in the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf
A delicious Palm Sunday Parish Lunch was held in the Parish Hall on Sunday 2nd April where those who attended were served a delicious Irish Stew or Vegetable and Cheese Pasta, followed by Osman’s Special Sherry Trifle or Linda’s Very Own Bakewell Tart.
Donations were welcomed towards church funds.
Sincere thanks to Earl Moffitt for organising this event, those who provided the comestibles, and to those who helped set up and clear the Hall afterwards.
1. Treasurer’s Report – The February accounts were still to be completed and the
Treasurer is to email them to council members asap. Shane confirmed that he
needed to hand-over the role of Treasurer to a suitable volunteer in the next few
weeks.
2. A new part-time parish priest has been appointed – Revd Alec Mitchell. He will
arrive in late May and will be Licensed by Archbishop Michael on 4th June.
3. The Hermitage – The Chair of JEMT UK had visited The Hermitage in February.
Revd Alec and his wife had also visited The Hermitage during their recent visit to the island and had expressed a wish that subject to some renovation work on the building, they would like to make it their home while in the parish. JEMT had offered a substantial grant towards the cost of repairs and council agreed that the work should commence as soon as possible.
6. Fabric and Maintenance – Sub Committee report:
a) The replacement of the noticeboard is still outstanding.
b) The replacement of metal drainage outside the church hall plus replacing the man-hole cover is still pending but was regarded as urgent.
c) Main Church Entrance Doors – A Quotation has been obtained for the replacement of these doors and it was agreed that this work should go ahead.
7. Cover for Holy Week and Easter Services had been arranged by Archdeacon Christopher.
8. The Parish Lunch arranged for Sunday 2nd April is to go ahead under Earl’s organisation.
9. Arrangements for the Annual Church Meeting, to be held on Sunday 16th April 2023 were discussed.
10. Health and Safety protocols were discussed when people were working around the church.
Date of Next Meeting – 4th May 2023.
Farewell to Archbishop Michael and Julia – 3rd June 2023.
VOLUNTEER TREASURER NEEDED
1. Treasurer’s Report – Latest accounts will form part of the end of year report. Based on these figures it will be likely that for the next few years the church will need to draw on the Reserves to meet the forthcoming chaplaincy costs.
2. A candidate for the post of a Priest for Duty has been selected and will visit St A’s at the end of February.
3. The future of The Hermitage – The Chair of JEMT UK will be visiting in February.
4. Fabric and Maintenance – Sub Committee report:
5. A volunteer is still needed to manage the hall kitchen.
6. Earl is to organise a Parish Lunch for Sunday 2nd April.
7. Charitable disbursements for 2023 to be discussed at forthcoming meeting.
8. Date of Next Meeting – 9th March 2023.
9. Annual Church Meeting – Sunday 16th April 2023
The St Andrew’s February Turkish and Syrian Earthquake Appeal reached just over TL 65,000, a terrific response. KKTC Kizilay received a small group lead by Jacqueline McIntyre, Warden and Shane Barnes, Treasurer accompanied by Jenny and John Worton-Griffiths on Friday 17th March. Kizilay President, Sezoi Sezen and his colleagues received the St Andrew’s donation with grateful thanks – it will be included in the KKTC Kizilay Pray for Turkey campaign. The Earthquake area of Sanliurfa is now suffering from severe flooding after days of torrential rain. Some tent encampments are now under water.
Home – North Cyprus Red Crescent Society (kktkizilayi.org)
Kibris is now hosting 10,000 people displaced by the Turkish earthquake. Baskan Sezoi explained that most are staying with friends and family but many are in need of assistance. Kizilay are busy preparing for Ramazan which begins on 23rd March. Iftar meals will to be shared in many towns and villages across the island each evening for the 29 days of fasting.
We thank God that we are able to announce that the Rev Fr Alec Mitchell has accepted the position of Priest-in-Charge of St. Andrew’s, Kyrenia.
Fr Alec will be instituted to the Incumbency of the Parish by Archbishop Michael on 4th June 2023. He will be accompanied by his wife Linda as we begin this new, exciting time for them and for St. Andrew’s.
