Oriental Orthodox Festival in the UK

peterfarrington

Dear brothers and sisters,

This is an invitation to the Oriental Orthodox Festival which will be taking place on Saturday May 8th, at the Coptic Centre, Shephalbury Manor Broadhall Way, Stevenage SG2 8RH from 10:30 am to 4 pm.

The Council of Oriental Orthodox Churches in the UK organises the Festival, and this year is grateful to His Grace Bishop Angaelos of the Coptic Orthodox Church for offering the hospitality of the Coptic Centre at Stevenage.

The Festival includes a con-celebrated liturgy in which clergy of all of the member churches of the Oriental Orthodox community participate. A buffet lunch follows, made up of contributions brought by all of the participants at the festival, and the festival will conclude with a number of contributions from various Orthodox communities, which may include choirs performing hymns and songs from the various Orthodox traditions represented, and one or more short talks by some of the clergy.

The festival is an important opportunity for the various communities of the Oriental Orthodox communion in the UK to meet together to express our unity in the Orthodox Church, and to develop bonds of friendship and fellowship. It is important that as many clergy and people attend as possible to make the festival a success.

TIMETABLE

The festival will begin with a liturgy at 10:30 am which will conclude by 12:30 pm.

A shared lunch will follow.

After plenty of time for lunch and conversation it is hoped that a number of churches will provide contributions in the form of choral performances, and it is hoped that there will be one or two short talks.

The festival will conclude at 4pm.

ORGANISATION

Please advertise the festival among the clergy and people of your own Orthodox community. It would be helpful to have the festival added to the notices and news of your community over the next weeks. Please encourage your community members to attend the festival, where they will be able to worship with and meet members of all the other communities in our Oriental Orthodox communion.

It would be helpful if clergy could reply to this email indicating whether or not they will be leading a group to the festival. Please ensure that details of the festival are passed to other clergy and congregations in your Orthodox community.

If your churches have a choir then you are invited to perform a number of hymns or spiritual songs according to your own musical tradition. If your choir would like to perform for 10-15 minutes then please also reply to this email with details of the materials you would like to perform. If there are many choirs wishing to perform then the time for each choir may be shortened.

Please ensure that people and groups wishing to attend the festival are aware that they should bring a contribution of food for the shared meal. In the past this has been most enjoyable and the various Orthodox churches have brought their own traditional foods for others to share.

It would be most helpful if you could indicate if you will be attending, and how many people you expect to attend with you. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me. I cannot guarantee to have the answer, but I will attempt to find out an answer for you.

Seeking your prayers

Father Peter Farrington

Secretary to the Council of Oriental Orthodox Churches

Neniotee Ethoab

Why don't we have this in America??? I actually want to attend this.  Will the liturgy be recorded or video taped?  Maybe call CYC over?

Hezekiel

Christ is Risen!

In the litany for the Patriarch and the Bishops, only the Patriarchs of the Syrian and Eritran Orthodox church are mentioned.The Armenians,the Ethiopians and the Indians (am not sure if the Malankara Indian Orthodox is under the Juidiction of the Syrian Patriarchate) are left out.If the Oriental Orthodox Churchs do not pray for one another in every liturgy,what is the importance of their communion? Does such festival gathering provide platfroms to  discuss issues of this sort?

peterfarrington

The Church in Britain in ancient times is mentioned by many Fathers including those of Alexandria, but as far as I am aware the Church of Alexandria never named the primates of the British Church in the liturgy. This did not mean that they were not in communion.

Naming a patriarch in a liturgy is easy. Sharing in life together requires more effort. I am not sure where you are in the world, but here in the UK there is a warm and growing sense of community and comumunion among all of the Oriental Orthodox, and this Pan-Orthodox Festival - now in it's 3rd year - is just one part of how we seek to share our lives together.

We have had other liturgies where bishops, clergy and people gather together in one Church or another. We are beginning to make plans for an Oriental Orthodox conference next year. A new Oriental Orthodox official website is being launched shortly, and a Directory of Oriental Orthodox clergy and congregations is also being compiled for publication very soon.

So here in the UK there is a growing sense that we are one Orthodox Church.

Father Peter

Hezekiel

Christ is Risen!

Thanks Fr Peter.

I thought there should be some sort of protocol agreement between the various churchs,if they wish their Primates to be included in the litanies.This process might be easy,if the relationships are not rocky for one or other reason.I just think,the communion would be more gracious,if prayers were offered for one another.

