Dear Friends,

MINISTER’S THOUGHT

You know, sometimes I wish I could get a mirror with a better view. It's not that I think I'm horrible, it's just that I think I'm not what I should be. Maybe you feel the same? Maybe our entire congregation is made up of people who are not terribly happy about who they are, and who are very aware that they have a lot of shortcomings.

The bad news …

Dear Friends

MINISTER’S THOUGHTS

Everybody wants to be loved. I want to be loved. And I think I’ve learned the secret of how to be loved - it's at the heart of our faith and it is really simple, so simple that anyone can achieve it. Are you ready to hear it?

The secret of being loved is…

Dear Friends,

This Sunday is such a special day for us in the congregation as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. This symbolic meal has provided spiritual strength for so many Christians over the centuries – and we all need our faith strengthened. After all, there is so much that's wrong in life, and I would imagine that at some point we have all felt that God ought to do something about it. Well, someone once told me…..

Dear Friends,

What a privilege to serve the very ancient English Reformed Church here in Amsterdam!  There is a real sense of God’s unfailing care just by being in a building which has been home for centuries with a congregation that is so very strong and vibrant.  My six weeks with you will be like a drop in the ocean in the life of the…

New Locum minister: Rev Alan Sorensen

We welcome Alan and his wife Judith in our midst. Alan will be…

Over the North porch of Chartres cathedral is a relief sculpture of rare beauty carved way back in the fourteenth century. It shows Adam and Christ meeting- Adam the fallen and Christ who raises the fallen. Adam kneels at Christ’s feet. His head rests on…

Dear friends,

Freedom Meal

If you ever visit Holy Trinity Church in Clapham, South London, you will be shown the table where William Wilberforce wrote a very important document. Wilberforce, a devout Christian and Member of Parliament, at that table wrote the first draft of the legislation which was eventually passed by the House of Commons to bring an…

Dear friends,

Some encounters can change your life and some can even change the course of history.

In the year 1210 Francis of Assisi travelled to Rome to meet Pope Innocent III. What a contrast between the two men! Innocent was clothed in embroidered vestments and the finest silk. Francis wore a ragged brown robe and went barefoot. Francis asked for the papal blessing on his group of wandering friars who were…

Dear Friends,

Hilary and I are so pleased to be back with you in the ERC. We have the happiest of memories of our time with you last year as the church reopened after the Covid restrictions. Highlights of my last locumcy include the baptism of Julius Sunday, the resumption of the Taize prayer service and the choir’s wonderful contributions to…

Dear Friends,

This week we welcome back Rev Dr John Bell as locum minister. John will be with us until July 16. We are very happy that after a year’s absence John returns to our congregation as he has been doing for years to take the services and support our congregation in the summer…..