Metropolitan Kallistos 1934-2022

Metropolitan Kallistos, President and founder of the Orthodox Fellowship of St John the Baptist died peacefully in the early hours of 24 August 2022, having earlier received the Holy Mysteries. His support for the Fellowship, for its associated activities such as the Youth Festival and Mosaic Choir, was generous and unstinting.

A memorial service will be held at the forthcoming summer conference in Walsingham 25-29 August, where Metropolitan Kallistos is pictured below, preaching during our 2015 conference on pilgrimage in the same place.

Memory Eternal! Christ is Risen!

Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia preaching in the Church of the Transfiguration, Great Walsingham

Summer conference – booking open!

Booking is now open for the OFSJB conference on Angelic Beings. 25-29 August 2022 in Walsingham, Norfolk UK. Please register as soon as you can, places are limited! This is our first in-person conference in 3 years.

As well as talks, services and time to socialise, there will also be time to explore Walsingham and the surrounding area. We will celebrate the Divine Liturgy twice, on Sunday and for the feast of the Beheading of St John the Baptist on Monday.

We are happy to announce our main speaker, Father Stephen De Young from the Parish of the Archangel Gabriel, in Lafayette, Louisiana in the United States. Father Stephen is well-known for his podcasts on Ancient Faith Radio, the Whole Counsel of God, and the Lord of Spirits podcast with Father Andrew Stephen Damick. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Westminster Theological Seminary, a Master of Arts from the University of Balamand, and a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Amridge University.

We will also welcome Tamara Penwell from the Parish of St John of Kronstadt in Bath. Tamara is an experienced iconographer.

Fees: Full adult fee £315; OFSJB member £280; child 5-16 £120; child under 5 free. Attendees are asked to declare if they are willing to share rooms in the accommodation of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. If you have any concerns about the fees, please email the Chair, Margaret Haig to discuss how the Fellowship can help you attend financially.

The timetable will be confirmed in due course, but we will assemble in the afternoon of Thursday 25 August and depart after the Divine Liturgy on Monday 29 August.

Sign up now!

2022 Youth Festival

The Youth Festival is back with an in-person event 3-5 June 2022, with the theme Life as Communion. Held at the beautiful Othona Community at Bradwell-on-Sea and worshipping in the chapel built by St Cedd, Apostle of Essex, the festival is a great opportunity for young people 18-35 to get together and share their faith.

Speakers include: His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain; Archpriest Stephen Platt from the Parish of St Nicholas, Oxford; Father Alexander Tefft from the Parish of St Botolph, London; and Marina Robb, Theologian and RE Teacher.

Visit the youth website to find out more and apply for a place.

Great Lent and new beginnings

Great Lent: a time of repentance, of turning away from sin and towards God. You may like to say prayers for peace at home; this link is to our friends at the Orthodox Peace Fellowship. https://incommunion.org/2022/02/14/moleben-for-peace/

Mosaic Choir has received a blessing to chant the Salutations to the Mother of God in English on each Friday of this Great Lent, 19:30 at the Chapel of the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain, 5 Craven Hill, W2 3EN. We believe this to be the only service of Salutations solely in English in our capital city. All are welcome.

Photo by Alexios Gennaris

Good strength for Lent!

Summer Series – it’s back!

Following successful virtual visits last summer and winter, the Fellowship is delighted to announce:

Summer Series: Through the Prayers of Our Holy Fathers and Mothers

Come and listen to talks about these wonderful saints and witnesses who can teach us so much in living the faith in the modern world. Come and see!

Taking place every Monday, 19 July-23 August, 19:00-20:30 BST (London, UK) on Zoom.

  • 19 July: Dr Razvan Porumb, speaking on Fr Nicolae Steinhardt – recording
  • 26 July: Sister Magdalen, speaking on St Silouan and St Sophrony – this session was not recorded
  • 2 August: Subdeacon Ian Randall, speaking on St Maria of Paris – recording
  • 9 August: Dr Elena Sadovnikova, speaking on Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh – recording coming soon
  • 16 August: Dr Alexei Tsvelik, speaking on Fr Alexander Men – recording
  • 23 August: Dr Evi Voulgaraki-Pissina: St Porphyrios and Mother Gavrilia – recording

Sign up here whether you want to attend one or all of the series. See you there!

