Service Sheet for Sunday 25th May – Sixth Sunday of Easter

Celebrant: Fr. Leonard Doolan

Welcome to our Liturgy of Holy Communion (Sung Mass)

Processional: 346 (Richmond) City of God, how broad and far

Congregational Psalm: 366 (Heathlands) God of mercy, God of grace (Ps. 67)

Gradual: 421 (Temple) O King enthroned on high

Offertory: 353 (Repton) Dear Lord and Father of mankind

Communion: 298 (Waltham) May the grace of Christ our Saviour

Final: 401 (Regent Square) Light’s abode, celestial Salem

All are welcome to stay for refreshments after the liturgy.

Please remember that the chaplaincy in Athens neither receives funding from the British Government nor from the Church of England. All donations are, therefore, very gratefully received

 

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles (15: 1-2, 22-29)

Some men came down from Judaea and taught the brothers, ‘Unless you have yourselves circumcised in the tradition of Moses you cannot be saved.’ This led to disagreement, and after Paul and Barnabas had had a long argument with these men it was arranged that Paul and Barnabas and others of the church should go up to Jerusalem and discuss the problem with the apostles and elders.

Then the apostles and elders decided to choose delegates to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; the whole church concurred with this. They chose Judas known as Barsabbas and Silas, both leading men in the brotherhood, and gave them this letter to take with them:

‘The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of pagan birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. We hear that some of our members have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds. They acted without any authority from us; and so we have decided unanimously to elect delegates and to send them to you with Barnabas and Paul, men we highly respect who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly we are sending you Judas and Silas, who will confirm by word of mouth what we have written in this letter. It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols; from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication. Avoid these, and you will do what is right. Farewell.’

The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God

Congregational Psalm: (Ps. 67) (366 in the New English Hymnal)

 

A reading from the Apocalypse of John the Theologian (21: 10-14, 22-23)

In the spirit, the angel took me to the top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond. The walls of it were of a great height, and had twelve gates; at each of

the twelve gates there was an angel, and over the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; on the east there were three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. The city walls stood on twelve foundation stones, each one of which bore the name of one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

I saw that there was no temple in the city since the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb were themselves the temple, and the city did not need the sun or the moon for light, since it was lit by the radiant glory of God and the Lamb was a lighted torch for it.

The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God

 

Gospel acclamation: Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus said: ‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word,

and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him.’ Alleluia! The Lord be with you. And also with you.

+ A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John (14: 23-29)

Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him.

Those who do not love me do not keep my words.

And my word is not my own: it is the word of the one who sent me. I have said these things to you while still with you;

but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you. Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace

the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me say: I am going away, and shall return. If you loved me you would have been glad to know that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.

I have told you this now before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe.’

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

The text and setting of the Nicene Creed is at number 542 in the

New English Hymnal.

 

 

O Lord, from whom all good things do come: Grant to us thy humble servants, that by thy holy inspiration we may think

those things that be good, and by thy merciful guiding may per- form the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer Collect: Fifth Sunday after Easter)

 

Church Open: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Services: Unless noted, liturgies are followed by refreshments

Weds. 28th May: 10 a.m.; Low Mass

Sun. 1st June: 10 a.m.; Sung Mass (Easter VII; Sunday after Ascension

 

Spring Bazaar: 31st May, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. in the church garden.The church is open from Monday (26th) until Friday (30th), from 10 am  until 1:45pm, to receive donations.

Donations of books, plants, clothes, household items &c. are gratefully received, as are donations of money towards, for instance, refreshments.  Volunteers to help on the day are encouraged to apply to Lynn Stavrou.

 

Study group & pilgrimage walking group: details from Fr. Benjamin

 

Donations are sought for the cost of dry-cleaning the church’s col- lection of flags; further details from Oliver Knight.

 

Donate electronically by scanning the QR code;

the Church does not receive any

funding from the Church of England

or the British Government and is reliant

on the goodwill of congregants and visitors. We thank you for your support

 

Priest Chaplain: Fr. Benjamin Drury frbenjamindrury@gmail.com;

Home tel.: 210 72 14 906

anglican@otenet.gr (Church e-mail address)

Deacon Christine Saccali : (Day Off: Friday)          697 737 7655

Church of Sweden: Fr. Bjorn Kling  694 6072428

Facebook @AnglicanAthens                    www.anglicanchurchathens.gr