Saint Luke's Anglican Church - Fontainebleau

Holy Week (the seven days from Palm Sunday to Holy Saturday)

Good Friday - April 18th

7.30pm - a special Praise and Prayer meeting to mark the Passion of Jesus, at the home of Christopher and Marie-Céline, 31 rue Madame Muller, 77210 Avon

Easter Day - April 20th

We will be having two special services to celebrate the most important day in the Christian calendar:

Sunrise Service

This will be held at Mont Aigu in the Forest of Fontainebleau. We’ll meet in the nearest car park (please ask Ory for details) at 6.30am and walk together up to Mont Aigu. There we will have a very simple service to welcome Easter, and share refreshments. Friends from L'Église réformée will be with us.

Easter Communion

At 10.30am we’ll have our Easter Day communion service, which will include a baptism, a wonderful symbol and celebration of the new life we have in Christ.

I ndividual prayer on Sundays

I wonder if sometimes you arrive at St Luke’s, feeling heavy with a concern for someone you care about, and a desire to pray for them with the support of someone else? Or perhaps during the service you sense God speaking to you in a particular way which leaves you feeling that you’d really like to pray with others? We’d like to respond to such needs by offering the opportunity to pray with two members of the church who form a small prayer team. It will be offered immediately after the end of the service, at the back of the chancel behind the altar table, offering some privacy, and complete confidentiality. If you’d like to do this, please simply come up and explain what you’d like prayer for, and the two people will be delighted to pray with you.

‘ Celebrating Nicaea’ - a Lent Course

As I’m sure you’re aware by now, 2025 is the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, from which emerged the first version of the statement of belief which we call the Nicene Creed. To mark this special year the Diocese in Europe, of which we are a part, is using Lent to focus on the meaning and significance of the Creed. A five-session course will give us the opportunity to study it and so understand better the words which we say regularly and which are an enduring source of unity in the worldwide church.

Before each session it would benefit you to do a small amount of preparation which you will find here:

Celebrating Nicaea Lent Course | Diocese in Europe

Scroll down to the bottom of the page, click on ‘Participants’ materials' and download the preparation for all 5 weeks.

Donald, our Chaplain, will be running the course on five Tuesday evenings: March 11th, 18th, 25th, April 1st, 8th, starting at 8pm at Leigh Montillot’s house: 34 avenue Charles de Gaulle, Barbizon.

It would be wonderful if as many of us as possible were able to do the course, and discover afresh the faith which holds us together

Praying as St Luke’s

One of the most important initiatives to come out of our consultation, which Donald spoke about on Sunday 19th January, is an opportunity for us to gather to pray as a church. Christopher and Marie-Céline have kindly offered their home (31 rue Madame Muller, 77210 Avon) as a venue. Our first meeting will be on the evening of Friday 28th February at 7.30pm. Everyone is very welcome.

Lent lunches

Lent Lunches are a time for fellowship during the Lenten Season, centred around a simple meal of soup, cheese, and bread. Thanks to all our volunteers who have signed up to host a Lent Lunch this year.

Lent Lunch dates, starting at 12noon:

March 13 (chez Barbara & Deigan Morris)

March 20 (chez Jackie Shellard with co-host Judy King-Gilles)

March 27 (chez Annabel & Daniel Pouget)

April 3 (chez Avril & François Bateman)

April 10 (chez Bente & Paul Evans)

Kindly let your hosts know at least 48 hrs before the date if you will be attending so they can have the time to prepare the necessary quantities of food.

Confirmation

Donald is planning on running a group for those who would like to be confirmed, or who would like to find out more about confirmation, starting after Easter. If you’d be interested in joining, please talk to Donald or email him: chaplain.stlukesfontainebleau@gmail.com

Leading intercessions

One of the important parts of our Sunday services are the prayers of intercession, led by a member of the congregation. We are so grateful that we have people in our church who do this so well. Perhaps you feel you would like to lead intercessions, but would like some guidance? Whether you’re an ‘old hand’ or would like to be involved please come to an informal evening session which Donald will be hosting on Wednesday 19th March at 7.30pm, rue Aristide Briand.

Saint Luke's Anglican Church - Fontainebleau

Church events in March-April 2025

Celebrating Nicaea Lent Course (2025)

Lent Appeal 2025

Celebrating Nicea - Special newsletter from the Diocese