I hope your example will be emulated all over the world and wish you success in the upcoming festival.

peterfarrington

Dear Hezekiel,

I would expect all of the primates to be named in the liturgies, although that becomes slightly problematic when there are tensions and/or disputes within and between churches. I am not sure why all of the primates are not named.

We are fortunate that all of the bishops, priests and laity on the Council of Oriental Orthodox Churches are such wonderful people -of which I am the least. It is a great personal pleasure and blessing for me to seek a blessing from the bishops and embrace my brother priests from the various communities. I am growing to know and like some of them very much.

This could surely be replicated on a state basis in the US? Or even in a major metropolitan centre? It just needs bishops to decide to do it. The wonderful thing about COOC (the Council of Oriental Orthodox Churches in the UK) is that even churches which have some tension between them still meet as brothers at the COOC. At a previous Orthodox Festival, even though Eritrea and Ethiopia were at war, there was a moving presentation of Orthodox dance, drumming and singing by the Eritrean Orthodox community, during which one of the Ethiopian priests took up a drum and joined in. Likewise seeing an Indian Jacobite priest sitting next to an Indian Malankara bishop at the Council meeting was very moving.

It needs to be done everywhere. We need to discover ourselves as truly one Orthodox Church.

Father Peter

ilovesaintmark

In the United States, a Con-celebration Liturgy is carried out, but without a festival associated.

However, the ecclesiastical politics do play out, and there are issues as they relate to the two Armenian Jurisdictions (Etchmiadzin and Cilicia), and the tri-partite issues with the Syrian Church, Jacobiate Indian, and Indian Malankara; not to mention the Eritrean-Ethiopian.  The first one was not attended by the Coptic Church, it was in 1981 in Philadelphia, just when the crisis of the exile of Pope Shenouda was beginning.  I remember going to the second one in the United States in September 1983 at the Armenian Cathedral of St. Vartan in New York City.  There were a handful of deacons representing the Coptic Church along with Fr. Gabriel Abdelsayed (of blessed memory).  No Coptic bishops were available to attend relative to the emergency circumstances in Egypt.  It was absolutely beautiful.

Sevant of Jesus Christ

Hello, abouna Peter I heard that you are good friends with Heg. Fr. Athanasius Iskander! He is my priest. God bless, please pray for me.

peterfarrington

I wish I was a good friend, but I have not met him yet. I hope that one day I can.

He has been very kind and helpful to me ever since I became Orthodox 16 years ago.

I have the very highest respect and regard for him.

May the Lord bless his service and grant him many years.

Father Peter

peterfarrington

Don't forget,

If you live anywhere within driving distance of the Coptic Centre at Stevenage then do, do, do make sure that you speak to your priest and arrange as many people as possible to come for the day.

If you can encourage your priest to come and con-celebrate then do ask him to drop me an email so that I can make sure that the Coptic Centre have arranged for every bishop and priest to contribute.

God bless

Father Peter

peterfarrington

Bump.

Let me keep banging on about this.

I know that all of the bishops would want to see as many people at the Festival as possible. When we were last at Stevenage it was packed for the Festival.

Father Peter

Sevant of Jesus Christ

Ahahha, I think he is on vocation (I could be wrong). But he wasn't there last sunday. God bless, please pray for me.

peterfarrington

Let me remind everyone about this event.

If you can possibly be there, then please make every effort to be there.

It is very important that we support our Coptic Orthodox Church at this pan-Orthodox festival, but even more important that we develop ties of fellowship with the other members of our Oriental Orthodox communion with whom we truly form one Orthodox Church.

Father Peter

peterfarrington

The pan-Orthodox liturgy and festival was a great blessing yesterday. There is a report and some photos here...

http://britishorthodox.org/912/2010-oriental-orthodox-festival-at-stevenage/

Most of the Oriental Orthodox communities were represented, with many ecumencial guests and friends. It was great pleasure to meet with Coptic, Indian, Ethiopian and Eritrean brethren, and a joy to concelebrate with brother priests and Abba Seraphim and HG Bishop Angaelos. The Ethiopian and Eritrean chant was, always, an other-worldly experience, and we were very fortunate to have a choir from the Indian Orthodox who sang during the communion, and then gave a presentation to six of their traditional songs after the buffet.

