Musical architecture

I have always been intrigued by Tiffany lamps.  Their exquisite softness has always fascinated me.  Now I know where this style comes from!!

I have been introduced to "Art nouveau" and it has blown me away.  It is a style of art, architecture and applied art - especially the decorative arts - that was popular from 1890 to about 1910 and was inspired by natural forms and structures, not only in flowers and plants but also in curved lines.

It was most popular in Europe but Louis Comfort Tiffany, overwhelmed by this new art, brought it to America and reproduced it in his famous stained glass lamps and windows.

Victor Horta was one of the key European Art Nouveau architects, and the most important one in Belgium.  He was the first to introduce the style to architecture from the decorative arts.  I visited his home which is now a museum.  The harmony of form, material and colour was breathtaking, the balance between the different spaces and the variations in rising and falling levels and perspectives was musical.  I wish I could have taken you with me and I wish we had been allowed to take pictures  because words defy a description of its exquisite beauty - right down to the keyholes and the letter box!

The sculptured stonework, the paintings, the curved ironwork, the stained glass, the bowed balconies and the soft lines catch my eye all over the city.  I have created a web album of some of the houses I've seen.  I hope you enjoy looking at these musical works of art.

PROUD CANADIAN OR WHAT?!!

Look what I saw parked outside the door to my building!!  A Mini Cooper.  Haven't discovered who's the driver yet but I left a note on the windshield saying what a cool car it was, "from one Canadian to another".

SOOO... WHAT DO YOU DO?

What do I do? How am I helping out at St. Andrew's?

I'm going to make this a long post - no photos, so get a cup of coffee and sit down with me.

As you know, I came to do a job that had no definite description. Neither Andrew nor I were sure about what having me around would look like in the church. I came to be a servant to the church and a help to Andrew. After 10 weeks here, what does this look like?

worship service

Most Sundays, Andrew asks me to take part in the service.  It's one of 3 things:

prayer of intercession: This is a prayer where, through my prayer, the congregation intercedes for different people in the congregation who are out of work or sick or have a special need, for Andrew and the elders, for our authorities in Belgium and the European Union, for God's work in other places, for hot spots in other parts of the world where there are needs, and so on.

opening prayer & the Lord's Prayer: This is a prayer at the beginning of the service and includes a prayer of adoration and confession.

I enjoy doing this because it's a privilege to lead God's children in prayer.  I'm not a professional public pray-er so my prayers are different from Andrew's and many in the church have come up to me afterwards and thanked me for their depth, meaningfulness and simplicity. 

children's story:  Some Sundays I replace Andrew and tell a story to the children, using material from Andrew's sermon.  I have got to know the kids quite well now and they're used to me.  At the end of the church aisle in front of the communion table, there are a few steps up, so the children sit there and I sit on the piano stool so I'm at their level.  I love their spontaneous answers.  Makes me miss the wee people in my life that I love dearly, that I've left behind in Canada: Donovan, Gabrielle, Genevieve, Kaleb, Yula, Thomas, Charlotte and all the little and young ones at St-Paul........

visits 

Andrew has taken me on lots of visits to folk in the congregation that don't get out very often because of their age.  It was a good way of introducing me to them so that I can go back now by myself and they know who I am.  This is something new for me because at home in St-Paul, there are no "old folk" on a church list who don't attend the worship service.  I'm the oldest in our congregation and I'm always present at the worship service!!  I have enjoyed getting to know these people: for some, it's a social visit and a time to share tea with someone; for others, it's a time to talk about their faith with someone who cares.  I have been "surprised by joy" several times as I've asked about their spiritual journey and have discovered quiet, beautiful saints who have been faithful to our Lord through many trials, including WW2 and broken marriages.  It's a treat to pray with them.

I use the public transportation system as I have no car, so I'm really getting to know my way around Brussels now, and I'm not afraid to head out on my own to a new neighbourhood.

In the last month, Andrew has allowed me to take more initiative in visiting, so now I'm the one who phones and asks if I can come over, or takes them out to lunch or for coffee.  I didn't want to limit myself to the shut-ins so I've started visiting some of the single ladies, young women, and married women who have time to go out for a morning/afternoon/evening coffee.  It's a privilege to enter into their lives and I think they're pleased to have someone talk to them about spiritual things.  Sharing one's faith doesn't come as easily to Europeans and Brits as it does to North Americans.  It's special for me to sit quietly in someone's home and hear them express very real faith in God in terms that are different from mine.  As I listen carefully, I sense that my Father is real and close to them, as much as He is to me.  They don't have to use the same words as me.

