Service for Ascension Sunday, 21st May 2023 – 7th Sunday of Easter

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens. Welcome to members of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers (City of London) visiting Athens for a few days. After the Liturgy we gather in the church garden for coffee and refreshments. You can make a donation by card – we have a POS.

The presiding priest and preacher this morning is The Revd. Canon Leonard Doolan, Senior Chaplain. The Assistant is Angelos Palioudakis.

Entrance Hymn    453  Stand up, stand up for Jesus!

Priest: Alleluia! Christ is risen

 All:     He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

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

Silence

Assistant: Lord Jesus, you raise us to new life.

Kyrie eleison

All:             Kyrie eleison

Assistant: Lord Jesus, you forgive us our sins.

Christe eleison

All:            Christe eleison

Assistant: Lord Jesus, you feed us with the living bread.

Kyrie eleison

All:            Kyrie eleison

Absolution: May the God of love and power forgive you and free you from your sins, heal and strengthen you by his Spirit, and raise you to new life in 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

              are the most high, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God

              the Father. Amen.  

Collect:  Let us pray    (remain standing as the priest prays the Collect of the Day) 

Risen, ascended Lord, as we rejoice at your triumph, fill your Church on earth with power and compassion, that all who are estranged by sin may find forgiveness and know our peace, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

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EPISTLE TO THE ATHENIANS SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR A – 14 May 2023 : ACTS 17:22-31, PETER 3:13-22, JOHN 14:15-21

I speak in the name of the living God Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Here we are at St Paul’s Athens just up the road from the Areopagus – Mars Hill, where Paul, yes St Paul, made his famous speech we heard in Acts, the compulsory reading from the lectionary today. What does that mean for modern Athenians, members of St Paul’s and pilgrims and visitors today? I still find that sight of that rock incredible after over forty years living here. There is an exhibition of a series of photos taken there over the last 150 years featured in the current edition of the airport magazine. I often wonder what kind of epistle St Paul would have written to the Athenians.

We can get some clues from looking again at the speech, although it is hard to tell whether his famous words are a triumph or disaster of Evangelism preached from the rock that was where the ancient legal Court of Appeals was.

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Service for the 6th Sunday of Easter – 14th May 2023

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens.  Please stay for refreshments in the church garden after the Liturgy. You can download the service on a device – ask for the password. You can make your donation by card – we have a POS.

The presiding priest this morning is Fr. Bjorn Kling, the Church of Sweden pastor, and the deacon and preacher is Deacon Christine.

Entrance Hymn    237  Morning has broken

Priest:    Alleluia! Christ is risen

 All:        He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Priest:   The Lord be with you

All:         and also with you

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

Silence

Deacon: Lord Jesus, you raise us to new life.

Kyrie eleison

All:          Kyrie eleison

Deacon: Lord Jesus, you forgive us our sins.

Christe eleison

All:          Christe eleison

Deacon: Lord Jesus, you feed us with the living bread.

Kyrie eleison

All:          Kyrie eleison

Absolution: May the God of love and power forgive you and free you from your sins, heal and strengthen you by his Spirit, and raise you to new life in 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, the only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sing 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:  Let us pray    (remain standing as the priest prays the Collect of the Day) 

Risen Christ, by the lakeside you renewed your call to your disciples: help your Church to obey your command and draw the nations to the fire of your love, to the glory of God the Father.  Amen.

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Sermon preached by Fr. Leonard on Sunday 7th May, to mark the Coronation of King Charles III

Those worshipping in St. Paul’s today will see that the hymns have tunes named after the four nations that constitute the United Kingdom – Crimmond from Scotland, Londonderry for Northern Ireland, Cwm Rhondda and Blanwaern from the great hymn singing country of Wales, and to represent England a hymn tune known as Westminster Abbey.

Tens of millions of eyes worldwide would have become familiar with Westminster Abbey as the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla (as she now is) unfolded. It may now be the best known church in the world, ranking alongside St. Peter’s basilica in Rome.

