I am the way
11/11/2020 In Blog News

Evening Worship – Wednesdays at 19.00hrs (7.00pm) –

A short service for the early evening.

Please join us on Zoom – login details on the website – or say this at home.

 

Together we say:

 

1    How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!  ♦

My soul has a desire and longing to enter the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

2    The sparrow has found her a house and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young:  ♦ at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

3    Blessed are they who dwell in your house:  ♦ they will always be praising you. [R]

4    Blessed are those whose strength is in you,  ♦ in whose heart are the highways to Zion,

5    Who going through the barren valley find there a spring,  ♦and the early rains will clothe it with blessing.

6    They will go from strength to strength  ♦ and appear before God in Zion. [R]

7    O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;  ♦ listen, O God of Jacob.

8    Behold our defender, O God,  ♦ and look upon the face of your anointed.

9    For one day in your courts  ♦ is better than a thousand. [R]

10  I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God  ♦than dwell in the tents of ungodliness.

11  For the Lord God is both sun and shield; he will give grace and glory;  ♦no good thing shall the Lord withhold from those who walk with integrity.

12  O Lord God of hosts,  ♦ blessed are those who put their trust in you.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now

and shall be for ever. Amen.

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sermon news
07/11/2020 In Sermons & Services

Sermon for Remembrance Sunday – 8 November 2020: Wisdom 6, 12-16; Matthew 25, 1-13.

Revd. Canon Leonard Doolan – St Paul’s Athens, on Zoom

 

On Armistice Day, November 11th, in the year 1920, a body was solemnly laid in the ground in the nave of Westminster Abbey. It is now known as the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. The body buried is in fact comprised of the bodies of four soldiers discovered in the battlefields of Aisne, Arras, the Somme, and Ypres. The stone slab is made of black Belgian marble quarried from near Namur in Wallonia. Among the words engraved on the monument are ‘Greater love hath no man than this.’ For 100 years it has been a place of many pilgrimages, an iconic monument, a memorial. It is part of our remembering of those sombre days of the Great War and the sacrifice.

Monuments help us to remember. In Greek a monument would be a mnimeio (μνημείο). Remembrance lies at the very heart of the Christian experience. At the Last Supper Jesus tells his disciples, and thus us also, to ‘Do this in memory of me’. In the New Testament the word for this is ‘anamnesis’. The opposite to this is a well – known word in English, amnesia.

 

When we speak of ‘remembering Jesus’ it is not like the exercise of thinking back to a great beach we went to on holiday last year, wishing we were there now. It is completely different, for in our ‘remembering Jesus’ we are bringing an event from the past into our present day. This is a divine mystery in action. So remembrance is a highly significant religious activity, ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’

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Bible STudies
06/11/2020 In Announcements, Blog News

Pastoral Letter 4 From Fr Leonard

Dear Friends,

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

In his letter to the church community in Rome St. Paul says, ‘For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Romans 8, 38-39).

I would add to this list Covid-19, the pandemic that has the world in its vice-like grip in increasing numbers yet again. This virus will not separate us from the love of God, nor in our life in the Holy Spirit will it separate us from each other. Our strength together is more than just our meeting together, though being together gathered around the holy table, side by side, is our royal calling as the baptized holy people of God. We pray for that day when this is possible again.

In response to the current developments of the virus the Government has issued new restrictions for places of worship. These restrictions are in place first and foremost to keep us safe. This is how it affects our own situation.

St. Paul’s will be closed for public worship during this period of lockdown. Sunday services will continue on Zoom either from my apartment or occasionally from St. Paul’s Church.

You can access Zoom by going to the St. Paul’s Anglican Church Athens website where you will find the link. It will be the same link each week. In addition Deacon Christine and I will offer additional worship and spiritual resources for you. Chris will offer something weekly on Facebook. Please contact her directly about this. I will make arrangements for a mid-week evening service on Zoom. It will be 4 Wednesdays in November beginning at 19.00 and I will build in time for a chat afterwards. The link for this will be on our website also. The order of service for this will also be on the website.

