Welcome

Welcome to our website which we hope will be of interest or a source of information to you. Ours is a parish of the Antiochian Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, which is in communion with all the canonical Orthodox Churches and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. In line with Orthodox practice, our services are in the language of the people; in our case, English, Orthodox visitors of other backgrounds saying the Lord's Prayer in their native tongue. 

The Orthodox Church lies in a tradition that goes back in an unbroken line to the Church of the Apostles and the earthly life of Christ Himself. We are often portayed as a very conservative church but this is a matter of faith and history; one cannot change the truth to fit into a very fleeting, passing, timescale when viewed with the eternity of God and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

In our church you will see many icons of Christ, the Mother of God and many saints and sacred events; a feature of Orthodoxy that proclaims the Incarnation of our Lord and God Jesus Christ and are often referred to as "windows into heaven". The priestly vestments are very beautiful; not for the glorification of the clergy but for the glory of sinful humanity transformed by the Grace of God. The Divine Liturgy is the principal service, when the faithful may receive the Body and Blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Incense is used in all our services and permeates the fabric of the church itself. Thus we have a church that is internally very beautiful visually, has the aroma of sanctity and our ears are filled with beautiful music (Just human voices: instruments are not allowed). In some way the church building reflects the glory of Heaven and a place fitting for God.

Anyone may come to our church to "have a look" and you are assured of a warm welcome. Do not worry about how to act or what to do; just let the experience take care of itself. If you need any information about any aspect of our church or the Orthodox Church in general, do not hesitate to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Fr. George (Evans), Parish Priest.

Fr George's Letter for September

Our World

1^st September is the start of the Church’s New Year when we begin the annual cycle of the liturgical year with all its Festivals,  Fasts etc. It is also The Orthodox Christian Day of Prayers for the Environment instituted by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch XDimitrios who issued “An Encyclical Letter on the Day of Protection of the Environment”  in 1989. That was 29 years ago and among other things he mentions global warming and the greenhouse effect and here we are still talking about it.

This may seem to some to be a modern notion not quite what we would expect of a religious leader. Not so, we are all called upon to cherish and nurture this earth which God gave us. The following quote from his Encyclical is very relevant:

“Unfortunately, in our days, under the influence of extreme rationalism and self-centredness, man has lost the sense of the sacredness of creation and acts as its arbitrary ruler and rude violator. Instead of the eucharistic and ascetic spirit with which the Orthodox Church brought up her children for centuries, we observe today a violation of nature.... man’s endless and constantly increasing desires of lust, encouraged by the prevailing philosophy of the consumer society.” 

We say in the Creed of God to be “Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.” Yet we behave as if it is our right to constantly plunder the earth and give nothing back. This is the road to disaster. The environment is to be prayed for on 1^st September, but we should pray for it all year round and as far as we can, do our little bit in protecting and looking after God’s Great Creation which was GIVEN TO US!                  

Much Love,

Fr. George.  

The ladies from the Food Bank collected our contribution on Friday and were very pleased with our wonderful gift. However, they are desperately short of toiletries etc. and would be grateful for things on the following list:

Nappies, Baby wipes, Shampoo, Soap - bar or liquid, Shower or bath gel, Deodorant, Toothpaste, Toothbrushes, Shaving foam, Disposable razor and, Feminine hygiene products.

If we could collect the above for the next few weeks, we will then start collecting food for Christmas. Thank you.