Still Going Strong

 Another delayed blog; we are certainly finding plenty to do here.

All Saints Sunday went smoothly; numbers attending church seem to be picking up a bit. We had the pleasure of a visit from a Turkish friend - who had been one of Jo's pupils at St Sidwell's school, Exeter. Her family live in Izmir, and we have seen her several times on our visits there. She is now married, and working in Strasbourg with the Turkish delegation to the Council of Europe.

In the week following we had lunch with a number of people; one in their own home, and two in restaurants in Chantilly - good food, but also an opportunity to talk and listen about them and their experience of church. We were also visited by a woman we had prepared for baptism at Versailles five years ago. We did have a quieter day to ourselves, visiting Crepy-en-Valois, which has some lovely narrow streets with old houses, and splendid ramparts, On the way back we went to Gallo-Roman site, with remains of a temple and a theatre - surprisingly, for it is now in a fairly isolated spot.

The following Sunday saw a good increase in numbers, as they had a meeting of The Way, their group for young people, which hasn't met for some time. There were 15 or so in the basement meeting room - and a number of their parents at the service.

Reunions continued the following week, when we visited Charlotte, who is now chaplain of Maisons-Laffitte; she was confirmed at Limeuil while I was chaplain in Aquitaine. It was good to catch up. We met with a couple of other people and gave ourselves another day in Paris. Unfortunately, there were strikes on the Metro, which we hadn't known about until we found a couple with closed gates, so we had to revise our plans. Burt it was good walking weather to stroll beside the Seine, and to see what is happening at Notre-Dame. Thankfully, much survived the devastating fire, but work to repair the roof is still under way. There was an enlightening series of displays around the outside, giving some idea of the remarkable amount of research and innovation that the restoration requires.

Armistice Day is a public holiday in France, which means people can gather at the memorial ceremonies at 11h00. We joined them,and were impressed with the numbers attending and the planning that had gone into the event at the Monument des Morts. Local schoolchildren sang both verses of La Marseillaise, and then read out the 100+ names of the fallen. A message from the government minister for the armed forces and veterans was read out - something that is repeated in every commune in France. But it was well thought-out, and well read. The mayor and the local Depute (MP) also spoke,.A small band played at the beginning and for the equivalent of the Last Post and Reveille.

It was of course in no way a religious ceremony, unlike our observance on Sunday at St Peter's. A number of occasional worshippers joined the congregation for the Eucharist, in which we had inserted the order of remembrance (complete with 2-minute silence introduced by the Last Post, thanks to Spotify. We were given lunch afterwards by the churchwarden and his wife, who is very actively involved in Alpha France - which is strongly supported by the Catholic Church.

So now we enter our last full week. It will be another busy one, as the Archdeacon of France is meeting with church members on Thursday evening, to discuss the way ahead, and Bishop Robert is coming for a lunch-time gathering on Friday; two diocesan officers in two days! One of the young people is going to be confirmed on Saturday, and we will be welcoming him for his first Communion on Sunday, which will be our last service at St Peter's (until next spring.)

We have certainly been welcomed here, and well used, which is gratifying. All Anglican churches in France face some uncertainties; Brexit has not made it easy to recruit full-time clergy, and there are fewer opportunities for English-speakers to come and live or work here. But there are real opportunities for churches like St Peter's, even if they may have to accept changes in focus and style.

Meanwhile, France is getting World Cup fever, with replica football T-shirts on sale in supermarkets, and photos of the team in TV and elsewhere. There are queues at petrol stations again - not caused by strikes this time, but by the withdrawal this week of the 20/30 centimes by which the government has been subsidising each litre.