Scandinavians come together at St. Paul’s Sung Eucharist

On Sunday 7th August, twelve young people in their mid-teens with three assistants from a Swedish Lutheran parish on the edge of Stockholm joined the congregation at St Paul’s for the Sung Eucharist, as Father Malcolm recounts.

A week’s sojourn in Greece was the final stage in their yearlong study programme for Confirmation. Whilst in Greece they visited sites in Corinth and Athens associated with St. Paul, did Bible studies, had instruction/practice on prayer, and also entered into lively discussions about the Christian life. The programme was intermingled with enjoying some sightseeing, swimming and dining. To their surprise, they found the Reverend Henna Salo assisting at the Sung Eucharist.  Henna is a pastor of the Finish Lutheran Church and serves in a parish just outside Helsinki. She is doing a month-long placement with the Chaplaincy focusing upon the refugee crisis. In 1992, the Lutheran Churches of Scandinavia, around the Baltic Sea and Iceland entered into full communion with the Anglican Churches of the British Isles and Ireland – 15 Churches in all.

Father Malcolm Bradshaw

Photographs by courtesy of Costas Deligiannidis