The Abbey has so many extraordinary features – the Shrine of St. Edward the Confessor; the burial place of so many kings and queens; the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior; Poets’ Corner where some of the greatest literary giants are remembered.

The Abbey is also home to a staggering array of other memorials to well -known people, celebrities in their own day. I would like to take you to just one such memorial in particular; that of the great 17^th Century musician, Henry Purcell. Dido and Aeneas, The Fairy Queen, Come ye sons of art, Hail! Bright Cecilia, the Funeral Sentences and literally dozens and dozens more compositions. He was a 17^th Century superstar and he would have had his own fan club as celebrities do today, just not on the same social media.

His memorial stone in the Abbey makes interesting reading, and perhaps points us to something that will enlighten us on the weekend of a King’s coronation. This is how the memorial reads:

Here lyes HENRY PURCELL, Esqr. who left this life and is gone to that blessed place where only his harmony can be exceeded.

These words celebrate a musician at the very top of his game – one might think that no music could be more sublime – yet he has passed to a place where even his music is exceeded – in tune with heaven, and the chorus of the angels and Archangels and all the heavenly host as they glorify the majesty of God.

These memorial sentiments direct us to a right balance in the aftermath of yesterday’s national (UK) celebration of monarchy, with its elaborate religious ceremony.

St. Paul’s Athens congregation is a diverse congregation and we have members who would have been glued to the TV screen yesterday, through to those for whom, understandably, there might not even be muted interest. Such is life’s rich complexity.

Wherever we are on that spectrum I would like to suggest at least two things that we might learn from yesterday’s Coronation ceremony, things that we would be wise to heed and understand.

The first point is this. Purcell’s memorial words assist us with this, and I will put it plainly. King Charles III’s majesty is exceeded by that of our heavenly King, the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s. However, we need to be a little more analytical.

One of the most solemn moments in the Coronation ceremony is that of the Anointing with the Oil of Chrism. This is a moment so solemn that it is done out of public view a moment when an earthly King is anointed in a sacramental act – in reality not so much a hidden secret, but rather a mystery; a mystery that is announcing something profound about the alchemy of humanity sharing in the glory of God. In His anointing there is an anointing of God’s people.

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Audio Sermon for Coronation Sunday, 5th Sunday after Easter – 7th May 2023

Service for the 5th Sunday of Easter – in celebration of the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla – 7th May 2023

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens. Our prayers are very much with King Charles III and Queen Camilla following the Coronation service in Westminster Abbey yesterday. To celebrate locally there is our own form of Street Party immediately after the Liturgy. Please do stay if you can and celebrate the lives and reign of the new King and Queen.

The presiding priest this morning is Fr. Leonard, and the deacon is Deacon Christine. We are pleased that His Excellency Matthew Lodge, UK Ambassador is one of the lesson readers today. All the hymns and the psalm reflect the different countries of the United Kingdom.

Hymn:  368  Guide me, O thou great Redeemer  Tune:Cwm Rhonddha     (Rhondda Valley)

Priest:    Alleluia! Christ is risen

 All:        He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Priest:   The Lord be with you

All:         and also with you

National Anthem         

God save our gracious King!
Long live our noble King!

God save the King!
Send him victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the King.

Thy choicest gifts in store
On him be pleased to pour,
Long may he reign.
May he defend our laws,
And ever give us cause,
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the King.

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

Silence

Deacon: Lord Jesus, you raise us to new life.

Kyrie eleison

All:          Kyrie eleison

Deacon: Lord Jesus, you forgive us our sins.

Christe eleison

All:          Christe eleison

Deacon: Lord Jesus, you feed us with the living bread.

Kyrie eleison

All:          Kyrie eleison

Absolution: May the God of love and power forgive you and free you from your sins, heal and strengthen you by his Spirit, and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord.   Amen.

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Service for the 4th Sunday of Easter – 30th April 2023

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens.  Please stay for refreshments in the church garden after the Liturgy. A particular welcome to the Revd. Dimitris Boukis and his family. Dimitris is Pastor of the Greek Evangelical Church in Pevki, and Secretary of the Synod of the Greek Evangelical Church. He has been a good colleague over these years.

