January 11 – the Baptism of Christ

Andrew Wingate, who holds permission to officiate in Sweden and spends three weeks here in summer to allow me to have a holiday, was in Sweden for ten days speaking at various interfaith meetings.  I asked him to preach about baptism, and he shared two moving stories from his time as a prison chaplain in India.  After the sermon, we used the Easter liturgy for renewal of baptismal vows from Times and Seasons.  As usual, Gillian had brought a sprig of rosemary from her garden for the sprinkling.

January 14 – Midweek Mass resumes

Our first Midweek Mass / Onsdagsmässa after the Christmas break. 17 people present, mainly Swedes in their 20s and 30s.  As usual, we adjourned to Hotel Flora for drinks.  This service, in a mixture of Swedish and English, has kept going for 5 years now, and moving from fortnightly to weekly has increased the attendance.  It is promoted via a Facebook page, which works much better for that group than for our congregation – or maybe more effort has gone into keeping the page active.

January 17 – Pilgrimage Walk, Delsjö

Another fine winter walk.  The rain stopped, the sun came out, and we hd two hours on forest tracks, followed by tea at Jennifer Andersson’s flat.