Newsletter and Gustaf Adolf Nordic Congregation in Liverpool

12 Pages·2015·0.54 MB·English

27th Issue
April 2015 -November 2015
Newsletter
From
LiNC
and

Gustaf Adolf

Nordic Congregation

in Liverpool

The congregation’s Pastor Jo Jan Vandenheede, now back with us as the parish’s
shepherd after his ‘work experience’ last year:

So, one year on, after some further studies and a rigorous inquisitorial exam by
the Vocations Committee, my ordination took place in November. Gustaf Adolf congre-
gation was a major stepping stone in this process, and I'd like to thank you all for being
part of this journey.
Our busy-bee community seems at first a little odd, but represents in fact a mi-
crocosm of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain itself: different languages, different -
though admittedly related - cultures and different nationalities coming together.
Some of us come to hear and speak the languages of our childhood, some come
to deepen the culture of our families or for handing it down to our own offspring, some
are old-hands here and some newbies, some come to recharge the spiritual batteries.
Nothing and no one's perfect, and of course there's room for improvement,
also at LiNC and GANC, but on the whole the balance seems to work and we're setting
an example, maybe even for those around us. In a time when differences are not 'a
strength' but 'a weakness', this community does things together, or parallel, or inde-
pendently from each other, but things are happening and in a mostly – hopefully - mu-
tually beneficial way.
I'm sure that between services, central Lutheran Church and Anglican-Lutheran
relations, I'll be anything but bored, but my proverbial door is open, for conversation
and debate, spiritual matters, or just a nice encounter.
And that's the word I'd like to dedicate this year in Liverpool to: encounter.
Meeting old acquaintances and new faces, chatting, learning, and anything in between.
Let's show 'Church and Country' how it's done!
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Dates to remember: Sun 17 May (Norway); Sun 7 June (Sweden Denmark); Wed 17 June
(Iceland); Sun 15 November provisional date for AGMs (members will be notified); Sat 21
November Bazaar. More details inside.
LiNC Charity Company - Roger Metcalf, Chairman’s Report:
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and new year. We are already at the end of
March and starting to look forward to the summer. This newsletter will tell you all the
events that are planned so far, but we are often approached by someone who can do an
event ‘next week’, so it is worthwhile to have a look on our website, if you can.
We have had our usual excellent period of activity leading up to Christmas. This
year our bazaar was even more successful, and resulted in a record level of income. Thanks
to all of you who came and spent money at various stalls and also thanks to those of you
involved in the preparations and to all who give items for sale; to the handicraft group and
to those who bake and make jams, among many things.
We organised our, now regular, Lucia Concert in the Liverpool Cathedral, which was
attended by about 450 people. We also had our own Lucia at the church. Thanks to all the
families that took part in the performance, which was attended by a full house audience.
Since my last report we have continued to carry out the regular maintenance work
that is required in our public building. We have carried out some plumbing work improve-
ments and have had gutters cleared out by Priory Developments. We have also, twice, had
to repair damage to the glass in the front door. This work was carried out by Taylor Glass,
who responded to our phone calls within 2 hours. We are now also renovating the rear
staircase from top to bottom. The work has involved replacement of the lintels over rear exit
fire-door by Fulwood Construction; decoration work by Absolute Décor and the flooring re-
placed by Morris Jones Flooring. I have no hesitation in recommending these contractors,
the work that they do and the prices they charge are very good. I can provide their details to
anyone interested.
We are about to get more ambitious in our work to improve the building facilities.
You may not know, but there was a sauna in the lower ground area, but some years ago the
sauna was declared electrically unsafe and has not been used for a long time. We have now
removed the old sauna and all the sauna room woodwork. The room is going to be con-
verted into 2 rooms with shower and toilet, in order to get better facilities for all our visitors
and B&B guests.
All our social and cultural activities have been carried out as normal alongside our
coffee mornings, language classes, Finnish school, film nights, handicraft team and concerts.
We are also becoming quite well known in the world of Liverpool bands and we regularly
have gig nights in the church. I am glad to say that we are also becoming known for our
grade II* building and several local historical societies have visited the building for con-
ducted tours. The new Nordic knitting classes are proving to be very successful on Saturday
mornings and we hope that more of you may be interested in joining the group.
LiNC has continued to develop contacts with local residential groups and we are
now members of Baltic Creative Community Interest Company and Baltic Area Planning
Group, which is currently being agreed with Liverpool City Council. We are also in the proc-
ess of creating a Baltic North Residents association. These are action groups that we want to
work with to develop local residents’ opportunities to have meetings and events in our
building so that we can be seen to be participating and encouraging local people to benefit
from our facilities. If you would like to help out at these meetings, please contact me. I
would ask you all to think about any new activities that you would like to have taking place.
New activities will bring more people and thus increase our charity funds and enable more
maintenance and development work to be carried out. It would be good if you can en-
courage new people to become members, and attend as many functions as possible.
I give my sincere thanks to the LiNC committee members who, with Stan and
Mette in the vanguard, take the heaviest work-load in making things happen at the
church. I thank everyone who has been helping us throughout the year. I do very much
appreciate the work that is carried out by volunteers to make events and activities hap-
pen. More volunteers are always welcome, so if you can help, please inform me or any
of the members of the board.
The future is very much up to the full involvement of all members. If you have
any comments, questions or suggestions, then please contact me at the church or on
my e-mail.

