From Father Iain, All Saints Chiang Mai
Christa Crawford will preach this Sunday!
Our AGM will follow the service this Sunday.
Dear Friends,
This week our Old Testament reading is from the first chapter of Genesis. Christa Crawford will be unpacking this important Hebrew text and exploring what it means for us today! Perhaps the key line is “And God created…” but we will see what Christa has to say.
In preparation for our Annual General Meeting, our worship this Sunday will include the Methodist Covenant Prayer in which we commit ourselves to God and each other for another year. You can read it below:
The Methodist Covenant Prayer
I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will,
rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing, put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you,
exalted for you, or brought low for you;
let me be full, let me be empty,
let me have all things, let me have nothing:
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours. So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.’
The readings this week will be Genesis 1:1-2:3, Romans 8:18-25, and Matthew 6:25-34, and we will be singing the hymns All Creatures of our God and King; Still; For the Beauty of the Earth; and Praise with Joy the World’s Creator.
Use this link to join on Zoom this Sunday at 10:30 am
Meeting ID: 548 801 501
Last Week’s Sermon
Video of last week’s sermon by Pastor Mark is available here!
Remembering Ivan Hall
Rest in Peace Ivan!
We mourn the passing of Ivan Hall, founder member of All Saints, Chiang Mai. Our deacon, Gene Bourquin, shares this message:
A word of my friend Ivan on his passing, partially excerpted with information from his nephew’s recent letter.
1932 – 2023
Dr. Ivan P. Hall, died February 1, in Hoenow, a remote suburb of what was once East Berlin, after a professional life spent primarily in Japan. Ivan was born to American missionary parents in Bulgaria in 1932.
He lived mostly overseas during his adult life and in his later years he was here in Chiangmai, having an apartment in my building where Kong and I now reside and worshipping at my church. Ivan was a graduate of both Princeton and Harvard. He served in the U.S. Information Service in the 1950s in Pakistan and in the future Bangladesh. And he was special – a cultural attache in Afghanistan, a professor in Japan . . . a solitary intellectual. He was an amazing linguist, fluent in Japanese in addition to Continental languages, who, after retiring, took the opportunity to teach in China – in Chinese. Author of histories and politico-cultural criticism published in journals, a cultural diplomat, university professor, U.S. Government official, a journalist, and a musician. He published books critiquing the Japanese for their xenophobia, and the West for its persistent ignorance. His nephew recalled how he engaged politically in multiple countries – bringing a landmark civil rights lawsuit in Japan and, after half a lifetime as a Rockefeller Republican, resigning loudly from his federal position in protest of Reagan policies.
Ivan was a friend and confidant to me in Chiangmai. He always said how he appreciated our long social, political, and cultural discussions, which he found too few and far between in the local community, but he was by far the superior intellect, and I the beneficiary in those chats. We shared many Sundays in church and dinners of Thai-Italian foods at Andy’s Place, one of his favorites. Visits on his balcony looking out to the northern mountains of Thailand were always, always interesting.
After he left for Germany we tried to kept in touch by emails, but Kong and I thought of him often and regretted the infrequent updates. We only knew each other for a small part of his many years on the earth, but some wonderful years I think. I’ll treasure the books of his which I bought or he gifted.
May he rest in the Lord’s eternal peace and rise in Glory.
All Saints Annual General Meeting – This Sunday!
This will be held following the morning service this Sunday. All are welcome to attend and members over the age of 16 will be able to vote.
The meeting will receive reports, approve the budget for 2023, and elect a new Church Council for the next year. Nominations are now closed and four people have been nominated for the four elected positions on the Church Council. They are:
Hannah Alexander-Herrick
Paddy Davis
Sarah Sensamaust
Shasta Sickinger
Pancake Potluck – Next Sunday, 19th February
Our annual Pancake Potluck to mark the beginning of Lent will be held on Sunday 19th February!
Please bring toppings to share and join us at the vicarage following the morning service. Please ask if you need a lift. All are very welcome!
The address is:
The Vicarage,
9/65 Ban Ing Doi,
Kan Klong Chonprathan Road,
Tambon Chang Phueak,
Chiang Mai
This is the link on Google Maps.
Ash Wednesday Service
This will be at 7 p.m. on Wednesday 22nd February including the imposition of ashes. Join us for this solemn service marking the beginning of Lent. All Welcome!
Chili Night
Some of the group!
Chili Night will continue next week at the usual time of 6 p.m. Come and join us at the vicarage as we share chili followed by ice cream!
Weekly Offering to All Saints
You can still donate in person or online. Thank you for your support and love for All Saints and all we are trying to do together. God has shown that he is mighty and we are in his hands!
God bless,
Father Iain
All Saints' Chiang Mai 