Summer Newsletter – E-Mag

REPORT ON PROCEEDINGS OF ST. PAUL’S COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 21ST JANUARY, 2023

The meeting opened with prayer at 10.30 a.m. and the following matters were raised:

Finances: the deficit was 13,583 Euros, less than the 2020 amount of around 15,000  and a sign of post-Covid recovery.  Accountant Philip Poulakis and Hon. Treasurer Nelly were thanked for their work and regular reporting.

Council membership: it was agreed that the one-year gap following a member’s end of tenure before he/she could re-apply for membership should be waived, in view of the current lack of people applying for Council membership.

Safeguarding: Safeguarding Officer Lynn Stavrou noted that any member of the congregation was welcome to complete the Level 1 Safeguarding course – available online – details from her.

Fundraising: the 2022 Christmas Bazaar had been a great success and the War Museum booked for 2023. Due to the closure of the British Embassy residence for up to 3 years for renovation, there would be no donations of food for the cafeteria. Both the Carol Sing-Along and Service had been well-attended, raising just over 1,400 Euros, and there had been a get-together at the Victory Café after the Christmas morning service. Oliver Knight reported income of 2,264 Euros from book sales in the previous 10 months – as well as book sales there would be a lending library for theological books and there was a demand for books from Newcomers, whose meetings Deacon Chris attended. Oliver added that more contributions were needed for the online Newsletter, particularly connected with church life. Concert bookings were slowly increasing and quiz evenings and coffee mornings continued to be profitable and enjoyable events. There would be a celebratory gathering in the garden on the day following the Coronation of King Charles III and souvenirs from the UK would be welcome (costs refundable if needed). The regular Radio Pepper concerts would continue and other bookings were coming in.

Any Other Business: the Bishop of Truro would be with us from 9^th-13^th March for meetings/discussions on his book on Christian persecution worldwide and he would receive, baptize and confirm members of the congregation;

Reader Sherry Angelis, a long-time member of our congregation, was now a resident of the Loida Home in Ekali.

Nelly Paraskevopoulou, our Reader in Training, would complete her course in summer. Best wishes for the success of his UK interviews re: training for Ordination were given to Angelos Palioudakis.

Discussions continued in the search for 2 Sunday School supervisors. Donations of plants for the garden were always welcome and Shirley Poulakis would again provide flower posies for Mothers’ Day.

Council’s second meeting with Diocesan Archdeacon Leslie Nathaniel would take place in February to continue the process of finding and appointing a Chaplain to serve at St. Paul’s following the retirement of Father Leonard at the end of July.

The meeting closed at 12.40.

Jean Mertzanakis (Hon. Secretary)

St Paul’s Coronation Bazaar

Baptism of George Remy

On 15 April 2023 family and friends gathered together at St Paul’s Anglican Church Athens to celebrate the Baptism of George Remy.

Fr Leonard led the service which consisted of prayers, renewal of Baptismal promises, sprinkling of water over George’s head, anointing with Oil and the lighting of the Baptismal Candle. George’s parents and Godparents also received a candle.

At the end of the service Fr Leonard blessed the baby and the congregation and everyone went out into the garden where delicious refreshments were served.

A very happy day was held by all and we welcome George Remy into the St Paul’s family.

Spring Newsletter – E-Mag

Our latest Newsletter has now been published so please click on the link below for access

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35th Choral Evensong at St Paul’s

We are delighted to announce the return of the Choral Evensong to St Paul’s on this coming Easter Sunday at 8.00pm. For those who have yet to experience this service it is definitely not to be missed with beautiful traditional choral music and prayers.

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A Tale of Two Cities – A Blog by Bishop Philip of Truro

The two cities we normally associate with that phrase are, of course, London and Paris. Both are cities in which I have been privileged to minister, and which I hold in great affection. But I want to write about my recent trip to two quite different cities – to Hull and Athens.

I grant you that, unlike London and Paris, Hull and Athens aren’t normally paired in people’s minds. But they might have more in common than you might think (and not just because I recently visited them). But first, let me explain I was doing in them both.

In both, I was responding to long-delayed invitations to speak on the subject of Freedom of Religion or Belief, following the work I did a few years ago for the Foreign Office on the persecution of Christians. That work both led (to my great surprise) to a change in government policy, and has become an enduring passion of mine – a cause which I believe God has laid on my heart to continue to champion.

In Hull, I was invited to deliver the William Wilberforce Lecture, in honour of Hull’s greatest son: the great champion of the cause of the abolition of slavery. It was good to be back in the city not only where Wilberforce was born, and which he represented in Parliament, but in which I myself used to live. Indeed I worked out that the last time I had been in the room in the Guildhall where I spoke was in the early 70s for a children’s fancy dress party!

And it was, I felt, a very fitting subject to speak on there. Today, many, many people the world over are having their rights compromised, and their livelihoods – and their very lives – threatened, simply because they belong to religious minorities. Their lives and livelihoods are threatened through oppressive governments which combine, to varying degrees, a toxic mix of authoritarianism, nationalism and fundamentalism. Look at the fate of the Rohingya in Myanmar, the Uighurs in China, and Christians in the Middle Belt of Nigeria – to cite just three examples. The fate of religious minorities in the world’s two most populous countries, in India and China, is much more precarious than it was a decade ago.

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OUR TREE OF LIFE AND HOPE

As we follow in the footsteps of Our Saviour Jesus Christ on his journey to the Cross, unlike those who did so more than two thousand years ago we do so knowing of His Glorious Resurrection. Throughout the year we remember our brothers and sisters of every nation who also suffer hardship and loss at the hands of others. Help us to support them by donating an egg – symbol of birth, life and hope – to our Easter tree.

You can speak to our Treasurer, Nelly, in church or donate on our website – www.anglicanchurchathens.gr – via e-banking or Paypal. Make sure to include your name, email address and the description “TREE”. If you wish to remain anonymous, your name and “TREE ANON”.

Join us in love and thanksgiving as we prepare to welcome the resurrected Lord into our lives.