Ann Giles: Nordic net-working in a small world
Interest in things Nordic will probably continue for some time still. One of Gustav
Adolf’s Liverpool children organised the most recent Nordic Research Network conference
for fledgling researchers in the UK and elsewhere in the world. The brief was simply to come
to Edinburgh and give a paper on something sort of connected to the Nordic countries, last-
ing 15 minutes.
Papers were on anything from the seasick Vikings, who populated the Faroes be-
cause they couldn’t bear to sail on to Iceland, to what will happen when the current fond-
ness for Scandi crime comes to an end. They had around 60 speakers on the agenda, includ-
ing someone from Gustav Adolf. So it’s a small world.
At the end of two days everyone gathered at Hemma for some Nordic-style food.
Edinburgh watering holes appear to have been taken over by Swedes, as you can tell by the
name. It felt a bit Hemma too, with old style Swedish sofas to sit on, not to mention being
able to discuss with someone from Varberg the sound of the letter ‘i’ as spoken by the good
people from Gothenburg and Stockholm. It can be measured with a machine, you know…
Your reporter had a busy couple of days, since there was more going on than a
Nordic conference with food. There was also a Swedish church service, also with food, in
another Swedish-owned Edinburgh bar, which looked so much like a Swedish café that I had
to fight the urge to order some Prinsesstårta. The company was pleasant and one of the
local Swedes turned out to be friends with one of our Gustav Adolf stalwarts. Did I say it’s a
small world?
To make up for the lack of Prinsesstårta, Hemma supplied two other kinds of cake
the following day, as we wound up the proceedings with two Norwegian authors and one
Danish writer. You can’t beat a book event with cake. The Norwegians were Maria Parr and
Harald Rosenløw Eeg, nicely complemented by Merete Pryds Helle.
Merete knows for a fact that Denmark is at the centre of the world, and she writes
digital books for children, teaching toddlers how to shake their iPads violently, in order to
make pine cones fall off a tree. Harald talked about his book based on a forgotten rucksack
on the Oslo underground, and Maria read from her book Waffle Hearts. When she reads in
Nynorsk it is Very Difficult to understand. And she eats her waffles with butter and sugar.
Have we been doing it wrong at Gustav Adolf all these years?
LiNC Charity Company Ltd 2015
(Registration in England and Wales 8351592, Charity registration 1152041)
Subscription form to apply for or renew membership 2015
By becoming a paying member you have a right to vote in elections of directors at a general meeting and vote for
any resolutions put forward by the directors. A third of the directors are re-elected each year. You will get copies of
the financial accounts and the Chairman’s report.
We ask you to pay £25 for each person in the household per year, this to reflect the costs of running and main-
taining the building along with the costs of all activities.

