Europe Blog (1)

Service for the Third Sunday of Epiphany – 21st January 2024

Welcome to St Paul’s Athens,   especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens. Please join us after the service for refreshments in the garden.

 

The worship is led by Licensed Reader Nelly Paraskevopoulou, who is also preaching.

 

Entrance  Hymn:  Introit: 415 (Lyngham) O for a thousand tongues to sing

 

Minister:  Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you

              All:            and also with you.

Minister:  O Lord, open our lips

              All:            and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Minister: Give us the joy of your saving help

             All:            and sustain us with your life-giving Spirit.

 

Prayers of Penitence

Minister:   Jesus says, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. So let us turn away from our sin and turn to Christ, confessing our sins in penitence and faith.

 

All: Lord God, we have sinned against you;

       we have done evil in your sight.

       We are sorry and repent.

       Have mercy on us according to your love.

       Wash away our wrongdoing and cleanse us from our sin.

       Renew a right spirit within us and restore us to the joy of your salvation;

       through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Minister:  May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us

in his image to the praise and glory of his name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All:            Amen

 Psalm       Congregational Psalm: 366 (Heathlands) God of mercy, God of grace (Psalm 67)

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Diocese in Europe Blog

Service for the Second Sunday of Epiphany – 14th January 2024

Welcome to St Paul’s Athens,   especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens. Deacon Christine Saccali leads our worship today, and Revd Dimitris Boukis is the preacher.

To make a donation by card to St. Paul’s we have a POS. Please come to coffee in the garden after the Liturgy.

 

Introit: 234 (Ratisbon) Christ, whose glory fills the skies

 

Minister:  Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you

All:            and also with you.

Minister:  O Lord, open our lips

All:            and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Minister: Give us the joy of your saving help

All:            and sustain us with your life-giving Spirit.

 

The minister then welcomes people informally.

 

Prayers of Penitence

Minister:   As we come to the Lord at the start of this New Year, let us seek his grace to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom as we confess our sins in penitence and faith.

 

All: Lord God, we have sinned against you;

       we have done evil in your sight.

       We are sorry and repent.

       Have mercy on us according to your love.

       Wash away our wrongdoing and cleanse us from our sin.

       Renew a right spirit within us and restore us to the joy of your salvation;

       through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Minister:  May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us

in his image to the praise and glory of his name, through Jesus Christ

our Lord.

All:            Amen

 

Congregational Psalm: 334 (Old Hundredth) All people that on earth do dwell (Psalm 100)

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sermon news

Sermon for Epiphany Sunday – 7th January 2024

Fr Terry Hemming – St Paul’s Athens

 

Did you see the pictures from the James
Webb telescope at the start of the year? 30
years in building at a cost of $10bn – it is
certainly colossal but the hope and so far the
results are that it will change our view of the
universe and our experience of it. On a more
mundane note I think in my lifetime of the use
of Velcro patented in 1955 and marketed in
the late 50’s– wonderful invention – so
obvious but never occurred to people before –
discoveries and inventions are like that. To go
back to the Webb telescope- it is possible
because of a thought in the mind of Albert
Einstein in the first part of the C20th – did not
change what is, but changed our relationship
to what is. Our knowledge changed and our
abilities to inhabit the universe changed. True
also of our knowledge of God. – God shows
himself – to Abraham, one God for all the
world, Moses as I Am Jehovah/Yahweh, to the
prophets as a God of moral values and not
just religious ritual. In the NT as we have been
thinking about at Christmas in the baby at
Bethlehem. Shock –no one had expected the
Messiah to come as a baby in Bethlehem.
Now a new thing. New understanding is the
theme of today.
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Epiphany

Service for Epiphany Sunday – 6th January 2024

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens.  God’s blessings for you in 2024. Happy New Year!

 

The presiding priest and preacher is Fr. Terry Hemming, assisted by Deacon Christine Saccali

 

Entrance Hymn  

Introit: 48 (Stuttgart) Bethlehem of noblest cities

 

Priest:  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

The Lord be with you.

