Today we remember and honor a person of courage, George Kennedy Allen Bell who was born on 4 February 1883 and died on this day in 1958. Bell was an Anglican theologian, Dean of Canterbury, Bishop of Chichester, a member of the House of Lords and a pioneer of the Ecumenical Movement.
After the first World War, Bell became an initiator and promoter of the ecumenical movement. In 1919, at the first postwar meeting of the World Council of Churches in the Netherlands, Bell successfully encouraged the establishment of a commission for religious and national minorities. At the world churches conference in Stockholm in 1925, he helped in the realization of the “ecumenical advice for practical Christianity (Life and Work)”.
In 1929, Bell was appointed Bishop of Chichester. As Bishop, Bell linked his diocese and workers affected by the Great Depression.
After 1933, Bell became the most important international ally of the Confessing Church in Germany. In April of 1933, he publicly expressed the international church’s worries over the beginnings of the Nazis’ anti-semitic campaign in Germany. On 1 June 1934, Bell signed the Barmen Declaration which proclaimed that Christian belief and National Socialism were incompatibile and stated that pro-Nazi German Christians were false teachers.
During World War II, Bell condemned the Allied practice of area bombing. Bell was also one of the first British bishops to protest against the inhumane treatment of approximately 14 million Silesian, Pomeranian, East Prussian and Sudeten Germans expelled from their homes in East Germany.
In the 1950s, Bell opposed the atomic arms race and supported many Christian initiatives of the time opposed to the Cold War.
He was a man of our times and an example of Christian courage.
Let us pray: God of peace, you sustained your bishop George Bell with the courage to proclaim your truth and justice in the face of disapproval in his own nation: As he taught that we, along with our enemies, are all children of God, may we stand with Christ in his hour of grieving, that at length we may enter your country where there is no sorrow nor sighing, but fullness of joy in you; through Jesus Christ our Redeemer, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
CALENDAR REMINDERS & UPCOMING EVENTS
THIRD ANNUAL ART SHOW: Please sign up to host. The annual art show allows us to share our facilities with others and to showcase the creativity of artists. It last for 1 more week: Sundays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and until 9 p.m. during Art Walk.
WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY: Sundays at 4:00 p.m. in Sutton Hall. Please join Jillian Bain for this prayerful study of Scripture.
ECW & DOK QUIET DAY RETREAT: Saturday, 8 October starting at 9:30 a.m. at St. Augustine with the Rev. Helen Appelberg. Please call 409.762.9676 or email judyricketts100@gmail.com to let them know you will attend.
BLESSING OF THE AMINALS: Saturday, 8 October at 9:00 a.m. on the lawn in front of Sutton Hall. Please pass the word along to those you know.
ECW ANNUAL RETREAT 14-15 OCTOBER 2011 at Camp Allen. Please sign up.
ST. AUGUSTINE IS GOING GREEN (WITH OUR COFFEE CUPS). St. Augustine is going green (with our coffee cups). In order to cut down on the use of Styrofoam cups, please bring a coffee cup for the Fellowship hour, and maybe even 2 or 3 to share with our visitors. We will store them in Sutton Hall and wash them in our dishwasher.
CLOTHING DRIVE FOR VICTIMS OF THE WILDFIRES: We will begin a clothing drive for the victims of the wildfires, especially the people of Bastrop and Calvary Episcopal. Please bring only CLEAN CLOTHES, SORT THEM BY SIZE, MALE/FEMALE, AND BOX THEM. Thank you in advance.
FELLOWSHIP ON SUNDAYS: If you haven’t signed up yet, please do.
PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST especially all parishes with search committees as they seek new rectors, for all of those suffering from the wildfires, and in thanksgiving for all that God has done for us.
“The cross of Christ is the true ground and chief cause of Christian hope.”—Leo the Great (400-461)
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
After the first World War, Bell became an initiator and promoter of the ecumenical movement. In 1919, at the first postwar meeting of the World Council of Churches in the Netherlands, Bell successfully encouraged the establishment of a commission for religious and national minorities. At the world churches conference in Stockholm in 1925, he helped in the realization of the “ecumenical advice for practical Christianity (Life and Work)”.
In 1929, Bell was appointed Bishop of Chichester. As Bishop, Bell linked his diocese and workers affected by the Great Depression.
After 1933, Bell became the most important international ally of the Confessing Church in Germany. In April of 1933, he publicly expressed the international church’s worries over the beginnings of the Nazis’ anti-semitic campaign in Germany. On 1 June 1934, Bell signed the Barmen Declaration which proclaimed that Christian belief and National Socialism were incompatibile and stated that pro-Nazi German Christians were false teachers.
During World War II, Bell condemned the Allied practice of area bombing. Bell was also one of the first British bishops to protest against the inhumane treatment of approximately 14 million Silesian, Pomeranian, East Prussian and Sudeten Germans expelled from their homes in East Germany.
In the 1950s, Bell opposed the atomic arms race and supported many Christian initiatives of the time opposed to the Cold War.
He was a man of our times and an example of Christian courage.
Let us pray: God of peace, you sustained your bishop George Bell with the courage to proclaim your truth and justice in the face of disapproval in his own nation: As he taught that we, along with our enemies, are all children of God, may we stand with Christ in his hour of grieving, that at length we may enter your country where there is no sorrow nor sighing, but fullness of joy in you; through Jesus Christ our Redeemer, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
CALENDAR REMINDERS & UPCOMING EVENTS
THIRD ANNUAL ART SHOW: Please sign up to host. The annual art show allows us to share our facilities with others and to showcase the creativity of artists. It last for 1 more week: Sundays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and until 9 p.m. during Art Walk.
WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY: Sundays at 4:00 p.m. in Sutton Hall. Please join Jillian Bain for this prayerful study of Scripture.
ECW & DOK QUIET DAY RETREAT: Saturday, 8 October starting at 9:30 a.m. at St. Augustine with the Rev. Helen Appelberg. Please call 409.762.9676 or email judyricketts100@gmail.com to let them know you will attend.
BLESSING OF THE AMINALS: Saturday, 8 October at 9:00 a.m. on the lawn in front of Sutton Hall. Please pass the word along to those you know.
ECW ANNUAL RETREAT 14-15 OCTOBER 2011 at Camp Allen. Please sign up.
ST. AUGUSTINE IS GOING GREEN (WITH OUR COFFEE CUPS). St. Augustine is going green (with our coffee cups). In order to cut down on the use of Styrofoam cups, please bring a coffee cup for the Fellowship hour, and maybe even 2 or 3 to share with our visitors. We will store them in Sutton Hall and wash them in our dishwasher.
CLOTHING DRIVE FOR VICTIMS OF THE WILDFIRES: We will begin a clothing drive for the victims of the wildfires, especially the people of Bastrop and Calvary Episcopal. Please bring only CLEAN CLOTHES, SORT THEM BY SIZE, MALE/FEMALE, AND BOX THEM. Thank you in advance.
FELLOWSHIP ON SUNDAYS: If you haven’t signed up yet, please do.
PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST especially all parishes with search committees as they seek new rectors, for all of those suffering from the wildfires, and in thanksgiving for all that God has done for us.
“The cross of Christ is the true ground and chief cause of Christian hope.”—Leo the Great (400-461)
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
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