden flute music from Sebastian Marconato, you are then invited to meditate in silence on that week’s theme for a further 30 minutes. The session ends with some more meditative music, and everyone leaves quietly, hopefully taking with them an uplifted soul.
AA Group Meetings
Our Meditation Group does not focus on one tradition of meditation, but rather embraces all. Each week someone selects a theme or subject and talks about it within a darkened, candlelit
Every Tuesday and Friday evening at 6pm there is an Open Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous held in the Church Centre, to the left of the Church. If you think you, or someone you know, would benefit, please come along. For more information, you can call 0690 54 17 99
Bishop: Rt Revd Errol Brooks, Bishop, NE Caribbean & Aruba Vicar: The Revd Charlie Vere Nicoll – 0590 27 13 06 Visiting Clergy: The Rev’d Dr John Rice The Rev’d Canon Dr Sandy Zabriskie Wardens: Marjorie Romney, Trinette Wellesley-Wesley, Rachel Barrett-Trangmar Vestry: The Wardens, Clarion Romney, Dawn Drouant, Dave Jackson, Lloyd Younger, Philip Trangmar Treasurer: Alex Harbord Music Director: Shirley Dern Website: www.stbartholomewsanglicanchurch.com Chairman of The Friend’s US Charitable Foundation: Bill Barrett The Friend’s of St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church US Charitable Foundation: c/o Ms Ann Green P.O. Box 6199, Fair Haven, New Jersey 07704, United States Tel: (from the US) (732 ) 741 1500 Email: anncwgreen@aol.com
Published by: L’Association d’Eglise Anglicane, Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy 97133 Page 4