Leave a comment Posted on 27/02/2016 by MMR Conference, Youth Festival

OFSJB Youth Festival 2016: “Finding our Way in Christ”

Location: Dovedale House, Ilam, Staffordshire, DE6 2AZ, UK
Dates: Thursday 26th May – Monday 30th May 2016
Contact: ofsjbyouthuk@gmail.com

Add this event to your calendar:

Applications now open – click here to apply!

The OFSJB Youth Festival is an annual event organised by the Orthodox Youth Fellowship for young people (aged 18-35-ish) from various Orthodox jurisdictions in the UK, but open to visitors from around the world. It aims to provide greater insight into aspects of the Church and our life in Christ through talks and discussions, an experience of unity and prayer as well as creating a relaxed and fun environment within a homely hostel and its surrounding hills and rivers. This year’s theme is vocations and spiritual guidance and so we will have talks and other activities aimed at helping us all find our way in Christ.

The Festival program will include discussion groups, prayers and services, a Liturgy on the Sunday, workshops, games, music and other entertainment, walks and sharing of information on various Orthodox events and organisations in the UK and abroad. One evening will feature a ‘Hot Potato Session’, which is a chance to ask more difficult questions anonymously in a confidential and friendly environment to be answered by the clergy and speakers in attendance.

Full details, further information, contact and inquiries can be made on our youth pages www.orthodoxyouth.co.uk

Leave a comment Posted on 17/01/201624/02/2016 by margarethaig Conference, Day Conference, Study Weekend, Uncategorized, Women's Ministries

2016 Events

2016 is shaping up to be another fascinating year for the Orthodox Fellowship of St John the Baptist. Why not join us to meet others in fellowship and in a spirit of learning?

Annual Fellowship study weekend in Walsall, 22-24 January, ‘What are Priests for?’ (report forthcoming).

Women’s Ministries Initiative (supported by the Fellowship) study day in Dublin, 9 April, ‘Abrahamic Religions: Revelation in Judaism, Christianity and Islam’ (Poster: Study Day Abrahamic 9 Apr 2016; Registration form: Study Day Abrahamic Registration Form)

Annual Youth Festival in Ilam, 26-30 May, ‘Finding our way in Christ’ (details will be on the Youth website in due course).

Annual Fellowship summer conference in Swanwick, 1-3 July, ‘Being Orthodox in a Multi-Religious Society’ (Poster and Booking Form).

Information on all these events is available on this website, explore and find out more!

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Leave a comment Posted on 01/01/201616/03/2016 by MMR Conference

2016 Conference: Being Orthodox in a Multi-Religious Society

Archbishop-of-Thyateira-and-Great-Britain-Gregorios (1)

Being Orthodox in a

Multi-Religious Society

1 – 3 July 2016

Friday 4.00 pm to Sunday teatime

The Hayes, Swanwick

At this Conference the Fellowship will consider

the witness of the Orthodox Church in today’s diverse society.

Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and GB will preside and preach at the Sunday Divine Liturgy

Speakers to include

His Grace Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop

Coptic Church UK

HE Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia

Fr Philip Hall; Dr Mangala Frost

Marina Robb

Download Poster and Booking Form for details

Facebook Event

Leave a comment Posted on 02/12/201506/12/2015 by margarethaig Mosaic Choir

Christmas Carol Concert: Mosaic Choir

Come to a Carol Concert with a difference! Experience a concert with a true international flavour which will have some familiar favourites but also a real international and folk feel, with carols from Romania, Greece, Ukraine, France and other countries, too.

The Mosaic Choir was formed under the umbrella of the Fellowship of Saint John the Baptist and is made up of Orthodox people from a variety of backgrounds: cradle Orthodox and converts, and from countries all over the world!
We also sing liturgical Christmas music from different traditions, during what will be a very relaxed evening.

If you’re in London and want a unique musical experience for Christmas come along and tell your friends!

Sunday 13 December, 7:30pm, Free entry with retiring collection

Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 1 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden (how to get there)

Find this event on Facebook

Leave a comment Posted on 28/08/201529/11/2015 by margarethaig Study Weekend

2016 Study Weekend: What are Priests for?

2016 Study Weekend

Walsall

Friday 22nd-Sunday 24th January

WHAT ARE PRIESTS FOR?

A study of ancient and modern texts

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Looking at Patristic and other sources

we will consider the place and function of

the priesthood in today’s Church

Cost £60.00, includes lunch and evening meal (only)

Details Fr John Nankivell

Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God

63 Dale Street, Palfrey, Walsall WS1 4AN

(01922-633451; nankivell@tesco.net)

Poster Booking Form

1 Comment Posted on 05/07/201505/07/2015 by MMR Conference

Walsingham Conference 2015: Some Highlights

Our Annual Summer Conference sadly came to a close today.

It was held at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham and was both a pilgrimage and a conference on the theme of Pilgrimage.

Here are some highlights from our Facebook Page

A full report, including many of the talks, will appear in the next edition of Forerunner.
Sign up as a member today to get a copy. Videos to follow.