 All:      and also with you

 

The priest then welcomes the people of God and then the deacon leads us into Confession.

Silence

Deacon: God be gracious to us and bless us, and make his face to shine upon us:

Kyrie eleison

All:          Kyrie eleison

Deacon: May your ways be known on earth, your saving power among the nations:

Christe eleison

All:          Christe eleison

Deacon: Lord, you have made known your salvation, and reveal your justice in the sight of the

nations:

Kyrie eleison

All:          Kyrie eleison

 

Absolution we hear the words of God’s forgiveness to those who are truly penitent

Almighty God, who forgives all who truly repent, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and keep you in life eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Gloria:   Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God, the glory of God the Father. Amen. AMEN

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sermon news

Sermon for the First Sunday of Christmas – 31st December 2023

Fr Terry Hemming – St Paul’s Athens

 

If you live in Athens you must be aware of a number of cross cultural marriages. When I ran marriage preparation classes I pointed out nearly all marriages are cross cultural because we bring our differing family traditions and my test used to be to get them to ask each other what they expected at Christmas.

One big difference we know about is the giving of gifts; should it be on December 6th when we remember the generosity of St Nicholas? Should it be on December 25th when we celebrate the birthday of our Lord? Should it be on January 1st when we think of St Basil and his wonderful idea of hiding the treasure/tax in the pie? Should it be on January 6th when we remember the magi arriving with their significant gifts? Should it be on January 7th in keeping with the old calendar? I am sure children would agree with me that the safe thing is to do it on all these occasions!

Did you notice in our Gospel the eagerness of the shepherds? They were in a hurry. They couldn’t wait. Just like children finding their presents.

Christmas is about generosity.

God’s generosity to us.

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Bible Study Blog

Minutes of September Council Meeting

387th meeting of St. Paul’s Chaplaincy Council – 10th September 2023 at 12 noon

Introduction: The Minutes of two previous meetings were approved, actions taken noted and the following were pending: rota for supervision of St. Paul’s Sunday merchandising table /a TRIO (The Responsibility is Our) financial presentation / official advice on church evacuation procedure in case of a major event.

The vacancy: Paperwork had been submitted and, following advice from our Bishop, amendments were made due to the importance of St. Paul’s within the Diocese and our fruitful relationships with the Orthodox Church and other faith groups. The post would now be advertised not only on the Diocesan website but also in the Church Times.

Finances: These were slowly recovering following losses due to Covid and helped by the much-appreciated legacy of the late Sylvia Hill. Looking forward, fundraising events needed to be expanded in order to avoid the use of UK funds.

Safeguarding: Certificate-holders were reminded to note the date of expiry and apply for new ones if necessary. Any congregation member could obtain Level 1 certification, free and with an online course.

Environment: Local Environment Officer (LEO), James Papageorgiou, presented his report and it was agreed that St. Paul’s should aim to become an Eco-Church as part of the Diocesan project to become a Green Diocese.

Chaplaincy Apartment: A new washing machine and some furniture needed replacing and the floor repairing due to flood damage earlier in the year caused by a blockage within the building.

Ministry Team and Locum (visiting priest): Assistant Chaplain Deacon Chris reported that the team was working successfully to ensure continuity of services and Diocesan Office would notify us of the availability of locums. Other Chaplaincies and individuals would also be approached for support.

Pastoral Care: Father Ted Wetherall, now elderly, had been hospitalised and official services were no longer held in Tolos. Phone calls and home visits to the sick and housebound continued and any cause for concern could be referred to our Ministry team or a council member for action.

Refugee Giving: The final date for distribution of these funds was approaching and Cosmo Murray of the ‘Mazi’ Housing Agency for homeless immigrants would give a Sunday presentation on their work.

Fundraising: Community Connect Coffee mornings, quiz evenings and book sales continued, the Harvest Festival would take place on 22nd October and the upper floor of the War Museum was booked for 3rd December.

