These are resources meant mainly for The Anglican Church of St Thomas the Apostle, Kefalas, on the island of Crete in Greece, but others may find them helpful!
Sunset aerial photograph of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem (view from the south, 2013). Photo credit: Andrew Shiva.
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There are three ways you can use these resources.
First, you can join us for worship in person. We have resumed worship and will continue this coming Sunday, May 24, at 11:00 am EEST at the Tabernacle of the Church of St Thomas, Kefalas. It will be a Holy Communion according to Common Worship. People should come only if they are comfortable with being out and about as the pandemic restrictions are being lifted, and are in good health.Those of you were were there last week and are coming again, please remember to return with your hymn book, psalter, and service booklet!
Second, you can join us via ZOOM. God and technology willing, we will livestream this at 11:00 am EEST (9:00 am BST for you folk in England). The link is (as last week):
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85044839927?pwd=TkQ1cHEzNUNjSjVCNTNJVUJwSkZaQT09
Meeting ID: 850 4483 9927 Password: 010209 . For those joining from a distance the Order of Service can be downloaded here: Easter Holy Communion 2020; this is the same as last week. The Order of Service will be shared on Zoom, as will the hymns.
Third, you can simply do it all yourself – read the lessons and pray the prayers below, as well as listen to the recorded sermon, with and intersperse it all by clicking on the links to the hymns.
Read
The readings appointed in the Revised Common Lectionary (“RCL”), Year A are
The optional reading from the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible is Ezekiel 36:24-28.
In our worship on Sunday we will use the optional reading from Ezekiel, as well as the Psalm, and the readings from Acts and John.
Reflect
I will be posting my sermon (or some version of it) after preaching it tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a sermon for Sunday from Fr Leonard Doolan, the chaplain at St Paul’s, Athens.
Pray
Collects
O God the King of glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
we beseech you, leave us not comfortless,
but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us
and exalt us to the place where our Saviour Christ is gone before,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
(or)
Risen, ascended Lord, as we rejoice at your triumph,
fill your Church on earth with power and compassion,
that all who are estranged by sin
may find forgiveness and know your peace, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Intercessions
H1 We pray for God to fill us with his Spirit.
Generous God, we thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit.
We ask that we may be strengthened to serve you better.
Lord, come to bless us and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the wisdom of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to make us wise to understand your will.
Lord, come to bless us and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the peace of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to keep us confident of your love wherever you call us.
Lord, come to bless us and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the healing of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to bring reconciliation and wholeness
where there is division, sickness and sorrow.
Lord, come to bless us and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the gifts of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to equip us for the work which you have given us.
Lord, come to bless us and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the fruit of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to reveal in our lives the love of Jesus.
Lord, come to bless us and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the breath of your Holy Spirit,
given us by the risen Lord.
We ask you to keep the whole Church, living and departed,
in the joy of eternal life.
Lord, come to bless us and fill us with your Spirit.
Generous God,
you sent your Holy Spirit upon your Messiah at the river Jordan,
and upon the disciples in the upper room:
in your mercy fill us with your Spirit,
hear our prayer,
and make us one in heart and mind
to serve you with joy for ever. Amen.
For the Church
- Remember Justin Welby and John Sentamu, Archbishops of Canterbury & York, and Robert Innes & David Hamid, our Bishops here in the Diocese in Europe.
- In the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Prayer Cycle we remember the churches and peoples of Angola and Mozambique.
- In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer and on this we Anglican Communion Sunday we pray
- for all members of the Anglican Communion around the world;
- for Justin Welby and all primates and bishops;
- for members of the Anglican Consultative Council
- for the Secretary General, The Most Revd Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon,
- for the staff at the Anglican Communion Office in London and the UN offices in Geneva and New York
- In the Prayer Diary of the Diocese in Europe we give thanks for
- the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht, Archbishop Bernd Wallet.
- the Evangelical Lutheran Churches of Iceland, Latvia and Lithuania.
- in London, our Chancellor, Mark Hill and our Registrar, Aiden Hargreaves-Smith, and in Brussels, the work of the Communications Director, Damian Thwaites.
For Governments:
- Στην Ελλάδα προσευχόμαστε Αικατερίνη Σακελλαροπούλου, Πρόεδρος, και Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης, Πρωθυπουργός (In Greece we pray for Aihaterini Sakellaropoulou, President, and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Prime Minister).
- In the UK we remember our Sovereign Lady Elizabeth II, Governor of the Church of England, and her government led by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.
- In Canada we also pray for Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, Her Excellency Julie Payette, the Governor General, and Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister.
- In the European Union we pray for Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission; Charles Michel, President of the European Council; and Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy.
- For government leaders around the world as lockdowns are raised.
The Island Parson 