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.
 

The Anglican Church of

St. Thomas, Kefalas.

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Jesus came and . . . and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ - John 20.19

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Good Saturday morning!

In our gospel reading tomorrow, Jesus is the one who speaks peace to the disciples and reconciles the world to his father - who is the Prince of Peace - but despite more than 1950 years of Christian preaching of the resurrection there is not a whole lot of peace in the world today.

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• We have the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, with over thirty-three thousand dead. Hamas continues to hold ninety-one Israeli hostages. The conflict erupts in violence in over in the West Bank between Palestinians and illegal settlers. Israel sends bombs into the Iranian Embassy in Syria, and Hezbollah in Lebanon send rockets into Israel.

• The Houthi rebels in Yemen continue to threaten ships in the Red Sea.

• After two years of war, the Ukrainian and Russian armies face each other across a thousand kilometre long front line and are building their defences in preparation for further offences.

• The civil war in Myanmar carries on without much international notice, but some 50,000 people have been killed, 2-1/2 million are displaced, and 40% of the country is now in the hands of the coalition fighting the military dictatorship. 

• In the Mexican Drug War thousands and tens of thousands continue to die each year - totalling over 400,000 deaths in the past two decades, and corrupting the country's society and institutions. 

• Sudan, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Somalia are each split between warring factions.

• The Maghreb Insurgency continues to plague North African and Saharan states.

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The situation is not as bad as in, say, Christmas 1941, when Nazi Germany had overrun most of Europe, blitzing London with bombs and fighting at the edges of Moscow, and Imperial Japan had just bombed Pearl Harbor and taken Hong Kong - but it is not good.

In this kind of a world, what does the good news of Jesus have to offer? We might say that Christian countries are at peace, but this would be to ignore the situation in Mexico, a majority Christian state, and our own dark history in Europe in two world wars last century. One might say Jesus is irrelevant in the hard-nosed world of violent politics, although that is to ignore the truth that Jesus himself and the first generations of Christians lived in violent, tumultuous times and were often victims of Imperial power. This Sunday we will mull these things, and contemplate how the "peace which passes all understanding" can empower us to bring God's kingdom and peace to the world. 

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As is usual for the Second Sunday of Easter, we also read of Thomas and his doubts. The readings for this Sunday are below, with the usual links, and if you click on "The Hymns and the Psalm" you'll get a PDF of what we will be singing and saying on this coming Second Sunday of Easter.

 

We meet in person at 11:00 am EEST in the Tabernacle, adjacent to the chapel. If you are joining us online via Zoom click here, or enter the following into your Zoom application: Meeting ID: 850 4483 9927 Passcode: 010209.
 

7 April

The Second Sunday of Easter

The Hymns and the Psalm
 

Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21
Psalm 133
Acts 4:32-35
John 20:19-31
 

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Many thanks to those who contributed flowers last Sunday for the Easter Cross of Flowers, and a special word of thanks to Mary and David Hurley in putting it all together!

There are more announcements below. I pray that today is a wonderful one for you.

 

God be with you.

 

Bruce+ 

 

Study Groups

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• On April 10 the Wednesday night online group continues its study of the Revelation to John, looking at chapters 12 & 13. We meet at 7:30 PM EEST using the same Zoom meeting as we do for worship: click here, or enter the following into your Zoom application: Meeting ID: 850 4483 9927 Password: 010209. 

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• Our in-person Monday Small Group Bible Study will take a break this coming Monday, April 7, but we will resume on Monday, April 15 as we conclude our look at the Gospel according to Mark, Chapter 16. We meet Mondays at 4:00 PM EEST in the home of Sue Whitehouse, and all are welcome.

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Other Announcements

• The Annual Meeting of Parishioners will be held immediately after the church service on Sunday, April 28, 2024. If you regularly attend our worship, would you please speak to Jan Lovell about getting on to the Electoral Roll?

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• As well, those of you who need to prepare reports in advance of the Annual Meeting should get them to Bruce by Sunday, April 14, so they may be distributed electronically and on paper the following weekend.

• The latest edition of European Anglicans can be found by clicking here!

• Bishop Robert Innes's 2024 Easter Message can be watched or read by going to this page on the Diocese in Europe website.

• Sermons: My sermon from last week, for Easter Sunday, has been posted on my blog, The Island Parson: Why is there no Resurrection Appearance at the End of the Gospel according to Mark? If you want more like this, I talked about resurrection in Jewish and Christian theology  in my sermon for Easter III in 2020 from back in the pandemic, and my Easter Sunday sermon from 2019: Resurrection is What God’s Love Looks Like in Public.

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GREEK CONVERSATION & STUDY GROUP

at The Anglican Church of St Thomas, Kefalas

MONDAY 8TH APRIL 2024

11AM – 12 PM

 

St Thomas’ Anglican Church in Kefalas, Apokoronas will be hosting a weekly Greek study and conversation group for beginners.

 

This will start on Monday 8 April 2024 from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm and then every Monday for ten weeks, excluding Greek public holidays.

 

The cost will be 5 euro per person each session.

 

We will be using the book ‘ΚΛΙΚ στα ελληνικά, επίπεδο Α1 για εφήβους και ενηλίκους’ (level A1 for teenagers and adults). There are more details about this book on the website klikstaellinika.com. It can also be ordered from the book shop/stationers in Vryses.

 

Please contact Jan at + 30 69791 64716 if you are interested in attending or for further information.

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SAFEGUARDING NOTICE

The safety and well-being of our members and those whom we seek to serve, especially the most vulnerable among us, is a prerequisite to proclaiming the good news.​

 

If you have a complaint about the behaviour of any of our clergy or volunteers you may speak in confidence with our Safeguarding Officer, Jan Lovell, at

 +30 28250 22756 or jand.lovell@yahoo.com

Alternatively, you may contact the Safeguarding Team of the Diocese in Europe directly at +44 (0)207 898 1163, or visit their page at https://europe.anglican.org/safeguarding/who-to-contact for more ways to contact them. 

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