Area Dean: Bishop Robert has asked Donald to become Area Dean with responsibilities for Anglican ministry in the Paris area and north east France. This is a voluntary position, undertaken in addition to his other duties. The purpose of the role is defined thus: 'Area deans support the diocesan bishop and archdeacons in the oversight and pastoral care within their designated deanery, while also relaying issues or concerns affecting colleagues and congregations.’ Please pray for Donald as he takes on this new responsibility. He will be commissioned by Archdeacon Peter Hooper on Monday January 26th in St George’s Church, Paris. Week of Christian Unity services in January 2026: Dates and venues for the week of Christian unity services organised with all Christian churches in the south Seine-Et-Marne: Pôle Fontainebleau: Wednesday 21st January 2026 at 8PM, Couvent des Carmes, Avon. Pôle Moret / Nemours / Montereau: Friday 23rd January 2026 at 8PM, Eglise Saint-Lambert, Varennes-Sur-Seine. The sermon will be done by our Chaplain (in French). Praise & Prayer: You are warmly invited to our next Praise & Prayer evening, a special time to meet together in an informal setting, to praise God in song and to pray for his church and world. It will be held on Friday January 30th at 07:30pm at the home of Christopher and Marie-Céline: 31 rue Madame Muller, 77210 Avon.. Leading Intercessions: Our prayers on a Sunday morning are an important and integral part of our worship. We have a rota for our Intercessions which is separate from the other sign-up rota. If you would be interested in joining our merry band of intercessors, please drop Netta a line at mcfadyens@hotmail.com or send an SMS to Netta at +33 (0) 6 81 87 62 57. Do ask if you are unsure or if you have any queries. Thank you.Lent is coming…I once heard a bishop say to a congregation, "I wish you a gruelling Lent!" What he meant, of course, was that he hoped people would take the opportunity given by Lenten disciplines to deepen their Christian faith. This year the Council has decided that we should likewise focus on Lent to as a time to deepen our faith as a church, by denying ourselves and deepening our lives of prayer. This is not easy, but doing it together is much easier than trying to do it alone. There will be four ‘inputs’ to help us: Ash Wednesday, Sunday preaching, Lent lunches, and a Lent Course.i) Ash Wednesday Service which will be on the evening of February 18th (venue to be confirmed).ii) Sundays during Lent will include teaching about the ancient practice of fasting, from food most obviously, but also from aspects of modern life too, like 'screen time’.iii) Lent LunchesThis year's Lent Lunches will take a slightly different format.We will meet each time at Netta and Donald's apartment: 2 Rue Des Bois, 77300, Fontainebleau. 3rd floor (there is a lift!) between 12:30h & 14:00h on the following five Thursdays in Lent: February 26th, March 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th.We will have our usual soup and bread, followed by fruit and coffee or tea. The idea is to have a frugal meal and to donate what we might have spent on lunch to the Lent Lunch 'collection pot' with a suggested donation of 10 euros each. We can discuss at our first lunch where we would like our donation to go and we can then put that to the Council at their next meeting for approval. (Last year we put the money aside to pay for a new altar cloth and lectern fall, which is an on-going project.) Netta will provide the venue and coffee and tea; others are invited to provide soup or bread or fruit. Please do so either in pairs or as a solo effort. Please confirm your attendance to Netta with 48hrs notice for catering purposes. In order to mark Lent and to keep our focus on the opportunity this gives us to pray together and to think a little 'outside the box', Netta has offered to lead a little 'Thought for the Day’ during the meal. Nothing heavy, just a thought and a prayer to keep us focussed on our response to Lent and to keep us mindful of the purpose of this time in the church year. If you would like to bring a friend who may be new to St Luke's or who may have no history with us at all, this is an ideal opportunity. Contact details to indicate attendance: Netta +33 (0) 6 81 87 62 57 (SMS, please) or mcfadyens@hotmail.comiv) Lent Course which will take a close look at the way we draw close to God in worship - where did our type of Anglican prayer come from? What’s going on in a Communion service? How might we develop our ways of worshipping God? The sessions will be on five Tuesday evenings: February 24th, March 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th (venue to be confirmed).Let us set ourselves the goal of being prepared by the 40 days of Lent to celebrate Easter on April 5th with renewed faith and joy!
We have been informed that our Chapel in 57 Rue de Fleury in Fontainebleau will be available to Saint-Luke's from Jan 11th, 2026. Our last day in Saint-Eloi (Arbonne-La-Forêt) will be on Jan 4th, 2026.We would be very grateful to all volunteers for:helping us on Sunday, Jan 4th collect all our equipment and clean the church at Saint-Eloi,bringing the equipment back to our chapel in Fontainebleau on Sunday, Jan 11th.
Our traditional service of Carols and Readings will take place on Saturday 13 December 2025 from 6PM at the Eglise Protestante Unie, 3 Rue Béranger, 77300 Fontainebleau. We are grateful to our Protestant friends for helping us and providing with all the logistics to run our Carols service.You will find attached the flyers that you can forward to your family and friends, and the service leaflet!
