On Saturday, March 16th, on the eve of Forgiveness Sunday and the beginning of Great Lent, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in Holy Trinity church, Winchester, by kind permission of the Priest in Charge, Fr Jamie Franklin, and the Parochial Church Council. With the blessing of His Grace, Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, the Liturgy was celebrated by Archpriest Joseph Skinner, Rector of the Parish of St Silouan, Southampton and Dean of South-West England.
Around thirty members of our Parish who live in and around Winchester, or further afield as far as Basingstoke and the Isle of Wight, attended this first service in Winchester, as well as some new people. At the end of the Liturgy, icon cards of St Ephraim the Syrian with the text of his Lenten prayer in English or Slavonic were distributed to the worshippers by Valentina Futoryanova, Churchwarden of the Parish of St Ephraim in Cambridge.
It is hoped that the Liturgy will be served at Holy Trinity once a month. All Orthodox Christians and those interested in Orthodoxy are very welcome, there being no other Orthodox presence in Winchester at present.
Holy Trinity is an Anglo-Catholic parish church, situated in the heart of the historic city of Winchester, which was the capital of England in late Anglo-Saxon times. The church was built in the mid-19th century in the Early Decorated style. Funds were provided by a Church Commission established by an Act of Parliament intended to support the construction of new churches in towns with growing populations. It is a Grade II listed building.
Photogallery