St John Chrysostom and St Gregory of Nazianzos
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St John Chrysostom and St Gregory of Nazianzos
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Some Information About Our Church
We started in 2006 to serve the Orthodox Christians in the area and those
interested in Orthodoxy. Initially the community was very small and based
around the University of Wales in Lampeter, but has grown steadily ever
since it started. We retain close links with the University, particularly
the
Centre For Orthodox Studies. Many of the staff are part of our congregation.
We originally had all of our services at available times in the University Chapel.
Since we started as a university community, our patron saints are the Three Hierarchs
(St Basil the Great, St John Chrysostom and St Gregory of Nazianzos), traditional patron saints of education in the Byzantine Church.
Our church belongs to that part of the Church under the Patriarch of Constantinople
- known as the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It is, and always has been, a multi-national
part of the Church. This worshipping community has received the blessing of
Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain, primate of the Greek Orthodox
Church in the UK.
We are a part of the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox church. Although there are some Greeks and Cypriots in our church you should not expect us to be a church FOR Greeks only. In much the same way that you would not expect a Roman Catholic church to only cater for Italians. The term "Greek Orthodox" is used to indicate the rites and traditions used in the church - as distinct from other sets of traditions, such as Russian Orthodox.
We are a mission church. However, what that means is that the Orthodox church has identified
some baptised Orthodox in this area and has given us the services of a priest in order to
aid our spiritual growth. In other words we, the congregation, are the recipients of
the mission. We do not seek converts. We are members of a non-conversionary religion.
We are not here to compete with any other Christians. We are here
to bear witness to the most ancient, uninterrupted traditions of the Church.
We seek to represent Orthodoxy and to serve those who would travel to our services. We welcome visitors and those interested in converting to Orthodoxy.
We express deep gratitude to the members of Soar Chapel. Although we are only renting a room in their adjacent hall, they are allowing us to keep our iconostasis, icons and other paraphernalia up at all times. This gives us the advantage of a fully working church available at any time, even though we do not own our own property.
We are a mixed congregation of Greek, Cypriot, British, American, Irish and Welsh origins, to name only a few.
Several of the members of our church are converts to Orthodoxy. They come from a
wide range of different Christian backgrounds, and sometimes no previous Christian
origins at all.
The services are conducted in English.
The Orthodox Church does not fit into the Western differentiation between the Roman Catholic / Protestant bodies.
It is much older and is fundamentally different in a number of important ways.
The Orthodox Church IS the Early Church.
It has never deviated from the fundamental Faith of the Apostles.
The Orthodox Church is attractive to many people in the West because it preserves
the fundamentals of the Apostolic Faith and morals, and because it does not change
to conform with the latest fashions and whims of Society.
The Orthodox Church is said to be the only Episcopal Church that is growing in
Britain today.
We welcome visitors who come with a genuine
desire to find and worship God.
When you arrive you will probably find that
something is already happening, light a candle and find a place to stand.
Watch and listen. If you find standing for a length of time difficult please sit;
but be prepared to stand for the censings, processions, reading of the Gospel
and the saying of the Creed and Lord's Prayer.
The Orthodox Church does not give Communion to non-Orthodox. Anyone who receives Communion in the Orthodox Church is because they are a full member of the Orthodox Church. Anyone who is outside the church is expected to wait until they are inside the church before partaking of Communion.
The Sunday Liturgy lasts about an hour and a half.
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