The Anglican Church of St. Thomas, Kefalas
The Anglican Church of St. Thomas, Kefalas
The Anglican Church of
St. Thomas, Kefalas.
We are the only Anglican church on Crete. However, all Christian denominations are welcome at our services. We are situated within the Apokoronas area of Crete, east of Chania, in the picturesque rural village of Kefalas.
We hope that this website will guide you around the Parish - our worship, events and organisations and contact points for any further information.
For All the Saints!
Good Saturday morning!
Who gets to be a saint?
One answer might be that a saint is someone who is canonized by the church, and the Pope in Rome regularly adds hundreds of new names to list of those who are believed to be in heaven with Christ. This is the result of a detailed process of examining the life to see if it is pious and worthy, and whether there is any evidence that the intercession of the deceased person in heaven may have helped in bring about a miraculous healing here on earth.
However, we in the Church of England belong to a reformed church, and one of the things the Reformation did was call into question the intercession of saints; Article XXII of the Articles of Religion, still very much in force in England, notes that the "invocation of Saints, is a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God." Consequently, Archbishop Cranmer in the 16th century severely reduced the number of saints days to be commemorated in the calendar, mainly to the disciples and family of Jesus. That said, the Church of England added Charles I, King and Martyr, as a Lesser Festival in 1660, with special readings and prayers. In the 19th century the Anglo-Catholic movement in the Anglican Communion encouraged the observance of the feasts of pre-Reformation saints, and in the 20th century the liturgical movement began in various provinces to add post-Reformation individuals to the calendar as Lesser Feasts, commemorations, and memorials. Thus in the Episcopal Church of the United States the first Bishop ordained for that province, Samuel Seabury, is remembered, and in the Common Worship calendar we have recently commemorated Edith Cavell, King Alfred the Great, and Martin Luther.
A person I would like to see commemorated is Florence Li Tim-Oi, a Chinese Christian who was the first woman ordained as a priest back in 1944 in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong; while both the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church have added her to their church calendars, the Church of England did not do so in the Common Worship calendar, and is not currently adding any new names. That said, nothing is preventing local commemorations at the diocesan or congregational level, so I am working to encourage parishes and chaplaincies to do so.
So as we gather to celebrate All Saints tomorrow, as well as All Souls, let us remember all who have shown forth the glory of God in living humanity.
As usual, here are the readings linked to the full texts, as well as the PDF of the hymns and the psalm we will use tomorrow. We will begin to use again the Holy Communion booklet for The Sundays from All Saints to the Feast of Christ the King.
4 NovemberAll Saints (from November 1),with the Commemoration of All Souls (from November2)
The Psalm and the Hymns
Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm 24:1-6
Revelation 21:1-6a
John 11:32-44
You may join us in person in the Tabernacle at 11:00 am, or alternatively, if you click here that should get you into the Zoom live stream (if you prefer, you can type or copy https://zoom.us/j/91269383194 into your browser, or, sign in to your Zoom account and use the Meeting ID: 912 6938 3194; there is no passcode, just a waiting room as a security feature).
For All Souls tomorrow I will include in the prayers the names of those who have died and whom we have loved, but see no more. Please email me these names at bbryantscott@gmail.com or add the names to the sign-up sheet that will circulate. Thank you!
My thanks to the Rev'd Dr Steven Smith for presiding and preaching last Sunday while I was at the Synod of the Archdeaconry of the East in Belgrade.
God be with you and those you love in the coming week,
Bruce+
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Announcements
Remembrance Sunday
10 November 2024
The Crete Service of Remembrance will be held at The Suda Bay War Cemetery on Remembrance Sunday 10th November starting at 10:45.
Remembrance Sunday is an opportunity to remember the service and sacrifice of all those who have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life. We will remember the Armed Forces from Britain and the Commonwealth and those who have lost their lives as a result of conflict or terrorism.
The Deputy British Ambassador and representatives of Commonwealth Countries will pay tribute alongside the Regional Governor of Chaina, the Mayor of Chaina and representatives of the British, Hellenic, and the United States Armed Forces, as well as British and Commonwealth Veterans, the Marchant Navy, Greek civilian organisations, and Greek School Children.
Please plan to arrive no later than 10:30.
Parking in the cemetery car park is limited. Please park as directed by the Hellenic Police. This may be on the road to the cemetery.
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The Wednesday evening online Small Group Bible Study continues its lectio divina of the Sermon on the Mount this Wednesday, November 6. We meet every week on Wednesdays at 7:30 PM for 90 minutes of fellowship, study, and prayer. We gather online at https://zoom.us/j/95398454424 (Zoom Meeting ID: 953 9845 4424).
All are welcome!
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I am happy to report that our Late Summer Appeal has now raised 5395€ to cover the expenses related to our property's certification and licensing. Our expected costs will be somewhere around 5600€. If you have not yet had an opportunity to consider making a donation, we would appreciate it if you do so! More information can be found in the Letter from the Wardens and the Treasurer, which you can find here. Thank you so much!
Very many thanks to the donors that have already been in touch with me regarding a donation. Your support is greatly appreciated.
For cash donors there will be a basket at the back of church
All Good Wishes.
Mary Hurley
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THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF ST. THOMAS, KEFALAS IS HOLDING A
CHRISTMAS BAZAAR
AT ST. THOMAS CHURCH, KEFALAS
ON
SATURDAY 30 NOVEMBER 2024
11AM – 1PM
ADMISSION 5 EUROS INC
COFFEE/TEA & MINCE PIES/STOLLEN
CHRISTMAS LUCKY DIP ++ GIFT & BOTTLE TOMBOLA
HOMEMADE CAKE STALL ++ REMEMBRANCE TREE
SALE OF QUALITY SECOND-HAND HOUSEHOLD WARES
BOOKS & DVDs ++ WOODCRAFTS ++ PLANT SALE
INDIVIDUAL CONTEMPORARY HAND-MADE JEWELLERY
HOMEMADE SAVOURIES TABLE ++ PLUS MORE !!!!
We would welcome the following items for our Christmas Bazaar
-
Lucky Dip Items ( anything wrapped in Christmas Gift Wrap)
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Gift & Bottle Tombola Items (anything new in a bottle or new Gifts)
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Christmas Bric-a-Brac ( good quality)
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Donations of Homemade Cakes etc
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Plants
Please could you deliver all items to the church (except cakes & plants) prior to our setting up on Friday, 29 November
Many thanks
Mary Hurley
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Safeguarding
in
the Anglican Church of St Thomas, Kefalas, Crete
If you see something that you think may be a safeguarding issue, you should speak to the
Chaplaincy Safeguarding Officer here on Crete or the Diocesan Safeguarding Team:
Chaplaincy Safeguarding Officer:
Jan Lovell +30 69791 64716 jand.lovell@yahoo.com
and/or
Diocesan Safeguarding Team:
For urgent enquiries during operational hours (9 am to 5 pm UK time, Monday to
Friday), please call: +44 (0)207 898 1159
For non-urgent enquiries contact: +44 (0) 7464 544715
For urgent enquiries outside operational hours call our
partners Thirtyone:eight on +44 (0) 303 003 1111.
Email: europe.safeguarding@churchofengland.org
https://www.europe.anglican.org/resources/safeguarding-diocese-europe
St. Thomas is one of many churches in the rapidly growing Diocese in Europe which, in itself, is part of The Church of England. You can visit the Diocese website at http://europe.anglican.org/homepage/ .