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Fellowship Newsletter |
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No 49 January 2002 NEW BISHOP FOR RUSSIAN ORTHODOX
DIOCESE
The new bishop's role will involve both churchly and scholarly concerns. Whereas his pastoral oversight will be concentrated mainly on the needs of the large numbers of new Russian immigrants, especially those in London, Bishop Hilarion will be based in Cambridge, where he will occupy a research position at the Faculty of Divinity, in collaboration with the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies. The Fellowship will be providing a large portion of the funding necessary to secure this position. Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh,
one-time chaplain and a vice-president of the Fellowship, will not
retire from his position as head of the Diocese of Sourozh, but
will continue in charge, assisted by Bishop Basil of Sergievo and
Bishop Hilarion of Kerch. Archbishop Anatoly, the former Archbishop
of Kerch, has retired as assistant bishop within the Sourozh Diocese,
but will remain as priest-in-charge of the Russian parish in Manchester,
where he hopes to see through the community's plans to build a new
church. DIFFICULTIES FOR JERUSALEM PATRIARCHATE According to reports from the Holy Land, the Israeli government's refusal to recognise the newly elected Orthodox Patriarch Irenaeus of Jerusalem is beginning to cause difficulties for the Jerusalem Patriarchate. Accused of being a pro-Palestinian activist, the Patriarch's enthronement in September was boycotted by Israeli representatives. When questioned about his sympathies, Patriarch Irenaeus replied: 'I am not pro-Palestinian, nor pro-Israeli, nor pro-anything. I am only pro-God.' An interesting dimension to the whole question of the role of the Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem is that of financial status. The patriarchate remains one of the biggest single landowners in Israel, with real estate including the land on which both the Israeli parliament building and the presidential palace are built. FELLOWSHIP 'ROADSHOW' From March 2nd-March 12th, the Fellowship will be touring with the choir of the St Petersburg Theological Academy, who will be visiting Britain sponsored jointly by the Fellowship and the St Andrew's Trust. The choir will sing at special services and concerts in various places, including London, Oxford, Cambridge, St Albans, Harlech, Manchester and Durham it is hoped to organise programmes of talks and lectures in some of the venues. A display about the life of the Orthodox Church, her relationship with other Christian denominations and the work of the Fellowship will accompany the choir. It is also hoped to organise a stall selling books, icons and CDs. Further details will follow in the next Newsletter. NEW VOLUME OF THE SYNAXARION PUBLISHED Volume Three of the Synaxarion (lives of the saints used in the services and daily meditative reading in the Orthodox tradition) has recently been published, about a year after the untimely death of the translator, Christopher Hookway. The work brings together material from the Byzantine and Slav lives with supplementary material on the lives of saints of the Christian West from the pre-schism period. Work is continuing on translating the remaining three volumes for publication. The new translator is Mother Maria, already well-known for her translations of the works of St Nikolai Velimirovic including the famous Prologue from Okhrid. The Synaxarion is published by the
Convent of the Annunciation in Ormylia, Northern Greece, but it
may be ordered in England from Elisabeth Hookway, tel: 01621 819357 ST THEOSEVIA CENTRE Our sister organisation, the St Theosevia Centre for Christian Spirituality has an interesting programme for the coming months. The main study days on the programme are as follows: Saturday 2 February 10.30 a.m.-4.00
p.m. Saturday 23 February 10.30 a.m.-4.00
p.m. Saturday 9 March 10.30 a.m.-4.00
p.m. For further information, or for bookings, contact the Warden, St Theosevia for Christian Spirituality, 2 Canterbury Road, Oxford OX2 6LU (tel and fax: 01865-310341, or e-mail sttheosevia@onetel.net.uk) DATES FOR YOUR DIARY The Fellowship pilgrimage to the shrine of St Alban within St Albans Abbey will take place on Saturday 26th June The Divine Liturgy at 10.30 a.m. will be followed by a talk in the afternoon. Further details to follow. The Fellowship's AGM will take place at 3 p.m. on Thursday 22nd August at The Friars Conference Centre, Aylesford, Kent. FELLOWSHIP CONFERENCE 2002 This year's conference will take
place once again in the remarkable Carmelite priory at The Friars,
Aylesford, from Monday 19th-Friday 23rd August. The theme will be
'Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints';
the conference will examine the role of the saints in Eastern and
Western Christian traditions as well as considering the part they
have to play in restoring all to unity in Christ. The programme
will include lectures, informal talks, discussion groups, worship,
and excursions to local places of Christian interest. Speakers to
be announced. The cost of the conference will be £210 for
the full week. A deposit of £50 is required to secure a reservation.
Contact the office for details. A WORD FROM THE TREASURER May I express my thanks to all the 376 members who have already completed a Gift Aid declaration. As a result of doing this the Fellowship has been able to gain and extra £2130 a year in income from the government . There are many who are not tax payers and therefore cannot donate in this way but there are still 118 members who could make a declaration. If you are a tax-payer and rank among the 118 may I ask if you would be so kind as to complete the form below and send it to the office. Thank you very much. Ivo Morshead …………………………………………………………………………………… To: The Fellowship of Saint Alban
and Saint Sergius, I wish the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius to treat all donations I have made since 6th April 2000 and all donations that I make from the date of this declaration until I notify you otherwise as Gift Aid donations Signature: …………………………….. Date:…………………………………. (Please ensure that you are paying
enough income tax or capital gains tax to cover the 28p in the £1
that we shall recover. Also please inform us if you cease to pay
such tax or capital gains tax in the future . |
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January
14th (January 1st by the old church calendar, the feast of St Basil
the Great) saw the consecration of a new bishop of the Russian Orthodox
Church to serve as an assistant bishop within the Diocese of Sourozh
(the diocese of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchal Church in Great
Britain and Ireland). Bishop Hilarion of Kerch was consecrated by
Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and All Russia in the recently rebuilt
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Moscow. Bishop Hilarion, formerly
head of the inter-Christian affairs section of the Russian Church's
department for external relations, is already well-known to many
members of the Fellowship through his appearance at Fellowship conferences
and other related events. A patristic scholar and theologian, the
bishop completed his doctoral thesis at Oxford in only two years,
under the supervision of Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia.