On Thomas Sunday, 8 May, Abba Seraphim preached at St. Alban’s Church, Chatham, on the Lord’s Resurrection appearance to the Apostle Thomas, where he specifically confronted Thomas’ doubts. Questioning is inherent in our human condition, but it can be used by the Devil to entice us away from truth. Doubt is part of our journey of faith and is not in itself wrong. There is an honesty about it because it faces up to intellectual challenge, to issues in our personal lives and to conflicting emotions and unstable mood swings. Like Thomas, it is only through a personal encounter with the Risen Christ that we can overcome these challenges and be brought to a deep and enduring Christian faith.

At the Cusworth Church the congregation celebrated Thomas Sunday with the baptism of two adult catechumens, Natalie Steive Riches and Brynie Louise Blackham, who had been under instruction by Father David for several weeks and were now admitted to the fellowship of the Church and received their first communion. Also joining them was one of our church members from Lincoln. The Cusworth congregation is a healthy mix of ethnic Orthodox and local South Yorkshire folk, who have found strength through the Orthodox Faith. Father David observed, “Our Mission is to bring the fullness of faith to all local people, which is a universal gift and not the preserve of any particular culture or ethnicity.”