I, ............................................................................................................................(capitals, please)
wish to make a donation of £...........for 12 months’ subscription.
OR: I wish to make a bank standing order for £............/ month/year. Please contact Harriet Busby for
bank details, see back page.
I will tell you when I no longer wish to be a member. I agree that I will not be considered a member
when the renewal date is overdue by 3 months.

Address.......................................................................................................................................................................

................................ Email ddress..................................................................................Phone.................................
Please tick here.......... if you agree that we communicate with you in the future by email.
We will save on a lot of postal costs and administrative work!

Signature: .......................................................................................................Date.........................

I, ............................................................................................................................(capitals, please)
wish to make a donation of £...........for 12 months’ subscription.
OR: I wish to make a bank standing order for £............/ month/year. Please contact Harriet Busby for
bank details, see back page.
I will tell you when I no longer wish to be a member. I agree that I will not be considered a member
when the renewal date is overdue by 3 months.

Address.......................................................................................................................................................................

................................ Email ddress..................................................................................Phone.................................
Please tick here.......... if you agree that we communicate with you in the future by email.
We will save on a lot of postal costs and administrative work!

Signature: .......................................................................................................Date.........................
I am/we are willing to volunteer and can help in these areas: ..............................................................
Make cheques payable to LiNC Company Ltd. Send this form to 138 Park Lane, Liverpool, L1 8HG or
hand it to staff.
_________________________________________________________________________________
GIFT AID: Gift Aid declaration –for present & future donations to LiNC Charity Company Ltd:
Please treat as Gift Aid donations all qualifying gifts of money made today and in the future.
I confirm that I have paid or will pay an amount of Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax for each year
which is at least equal to the amount of tax that all the charities, to which I donate, will reclaim on my
gifts for each tax year. I will inform LiNC when this is no longer the case.

Signature/s : ..........................................................................................................Date..................
Stan Royden: Congregational Report for 2014
We started 2014 with two major events and hosted the receiving of Bishop
Martin Lind in January, and in May we became a full member of the Lutheran
Church in Great Britain.
The LCiGB’s synod was on 17th May, so Robert Lee kindly went down to Lon-
don to represent us. The bishop asked us to invite Jo Jan Vandenheede to be our pastor-
in-charge following his ordination on 22nd November and, after considerable discussion,
we have agreed to do so, although we will only be able to pay him a small stipend.
However, Jo Jan was looking forward to working here and has made progress in
finding additional employment. He will undoubtedly bring plenty of energy and new
ideas. I’m sure he will be given a warm welcome by everyone connected with Gustaf
Adolf. It is a shame that his ordination clashed with our Christmas Bazaar; Ulfar Nord-
dahl kindly agreed to go down and represent us there.
It is pleasing to note that Lucia at the Anglican Cathedral was a success, as was
our own, much smaller-scale one here; indeed, the choir was larger than it had been for
several years and performed most creditably. It is proving very difficult to have a regular
choir, despite everyone’s good intentions, so all we can do is to prepare for specific
events, the most obvious one being Lucia. Our little music-group, Nordic Scouse, adds
something special to the Valborg and Midsommar celebrations and we hope they will
continue to do so.
Reverend Lars Ruden (Church of England but Norwegian licensed) was unable
to take the Christmas Eve service, so we reverted to the format of the previous year,
reading the Christmas gospel in three parts, thus enabling it to be heard in Swedish,
Danish and Norwegian. The final hymn, “Silent Night”, was sung simultaneously in
Swedish and Norwegian -symbolising (for me at least) the harmony that exists between
the Nordic nations.
Our first service in 2015 was “julgransplundring”, the Swedish end-of-Christmas
traditional event. It was led by Kristina Andreasson, a visiting priest up from London
again. Kristina is vicar at the Swedish Church in London A delightful occasion, although
numbers were down on last year.
Jo Jan Vandenheede is now in place, having arrived on 6th January. He has lost
no time getting down to work; with some new features, including a Family Service and
an extra Communion on Wednesday. We held a proper welcome at the morning service
on Sunday 1st February and we look forward to his official induction in the presence of
Bishop Martin on Sunday 26th April, before the Valborg celebrations.
As ever, my thanks to the Church Council for their continued support, especially
Harriet for looking after the finances, and Helen for all the secretarial work.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Would you like to commemorate a Sunday of your choice by giving a donation for
the cost of altar flowers? Tell us in a postal letter specifying the date, or a note to
Mette, what Sunday you would like to reserve and we will do our best to accommo-
date your wishes. Your name and the occasion, if you so wish, will be displayed on
the notice board. £10 or more will buy a nice flower selection which usually lasts for a
week up in church.
2015 Subscription form for membership of the
Gustaf Adolf Nordic CongregationLtd

