Many Years!
By appointment with Fr Stephen or one of the clergy
The 25th Anniversary celebrations were a very great success. We had a lot of people, perhaps as many as 300 in total, and the Liturgy, Lunch and Vespers went very well. Lots of people were involved in a considerable number of different activities: the choir; preparing the lunch; table decorations; generous donations of money; komboskini; icon prints and commemorative glass coasters for the VIPs; printing the cards; putting up and taking down the marquees; cleaning before and cleaning afterwards; publishing the history; decorating the church, football stadium and the marquee; car parking; organising new servers' vestments; painting an icon; making a fantastic cake; getting the champagne from France; and of course holding the whole thing together. We have had lots of complimentary comments and thanks, and everyone enjoyed their day. So thank you very much, one and all. The souvlaki lunch provided by the Vanezi family on 4th September raised £600.66. Many congratulations to everyone! It was a great day.
Fr Stephen
We were delighted to receive an icon of the Meeting of the Lord given to us by our Roman Catholic friends from the cathedral and St Winifride's. This was a very kind gesture and is greatly appreciated.
Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me [Mark 8 : 34].
This quotation comes from the Gospel reading that we have heard today, which is that chosen for the Sunday following the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. And although it was addressed to a specific audience two thousand years ago, it is still very relevant to us in the twenty-first century.
The spiritual formation of a Christian believer - and, in particular, an ORTHODOX Christian believer - is such that we are called upon to make sacrifices. If this were not the case, what we see in front of us today in this beautiful church would never have come about, since it is the result of sacrifices on the part of many people. Eastern Orthodoxy, with its extended periods of fasting, penitential prostrations and lengthy prayers (and much else), is seen by many commentators as an ascetic faith. The spiritual formation of those who ask to be received into our Faith is arduous and entails much study and intensity of conviction; and it is probably true to say that a good half of the congregation today was not raised from childhood in the Orthodox Faith. You have accepted the Faith 'once delivered unto the saints' having full knowledge and conviction. Some of you have even had to give up the security of a job and a home to follow their consciences. For this reason, those of us who were born into Orthodox Christian families look to you as witnesses to the truth, depth and vitality of our Faith, which is not confined to one culture (except it be the Christian culture), one nation (unless it be the 'holy nation'), one language (unless it be the language that the heavens declare), and yet is a family united in faith and belief in the Lord Whose Resurrection we celebrate Sunday by Sunday.
It goes without saying that it is a great joy and privilege to be here with you today, as you celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of this Community in Shrewsbury. You have a worthy priest in the person of Father Stephen, who has been responsible for the training and mentoring of a sizeable number of English-speaking clergy serving in the Midlands and the North of England. He has also managed to involve all his beloved family in the life of the Church; and today I have had the joy of conferring on his son Guy - whom many here will know by his Orthodox name of Panteleimon - the office of Under-deacon. From time-to-time, our Church sets apart certain men to serve in an auxiliary capacity. You will all know, the Orders of Reader and Cantor are conferred through the laying-on of hands on men who are set apart to either read the Sacred Texts of the Old Testament and the Epistles to be found in the New Testament (thus proclaiming the Word of God) or to chant the hymns laid down by the Church to instruct the Faithful as they worship throughout the year. Indeed, such is the content of the poetry of the hymns that they are called upon to chant that they too become preachers - albeit musically - of the truths of our Christian Faith. The role of Under-deacon, to which we have today set Guy apart, is somewhat different. The Cantor and Reader serve the People of God outside the Altar, the sanctuary in which the Holy Table is to be found. The Under-deacon is blessed to enter this Sanctuary and assist the priest and deacon (and, indeed, a bishop, when he is present) with more intimate spiritual matters, as well as in the right celebration of Divine Worship. For this reason, these are not duties to be taken up without due consideration; nor is it an Office which a bishop should confer lightly and without knowing that the candidate is of 'good report'. The congregation has had a role to place in this, through assenting to his suitability by agreeing with the word "Axios" (He is worthy) to my actions.