The meeting closed with prayer at 2 p.m. – next meeting Sunday, 19th November.

Jean Mertzanakis (Hon. Secretary)

Europe Blog (1)

Service for the First Sunday of Christmas – 31st December 2023

The Anglican Church in Greece – St Paul’s Athens

 

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens. The presiding priest and preacher is Fr. Terry Hemming. The deacon is Deacon Christine Saccali

 

Hymn: 39 (Puer Nobis) Unto us a boy is born

 

Priest:  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

The Lord be with you.

All:       and also with you

Priest:  Hark! the herald angels sing

All:       Glory to the newborn King.

 

Priest:   As we come to the Lord at the start of this New Year

Let us seek his grace to number our days

That we may apply our hearts to wisdom

As we confess our sines in penitence and faith

A period of silent stillness follows

 

Deacon:  God our Father, you sent your Son, full of grace and truth: forgive our failure to receive him.

Kyrie eleison.

All:           Kyrie eleison.

Deacon:  Jesus our Saviour, you were born in poverty and laid in a manger: forgive our greed and rejection of your ways.

Christe eleison.

All:           Christe eleison

Deacon:  Spirit of love, your servant Mary responded joyfully to your call: forgive our hardness of heart.

Kyrie eleison.

All:           Kyrie eleison

 

Absolution we hear the words of God’s forgiveness to those who are truly penitent

Almighty God, who forgives all who truly repent, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and keep you in life eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

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sermon news

Sermon for Christmas Morning – 25th December 2023

St Paul’s Athens

 

Do you know who said,  it is better to light candle than curse the darkness? Well rather than John F Kennedy to whom it is often attributed it was first said by Peter Benenson, the English lawyer, who is famous for

founding Amnesty International.

I think that could well be our Christmas motto. The darkness is seen in the oppression of the Roman

Empire No one likes to be taxed by a foreign power and that was what was happening. No one likes the problems of gossip. That was what was happening. No one likes the problems of homelessness. There was no room for him in the inn. No one likes being afraid. The shepherds were

terrified. Not a promising start to the story of Christmas. Christmas doesn’t come to the good and the

comfortable. It is found at a time when all was dark. BUT in the midst of this is found a multitude of the

heavenly host with the volume turned up Glory to God

Peace on earth. It starts with the light shining in the darkness. We have had our lights here in St Paul’s. We see them all around Athens. Our task is to bring this light.

That is our task today and in the coming year.

To bring glory to God = to show that he is indeed the loving Father he says he is. To live under his rule and

show he is king in our lives. To bring peace on earth – to remove the suspicions and fear which cause the violence both verbal and physical which damage other people. What is light in this context? Not something which travels at 186,000 miles per second. Not something which is both a wave and a stream of photons. No, it is about bringing reality and hope to a world of darkness. Christmas has told us that a Saviour was born. The light is to show us we need to be rescued from our present condition. The light is to show us the right way. Yet the light is not only to be for us but from us. As we get ready to start again how are we going to be light? There is a lot of darkness around. Places where there is no hope, no peace, no joy. We are asked to bring light by our attitudes and by our actions. Are we those known to be grumpy and despondent? Or do we bring light with our knowledge that God has not left us alone? Do we bemoan the present problems of the world or do we work with those who are seeking to bring changes and to make things better? Not all are called to be Mother Theresas going out to live with the poor (though we need more), but all can support. Later on when the message of this Jesus was being preached throughout the Roman Empire Paul wrote to the church at Rome, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” Will you curse the darkness or will you try to shine a light to the world around you?

sermon news

Sermon for the Fouth Sunday of Advent – 24th December 2023

St Paul’s Athens

 

Well done for being in church on Christmas Eve – so many things to do. Sure there are many snowed under with shopping, cooking etc. but you have made it. Usually this is the cue for the preacher to talk about the true meaning of Christmas  being spiritual. I want to say the opposite- Christmas is not about spirituality but about physicality.

