Saint Polycarp

Following initial contact by Mary Goodchild, co-ordinator for the British Orthodox Fellowship in Southampton, with the Rev’d Richard Burningham, vicar ofHolyTrinityChurch, Weston,Southampton, Father Simon made an ecumenical visit to the Church on 28 August.  The British British Orthodox Church plans to worship there on Saturday mornings once a month in Holy Trinity Church and discussions are ongoing with other church users so as to ensure a regular Saturday each month.  Current planning is for 9.00 a.m. on the third Saturday each month, hopefully starting in October.  As soon as the discussions are concluded a further announcement will follow.  Most months the worship will be Morning Prayer but it is also hoped to celebrate occasional Liturgies and certainly at least annually around the Feast Day of Saint Polycarp, the patron of the British Orthodox Southampton Fellowship.

Father Simon expressed great delight at this development in the work of the British Orthodox Church on the South Coast.  “Some twenty years ago when I joined the British Orthodox Church our only South Coast presence was the Bournemouth Church.  We have recently celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of that Church building, Christ the Saviour, have seen the development of the Portsmouth Mission founded just a few years ago into the Church of Saint Mary the Mother of God and Saint Moses the Black and now we have the new work in Southampton under the patronage of Saint Polycarp.  As well as providing a more local presence for our Southampton members, enquirers and friends the Southampton Fellowship further consolidates our presence along the South Coast: Bournemouth, Southampton, Portsmouth…  This is an encouraging move forward in our work and witness and I commend the British Orthodox Fellowship in Southampton to the prayers of all our people.”

Following the opening of St. John the Evangelist Coptic Orthodox Church at Bromley and the establishment of brotherly ties with its priest, Father Antonius Nagib, and members of the congregation, Father Sergius Scott, who has served as a General Priest since he relinquished the pastoral care of the Charlton congregation; met with Abba Seraphim to request a transfer to work in Bishop Antony’s Coptic Diocese of Ireland, Scotland, the North East of England and its affiliated regions. As this would enable him to have more frequent access to worship and the sacraments and to be more actively involved in general church life than is currently available at Charlton, Abba Seraphim gave his blessing to this request, whilst Bishop Antony was happy to welcome him. In commending him to Bishop Antony’s care Abba Seraphim thanked Father Sergius for his long years of service and wished him well in his new ministry at Bromley.

His Holiness Pope Shenouda, accompanied by a number of  Coptic bishops, recently visited Budapest to receive an honorary doctorate from Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Budapest for his outstanding academic work in humanities, especially in literature, philosophy and the history of sciences. On 19 August he was welcomed by the University’s President (György Fodor)  and Cardinal Péter Erdő. The next day, at the invitation of the Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister, Zsolt Semjén, he attended celebrations for the Hungarian National Day. Mr Semjén, who is also responsible for religious affairs, said that the visit by Pope Shenouda was a landmark event in East-West religious dialogue. His Holiness participated in the official ceremony at the parliament building where he met President Pál Schmitt, who decorated him with the Hungarian medal of State. He then joined Zsolt Semjén to attend Mass in St Stephen’s Basilica. On 21 August His Holiness consecrated the first Coptic Orthodox inBudapest’s eighteenth district, during which he anointed and consecrated the altar and the icons.

Photo source: hungarianambiance.com

The congregation of St Alban’s Orthodox Church in Chatham are very pleased to have the beautiful veil for the iconostasis now hanging in place. This veil was a gift from Abba Seraphim and was manufactured in Egypt. It was brought back to the UK by one of our members after a recent visit. The old veil was replaced by Roman, another of our members, who has put in a great deal of effort to make sure that the veil opens smoothly, and is at just the right height. We are very grateful to him. Roman has also repaired and replaced the hanging sign outside the Church, which you will see if you are able to visit St Albans.

The British Orthodox Church is pleased to announce that a Coptic Language Summer School has been organised by Father Peter Farrington with the blessing and support of H.E. Metropolitan Seraphim and the sponsorship of the British Orthodox Church.

The student numbers are limited to approximately 10, and places are already filling up.

The details are as follows:

Coptic Language Summer School
King’s College, London

Monday 5th – Thursday 8th September, 2011

Session 1: 11:00-13:00
Lunch and Discussion Break: 13:00-14:00
Session 2: 14:00-16:00

The tutor will be Dr Carol Downer, an experienced and well qualified lecturer in the Coptic language.

The course material will be based on Introduction to Sahidic Coptic by Thomas O. Lambdin.

The cost of the School is £60, payable in advance.

Those wishing to book a place should urgently contact the School organiser:

Father Peter Farrington – [email protected]

and make an online payment of £60 using the following link..

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=XSUHUEF8VMSLN