Frequently (but not always), an Under-deacon prepares himself for future ordination to the Diaconate - itself a massive step for one committed to the life of the Church. Thus his experiences in the Altar help and guide him to the next stage of his serving Almighty God and His people. At the same time, he sets an example for other members of the congregation and a standard to which they should aim. I therefore pray that Panteleimon will remain steadfast in Faith and that he will have the support of his family as he progresses and learns more about the responsibilities that will be required of him. In addition, I hope that it will not be long before I shall be in a position to ordain him to the diaconate.
Also present here today is Father Stephen-Spyridon Bailey, whom I ordained to the diaconate last year and of whom I hear good and positive reports. I hope that it will not be long before I am in a position to ordain him to the priesthood, so that the elder Father Stephen will have an assistant in the person of the younger Father Stephen to share in the burdens of the life of a dedicated pastor and shepherd of the souls which the Archdiocese has committed to him.
Concluding these brief remarks, I should like to thank you for having accepted the invitation to be here today and to share in the celebrations of this significant event in the life of this congregation. Remain steadfast in the Faith that the God-fearing and God-inspired Holy Fathers of the First Oecumenical Council of Nicaea proclaimed; and continue through your daily lives of sacrifice and Christian love to show forth the works of the Triune God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - until such day as we will hear the words of our Saviour as he calls us, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" [Matt. 25: 21].
HIS EMINENCE ARCHBISHOP GREGORIOS
May our love and prayers be with as you celebrate 25 years of your parish in Shrewsbury. We pray that the parish will continue to flourish and continue in God's love. A huge Thank You for all the time and work you have dedicated to the camp over the years….lessons, talks, helping secure our campsite, gardening, helping with the set up and take down, many many feasts and cakes… the list is endless and we cannot thank you enough! Love in Christ,
All at GOYGB Summer Camp
We now have two Christmas cards for sale, one of our Romanian icon of the Mother of God and one of Christ with a starry background. They are available in packs of 5 at £2.50 a pack, with envelopes, of course. They may be had from the bookstall or they may be ordered by post but please add a further £1 for postage. Send order and money to Fox Cottage, Albrighton, Shrewsbury SY4 3AG. Make cheques payable to the “Community of the Holy Fathers”.
The Pantomime this year in Shrewsbury is ‘Aladdin'. We hope to organise a party to go to this on Sunday 1st January at 2pm (This is because Christmas Day falls this year on a Sunday). If you would like to go please contact Presvytera Catherine on 01939 291078 as soon as possible, as tickets are beginning to sell very fast! We should be able to get a group booking, so tickets will cost £9.
We now have some very splendid “Stikaria” for the servers to wear, which fit them much better. The firm in Thessaloniki were very efficient, and despite only starting to make them on 5th September, we had them in time for John and Daniel to wear for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. If you would like to “Sponsor a Stikarion” please give your contribution to Alice Maxfield – they averaged £125 each.
With this copy of the Spring you will receive a few Christmas Draw tickets to sell. There are some very good prizes this year so we hope that they will sell well. These include an iPad worth £400, a case of vintage wine i.e. 12 bottles, a meal for two at Simpsons in Birmingham, and £50 holiday voucher for the U.K. or abroad, and many more. This is an important part of the Community income so please do your best to sell them as soon as possible. If you really cannot sell them, please do not throw the tickets away but let us have them back for someone else to sell.
7.30pm Saturday 10th December - Malt House, Atcham
Tickets £10 adults, £5 children
Refreshments
The draw will take place at this event.
As we have had so much to do during the summer there will be no Christmas Fair this year. If you are making things or collecting things for the Fair, please carry on, as we shall organise ways to sell them but in a different way.
Fr Stephen
THE NEXT SALE WILL TAKE PLACE ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 9th.
Many Years!