Friday 3rd July:
Metropolitan Kallistos addresses the OFSJB conference on Sacred Space: the Presence of God in Thin Places

Saturday 4th July:

A really fascinating talk about Russian Pilgrimage to Mount Athos by Dr Nicholas Fennell Watch out for the millennium celebrations of Russians on Athos in 2016!

Metropolitan Kallistos sprinkles the pilgrims at the Fellowship’s summer conference/

This was followed by a potted history of Orthodoxy in Walsingham by Fr Philip Steer.
An earlier written version of the talk can be found here [pdf]

Did you know that St Nikolai Velimirovic served the Liturgy here several times after being released from Dachau concentration camp? St Nikolai, pray to God for us!

In the afternoon, Fr Pancratios Sanders challenged us to go on more pilgrimages in the right spirit: to the Holy Land, to sites of martyrdom, to monasteries, wonder – working icons… and to sites associated with British Saints like Holywell.

The panel at the Fellowship summer conference: Fr Pancratios Sanders, Metropolitan Kallistos, Dr Nicholas Fennell and Fr Philip Steer. Led by our new Fellowship Chairman, Bede Gerrard.

Challenging questions on how much hardship a pilgrim should endure, expecting the unexpected and what their top tips would be for a Pilgrimage Survival Guide.

Sunday 5th July:

So the Fellowship summer conference came to a fitting end with the Divine Liturgy, where Metropolitan Kallistos reminded us that we are icons of the cherubim, participating in the eternal Divine Liturgy where Christ is both He that offers and He that is offered.

There was lots of time to make friends and meet new people too:

See you at our future events; stay tuned to our website! www.ofsjb.org.uk

Leave a comment Posted on 05/07/201505/07/2015 by MMR Website News

Find us on Social Media

You can now find us on Facebook and Twitter!

Follow @_OFSJB

Leave a comment Posted on 23/06/201530/08/2015 by MMR Day Conference, Women's Ministries

Enjoy a real coffee with Sister Vassa in Oxford!

You may be familiar with the YouTube sensation “Coffee with Sister Vassa” but now is your opportunity to have a real cup of coffee with her. You will also learn from two of the most eminent Orthodox Theologians in the UK, Metropolitan Kallistos Ware and Father Andrew Louth of Durham University. This time on a weightier theme.

The Women’s Ministries Initiative is hosting its second study day, looking at themes of Personhood, the Individual, Solitude and Loneliness.

Full details can be found on the Women’s Ministries page

Women’s Ministries Initiative: Networking, Educating, Communicating

Women and Men in Christ, let us see the Church flourish with positive changes

Women’s Ministries Initiative

Study Day Series on Anthropology and Theology

‘The Person and the Individual:

Solitude and Loneliness’’

17 October 2015 in Oxford, at Lady Margaret Hall

Speakers: Metropolitan Kallistos Ware (Oxford),

Sister Vassa Larin (Vienna) and Rev’d Prof Andrew Louth (Durham)

Programme:

From 10am – arrivals, registration, tea-coffee* at Talbot Hall, Lady Margaret Hall

10:30 – Welcome and Presentation on the Women’s Ministries Initiative

11:00 – Metropolitan Kallistos Ware – Introduction to the theme

11:30 – Sr Vassa Larin: ‘Solitude vs. Loneliness in the Age of the Internet’ followed by discussion

13:00 – Lunch*

14:00 – Prof Andrew Louth: ‘Philosophical Approaches to Personhood: East and West’ followed by discussion

16:00 – Departure

*n.b. Bookings for food and drink including tea and coffee have now closed for late registrants (after 1^st September). You are welcome to bring your own food and drink to this event.

For registration and membership enquiries please contact Dr Elena Narinskaya.

Please register in advance (Elenarinskaya @yahoo.co.uk). Membership forms can be send via e-mail on request.

Poster

Registration Form

1 Comment Posted on 05/05/201505/07/2015 by MMR Orthodox News

Orthodox Bishops for Great Britain and Ireland have a new Website

The Pan-Orthodox Episcopal Assembly of Great Britain and Ireland have a new website.

It can be found at www.episcopalassembly.info

The Episcopal Assembly is one of thirteen bishops’ assemblies that have been established in different geographical regions throughout the world. It is made up of all the active, canonical Orthodox bishops with churches in Britain and Ireland.

Some of their most important documents and statements can be found here.
These include a recent Statement on the Persecution of Christians and Pastoral Recommendations On Preparation for and Receiving of Holy Communion.

Background

The Assembly was established in accordance with the Decision of the 4th Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference, held in Chambésy, Switzerland in 2009, at which representatives from all the universally-recognized autocephalous Orthodox churches met and considered the situation of the Orthodox communities in the Diaspora, that is, in countries outside the canonical territories of the established Local Orthodox Churches. The Assemblies are designed to promote cooperation among the Churches and to prepare the way for the resolution of the canonical anomalies associated with overlapping jurisdictions.