After the post-Covid drop, numbers are up at All Saints! For the last three weeks we have seen over thirty people attend our Sunday morning Eucharist! (Over fifty if you include the YCF Choir!) Of course, we were by no means dead before, but this is a resurrection of sorts! However, our Old Testament and Gospel readings this Sunday speak of real resurrection! Firstly we read about the dry bones in Ezekiel being clothed with flesh and receiving God-breathed new life! Then we hear about the raising of Lazarus from the dead!
We Christians are a resurrection people! We have new life to share with the world! This is the Good News of Jesus!
The readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent will be from Ezekiel 37:1-14, Romans 8:6-11, and John 11:1-6, 17-27, 38-45, and we will be singing the hymns All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name; Days of Elijah; One Bread, One Body; and Alleluia, Sing to Jesus!
At Chili Night this Tuesday, 28th March, we will watch the movie Stardust. The film follows Tristan, a young man from the fictional town of Wall in Great Britain. Wall is a town on the border of the magical fantasy kingdom of Stormhold. It is a fun film and should be a good evening.
The All Saints Foundation
All the paperwork has now been submitted to the Thai government for All Saints to register as a Foundation. This will take a minimum of three months to process, but will then give us the ability to open a bank account in the name of All Saints and other advantages.
Easter Services – Coming Up!
Palm Sunday – 10:30 a.m. Sunday 2nd April Good Friday – 7:00 p.m. Friday 7th April Easter Sunday – 10:30 a.m. Sunday 2nd April
Easter Baptisms
This Easter Sunday, Sunday 9th April, there will be the opportunity for people to be baptised. If you have not already been baptised and would like to be, please let me know.
Easter Potluck!
Our Easter Sunday service will be followed by a special Easter Potluck at the vicarage! This will include an Easter Egg hunt and other Easter goodies!
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! Our film will follow!
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!
In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians he writes: “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” He means that one day we will really see clearly, really know God, really be our true selves. But for now our sight is imperfect, we don’t really understand.
In this week’s Gospel reading we hear of a man born blind whose sight is restored by Jesus. But the story is not told as a miracle to show Jesus’ power, or even compassion, but to show the true sight of the man who sees who Jesus is! The Pharisees and learned people can’t see it, but this despised and undervalued human being can!
Do we see Jesus is our lives? Do we really see the work of God among us? Let us pray that we receive a new vision of our God!
The readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent will be from 1 Samuel 16:1-13, Ephesians 5:8-14, and John 9:1-17, 35-41, and we will be singing the hymns Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, Amazing Grace, Break Thou the Bread of Life, and Born in Song!
At Chili Night on Tuesday 28th March we will watch the movie Stardust.
The film follows Tristan, a young man from the fictional town of Wall in Great Britain. Wall is a town on the border of the magical fantasy kingdom of Stormhold. It is a fun film and should be a good evening.
Easter Baptisms and Confirmations
This Easter Sunday, Sunday 9th April, there will be the opportunity for people to be baptised or confirmed. If you have not already been baptised or confirmed and would like to be, please let me know.
Alcoholics Anonymous
We are very happy that the Chiang Mai International Group of AA (CMIG) has begun meeting at All Saints on Tuesday and Friday evenings.
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!
I am a member of a couple of Thai Facebook groups for people with campervans. They often share details of campsites and campgrounds. Almost all of them are by lakes, rivers, and the sea. Why? Because water gives life! Just contrast the bare desert mountains of the Middle East with the lush green mountains of Thailand to see this truth!
In this week’s Gospel reading, Jesus encounters a woman at an ancient Samarian well. He offers her “living water”. That is what the Christian life is all about: the opportunity to be continually filled with living water! Sometimes we feel dry and barren too, but that water is available if we just allow God to open the flood gates!
The readings for the Third Sunday of Lent will be from Exodus 17:1-7, Romans 5:1-11, and John 4:5-26, 39-42, and we will be singing the hymns Immortal, Invisible, God only Wise; Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing; In the Morning when I Rise; and In Christ alone my hope is Found!
This Easter Sunday, Sunday 9th April, there will be the opportunity for people to be baptised or confirmed. If you have not already been baptised or confirmed and would like to be, please let me know.
Alcoholics Anonymous
We are very happy that the Chiang Mai International Group of AA (CMIG) has begun meeting at All Saints on Tuesday and Friday evenings.
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!
Last Wednesday we had our moving Ash Wednesday Service as we remembered our mortality before God. This week we continue our observance of Lent as we look at the story of Nicodemus who came to Jesus with compliments. Jesus responded “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” What does it mean to see God’s kingdom, and even more to enter it?
The readings for the Second Sunday of Lent will be from Genesis 12:1-4, Romans 4:1-5, 13-17, and John 3:1-17, and we will be singing the hymns The God of Abraham Praise; O Jesus, I have Promised; Let us Break Bread Together; and What a Friend We Have in Jesus!
Last week’s Sermon, “What was Jesus saying?”, is available here. The video ends with the blessing of Gene and Kong before their travelling to the US to get married.
Kong and Gene
Easter Baptisms and Confirmations
This Easter Sunday there will be the opportunity for people to be baptised or confirmed. If you have not already been baptised or confirmed and would like to be, please let me know.
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!
Dear Friends, Lent is upon us and this week we mark Ash Wednesday. What are you going to give up? Hopefully pride, anger, malice, and unforgiveness; hopefully we have given them up already!
