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[a.whitefield@quest.org.uk]

March 21, 1997 
ANGLICAN COMMUNION NEWS SERVICE
Canon Jim Rosenthal, Director of Communications
Anglican Communion Office
London,UK

[97.3.3.6]

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from The Window - The Newsletter of the Anglican-Lutheran Society, no
52,
February-March 1997

Spirit of Porvoo thrives in northern Sweden.

The Rev Timothy Lawes, a Church of England priest, moved to northern
Sweden last year with his Swedish wife, Maria.  He writes of the ways
the Porvoo Agreement is being implemented in his community:

In issue number 51 of The Window your lead article said: "The main work
now remains to be done, however, as Porvoo is implemented in the lives
of people in the thousands of congregations in northern Europe."  In the
light of this important comment, and indeed the whole of Porvoo, I
thought the Society would be interested to know about a personal
experience of the Porvoo Agreement being brought into reality in
northern Sweden.

I was ordained deacon in 1988 and priest in 1989 in the Church of
England. I worked first as a curate at Wymonham Abbey in Norfolk and,
from January 1992, as rector of the Felmingham group of parishes, also
in the Norwich Diocese.

In June 1996 my wife and I, with our tree children, decided on a
complete change of direction.  After much thought and prayer we decided
to move to Sweden.  We moved to Skelleftea, a town in the north of the
country, which is also my wife's home town.  A few weeks after our
arrival, I was approached by one of the local Lutheran churches to
celebrate the Eucharist in English, according to the Anglican Rite.  The
response to this has been very encouraging.  Also, when the parish
learned of my wish to work as a priest in the Church of Sweden, they
have given me much practical and prayerful support.  The entire
congregation at Moro Backe Church has given me every encouragement. 

Leading worship in Swedish

The priests of the church, Thorbjorn Bolander, Erik Berggren and Per
Lundstrom, have taken me under their wing to such an extent that I was
able to led the Sunday worship in Swedish one Sunday in January.  I have
also received much encouragement from the Rt Rev Rune Backlund, Bishop
of Lulea Diocese.

what the future holds I leave in God's hands, but I continue to study
Swedish and work towards the day when I can play a full part in the
Swedish Lutheran Church.  All this is possible because of the Porvoo
Agreement.

Porvoo is not just a piece of paper.  It is an agreement that is
working, practically and spiritually, here in the north of Sweden.  It
is an agreement which means that I, an Anglican priest, can begin to
play a part in the life, work and witness of the Lutheran Church in
Skelleftea, Sweden.