The Holy Consecration of our Church by Archbishop Gregorios.

A time of Prayer, Completion and Celebration! This has be an unforgettable occasion for us all. The completion of our efforts which have taken us 21 years since the first Liturgy of our Community, held in Wigan in November 1989 with about 24 people present, many of them non-Orthodox. Since then there have been twists and turns on our journey, but now we have changed from being a wandering people into a settled people, the church from being a temporary home into a permanent home for us all.

His Eminence was very happy to be with us, and he has been supportive of our efforts for many years. We prayed in preparation in the weeks beforehand, and on the Saturday. 70 people present for Vespers, 48 people receiving Anointing at the service of Holy Oil. All of us moved by the presence of God. On the Sunday morning we gathered during the service of Orthros, preparing our hearts for the Consecration service of The Rite with 220 people there. We all witnessed the work of His Eminence in the “Baptism” of the Church. The Relics brought into the Church; The Relics being sealed into the Altar; the washing of the Altar; the Anointing; and the Clothing of the Altar in new garments. Then, like any person who has been baptised, we were there for the Holy Liturgy and receiving Holy Communion. This was followed by Celebration, as we shared the meal together at the Leyland Hotel.

Our thanks are given to each of you for your part in preparing and serving on this unrepeatable day. May the God of Heaven and Earth Bless You!

The Ordination of Father Deacon Dionysius-James.

During the Holy Liturgy of the Consecration, Sub-Deacon James Higgs was ordained as Deacon, to serve the Church here in Leyland. Father Deacon Dionysius Higgs, and his wife Bec, will be of great help to us in the spiritual and practical development of our Community. For the time being they will be coming up from Telford where they currently live, probable once a month. When they have been able to arrange their work, as well as where they will live, they will hopefully be with us all the time. For the time being he is continuing his training with Protopresbyter Stephen Maxfield in Shrewsbury.

The Greek Evening.

It has been some years since we held a Greek evening and personally, We were really looking forward to a fun time. It was excellent! Really nice for everyone to get together, chat, laugh, dance, enjoy the music. Our sincere thanks go to  our Chairman Gregory and to Christos and Martine Gaitatzis for all the effort they put in to the organising of this event. It was deliberately planned to take place shortly  before the Consecration to help raise awareness of the coming very special weekend; it certainly did help.

If you missed it, don’t miss the next one!

The tabletop sale

This was held in September in our Hall to help raise funds for Church. Thank you Ellie Dewhurst and family and to Maro Shaw for all the hours’ preparation for this event. Not many people came along, we didn’t make pots of money ( about £90) but everyone who came also looked around the Church, along with  Anthony Laledakis  and Fr Christodoulos ; they loved their visit, so we may see them again. One visitor arranged to bring her group of young Beavers (a uniformed organisation for young people) to visit Church  a week or two later under the care of Fr Christodoulos; this was a happy time. So, it was a success!

Hopefully, another tabletop sale will take place before too long, so be ready to help with time and bits and pieces to sell….more details later.

25^th Anniversary celebrations at Chester

25 years ago, there was the beginning of the Orthodox Church in Chester. It was the first in the whole area where the language was English. This resulted in a number of English people becoming Orthodox, as well as the start of Communities in Shrewsbury and ourselves here in Leyland. It is remarkable also in the fact that out of those who have been associated with it, four of them have been ordained as priests. They are to be visited by His Eminence on Sunday 12^th December. He will be conducting the Holy Liturgy to mark this special occasion, and afterwards there will be a meal at Mollington Grange Golf Club. If you would like to be there, please take one of the leaflets from the table in the Church Hall. It will be a great day!

New friends at Church

Almost every week, we are delighted to welcome new people at the Holy Liturgy. This is just what we want, to see the newly-consecrated Church filling up. Make a point of greeting new folk and sitting down together with them for refreshments after the Liturgy. Offer a pen and card for them to leave details so we can keep in touch.

Gregory on Radio Lancashire

The Sunday following the Consecration our Chairman Gregory was invited to take part in the early morning programme; he did his best to speak enthusiastically and clearly  about our Orthodox faith- not an easy task when the radio team keeps slipping in some music items, interrupting his flow! Many thanks!

Chrismations

It was a great joy to receive Iain and Elena into the Holy Orthodox Church early in September. Iain has taken the name  of St.John the Fore-Runner, Elena has taken St Helena, Emperor Constantine’s mother. Congratulations and Many Years!

Holy Baptism

On Sunday 31 October, young James, son of Glory and Liju Peter, will be baptised before the Holy Liturgy. If you can be there to support the family, please be at Church around 10.15 am.

Parish lunch

Thank you to Agni and her Family for delicious lunches the last couple of weeks in celebration of family events!

Sunday 14 November is our last day before the Nativity Fast begins; a Parish Lunch would be a good thing to have that day so bring your favourite meat dishes and dairy products that we can all enjoy before we endeavour to keep the fast for 6 weeks in preparation for Holy Nativity.

Church cleaning day- Thursday 11^th November

Our Church needs another good clean- A great Consecration leaves a great mess! On Thursday 11 November we plan a cleaning day. Recently, we have cleaned after Church on Sunday- this is not a good time for Fr Christodoulos and Pres. Mary as they are extremely tired by then!

So, if you can help on 11 November, Fr and Pres. plan to be there from around lunchtime; whether you can clean  for an hour or a few hours your help will be appreciated.

Condolences

We offer our condolences to Dr Anastasia Lionaki and her Family on the recent death of their Mother. May her Memory be Eternal.

Gregory’s new home

Our Chairman Gregory has now moved to his new home at 58 Kingswood Rd, Leyland, PR25 2UN.

The process of moving home is sufficient in itself to occupy all one’s time. Gregory has done this whilst he has been attending to all the important work as our Chairman/Treasurer (NOT a simple work in itself!).

Congratulations Gregory and may you have many Happy Years there!

Advance notice –

Fr Christodoulos and Presbytera Mary will be away from after the Holy Liturgy on the 16^th of January until the 25^th of February. They are going to New Zealand to see their son Daniel, his wife Karen and their 2 children. Sadly, it will be summer there, so they will miss all the lovely snow and rain of the English Winter. Replacement Priests have been arranged, so the Sunday services will be held as normal.