Harvest Festival is celebrated by the Anglican Church in Greece

Last Sunday The Anglican Church in Greece celebrated their Harvest Festivals in two locations 360km apart!

 

St Paul’s Anglican Church Athens travelled up by bus to the Winery and Vineyard of the Kokotos Estate where we were guests of our old friends Anne Kokotos & her Family.  Surrounded by vineyards and fruits of the harvest, we held our service of thanksgiving for the Harvest.  After the service there was an opportunity to taste and purchase a selection of wines before making our way down through the beautiful grounds to the wonderful marquee where a delicious buffet lunch awaited us. Afterwards there was music and entertainment and everyone got on the floor and danced. At the end of the afternoon a happy but tired  congregation made their way back to the bus for the journey back to Athens.

Our thanks to Anne Kokotos and her family for their generous hospitality and to the pupils of Byron School for giving up their Sunday to come and assist with serving the buffet lunch.

 

Meanwhile, nearly 360km away in Western Crete, some old friends of St Paul’s found their way, via a dodgy sat-nav, to the beautiful little chapel of St Thomas in Kefalas in the foothills of the White Mountains designed and built in 2007 by Tony Lane, and his wife Suzanne then residents of the area.  The chapel was officially dedicated by Bishop Geoffrey Rowell, Third Bishop in Europe, in 2008.  Later that year the covered Tabernacle was erected by Tony, creating an area for over 100 worshippers to be seated in all weathers. In October 2009 Tony Lane was made a deacon, and in July 2010 he was ordained as a priest. Tony now assists as a retired priest when he is in Crete.

 

In 2018, the fourth Bishop in Europe, the Right Rev Dr Robert Innes, appointed the Rev Canon D. Bruce Bryant Scott to be the new assistant chaplain in Crete.  Canon Bruce comes from the Anglican Church of Canada where he served in urban and rural parishes in the dioceses of Niagara (in Ontario) and British Columbia, on Vancouver Island.

 

Nigel, (Former Churchwarden at St Paul’s Athens) & Caroline Daniels joined the small congregation for the Harvest Festival Service.  Members of the congregation had brought dried and canned goods for distribution to those in need in the surrounding area and surrounded by Olive Trees and mountains Fr Bruce urged us to be joyful and grateful for everything in God’s creation.  After the service we fought off the wasps to enjoy the delicious snacks that had been brought by members of the congregation.  Standing in the sunshine, under a brilliant blue sky and surrounded by Hibiscus flowers, Olive Trees, Goats and sheep on the mountains, it was easy to feel close to God and to give him thanks for our beautiful earth