The presiding priest this morning is Fr. Leonard, and the deacon is Deacon Christine.

Entrance Hymn    237 Morning has broken

Priest:    Alleluia! Christ is risen

 All:        He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Priest:   The Lord be with you

All:         and also with you

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

Silence

Deacon: Lord Jesus, you raise us to new life.

Kyrie eleison

All:          Kyrie eleison

Deacon: Lord Jesus, you forgive us our sins.

Christe eleison

All:          Christe eleison

Deacon: Lord Jesus, you feed us with the living bread.

Kyrie eleison

All:          Kyrie eleison

Absolution: May the God of love and power forgive you and free you from your sins, heal and strengthen you by his Spirit, and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord.   Amen.

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Audio Sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Easter – 23rd April 2023

Sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Easter – 23rd April 2023: Luke 24, 13-35

Of all the stories in the Easter Narrative collection it is perhaps the St. Luke inclusion of the Journey to Emmaus, with its famous supper details that capture the popular imagination most of all.

Beyond the context, the text, and the story itself, perhaps the most memorable reminder of the Supper at Emmaus is the set of ‘Suppers’ painted by the outstanding Italian Renaissance artist Caravaggio. There are two painting that I am aware of. Art historians among you will be able inform us if there are more.

I am passing around a postcard of the more famous Caravaggio Supper just to remind you, or in case you have never experienced Carravaggio’s art.

There are two lines from St. Luke’s narrative that I would like to focus on today.

The first is ‘Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.’

Secondly ‘Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.’

It is a very common feature in Anglican Church life to have parish bible studies. The purpose of such bible studies is to look at a book from scripture, or a set of themed texts, and study them more closely, not just so that we can apply some textual criticism to them, but so that our reading of such texts brings a more life-enriching understanding of scripture.

Of course we have to be careful how we understand the word ‘criticism’ in our modern context, because usually we associate criticism as a negative activity. In our sense it is about getting into and under the text – trying to see a particular passage or story in its wider context, so that we can be informed by what is written; formed by how the understanding of scripture shapes us and our lives; transformed by how the scripture is a ‘light to our path and a lantern to our feet’. Informed, formed, and transformed.

In a good bible study we learn not just from a leader or teacher of scripture, but also from sharing ideas, experiences, and interpretations of the text, so it is not a ‘bookish exercise’ but one way of building each other up in the faith, and helping us to bind together as the Body of Christ – especially as the scriptures are the possession of Christ’s Church and they are best heard, studied and applied as a corporate activity, working against individualized and ec-centric understandings of the Christian experience

In our time together we have studied – largely through ‘online’ methods – St. Mark’s gospel, Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, the 1^st Letter of Peter, various passages in the Book of Revelation, Prophecies of the coming Messiah in the Book of Isaiah, among other things. These have always been profitable times, albeit virtually. I hope participants would agree.

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Service Sheet for the Third Sunday of Easter – 23rd April 2023

Welcome to St. Paul’s Athens especially if you are here for the first time or visiting Athens.  We continue to wish you a very happy Easter. Please stay for refreshments in the garden. Today is also the day we celebrate the Feast of St. George – so Χρονιά Πολλά to all those named George. We have a POS so you can make your donation by card. Follow the service sheet online – wifi password gu5uX8mmtgb8egak

The presiding priest and preacher this morning is The Revd. Canon Leonard Doolan, and the deacon is Deacon Christine Saccali.

Entrance Hymn   234  Christ whose glory (2^nd tune)

Priest: Alleluia! Christ is risen

 All:     He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

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

Silence

Deacon:        Lord Jesus, you raise us to new life.

Kyrie eleison

All:                 Kyrie eleison

Deacon:        Lord Jesus, you forgive us our sins.

Christe eleison

All:                Christe eleison

Deacon:       Lord Jesus, you feed us with the living bread.

Kyrie eleison

All:                Kyrie eleison

Absolution: May the God of love and power forgive you and free you from your sins, heal and strengthen you by his Spirit, and raise you to new life in 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, 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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