And let me mention the buffet! It is always a treat to eat Indian food actually prepared by Indians as if for themselves, as well as food from the other communities. But I only managed to get to the Indian table, and then my plate was too full for anything else.

I guess that there were 2 bishops, 7 priests, about 40 deacons and 200 laity from the various communities. I am already starting to think about advertising for next year to ensure that all of the bishops resident in the UK can attend.

Father Peter

mabsoota

Lovely photos, great to get the report  :)

DanieM

I greatly enjoyed the festival yesterday, it was great to see the close relationship between the Orthodox Churches here in the UK.
I agree with Bishop Angelos' comments that this is what it will be like with heaven, only in heaven it will be in the presence of the Lord.
I especially enjoyed the Ethiopian drumming and the Indian Orthodox Choir, theit singing was beautiful.

I will email Abba Seraphim my photos from the event and see if he can put them on the British Orthodox site also.

ilovesaintmark

Didn't see the Armenians and the Syrians in the pictures.

DanieM

They did not attend, the Armenians had a visit from one of their metropolitans and I am not sure why he Syrians were not there.

Zoxsasi

[quote author=ilovesaintmark link=topic=9121.msg114260#msg114260 date=1273451503]
Didn't see the Armenians and the Syrians in the pictures.




Yes, very well observed. I was there, and I didnt see any of the Armenians either. Its a shame because i meet a lot of Armenians near Stevenage, and it would have been good for them to know more about their sister churches.

Likewise, it helped me, as well as others, see ourselves as part of a wider Orthodox Community, not just Egyptian in tradition, but Orthodox in spirituality. A faith we share with millions of other nationalities. One Creed, One Faith, expressed in different cultures.

I await eagerly for the time when the Greek Orthodox Church join us also. Does anyone know when this will be?

It will definately reduce tensions in the Holy City.

One thing that was most evident was the Ethiopian Orthodox Church: they had a really funky song they sang at the end, and it had its own dance moves, and more importantly, both men and women were singing! Nice touch for a change.

peterfarrington

The Armenians have a new primate, and so the date of the festival was a surprise to him, and he was on his way back to New York on Saturday. He is still sorting out visas etc. He will be a great addition to our Orthodox Church here in the UK because he has been the Dean of St Nersses Seminary in the US.

The Syrian Archbishop and the Indian Metropolitan were both out of the country, and the Ethiopian bishop was in the South-West. I am hoping that we can firm up a date at the next Council meeting so that everyone can clear their diaries.

WHY DID YOU NOT COME UP AND GREET ME?

Father Peter

Zoxsasi

[quote author=peterfarrington link=topic=9121.msg114269#msg114269 date=1273486557]
The Armenians have a new primate, and so the date of the festival was a surprise to him, and he was on his way back to New York on Saturday. He is still sorting out visas etc. He will be a great addition to our Orthodox Church here in the UK because he has been the Dean of St Nersses Seminary in the US.

The Syrian Archbishop and the Indian Metropolitan were both out of the country, and the Ethiopian bishop was in the South-West. I am hoping that we can firm up a date at the next Council meeting so that everyone can clear their diaries.



Sounds good. What about the Greek Orthodox Churches? What news do you have a possible reconciliation?

WHY DID YOU NOT COME UP AND GREET ME?

Father Peter

I tried actually, but you looked awfully busy..in fact, I held the door open for you when you were leaving, but I didnt want to disturb your conversation. Unfortunately, the queue was so long for the food (although I did try some of the rice), I just left and went to Burger King.

I had a double whopper, French Fries, large coke.. it was great.

Hopefully, we'll meet up in next coming events.

What did you think of our chanting? Was there ANY hymn in the Coptic Church that made you say to yourself: "Oh! That sounds really good... It would be nice to get this hymn in English"

What hymn in the Coptic Church did you enjoy the most??

Finally, did you know that in the Greek Orthodox Church they sing Asomentou Kirie the SAME tune as us during Pentecost!??

Other than that, it was a pleasure having you in our Church. I am EXTREMELY PROUD of our deacons, and of our Church servants and especially Fr. Shenouda Asham. His sermons are brilliant. Anba Angaelos has been blessed with such a wonderful selfless servant to work with him.

What did you think of the readings in the Church? From where you were sitting, did you understand any of it? I don't know why, but I find it SO hard to understand anyone who reads from the Bible (its an echo problem).

peterfarrington

Here is a picture of the clergy at the Festival....