at Gustaf Adolf Church, Liverpool
Company registration in England and Wales 7034654
We have a new constitution that agrees with the principles of the Lutheran Church in
Great Britain and it is also in a new format that is the best and safest way of managing
our affairs, a limited company. It is ‘limited’ in so much that each member is liable for £1.00 if things go
wrong with the assets the congregation holds. These assets are effectively your membership fees,
collections and any donations given to us.
As a member you have the right to vote at the congregation’s AGM and elect the direc-
tors/church council. This board decides on the activities and expenditures of the parish.
It has been decided that we should recommend a congregational membership fee of £25
per annum for each individual and you must be over 18 years of age. We are aware that you might
not be able to pay as much but we do appreciate whatever you can contribute to the congregation.
_1___s_t__ _p___e___r__s___o___n___ __i_n___ __t__h___e___ __h___o___u___s___e___h___o___l__d___ _ __-_-__-__-__C___a___p___i__t__a___l_s__,__ _p___l__e___a___s__e___:_ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I ............................................................................. wish to make a donation of £...........for 12 months.
OR: I wish to make a standing order for £............/ month/year. Please contact Harriet Busby for this,
see back page for contact details.
I wish to be a member...... or a sponsor.......... (tick appropriately)
Signature: .................................................................................................................Date.......................
Address....................................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................................................
Phone..................................Email............................................................................................................
IMPORTANT! By giving us your email address you agree that we will contact you in this way.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2nd person in the household: ----Capitals, please:
I ..............................................................................wish to make a donation of £..............for 12 month.
OR: I wish to make a standing order for £............/ month/year. Please contact Harriet Busby for this.
I wish to be a member...... or a sponsor.......... (tick appropriately)

Signature: ...................................................................................................................Date......................
Address.....................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
Phone..................................Email............................................................................................................
IMPORTANT! By giving us your email address you agree that we will contact you in this way.
NB! Make cheques payable to Gustaf Adolf Nordic Congregation. Send this form to 138 Park Lane,
Liverpool, L1 8HG.

.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
GIFT AID: Gift Aid declaration –for present & future donations to Gustaf Adolf Nordic Congregation

Ltd:
Please treat as Gift Aid donations all qualifying gifts of money made today and in the future.
I /we confirm that I/we have paid or will pay an amount of Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax for
each year which is at least equal to the amount of tax that all the charities, to which that I/we donate,
will reclaim on my gifts for each tax year. I/we will inform the church congregation when this is no
longer the case.