I try to have time with about 3 people/families every week so I guess I've visited about 40 homes since I arrived.  I've been back to visit one lady twice and I think I'll start doing that soon on a more regular basis with other new friends too.

20s-30s

This is the group of young people in the church. They have asked me numerous times to come to their studies, help them when it's their turn in the church kitchen, and I'm slowly getting around to inviting each one out for coffee.  They are having a retreat near the end of April in a chalet in Luxembourg and have invited me too so that's something to look forward to. 

time with Andrew

Once a week, Andrew and I get together at the manse or at my apartment and go over things in the church and the visits to be made.  We are reading a book together by John Stott on the pastorate and we bounce thoughts off each other.  There is enough trust and ease now between us for me to play devil's advocate and challenge him on issues.  I think he needs this time with me, someone of the same ilk: he has no one else.  There is no elder he shares deeply with and this, to me, is sad, and a subject for prayer.  We always have a time of prayer together before I leave.  It would be super if you would remember in your prayers this moment each week that I have with Andrew.  I believe it's one of the main reasons I'm here.

Bible Study

I am leading a ladies' Bible study as of this month, March, and am delighted!  Since my arrival, in chats with different women, I detected a real interest in getting together to study the Bible, so I proposed it to Andrew and the elders and chose a topic and set it up and started!!!  There were 12 women at our first study.  I was so excited that 12 women wanted to study the Bible with me!  And they all participated.

The subject is "Self-Esteem: seeing ourselves as God sees us" and we meet once a month after the worship service, instead of going into the hall for coffee.  We only have 1 short hour, so I give them the questions several weeks ahead of time so they can familiarize themselves with the topic for that month.  That way, we can make every minute count when we get together.  Several have asked if we can meet twice a month (!) so we'll discuss that when we meet on April 1st.


prayer meeting

There is a church prayer meeting once a month that I attend.

kirk session

The kirk session, or board of elders and deacons/administrators, meets once a month and I attend that too.  As I think I mentioned this board in another post, I will only say again that in my humble opinion, when the two boards are one and the same, most of the time is spent on administration rather than on the spiritual needs of the congregation and the elders, and I think this is a loss.

Presbytery meetings

St. Andrew's is part of the Presbytery of Europe of the Church of Scotland.  The Presbytery meets only twice a year as the churches are flung from Bermuda to Sri Lanka.  I attended the meetings with Andrew and two elders last week-end in Germany and was so interested to meet ministers and elders from the Church of Scotland in Paris, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Germany, Rome, Turino, Bermuda, Sri Lanka, Malta, Cyprus, Greece, Bucharest, Spain, Portugal ...and I'm sure I've forgotten someone.
The next meetings are in Malta in the fall.  Maybe I'll get to go too..... :)


So my weeks are full.  I'm not just toddling around visiting carnivals and eating Belgian waffles.  I really enjoy the work that Andrew gives me and I know I'm being a blessing to him and the congregation: this is my daily prayer.

Soooooo........................ Nancy's having fun and she's busy too :)

Brussels 301

More interesting things that caught my eye (I've got to keep writing them down because my eye is becoming more Belgian all the time!) :

- I bought myself a pair of shoes and was amazed to discover that there are no "widths" in European shoe sizes (at least this is what the salelady told me).  I have a narrow foot, you have a wide foot and we both buy the same shoe!!  Needless to say, I had to find a shoemaker to buy an insert to hold my heel in place.

- Pigeons poop all over so some folk add spikes to their window ledges so the pigeons can't land on them.  Can you see the spikes?









- The port city of Antwerp is the world's diamond capital. Most of the businesses are run by Jewish families

- You could be fined in Belgium if you don't vote!  Try that on for size, Canada!!

- I thought that we Montrealers should take note of the next two:

- This is how Belgium keeps cars from parking where they shouldn't.  Sidewalks are so low that cars can easily park anywhere on sidewalks.

- This is how Belgium keeps pedestrians from jaywalking  It works!  Can you see this on the corners of the downtown streets of Montreal?!