You should have interrupted me. And there was a long queue for the food. In the end I managed to reach the Indian table. I could hear everyrthing OK from where I was sitting.

There are lots of Coptic hymns I like. I think they would need slightly Englishifying so that they used an English variant of the Coptic tune in the British Orthodox context. I enjoyed the Ethiopian/Eritrean chant and had a chat with a British convert to the Ethiopian Church. I love the Ethiopian and Eritrean priests, they are very warm hearted people. I thought the Coptic deacons were excellent and the hymns were outstanding. I could not imagine the liturgy being performed better. I always enjoy being around Indian Orthodox and find their hymn tradition very accessible. It was just great that everyone fitted together and we did have a genuine unity in Christ. I missed the Armenians and Syrians since their presence was needed to make our universality complete in some sense.

I am hoping to be able to get up to Stevenage and spend some time with Father Shenouda Asham. I have a lot to learn from him, and he is willing to teach me - although he is probably not aware how slow a learner I am.

Father Peter

peterfarrington

And here is a photo of a large proportion of the congregation.

PM me where you are Zoxasi.

Zoxsasi

Hi Father,

Im actually not in that picture, but I was there when it was being taken.

Did you remember the guy that was holding the door open for you as you left? If not, its OK.

Yes, abouna Shenouda is good; you have a lot in common. I really like his firmness in orthodoxy, and he really is interested in making sure people benefit from the mass.

That's why Im extremely bothered about our microphone system. Its awful. I don't undertand a word of any of the readings.

Anyway, I hope we can meet next time.

Take care

DanieM

Thank you so much for posting this picture Fr Peter, I have been waiting to see a copy of it but could not find it on the BOC site, though I did find one of me taking communion which was odd. As it was my first communion I think Trevor was told to take one.
On the big group photo I am on the left hand side, at the front in the black jumper with red underneath.  :D
It was brilliant that they took one of everyone, as it shows the real diversity of our Oriental Orthodox family.

The food stands after the liturgy were a great treat, I was able to try the Indian and Egyptian foods which tasted nice. I also found it funny to see the British "last minute rush to the supermarket" food stand.

I absolutely loved the Ethiopian drumming. I have put a video clip of it on my youtube (). I wil put some more video clips from the event up over the next few days too.
This was my favourite part of the festival.  ;D I suggested to Fr Simon afterwards that we get a drum for portsmouth, haha.

All in all, I think it was a fabulous day. It certainly gave us an insight into the family and helped strengthen the bond between us too.

Hezekiel

Fr Peter and others,

Thanks for sharing all the blessings with us.

[quote author=Zoxsasi link=topic=9121.msg114276#msg114276 date=1273500343]
Hi Father,
Did you remember the guy that was holding the door open for you as you left? If not, its OK.


Missed opportunity,specially knowing that someone from Tasbeha is in attendance. Had I been there,I would have approached and greeted Fr Peter and would have asked for his prayers and his blessings. May be,in the years ahead.

mabsoota

u know, sometimes u get shy in the presence of clergy, esp if they are very busy. i know i am sometimes shy even of my own bishop because he is so busy and tired and everyone wants to talk to him, i feel like i want to give him a break!
so i understand, zoxsasi, i also think i will go up and say hello, but sometimes i don't!
btw i hope 2 meet u next time 2!  ;D

coptic youth

Father Peter and others,

Is it posible that we see  a recording of it, the liturgy:? even snippets?

Zoxsasi

[quote author=mabsoota link=topic=9121.msg114312#msg114312 date=1273560034]
u know, sometimes u get shy in the presence of clergy, esp if they are very busy. i know i am sometimes shy even of my own bishop because he is so busy and tired and everyone wants to talk to him, i feel like i want to give him a break!
so i understand, zoxsasi, i also think i will go up and say hello, but sometimes i don't!
btw i hope 2 meet u next time 2!  ;D


were u there also? where r u in the picture?

i was looking forward to meeting fr. Peter, but it was very hard on that day with all the hubbub etc.

hopefully next time.

peterfarrington

There was a lot of video being taken at Stevenage. Does anyone have contacts at Stevenage among the people taking video so that we can get hold of some?

Father Peter

mabsoota

i wasn't there
:o
but don't tell anyone
;)