Deo gratias!
Below is a short biography sent to us by Fr Alec. We look forward very much to welcoming Linda and Fr Alec to Kyrenia.
I was born in Maldon, Essex, in November 1952, the youngest of three (an elder sister and brother) and was a ‘cradle Baptist’. I was baptized, by full immersion, aged 16. After a ‘gap year’ I went to Manchester University to read theology, while concurrently training at the Northern Baptist College to be a Baptist Minister. I also studied for a semester at the Ecumenical Institute of the World Council of Churches in Switzerland.
I was ordained as a Baptist Minister in 1977 and served for 22 years in Moss Side, Manchester, in a church that had no baptistry. We used the local swimming pool for our (full immersion) baptisms: a spectacular setting! The church congregation was a rich mix of many nationalities and occupations: there were Jamaicans and British, hospital cleaners, BBC personnel, jam factory workers and university lecturers. . .
I began ministry in the Church of England in 1999 after a brief period of re-training at the College of the Resurrection in Mirfield, West Yorkshire. I was ordained deacon and then priested within the space of a few months. (My journey was not quite as speedy as that of St Ambrose of Milan, who is said to have been baptised, then made a priest, and finally consecrated as bishop, all within the space of a week!). I served my title in Ashton- under-Lyne, and held incumbencies in the Diocese of Manchester in both Ashton and nearby Denton, combining the role of parish priest with that of Racial Justice Officer for the Diocese, from 2002 until retirement in 2018. I was appointed to the latter post by my then Area Bishop (of Middleton) – one Michael Lewis, now Archbishop here in Cyprus! I was also the first Borough Dean for Tameside (one of Greater Manchester’s ten metropolitan authorities) and a Chaplain to both the local sixth form college and the Tameside Sea Cadets – whose ‘seas’ were the nearby canals and reservoirs in the Peak District.
I met Linda, my wife of 39 years, due to a ‘guess the weight of the cake’ competition! She had baked the cake, and my guess was the best – although she maintains that I cheated, because I had lifted it up! Linda is also from Essex, although we met in Manchester. Her career was as a secondary school teacher and she retired as an assistant Head at a large comprehensive school in Cheadle, Stockport. We married on 4.8.84 – a date which I can remember because it is a palindrome. We have three grown-up children, Nadia, Leila, and Aidan (the first and third are palindromes of each other!) and our daughters are currently living in Manchester and Germany, and our son is travelling in South America on a gap year from the Civil Service. We certainly hope they will all come to visit us in Kyrenia.
I love reading, cooking, music of all kinds, (except jazz and pop), Scrabble, sailing, rugby union, and railways. I am a rather poor pianist, and, having been a very average ‘all-rounder’ at cricket, I now pride myself on having been a very ‘acceptable’ umpire for clergy cricket matches. (9 out of 10 appeals for LBW are ‘not out’!)
Linda and I are thrilled to be coming to St Andrew’s, and look forward to meeting you all, and getting to know our way around. We give thanks to God, who has led us here, out of what we thought was retirement….!
On Sunday 11th February 2023, St. Andrew’s was honoured to welcome the Right Reverend Anthony Ball, Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Egypt with responsibilities across the new Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria, who Presided at the Eucharist on that day. The Very Reverend Christopher Futcher, Archdeacon of Cyprus, preached at the service.
Bishop Ball also serves as a Canon of Westminster Abbey, but perhaps of most significant importance currently from St. Andrew’s perspective, Bishop Ball is Chairman of The Jerusalem and the Middle East Church Association (JMECA) whose Standing Committee, the Jerusalem and East Mission Trust (JEMT), is the body which administers the assets of JMECA and a number of other charities that provide support for the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East (including the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf incorporating St. Andrew’s Church).
But Sunday 11th February was also a very special day in the life of the Church beyond assets such as buildings etc. when a young man Victor Idoga was received by baptism as the latest member of the Body of Christ which is the Church in St. Andrew’s.
Below are photographs (courtesy of Leo Igwe) of that joyous occasion.
