Welcome !

The Orthodox Christian Parish of the Holy and Life ­Giving Cross at Lancaster (United Kingdom) belongs to the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland under the omophorion of the Metropolitan Silouan. Our Patriarch is His Beatitude John X.

The Holy Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is served every Sunday at 09:45 a.m. at the Church of St Martin of Tours, Westgate, Lancashire, LA4 4UZ, United Kingdom (find us). Great Vespers are served every Saturday at 16.00, preceded by Memorials and Confessions. Other Orthodox services, including those for special Feasts, are held according to the Orthodox calendar and sometimes take place on Skype. Please, contact us for more information on the exact time and date of the services, check our private page on Facebook, or look at the last page of this month's Stavronian.

We are a relatively small parish led by Fr. Jonathan Hemmings, but with faithful from more than half a dozen nationalities! The Parish also serves the liturgical and pastoral needs of Orthodox Christians studying and teaching at Lancaster University. 

Safeguarding
To ensure our church is a safe place of worship and fellowship, we implement the Archdiocesan Safeguarding Policy, which may be found here. 

Mrs Alexandra McCafferty is the Parish Safeguarding Representative. She assists the parish priest with the implementation of the Safeguarding Policy. She is the official point of contact for anyone who needs to report concerns about safeguarding issues. You can contact Alexandra by email at alexispet[at]yahoo.com

We are in need of people willing to help in the Church, in particular servers and chanters. If you wish to offer your help, please contact Fr Jonathan.

We enjoy our fellowship, having meals together and taking part in pilgrimages to Orthodox monasteries, churches, ancient Christian sites and other worship places (photos). We produce a newsletter each month with our news and spiritual food for thought. We also work in translations, and have translated St. Lioba's life from English to Greek and St. Joachim's life from Greek to English (more information here). Please also see the holy tasks page with details about our work, and our treasures page with information on the icons and holy relics of St. Nicholas Planas and St. Joachim of Ithaca, that our parish is blessed to have.

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Want to support us financially?

Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

Our Orthodox Community of the Holy and Life Giving Cross has been blessed to have a building for a Temple that serves the needs of the Orthodox Christians in the Lancaster area.

To this end, we are making an appeal to raise funds to cover the rent and other needs of the Church on a permanent basis. Apart from your much needed prayers, you can find information on how to contribute to our fund raiser here.

​Notices

• Following a number of canonical infringements against our bishop's authority, a series of wholly unjustified accusations and a refusal to recant and repent, Sayedna Silouan, having taken advice from senior clergy and his canonist, has deposed the former priest Matei Vulcanescu and returned him to the status of layman. Please do read in full the bishop's announcement. The Archdiocese is offering care to his community in Liverpool.
• Please read the statement of His Eminence Metropolitan Silouan Oner on the departure of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 9 September 2022. May her memory be eternal!
• Starting from the 27th of January, 2022, the UK Government has lifted almost all COVID-related restrictions. Nevertheless, before attending the worship, carefully read the safety regulations. Please be kindly advised that the wearing of masks is encouraged in Church but is not compulsory. Masks, hand gloves and sanitising gels will be provided at the entrance to the church hall. We strongly encourage everyone to take a lateral flow test (LFT) before attending the church. Windows are kept open at all times during services.
• Few other services are now conducted online. Please check the Stavronian for the contemporary schedule, join Skype group to attend the service, or our group on Facebook to see live broadcasting.
• Read the current issue of our monthly newsletter, the Stavronian, here! You may also be interested to know that the Stavronian has become 10 years old.
• Fr. Jonathan has written and published "Fountains in the Desert" (in English and Romanian), which is based on the sayings of St Antony the Great. Please contact us for orders (priced £7.50 plus postage & packaging).
• We are very pleased that Εν Πλω published Fr. Jonathan's "Fountains in the Desert" book in Greek. The book presentation was held in Athens, Greece in October 2016. We are thankful to Kleio Kehagia for the translation of the book from English to Greek. If you are in Greece please visit Εν Πλω's bookstores to buy the book or contact us for orders. All the proceedings from the book will help our Parish to cover the expenses of a permanent Church for worship.
• Also available is the story of Fr. Michael Harper's 48 year long ministry "Visited by God" told by Kh Jeanne Harper. The foreword to the book is written by Prof. David Frost, Principal of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, Cambridge. Fr.Jonathan wrote the last chapter on Fr. Michael's contribution to the formation of the Antiochian Deanery. Available priced £7.50 (plus postage and packaging).

"Fountains in the Desert"

The Parish of Holy Cross embraces Metropolitan Silouan after the Holy Liturgy on Sunday of Forgiveness, Feb. 26, 2017. More photos of this joyous event uploaded by Fr Gregory on the Antiochian website here.

Hieromonk Chrysostom, Father Jonathan and Fr Bogdan 
Photos from the presentation of the book "Fountains in the Desert" in Greece.

​Psalm 133  
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, 
even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: 
for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore."