Monthly Archives: November 2023

From Father Iain, All Saints Chiang Mai

Jesus reigns – despite appearances to the contrary

(My church email is not working!  Please use iainbaxter.mail@gmail.com to contact me!)

Dear Friends,
When we see the state of the world, it’s hard to believe, as Robert Browning wrote, that “God is in his heaven, and all’s right with the world!”  But, as Christians, we do believe that God has won the victory and that, in the end, all will be well!  Meanwhile, we work to build God’s kingdom on earth and to try to make the world a better place for all.

This week we will celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, and the following Sunday is Advent Sunday when we begin our preparations for Christmas by decorating the church and sharing a potluck together.  We long for the coming of Jesus to bring peace on Earth and herald good will to all!

The bible readings for the Feast of Christ the King will be Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24, Ephesians 1:15-23, and Matthew 25:31-45, and we will be singing the hymns  The King of Love My Shepherd Is; When I needed a Neighbour; The Servant King; and Sing We the King Who is Coming to Reign!

Use this link to join on Zoom this Sunday at 10:30 am
Meeting ID: 548 801 501

Highlights of Last Week’s Service

Highlights of last week’s Transgender Day of Remembrance Service are available here!


Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil

The vigil took place at All Saints on the evening of Saturday 18th November.  It was a short ceremony in English and Thai with lighting of candles.


Reading the Names


The Best Christmas Choir Ever – Starts tonight!



Our very own Paddy Davis plays a hapless pastor in this Christmas play!  See Paddy for details and tickets!

Loi Krathong Celebration  – Tuesday 28th November


Meet at the church at 6 p.m. to join the celebrations together.


No Chili Night this week!

There will be no Chili Night on 28th November due to Loi Krathong!  Chili Night will return at the usual time of 6 p.m.  on 5th December!  


Advent Sunday


In two weeks’ time, on Sunday 3rd December, we will celebrate Advent Sunday.  We will be joined by some of the children from the Youth Charity Foundation as we decorate the church for Christmas and share an Advent Potluck at the vicarage.


Christmas Publicity – Please take and share!








Posters and Festival of Carols tickets are available at the back of the church!  Please take them if you have somewhere you can display them.  Rimping supermarkets will put them on their notice board for two weeks if you hand them in before the 1st and 14th of the month! 

(You can also copy the images above and send them to your friends!)
 

Coming Soon – Festival of Christmas Carols on Saturday 9th December!


This is our wonderful annual Christmas event.  Carol singing is led by the Lannacapella Choir and the All Saints Choristers, who will also perform their own pieces of Christmas music.  Readings will be given by various Consuls and other local dignitaries.


Wedding in Chiang Rai


Mum and I will be away in Chiang Rai this weekend as we are going to the wedding of a former YCF student.  We will be back on Monday


Events for your Diary

Saturday 18th November  6:00 pm
    Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil
Sunday 19th November  10:30 am      
    Transgender Day of Remembrance Service
Sunday 3rd December  10:30 am        
    Advent Sunday
Saturday 9th December  7:00 pm        
     Festival of Christmas Carols
Saturday 23rd December  6:00 pm
     Christmas Worship in Thai
Sunday 24th December  11:30 pm
      Midnight Mass
Monday 25th December 10:30 am
      Christmas Morning Eucharist
     (Followed by Christmas Lunch)
Tuesday 26th December 6:00 pm
      Christmas meal & worship at YCF
 

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

From Father Iain, All Saints Chiang Mai

Transgender Day of Remembrance – All is Prepared!

(My church email is not working!  Please use iainbaxter.mail@gmail.com to contact me!)

Dear Friends,
Our annual Season of Remembrance concludes with the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

A few years ago I helped organise a vigil after a mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub.  I was attacked on social media for organising the event: “Why for them and not other victims of violence?” was the accusation.  I had no answer except to say that this event had particularly touched me personally, and if we organised a vigil for every group of victims in the world, we would hold one every day.

Every year several hundred trans people, mostly transwomen, and mostly transwomen of colour, are killed because of who they are.  This number is small compared to the more than ten thousand innocent civilians killed in Gaza over the last month – this is greater than the number of civilians killed in Ukraine in nearly two years, and the population of Ukraine is twenty times larger.  The daily death rate in Gaza is therefore 400 times that of the Ukraine conflict. We must not forget!  We remember them in our prayers each week, and remembered them in our Remembrance Sunday service last week.  But one death doesn’t cancel another, and we at All Saints have trans members and friends.  We can remember and honour both.

In a slow dispersed ongoing-massacre trans people are killed, often in the most brutal way, because of their gender expression.  Many are subject to extreme domestic violence and others are targeted by strangers.  So at a time when trans women themselves, are often portrayed as a threat to society in the western media, we need to continue to stand in solidarity with this persecuted minority.