We will work on ways to keep the monthly raffle draw going.

As we approach the time when the legendary Christmas Bazaar, a great social occasion as well as fund-raiser, would normally be taking place we are all once again reminded of the need to address the loss of income to St. Paul’s. Please use internet banking for your donation, if you possibly can. The details are on our website. Contact me if you have any questions about financial giving to St. Paul’s. If you cannot use the bank, please put aside your normal weekly offering and bring it with you when you next come to St. Paul’s, whenever that might be.

Stay safe and well, and remain thankful to God for his blessing of love, from which nothing can separate us.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen.

Father Leonard

Skipton-remembrance poppies
06/11/2020 In Blog News

A Service for Remembrance Sunday – 8 November 2020

Welcome to our Zoom service, especially on this Remembrance Sunday. A particular welcome to Her Excellency Kate Smith CMG, British Ambassador, and Captain Tim Ferns, Defence Attache. This Worship is led by The Revd. Canon Leonard Doolan, Senior Chaplain, who is also the preacher. The Noon ceremony at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery at Alimos is cancelled.

 

Please make sure you unmute if you are to speak during the service.

Christina will play some music before we begin

Priest:      Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you

All:            and also with you.

Priest:      O Lord, open our lips

All:            and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Priest:      Give us the joy of your saving help

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

 

Fr. Leonard then welcomes people informally and then prays:

Ever living God, we remember those whom you have gathered from the storm of war into the peace of your presence; may that same peace calm our fears, bring justice to all peoples, and establish harmony among the nations, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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06/11/2020 In Blog News

Live Zoom Service for Sunday Worship

New Covid 19 restrictions recently announced means that unfortunately St Paul’s has to close its doors once more to public worship.

This Sunday’s Remembrance Day services both at the Church and at Alimos Cemetery are cancelled, but there will be a Zoom Service broadcast live from the Vicarage.

Services for the next eight weeks will also be Zoomed either from the Vicarage or the Church.  Keep checking the website and our Facebook Page for further information.

Please keep checking the website and Facebook Pages for further updates.

The login details for the Zoom Service are given below:-

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All Saints
30/10/2020 In Blog News

Feast of All Saints – 1st November 2020

 

Welcome to St. Paul’s. If you are visiting, or here  for the first time. Due to Covid restrictions we must wear masks at all times in church and garden.

Check our website for information regarding future weeks.

 

Presiding Priest & Preacher: The Revd. Canon Leonard Doolan  

Deacon: The Revd. Deacon Christine Saccali

 

Entrance Hymn or Organ
Priest:            In the name of the Father, and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit.

All:                  Amen.                                                                                                                      

 

Priest:            The Lord be with you

All:                  And also with you

 

Words by Jonny Baker, taken from the book: ‘The Hospitality of God’ by Michael Perham

Deacon:        All are invited, all are included

All are made welcome, none are excluded

This is the table of Christ

Come if you’re young, come if you’re old

Come if you’re broken, come if you’re whole

Come if you’re weary of the trials of life

This is the table of Christ.

 

Introduction The priest welcomes everyone and introduces the service

 

Confession

There will be a short moment of silence as we bring to mind our wrongdoings

 

Deacon:        Lord, you are gracious and compassionate:

Lord, have mercy.

All:                  Lord, have mercy.

Deacon:        You are loving to all and your mercy is over all your creation:

Christ, have mercy.

All:                  Christ, have mercy.

Deacon:        Your faithful servants bless your name and speak of your glory:

Lord, have mercy.

All:                  Lord, have mercy.

 Absolution: Almighty God, who forgives all those who are 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 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.

 Collect

The Priest then prays the collect for the day

God of holiness, your glory is proclaimed in every age: as we rejoice in the faith of your saints, inspire us to follow their example with boldness and joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

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