Self-denial has its place: it may be good for our discipline to give up chocolates, wine, or candy and sweets, but Lent is really a time for getting right with God and our fellow human beings as we prepare to celebrate the good news of Good Friday and Easter Day!
Please join us if you can at 7 p.m. as we mark Ash Wednesday and receive the Ash crosses on our foreheads as a mark of our mortality and repentance. The readings will be Psalm 51:1-17 and Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21, and we will be singing the hymns Abide with Me; O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go; and The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended!
The readings for the First Sunday of Lent will be from Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7, Romans 5:12-17, and Matthew 4:1-11, and we will be singing the hymns When I Survey the Wondrous Cross; Forty Days and Forty Nights; Bless the Lord oh my Soul; and Shout to the Lord! Our Choir will be singing Still!
Last week’s Sermon in Thai and English, “Transgender, Transfigured, Transparent!”, is now available here! The preacher was Father Iain Baxter, and the Thai translation was by Rev. Deacon Wattana Jaengyim.
Pancake Potluck – Last Sunday!
Our annual Pancake Potluck to mark the beginning of Lent was held last Sunday! Many thanks to Christa and Ruthie who between them produced 175 pancakes!!! The lunch was a great success with over thirty people in attendance! Almost all the pancakes were devoured!
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!
Lent is almost upon us, we will celebrate “Pancake Sunday” this week, but on the Sunday before Lent the Gospel reading is always the story of Jesus’ transfiguration. Before his all to human temptations and death on the cross are remembered, we remember Jesus shining with the glory of God!
What is the Transfiguration about? It is the revelation of who Jesus really is – the Son of God! And Moses and Elijah appear to testify about this on behalf of the Law and the Prophets. What about us? How do we see Jesus? And are we prepared to reveal who we really are too? Do we even know who that is?
The readings this week will be Exodus 24:12-18, 2 Peter 1:16-21, and Matthew 17:1-9, and we will be singing the hymns Praise to the Lord, the Almighty; Shine, Jesus, Shine; Transfiguration Hymn, and Christ be our Light! Our choir will be singing Days of Elijah.
This was held following the morning service last Sunday and was a very positive meeting. Hannah Alexander-Herrick, Paddy Davis, Sarah Sensamaust, and Shasta Sickinger, were elected to serve as council members for 2023. Katie Wierenga was also chosen to fill one of the clergy nominated positions until she leaves in August, and Mark Crawford and I are the two other council members, as Congregational Pastor and Vicar.
Pancake Potluck – This Sunday, 19th February
Our annual Pancake Potluck to mark the beginning of Lent will be held this Sunday!
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 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!
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.
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 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!
We are called to be salt and light to the world, but are we? Salt brings flavour and healing, light shows us the way to go and illuminates the darkness, but do we do this in our daily lives? Find out more at All Saints this Sunday.
The scripture readings for this Sunday will be Isaiah 58:6-9, 1 Corinthians 2:1-16, and Matthew 5:13-20, and we will be singing the hymns Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty; Salt of the Earth; A Little Bit of Salt; and Tell Out My Soul!
This will be held following the morning service on Sunday 12th February. 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 – 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 will be at 7 p.m. on Wednesday 22nd February. More details to follow!
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!
This Sunday we will celebrate the Feast of Candlemas. Candlemas recalls Jesus’ presentation at the Temple in Jerusalem, when he was revealed as the Light of the World! How does that light change us? How does that knowledge transform our lives? Where does the light lead us to, and how do we shine with the light of Jesus?
The readings for this Sunday will be Malachi 3:1-5, Hebrews 2:14-18, and Luke 2:22-40, and we will be singing the hymns Alleluia, Sing to Jesus; Christ is the World’s Light; Give me Jesus; and Christ, Be Our Light!
This will be held following the morning service on Sunday 12th February. All are welcome to attend and members over the age of 16 will be able to vote.
If you are not a member and would like to join, please speak to me or a council member. Alternatively, if you have left Chiang Mai or no longer worship with us, please let us know if you wish to be removed from the membership list.
The meeting will receive reports, approve the budget for 2023, and elect a new Church Council for the next year. If you would like to join the Council, speak to Father Iain or one of the current council members.
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!
This week’s New Testament reading is from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. He criticises the Corinthian church for their divisions:
“Each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul’, or ‘I belong to Apollos’, or ‘I belong to Cephas’, or ‘I belong to Christ.’ “
Paul is clear: all follow Christ, no one else is important! It is a lesson for us at All Saints: to do God’s work we need to be united. See how they love one another! We are united as we enter 2023, and let us pray that we remain so, for it is our witness to the world! Find out more this Sunday at All Saints!
The readings for this Sunday will be Isaiah 9:1-4, 1 Corinthians 1:10-18, and Matthew 4:12-23, and we will be singing the hymns O Worship the King; They’ll know we are Christians; Brother, Sister, Let me Serve You; and Now Thank We All Our God!
This will be held following the morning service on Sunday 12th February. All are welcome to attend and members over the age of 16 will be able to vote.
If you are not a member and would like to join, please speak to me or a council member. Alternatively, if you have left Chiang Mai or no longer worship with us, please let us know if you wish to be removed from the membership list.
The meeting will receive reports, approve the budget for 2023, and elect a new Church Council for the next year. If you would like to join the Council, speak to Father Iain or one of the current council members.
Candlemas Potluck – Sunday 29th January
Our Candlemas Potluck will be held on Sunday 29th January!!!!
Please bring food to share and join us at the vicarage following the morning service. Please ask if you need a lift. All are very 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!
All Saints' Chiang Mai 