Of course, domestic violence is not limited to transwomen.  Many women of all sorts are subjected to the most terrible treatment, and we remember them too.

The bible readings for the Transgender Day of Remembrance will be Jeremiah 23:1-6, Galatians 3:23-29, and Matthew 25:14-30, and we will be singing the hymns Stand up stand up for Jesus; Lord, we make this cry for freedom; Beauty for Brokenness; and Let Us Build a House!

Use this link to join on Zoom this Sunday at 10:30 am
Meeting ID: 548 801 501

Highlights of Last Week’s Service

Highlights of last week’s Remembrance Sunday Service are available here!



And highlights of the Remembrance Day Observance are available here, curtesy of Steve Harrow.


Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil – at All Saints this Saturday!
 


The vigil will now take place at All Saints on the evening of Saturday 18th November.  This will be a short ceremony in English and Thai with lighting of candles.

Transgender Day of Remembrance Service – this Sunday



The following morning, Sunday 19th November, we will mark the Transgender Day of Remembrance in our morning worship at All Saints!


All Saints Foundation Meeting this Sunday



There will be a meeting of the All Saints Foundation Board this Sunday at 1 pm.  We now have a working bank account and there are decisions to be made about the relationship between ASF and the Church Council and handling of finances.  Please pray for all at the meeting as we go forward together.


All Saints South Location



On Wednesday, Father Peter, Pastor Mark, and I looked at three possible locations for All Saints South.  Our favourite one  was near the Grand Canyon water park just off the Canal Road.  Please pray that we find the right place.


Lunch Discussion this Sunday



A group to discuss the movie “Killers of the Flower Moon” will meet over lunch after church. Join us if you’ve seen the film and would like to talk!


The Best Christmas Choir Ever!



Our very own Paddy Davis plays a hapless pastor in this Christmas play!  See Paddy for details and tickets!


Advanced Notice – Festival of Christmas Carols!



This is our wonderful annual Christmas event.  Carol singing is led by the Lannacapella Choir and the All Saints Choristers, who will also perform their own pieces of Christmas music.  Readings will be given by various Consuls and other local dignitaries.


Events for your Diary

Saturday 18th November  6:00 pm
    Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil
Sunday 19th November  10:30 am      
    Transgender Day of Remembrance Service
Sunday 3rd December  10:30 am        
    Advent Sunday
Saturday 9th December  7:00 pm        
     Festival of Christmas Carols
Saturday 23rd December  6:00 pm
     Christmas Worship in Thai
Sunday 24th December  11:30 pm
      Midnight Mass
Monday 25th December 10:30 am
      Christmas Morning Eucharist
     (Followed by Christmas Lunch)
Tuesday 26th December 6:00 pm
      Christmas meal & worship at YCF
 

Loi Krathong Celebration  – Tuesday 28th November



Meet at the church at 6 p.m. to join the celebrations together.


Chili Night continues!

Chili Night continues at the usual time of 6 p.m.  Come and join us at the vicarage on Tuesday as we share chili followed by ice cream!  (There will be no Chili Night on 28th November due to Loi Krathong!)


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

From Father Iain, All Saints Chiang Mai

Lest we Forget!

(My church email is not working!  Please use iainbaxter.mail@gmail.com to contact me!)

Dear Friends,
This weekend we mark Remembrance Day on Saturday 11th November, and Remembrance Sunday the following day.

Remembrance Day began as Armistice Day to mark the end of the First World War on the 11th November 1918 at 11 a.m. UK time.  (Midday Central European Time.)  Since then a minutes silence has been held each year on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  At the end of the Second World War this became two minutes silence to commemorate the dead of the two world-wide conflicts. It has now become a time to remember all those killed in all subsequent wars and armed conflicts around the world, and to redouble our efforts to work for peace!

From the very beginning the two phrases associated with Remembrance Day are “Lest we forget” and “Never Again!”  In the light of the on-going conflicts in Ukraine, Myanmar, and Palestine, these words have never been so apt.  We pray for the end of hostilities and a just and lasting peace for all.

This year I have again been asked to officiate at the Remembrance Day observances at the Chiang Mai Foreign Cemetery.  The service will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and will be followed by refreshments at the Gymkhana Club.  All are welcome! Our observation of Remembrance Sunday at All Saints, will follow the following day, again beginning at 10:30 a.m.

The bible readings for this Remembrance Sunday will be Isaiah 2:3-4, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, and Luke 21:5-19, and we will be singing the hymns O God our help in Ages Past, Abide with Me, Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus, and The Day Thou gavest Lord is Ended!