St. Andrew's Church of Scotland

After two months, it's about time, isn't it, that I talked to you about St. Andrew's.  After all, this is why I came!  Building first, then people.....

          On the corner of busy Chaussée de Vleurgat sits this stone church that you could pick up and set down again in Scotland.  It's not real big but it's full every Sunday.  It was built in 1925 in memory of the Scots soldiers killed in WW1 and buried in Belgium and its active parish life florished until the German army marched into Belgium in May 1940.  The St. Andrew's flag and the key to the church were quickly given to the garage owner across the street; worship stopped and the minister was evacuated.  During the Occupation it was used by the Germans as a store house.
          In the autumn of 1944, as the liberation troops marched into the city, the garage owner hurriedly crossed the street, climbed into the church belfry, tolled the bell and raised the flag again!
          We in North America have no idea of what war on one's soil is like.  We sent men and women into the Wars but they didn't fight on our soil: soldiers and tanks didn't overrun our streets, gardens and fields, bombs didn't fall on our homes and cities, and we can't imagine what living under an Occupying foreign force would be like.  It has been my humble privilege to be able to talk to several older people in the congregation, both Belgian and British, and ask them what it was like.  I have a new appreciation for Belgian history: this little country has been the battlefield for many wars, none of them their own!

This is the church sanctuary: it holds 250 comfortably and 300 uncomfortably.  The church is growing but there's no room to grow physically: the church is hemmed in on all sides by other buildings.  Besides the sanctuary, there is a hall in the basement used for Sunday School, large meetings and suppers, etc., a kitchen and 3 little rooms including the vestry for small meetings (and 2 unheated restrooms!!) - not enough, but what do you do?.....

And this is the Rev. Dr. Andrew Gardner, our minister ....Andrew to all of us.  He doesn't look Scottish, does he?  Well, he is!  He was adopted as a baby by a Scottish family and so is as Scottish as the others.  I must say, though, when I first heard him preach 5 years ago, his Scottish accent took me by surprize.  His wife is Julie and they have two teenage daughters, Bethany and Karalyn.  I'm enjoying getting to know them.  Bethany goes to a French-speaking school, Karalyn to a Flemish-speaking school and they speak English at home and at church.  However, between the two of them, they're usually speaking French or Flemish!  Quite typical of the children and young people at St. Andrew's.  I often hear them talking to each other in either French or Flemish after the worship service.  Goes with being an ex-patriate in Belgium.




The congregation is a fascinating mix of cultures and languages.  I love it and feel at home in a mix like this.  There's a real respect for each one's language and culture and each one is welcomed warmly and sincerely.  This is one of St. Andrew's strong points.  Ask anyone who attends: one of the major reasons why they chose this church was because they were welcomed. 

There are at least 60 different nationalities here; of course many Scots but also a very large contingent of Ghanaians.  The Presbyterian Church in Ghana is huge so when Ghanaians travel abroad for work, they naturally look for this denomination.  There are 2 Canadians besides myself: Penni Clarke, a wonderful Newfie, leads the choir and is working on her doctorate in choral directing and does amazing things with the choir, and Matthew Zadow from Toronto, who is a world-class opera tenor.  Then there's a discreet group of Philipinos, some Nigerians and Camerounians, Eastern Europeans, Belgians, Americans and, and, and.  There are wee babies and folk in their 90s.  Some have no jobs; others 'run the world' from front offices.  Everyone is treated the same.  As Andrew so rightly says, once they cross the threshhold of St. Andrew's, they are all treated alike.  We are in God's presence.

And there is an elder board of 23 men and women.  It's called the Kirk Session.  There is no board of deacons so the elders do both jobs - the administrative and the pastoral.  Not too sure about this.....in my humble opinion, separating the two makes for better pastoral oversight.  Andrew seems to be doing the bulk of the pastoral work and the others, the administrative.....  I know almost all of them now and consider it a privilege and a responsibility to pray for each one by name every day.

Lots of committees just as in any church, youth group, Sunday School, college and career group, and so on.

So here is where my heavenly Father sent me to work and play for a year.  I'm lovin' it! :)  My daily prayer is that I will be a blessing to Andrew and to the congregation.

Faded Glory

Is this what I'll be like when I'm old?!

                                                            faded and wrinkled