For over a decade, during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, St. Mary & St. Felix British Orthodox Church at Babingley, on the Sandringham Estate, has made its contribution  a lecture followed by the Raising of Evening Incense. The snow and poor weather conditions in January, however, obliged this to be postponed and it was rescheduled to 1 June when the weather was better, even if not summer.

The speaker was a Norfolk lawyer, Nicholas Crampton, founder of ‘Eastern Christian Links’,  an organisation established some years ago to foster understanding with and promote knowledge of the Christian Churches of the East. His subject “Nicaea Revisited” was an eloquent appeal to treat the first Ecumenical Council, held in Nicaea in 325,  as a foundation stone of theological dialogue between all mainstream Christian traditions. 

On Saturday, 22nd June, Abba Seraphim will celebrate the Orthodox Liturgy of St James for a second time at the historic Church of St Andrew, Clewer, Windsor. The Orthodox Mission of St Andrew worship at St Andrew’s thanks to the generous hospitality of the Revd. Louise.

Raising of Incense will begin at 9:30 am, with the Liturgy itself beginning at 10:00 am.

After the Liturgy we will share in refreshments and a ‘bring to share’ buffet lunch in the Lodge House at the edge of the churchyard.

Our mission at Windsor is pan-Orthodox, and members of all Orthodox communities, and any other interested friends and enquirers are warmly invited to worship with us on this occasion.

For further details please contact [email protected] and visit the mission website at www.orthodoxwindsor.co.uk

Abba Seraphim was among the ten European Bishops of the Alexandrian Patriarchate who are met with His Holiness Pope Tawadros at a conference at St. Antonios Monastery in Obersiebenbrun near Vienna. between 27-30 May. He was accompanied by Father Simon Smyth and Tasoni Sheila Smyth, representing the clergy and laity of the British Orthodox Church.

On 27 May Pope Tawadros and the Bishops in Europe attended a Reception given by Pro Oriente to mark the 10th anniversary of the legal registration of the Coptic Church in Austria, which hosted by His Eminence Cardinal Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna at his residence in Vienna. During the proceedings Pope Tawadros graciously accepted the title of ‘Protector of Pro Oriente’

22 May

The appalling attack on a local soldier by militant extremists, which took place in Woolwich, south London, this afternoon, occurred only a short walk from the BOC Church Secretariat. Abba Seraphim was home at the time and noticed the sound of helicopters overhead. In a statement this evening he said that our prayers go out for the victim and his friends and family as well as his colleagues at the Woolwich Barracks. In an area where local people have worked hard to promote good community relations among a diverse population, this must appear as a significant setback. He hoped, therefore, that religious and community leaders, of all traditions, would be absolute in their condemnation of this brutal murder and unequivocal in their rejection of violence – both in their language and their actions – as only this can restore trust and respect, which the evil perpetrators were clearly intent on destroying.

Although the Church in Cusworth Village, near Doncaster, Yorkshire, was opened in 1965, it wasn’t until 1988 that it became Orthodox. It was consecrated by Abba Seraphim on 30 April 1988 and celebrated its Silver Jubilee as an Orthodox Church over the weekend 18-19 May.

The celebration began on Saturday morning with the arrival of Abba Seraphim and the Raising of Morning Incense, during which he spoke about the significance of the Jubilee and the fact that it was not simply looking back, but also looking forward to the future. In addition to Father David Seeds, the parish priest, and Archdeacon Alexander Astill, they were joined by Father Simon Smyth and representatives of the BOC South Coast congregations, Deacon Christopher Barnes representing the Babingley Church, as well as Fathers Habtom Ftuwi, the Eritrean Orthodox priest in Manchester; Fr. Yonas Tesheme, the Eritrean Orthodox priest in Sheffield, along with Eritrean Orthodox faithful; as well as our good friend, Archimandrite Deiniol of the Wales Orthodox Mission and friends from other parts of the country.  Among the many messages of greetings received and read out were those from His Grace Bishop Makarios, overseer of the Eritrean Church in the diaspora, the Catholic Bishop of Hallam and the Anglican Vicar of Doncaster.

After a buffet lunch, traditional Eritrean hymns were sung in Tigrinyan and English in the churchyard and Abba Seraphim gave a talk on “The State of Christians in Ancient Bible Lands”.  The day concluded with the Raising of Evening Incense.

On Sunday, 19 May, Father David Seeds celebrated the special Thanksgiving Liturgy for the Jubilee and Father Simon Smyth preached the homily.