Use this link to join on Zoom this Sunday at 10:30 am
Meeting ID: 548 801 501

Highlights of Last Week’s Service

Highlights of last week’s All Saints Day Service, including the baptisms of Kat and Kaew, are available here!


Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday



On Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th November we will remember victims of war and together declare “never again!”

On Saturday 11th, I will lead the Remembrance Day Observance at the Foreign Cemetery.  Please assemble at 10:30 a.m.  Directions to the Foreign Cemetery can be found here!

Then on Remembrance Sunday, we will gather at All Saints at 10:30 a.m. to remember victims of war and armed conflict around the world. The service will include two minutes silence at 11 a.m. and hymns will include The Day Thou Gavest Lord is Ended, and Abide with Me.  

At the Foreign Cemetery


Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil and Service
 


We hope this vigil will take place at Tha Phae Gate on the evening of Saturday 18th November.  More details to follow! 

The following morning, Sunday 19th November, we will mark the Transgender Day of Remembrance in our morning worship at All Saints!


The Best Christmas Choir Ever!



Our very own Paddy Davis plays a hapless pastor in this Christmas play!  See Paddy for details and tickets!


Advanced Notice – Festival of Christmas Carols!



This is our wonderful annual Christmas event.  Carol singing is led by the Lannacapella Choir and the All Saints Choristers, who will also perform their own pieces of Christmas music.  Readings will be given by various Consuls and other local dignitaries.


Events for your Diary

November 11th
    Remembrance Day at the Foreign Cemetery 
November 12th      
    Remembrance Sunday
November  18th
    Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil
November 19th      
    Transgender Day of Remembrance Service
December 3rd        
    Advent Sunday
December 9th        
     Festival of Christmas Carols
December 23rd
     Christmas Worship in Thai
December 24th
      Midnight Mass
December 25th
      Christmas Morning Eucharist


Chili Night continues!

Chili Night continues at the usual time of 6 p.m.  Come and join us at the vicarage on Tuesday 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

From Father Iain, All Saints Chiang Mai

All Saints Last Sunday

POTLUCK THIS SUNDAY

(My church email is not working!  Please use iainbaxter.mail@gmail.com to contact me!)

Dear Friends,
This week we will celebrate All Saints Day – the patronal festival of our church.  We are called All Saints because all are welcome to be a part of us, and we include Buddhists and Muslims, as well as Christians, among our regular congregation.

This week we will see two adults baptised as they publicly declare their desire to follow the way of Jesus!  Both of them are Thai, and we will have our first Thai language service this Christmas!

All are welcome at All Saints – young and old, foreign and Thai, Christian and Muslim, Buddhist, and Atheist, gay and straight, trans and cis!  All are welcome to come and share the love of Jesus and the message of God’s love for all!

Some of our YCF choir will be with us this Sunday and after our celebratory service we will go to the vicarage to share a potluck lunch at the vicarage.  All are Welcome!

The readings for this Sunday will be from Revelation 7:9-17, 1 John 3:1-3, and Matthew 5:1-12, and we will be singing the hymns For All the Saints, Bless the Lord Oh my Soul, Father, we love You, Sing with all the saints in glory, and O when the saints go marching in!  Our choir will be singing Still.

Use this link to join on Zoom this Sunday at 10:30 am
Meeting ID: 548 801 501

Last Week’s Sermon

Last week’s sermon, “Write Nobody Off!”, is available here!


All Saints Day Celebration


Easter Sunday Baptisms

This Sunday, 5th November, we will be celebrating All Saints Day.  This will be a great day of celebration as we welcome our organist, Kaew, and church member, Kat, to be baptised!  We will also be joined by our choir from the Youth Charity Foundation.

Morning worship will be followed by a potluck at the vicarage.  All are welcome!


Vicarage Potluck time


Student Vacation Service



Many of the Maejo University students who attend All Saints will be away for the next few weeks as they have their midterm holidays.  At All Saints we had a special service on Tuesday morning, to mark the end of their first semester and the completion of exams.

It was mostly in Thai and provided a foretaste of our Thai Christmas service which will be held on Saturday 23rd December.


Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday



On Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th November we will remember victims of war and together declare “never again!”

On Saturday 11th, I will lead the Remembrance Day Observance at the Foreign Cemetery.  Please assemble at 10:30 a.m.  Directions to the Foreign Cemetery can be found here!

Then on Remembrance Sunday, we will gather at All Saints at 10:30 a.m. to remember victims of war and armed conflict around the world. The service will include two minutes silence at 11 a.m. and hymns will include The Day Thou Gavest Lord is Ended, and Abide with Me.  

