Today we went to St Thomas's Serbian Orthodox Church in Sunninghill Park for the Hours and Readers Service, which we are doing, with the blessing of Archbishop Seraphim, on alternate Sundays while the priests, Fr Pantelejmon and Fr Spyridon, are away.
The first time we went, a fortnight ago, we fetched Margaret Mphela and her children from Klipfontein View. They are part of our much-diminished Tembisa mission congregation. Unfortunately we couldn't take anyone else, because since our Toyota Venture was stolen, we don't have room in our small car. We sang the service in English, and three members of St Thomas's were there with us, making nine altogether.
Today Margaret phoned to say that she couldn't come -- she has a new job, and was on night shift. So Val and I were the only ones there to sing. But this time there were more local parishioners from St Thomas's, and the number attending had doubled to 18.
Once again we sang the service in English, but the middle psalm in the Third and Sixth Hours was read in Serbian (actually I think it was Slavonic).
There were some people there that we had not seen before. Perhaps they were occasional attenders, but a few looked like Chinese or Japanese, and may have been first-time visitors. Unfortunately by the time we got out of the church after the end of the service they had gone, so we did not get a chance to talk to them. But if they were first-time visitors, it shows the importance of keeping the church open for Sunday services even if the priests are not there, and it is not possible to have the Divine Liturgy. Perhaps by the time Fr Pantelejmon gets back, there will be some people in the parish who will at least be able to read the Hours, if not sing the Obednitsa (Typika, Reader's Service).
The first time we went, a fortnight ago, we fetched Margaret Mphela and her children from Klipfontein View. They are part of our much-diminished Tembisa mission congregation. Unfortunately we couldn't take anyone else, because since our Toyota Venture was stolen, we don't have room in our small car. We sang the service in English, and three members of St Thomas's were there with us, making nine altogether.
Today Margaret phoned to say that she couldn't come -- she has a new job, and was on night shift. So Val and I were the only ones there to sing. But this time there were more local parishioners from St Thomas's, and the number attending had doubled to 18.
Once again we sang the service in English, but the middle psalm in the Third and Sixth Hours was read in Serbian (actually I think it was Slavonic).
There were some people there that we had not seen before. Perhaps they were occasional attenders, but a few looked like Chinese or Japanese, and may have been first-time visitors. Unfortunately by the time we got out of the church after the end of the service they had gone, so we did not get a chance to talk to them. But if they were first-time visitors, it shows the importance of keeping the church open for Sunday services even if the priests are not there, and it is not possible to have the Divine Liturgy. Perhaps by the time Fr Pantelejmon gets back, there will be some people in the parish who will at least be able to read the Hours, if not sing the Obednitsa (Typika, Reader's Service).
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