I want to avert your gaze from the spiritual to the flesh.

Now I admire and learn from my friends who are Muslims and Jews but find the idea of God becoming man not only nonsensical but blasphemous and I have sympathy with them. How can this thing be? It is too much for our little brains but I hope not for our hearts.

For many the spiritual and the material are at war. There is a permanent divide but not in Christianity. When God created everything he declared it good and at the end with men and women very good. That is why at Christmas the mingling of divine and human is possible. Emmanuel God is with us, God is in us God is one with us.

This is shocking. Jesus was a human as a baby, as he grew, as he died and now after his resurrection and ascension.

  1. Christmas celebrates the physical and the bodily.

The Word made flesh who dwelt among us. But let’s not romanticise it. I am glad I was born in the 20th century and live in the 21st century. We live in an age of shampoos and deodorants Jesus was born into a world where there was no remedial surgery or cosmetic dentistry where those disfigured displayed their handicaps to get alms from passers by. The fishermen did not smell of Chanel or Rive Gauche but of an earthier river bank! The animals who were there as an early form of central heating smelt of farmyard. It was a lip-smacking, belching, coughing and crying humanity to which Jesus came. One of our priests at Andover is a woman in her 20s experiencing her first pregnancy and she wrote this week, “I have become struck by…how polished our versions of this story have become…In reality, Jesus’s birth would have been much messier and much more human than we’ve really even allowed ourselves to imagine – a night of noise and discomfort resulting in a baby who emerged into the world naked and wailing. It all seems a little less twinkly when you think of it like that.” No crying he makes was not true.

2 Christmas shows us God values us as embodied human beings.

Not only in creation did God declare it was good when he created Adam and Eve but he gave his only son to rescue the physical.The Word made flesh came as the second Adam. The Word not on the printed page, not in angelic voices but in flesh and blood.

Later on the story will tell us how this physical body was raised from the dead and is ascended into heaven. There is a human who is our high priest in the courts of heaven

This coming week.

Remember how God chose to bring in his kingdom with a weak and helpless child. He continues to use the weak and helpless – that is you and me. Read Mathew 25 and the parable of the sheep and goats. The judgement is not about belief but about behaviour. We are to love as St James tells us not only in word, but in deed and action. Who goes to the bathroom mirror and says I love you, I love you. every morning?

How do we do that as individuals and as a church?

Remember God is not embarrassed by your weakness, the aches and pains you bring to church this morning, the fallibility and forgetfulness, the tiredness and anxiety which is part of our being in a body. Bring them all before God tell your Brother in heaven. He understands. He is not looking for super spiritual beings. As the church fathers said He became human so that we can become divine. Priests use a silent prayer as we prepare the communion cup, By the mystery of this water and wine, May we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.

 

 

Nativity

Service for Christmas Day – 25th December 2023

Liturgy for the Nativity of Christ.

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens for Christmas. Happy Christmas! The presiding priest and the preacher is Fr. Terry Hemming.  Lay Reader Nelly Paraskevopoulou is assisting.

 

Entrance Hymn    36 (The First Nowell) The first Nowell the angel did say

 

Priest:  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

The Lord be with you.

 All:      and also with you

 

Priest:   Christ the light of the world has come to dispel the darkness of our hearts. Let us turn to the light and confess our sins.                     A period of silent stillness follows

 

Assistant:  God our Father, you sent your Son, full of grace and truth: forgive our failure to

receive him.

Kyrie eleison.

All:           Kyrie eleison.

Assistant:  Jesus our Saviour, you were born in poverty and laid in a manger: forgive our

greed and rejection of your ways.

Christe eleison.

All:           Christe eleison

Assistant:  Spirit of love, your servant Mary responded joyfully to your call: forgive our

hardness of heart.

Kyrie eleison.

All:           Kyrie eleison

Absolution we hear the words of God’s forgiveness to those who are truly penitent

Almighty God, who forgives all who truly repent, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and keep you in life eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen

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