The Church Goes on
(even though the building is closed!)
St Aidan’s will not suffer any reduction in its Life in Christ (including Holy Communion) just because a pathogen has reared its ugly head … but how do we do that safely?
- The church building has closed to ensure PHYSICAL distancing. However, in Christ and the Holy Spirit we are never distant from each other. Today we have wonderful technologies to make that real!
- Broadcasting the Services: Each Sunday, Fr Gregory and a small team will serve the Liturgy from home. This will be broadcast on social media, live and recorded. Other services will be broadcast as announced in the Calendar of Services (below)
- Holy Communion – Read St Basil the Great here on how you can commune at home: The Holy Gifts at Home. All of this is explained in much more detail in our brochure which you can download from this link: The Domestic Church (updated: 24th March 2020)
- Here are the instructions to watch the Sunday Liturgy, live or recorded: LITURGY BROADCASTS (UPDATED: 24TH MARCH 2020)
- The faithful will be able to commune with the priest, albeit not in the same building. This is the body of Christ (both the Holy Gifts and the People), utterly one … which no pathogen can defeat because Christ is triumphant over sin, suffering, evil and death and in His Love, His People can never be separated from each other in this life or the next.
- There are going to be four Sector ministries of the “Domestic Church” going forward:- The Spiritual Directory (Broadcast services and prayer); The Pastoral Directory (Confession, Spiritual Direction and friendly chats over the phone); The Education Directory (Published Bible Studies, All Age Christian Education including E-Quip and Followers) and The Mission and Service Directory (evangelism and service in the community – within public health regulations). These may take some time to develop and mature, but by God’s grace, we will get there! If you can help with any of these, or make use of them, please email me at: father.gregory@gmail.com
- For those who give to the work of our church by envelopes (which is ongoing) … this method is cancelled for the duration of the pandemic. Please consider setting up a bank standing order to continue your contributions. This will be much appreciated. Please email me at father.gregory@gmail.com for the Bank details you will need. Thank you.
- Finally please read this excellent, informative and personally challenging article by Fr Emmanuel: Facing Reality
- Here is our most recent Domestic Church Newsletter No. 2 (24th March 2020) Thank you for reading! Fr Gregory
Welcome to St. Aidan’s Orthodox Church
St. Aidan’s belongs to the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland.
We are in communion with all the other Orthodox Churches worldwide, Antioch being one of the ancient sees of the Christian Church, (Acts 11:26)
FEATURED
EVENTS
MEDIA
Regular Services
(Church Building Temporarily Closed)
Sunday Broadcast:
Divine Liturgy: 10.15 am
Other services as per Calendar (to the right) ALL BROADCAST AND NOT FOR THE MOMENT IN CHURCH (see above).
Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’
John 14: 6
Today’s Saints
Lenten Fast: strict fast
Commemorations:
St. Nicetas the Confessor, abbot of Medikion (824). St. Joseph the Hymnographer (883). Virgin-martyr Theodosia of Tyre, and Holy martyr Irene (308). New martyr Paul the Russian and John at Constantinople (1683).
British Isles and Ireland:
St. Comman (c.7th C).
Today’s Readings
Isaiah 45:11-17; Genesis 22:1-18; Proverbs 17:17-18:5
Note: The Today’s Saints and Today’s Readings are updated between 9am and 10am each day. See link below to view the whole month.
This month’s Saints and Readings can be viewed here.