At the Foreign Cemetery


Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil and Service
 


We hope this vigil will take place at Tha Phae Gate on the evening of Saturday 18th November.  More details to follow!  The following morning, Sunday 19th November, we will mark the Transgender Day of Remembrance in our morning worship at All Saints!


Advanced Notice – Festival of Christmas Carols!



This is our wonderful annual Christmas event.  Carol singing is led by the Lannacapella Choir and the All Saints Choristers, who will also perform their own pieces of Christmas music.  Readings will be given by various Consuls and other local dignitaries.


Events for your Diary

November 5th – Next Sunday
    All Saints Day Celebration and Potluck
November 11th
    Remembrance Day at the Foreign Cemetery 
November 12th      
    Remembrance Sunday
November  18th
    Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil
November 19th      
    Transgender Day of Remembrance Service
December 3rd        
    Advent Sunday
December 9th        
     Festival of Christmas Carols
December 23rd
     Christmas Worship in Thai
December 24th
      Midnight Mass
December 25th
      Christmas Morning Eucharist


Chili Night continues!

Chili Night continues at the usual time of 6 p.m.  Come and join us at the vicarage on Tuesday 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

From Father Iain, All Saints Chiang Mai

A Jewish demonstrator supporting Palestine

(My church email is not working!  Please use iainbaxter.mail@gmail.com to contact me!)

Dear Friends,
I am feeling frustrated.  The Eighteenth Century philosopher, Edmund Burke, is reported to have said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  With the on-going bombing and siege in Gaza, I feel I am doing nothing!

War is always a terrible thing as we have seen in Ukraine, Myanmar, and Syria, but this time my own government is supporting the aggressor, the oppressive military superpower behind a fifty year illegal military occupation.  I hear stories from friends in the region who have lost family members.

We are called to “pray for the peace of Jerusalem”, and I am praying, but what more can we do?  The most urgent need is for a ceasefire, and then the real and meaningful delivery of food, water, medicine, and fuel.  We need to lobby our governments to do all they can to bring this about.

In three weeks’ time I will be leading the Remembrance Day Observance at the Chiang Mai Foreign Cemetery, let us pray that by then the bombs and missiles will have stopped, hostages will have been released, and the almost impossible work of reconciliation will have begun.

The readings for this Sunday will be from Deuteronomy 34:1-12, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, and Matthew 22:34-46, and we will be singing the hymns When Morning Gilds the Skies, In Christ there is no East or West, When I needed a Neighbour, and O God of Earth and Altar!

Use this link to join on Zoom this Sunday at 10:30 am
Meeting ID: 548 801 501

Last Week’s Sermon

Last week’s sermon, “Another Way is Possible!”, is available here!


All Saints Day Celebration


Easter Sunday Baptisms

On Sunday 5th November we will be celebrating All Saints Day.  This will be a great day of celebration as we welcome our organist, Kaew, and church member, Kat, to be baptised!  We will also be joined by our choir from the Youth Charity Foundation.

Morning worship will be followed by a potluck at the vicarage.  Please sign up this Sunday with what you can bring!


Vicarage Potluck time


Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday



On Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th November we will remember victims of war and together declare “never again!”

On Saturday 11th, I will lead the Remembrance Day Observance at the Foreign Cemetery.  Please assemble at 10:30 a.m.  Directions to the Foreign Cemetery can be found here!

Then on Remembrance Sunday, we will gather at All Saints at 10:30 a.m. to remember victims of war and armed conflict around the world. The service will include two minutes silence at 11 a.m. and hymns will include The Day Thou Gavest Lord is Ended, and Abide with Me.  

At the Foreign Cemetery


Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil and Service
 


We hope this vigil will take place at Tha Phae Gate on the evening of Saturday 18th November.  More details to follow! 

The following morning, Sunday 19th November, we will mark the Transgender Day of Remembrance in our morning worship at All Saints!


Advanced Notice – Festival of Christmas Carols!



This is our wonderful annual Christmas event.  Carol singing is led by the Lannacapella Choir and the All Saints Choristers, who will also perform their own pieces of Christmas music.  Readings will be given by various Consuls and other local dignitaries.


Events for your Diary

November 5th – Next Sunday
    All Saints Day Celebration and Potluck
November 11th
    Remembrance Day at the Foreign Cemetery 
November 12th      
    Remembrance Sunday
November  18th
    Transgender Day of Remembrance Vigil
November 19th      
    Transgender Day of Remembrance Service
December 3rd        
    Advent Sunday
December 9th        
     Festival of Christmas Carols
December 23rd
     Christmas Worship in Thai
December 24th
      Midnight Mass
December 25th
      Christmas Morning Eucharist


Chili Night continues!

Chili Night continues at the usual time of 6 p.m.  Come and join us at the vicarage on Tuesday 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