Signature/s : .................................................. ................................................... Date................
Sylvia Hikins: LAND OF ICE AND FIRE.
On the afternoon of March 19th 2010, I sat, with my Icelandic friend Holmfridur in
the Café Loki, Reykjavik, eating wafer-thin ponnukaka smeared with strawberry jam. ‘I don’t
like this weather,’ said Holmfridur, giving me a serious look, ‘it’s too hot. I think a volcano is
going to erupt.’
She was dead right. Next day began the vol-
canic events of Eyjafjallajokull which eventually created
an ash cloud that for five days grounded almost every
flight to and from Europe, the highest level of travel
disruption since World War II. Later that day, by pure
chance, I joined two other people who had persuaded a
retired Lufthansa pilot to fly us over the erupting vol-
cano in his tiny Cessna training aircraft.
In a setting sun we made our way eastwards
high over rivers, lakes, moraines, clouds at play, towards the mighty Vatnajokull Ice Sheet, a
relic of the last ice-age. After about half an hour,
we spotted the fiery beast on the horizon vomit-
ing lava plumes like an angry monster. Soon our
pilot was in a world of his own, circling over the
crater, banking down towards erupting rock, ash
plumes, spewing magma, molten walls of fire
dancing a kilometre into the air. The aircraft,
thrown around on unpredictable thermals like a
fragile moth, began to heat up. I could feel it
through the soles of my boots. The cabin filled
with sulphurous fumes. Was I afraid? Of course
not! Like the volcano, I was supercharged, adrenalin flowing, trying to take photos in a to-
tally chaotic environment. Later, to my amazement, I discovered I had managed to capture
some images, one even going on to win a photographic competition in Iceland. But for now
we continued to fly over the dramatic
scene below, returning again and again
to view a volcano that has been active
for over 800,000 years, now dazzling us
with curtains of fire, huge streams of
moving magma, a final, terrible beauty.
Two hours later we landed on
terra firma, walked into town, ate pizzas,
drank Italian wine. Suddenly my world
seemed completely unreal. My throat
burned from smoke and fumes, my brain
overflowed with images of ice and fire, glacial melt-waters, nature in true form, huge, de-
structive. If we mere mortals think we can control the earth, we should think again. Experi-
encing an erupting volcano at close quarters had taught me a lesson. Human beings will
never conquer nature. In order to survive we must learn to live with her.
Programme for the Gustaf Adolf Nordic Church and LiNC Cultural Centre in Liverpool,
April- November 2015
Norwegian and Swedish language classes usually every Thursday evenings at 19.30
Knitting Circle/Handicraft usually every Saturday morning at 11.00 Exceptions noted below!
April
5 Sun 11.30 Easter Sunday service, lunch served afterwards
8 Wed NO Coffee morning
12 Sun 11.30 Communion Service , lunch afterwards
14 Tue 19.30/7.30 pm Kongero, a Swedish female singing group performs, refreshments afterwards
15 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
12.30 Norwegian service
17 Fri 19.30 Linnea evening
18 Sat 14.00 Finnish School
19 Sun NO service
22 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
26 Sun 15.00/3.00pm Induction service
Bishop Martin Lind holds induction service for Jo Jan Vandenheede
17.00/5.00pm Valborgsmässoafton
We say welcome Spring with a meal and traditional Swedish vårsånger in the
garden –weather permitting!
27 Mon 19.45 Film night: 1944: The final Defence (Battle of Finland), Finland
29 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning

May
2 Sat 14.00 Finnish School
3 Sun 11.30 Service, lunch afterwards
5 Tue 19.30/ 7.30pm Celebration of the 70th Anniversary of Denmark’s Liberation Day
Danish performers, refreshments
6 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
9 Sat 14.00 Finnish school
10 Sun 11.30 Service, lunch afterwards
13 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
No Norwegian service
14 Thu 17.00/5pm Early evening concert
Icelandic choir performing. Soup and sandwiches afterwards
15 Fri NO Linnea evening --postponed to 22 May
16 Sat NO Crafts group
NO Finnish School
17 Sun 13.00/1pm 17e Mai celebrations: Starting at Pier Head with a short
prayer, then to church for refreshments. Please phone
Mette or church for more information
18 Mon 19.45/7.45 Film night:
Kongen av Bastøy/ The king of Devil’s island, Norway
Refreshments served before the film.
20 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
22 Fri 19.30 Linnea evening for Swedish-speaking ladies, info [email protected]
23 Sat 14.00 Finnish school
24 Sun 11.30 Service, Norwegian Kongsberg Choir sings in the service, lunch afterwards
27 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
30 Sat 14.00 Finnish School
31 Sun 11.30 Family service, lunch afterwards