You can download the poster below to further advertise with your parish and community. Right mouse click on the jpeg image and ‘save image as’ or download the pdf file.

New YouTube channel!

The Orthodox Fellowship of St John the Baptist now has a YouTube channel! Subscribe, share with your friends and watch our videos as a way to learn more about the Orthodox faith, but also feel free to watch videos again! As we move into the Great Fast, we hope making these videos even more accessible will provide spiritual nourishment.

Our own videos have been uploaded from recent events including

  • 2021 Study Weekend on the Psalms, hosted by the Romanian Orthodox Parish of St John the Evangelist in Cambridge
  • 2020-21 Winter Series of Virtual Visits to Saints and Holy Places
  • 2020 Summer Series of Virtual Visits to Monasteries around the World

These videos have also been put together as playlists for your convenience so the videos are brought together thematically as well as being able to watch them individually. We have also been able to create a other playlists thanks to the historic material still available elsewhere on YouTube with our friends.

  • 2015 Study Weekend on the Mother of God in the Bible, hosted by the Romanian Orthodox Parish of St John the Baptist and St Alban the Protomartyr in Luton
  • A collection of other videos from the Youth Festival and Women’s Ministries Initiative

More videos will be added when we can: subscribe, watch, like, comment, share, encourage people to join the Fellowship!

Have you received an OFSJB calendar for 2021?

We have sent out copies of the 2021 Calendar and Lectionary to everyone on the repeat order list. Unfortunately we have discovered that some copies have a printing error with some pages appearing blank.

It would be really helpful if you could check your calendar and notify us if it has been affected. Also let us know if you would like it replaced. Please email us at OFSJBCalendar@gmail.com.

The Calendar and Lectionary uses the Revised Julian (New Style) Calendar, and sets out feasts, saints, readings, fasting rules and the music tone of the week. It’s useful in your Church building, but also in your home. If you would be interested in purchasing a copy, use our contact form on our dedicated web page or email OFSJBCalendar@gmail.com.

Our winter series is coming…

Just two weeks until our winter series of Virtual Visits to Saints and Holy Places: don’t forget to sign up for Zoom details!

In our sessions, we will be meeting:

  • The saint with 17 Orthodox Churches and communities dedicated to him in the British Isles
  • The saint whose shoes keep wearing out
  • The saint who crossed many time zones and the international date line to be a missionary
  • The place of Christ’s birth
  • The humble village in the UK dedicated to the Mother of God
  • The saint who literally shone with the Holy Spirit

Please join us!

New series of virtual visits!

The Fellowship is delighted to announce that we will be holding another series of Virtual Visits this winter, this time to Saints and Holy Places. We hope that the current restrictions will feel a bit lighter when you can attend these talks, find out about inspiring saints and places of pilgrimage, and ask questions of our great speakers!

  • 30 November: St Nicholas and Bari, Italy – Fr Stephen Platt
  • 7 December: St Spyridon and Corfu, Greece – Fr Themistoklis Mourtzanos
  • 14 December: St Herman of Alaska and Spruce Island, USA – Dr S. A. Mousalimas
  • 21 December: the Nativity of Christ and Bethlehem, Holy Land – Dan Koski
  • 28 December: the Mother of God and Walsingham, UK – Mother Melangell
  • 4 January: St Seraphim of Sarov and Diveyevo, Russia – Alevtina Tanu

As before, we ask you to register for details of the events using our dedicated page. See you there!

The monasteries we visited

Thank you! To everyone who attended our summer series of virtual visits to monasteries; to our wonderful speakers who shared their experiences so freely; to those who generously donated; and to those who have watched the recordings of the sessions they could not attend (available here). With a top-up donation from the Fellowship, each monastery we featured will receive £425 towards their life and work.

And thank you to everyone who completed our feedback questionnaire. There was a clear wish to have some more sessions that people could join. We are currently working on the precise programme, but here is advance notice that we will be holding a winter series of virtual visits to saints and holy places. Look out for more details and registration on the website!

As we face changing restrictions due to the ongoing pandemic, please remember we have some resources collected together for you. If have something you would like us to add to the list, let us know in the comments!