June
3 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
June continued……..
7 Sun 11.30 Service, Swedish choir from Söderhamn
participates, lunch afterwards.
Celebrations of Swedish and Danish national
days
10 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
NO Norwegian service
13 Sat 14.00 Finnish School
14 Sun 11.30 Service, lunch afterwards
17 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning, celebration of Iceland’s national day
21 Sun 11.30 Midsummer service, May pole and dance in the garden
Herring plate and strawberry cream cake are served
24 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
27 Sat 14.00 Finnish School
28 Sun 11.30 Family service, lunch afterwards

July
1 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
5 Sun 11.30 Service, lunch afterwards
8 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
12.30 Norwegian service
12 Sun 11.30 Service, lunch afterwards
15 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
19 Sun 11.30 Service, lunch afterwards
22 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
29 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning

Church is closed 30 July - 1 September

September
2 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
6 Sun 11.30 Service, lunch afterwards
9 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
10 Thu 11.00-4.00 pm English Open Heritage days, guided tours and refreshments available
11 Fri 11.00-4.00 pm English Open Heritage days, guided tours and refreshments available
12 Sat 11.00-4.00 pm English Open Heritage days, guided tours and refreshments available
13 Sun 11.30 Service, lunch afterwards
16 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
18 Fri 19.30 Linnea evening for Swedish-speaking ladies, info [email protected]
20 Sun NO service
23 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
27 Sun 11.30 Family service, lunch afterwards
30 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning

October
4 Sun 11.30 Service, lunch afterwards
7 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
11 Sun 11.30 Service, lunch afterwards
14 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
12.30 Norwegian service
16 Fri 19.30 Linnea evening for Swedish-speaking ladies, info [email protected]
18 Sun NO service
21 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
25 Sun 11.30 Family service, lunch afterwards
28 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
November
1 Sun 16.00/4pm Reformation Day: A joint service with the German Church in Liverpool,
refreshments afterwards
4 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
8 Sun 11.30 Service, lunch afterwards
11 Wed 10.45 Armistice Day, prayers at Pier Head
11.30 Coffee morning
13 Fri 19.30 !!! Linnea evening for Swedish-speaking ladies, info [email protected]
15 Sun 12.30 Preliminary date for LiNC Company AGM, 12.30
Preliminary date for G A Nordic congregation Company AGM
immediately afterwards.
Lunch served afterwards.
18 Wed NO Coffee morning, preparations for the bazaar
20 Fri NO Linnea evening, moved to Fri 13
November
21 Sat 12.00 Christmas Bazaar
22 Sun NO Service
25 Wed 11.30 Coffee morning
29 Sun 1st of Advent Sunday
Service, lunch afterwards

December: Wed 9 12.30 Norwegian carols and lessons service
Sat 12 6pm Preliminary booking for Lucia service in the Cathedral
Sun 13 5pm: Lucia celebrations in our church
Thu 24 12.00 Gathering at the manger
Find out where LiNC has spent the money:
Repairs, main items: £ 12400
(new alarm system £1060, electrical work £1050, boiler repairs £1257, window grilles £1200, cleaning of gutters
£845, back door repairs £600, flooring and painting back stairs £2900, car park repairs £2400)
Insurance for building and public liability £ 4200
Gas £ 4340
Electricity £ 2700
Cleaning and refuse collection £ 1980
Council tax £ 1056
Water and sewerage £ 933
Telephones and TV £ 660
Other building costs £ 1264

Income, main items:
Membership fees £3972
Rental of building £5400
Fundraising ( lottery, grants and craft group) £3400
Car park £7000
Refreshments £12000
The Bazaar £3500
Gift Aid £1344
We thank you all for making Bazaar day such a good day, to all who volunteered and all who came
and spent money on goods and foods and hopefully had a good time as well!
We ask you often if you can sign the Gift Aid form and it is very important to us that you do:
£1344 was given back to us from your taxes paid to the national coffers!
__________________________________________________________________________________
Don’t forget that we have hostel-styled accommodations at the church. There are 4 rooms with 10
beds in total. Bed linen and towels are of course provided and a simple self-served Nordic-styled
breakfast is included in the price of £ 20/person/night. If you want to stay for a longer time, the price
can be reduced. Email [email protected] (preferred!) or phone [phone].