Archbishop Hosam Naoum, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, and the Synod of the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf are pleased to announce the election of the Revd Sean Semple to be the sixth Bishop of the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf.
The Revd Sean Semple is currently the Rector of the Benefice of Ross with Walford and Brampton Abbotts in the Diocese of Hereford. He has served on various committees in the Diocese including chairing the Council for World Partnership and serving as Rural Dean of the Deanery of Ross and Archenfield.
Sean has served in 3 provinces of the Anglican Communion. Before coming to the Diocese of Hereford, Sean served as a priest in the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf, and the Diocese of Natal, South Africa. He was ordained priest in the Diocese of Natal in 2011 following a decade of ordained ministry in the Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Sean’s undergraduate studies in Psychology and Theology were undertaken at the University of Natal and the University of South Africa, followed by post graduate studies in Spirituality and Clinical Psychology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the University of Nicosia respectively.
Sean is married to Jenny and they have five children and one grandchild.
A date for the service of consecration, and installation in the two cathedrals of the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf, St Christopher’s Bahrain and St Paul’s Nicosia, will be announced shortly.

Members of our Gujarati community after Wednesday’s Ashing

A Lenten Study Course will be held n St. Andrew’s starting on Thursday, 22 February and on the following four Thursdays (February 29th, March 7th, 14th and 21st) – starting at 10.30am and finishing no later than 12.30.

The meetings will be held at The Hermitage and be preceded by the Office of Morning Prayer in the Hermitage Chapel at 10.00am prompt.

The theme of the Course will be ‘WHY DID JESUS DIE? THEORIES OLD AND NEW’, and, as with the Christmas Unwrapped series in Advent, it will be an interactive, Biblically-based course.

Lent soup lunches will be served in the church hall on Sunday 3rd and 17th March after the morning service. The lunch will consist of home-made soup, fresh bread and butter, plus a cup of tea or coffee. Volunteers to help with serving are needed so if you would like to help, please contact Earl.

There is no charge but Donations (200/300 TL?) will be appreciated. Proceeds will go to the Ras Morbat Clinic, Aden.

It is good for Christians to meet together informally, and food and fellowship are close friends!

We remember those to whom this meal would be a feast.

Ash Wednesday falls on Wednesday 14th February this year.

There will be a service of Holy Communion and Imposition of Ashes at 10:30am on that day.

It is with great sadness that we record the death of our Church Warden, Mr James Gibbs, on Monday 11 December, at the Kolan British Hospital, Lefkosa.

A memorial service, celebrating James’s life, will be held here at St Andrew’s next Wednesday, 20th December, at 11.00am. James will be laid to rest, in England, in early 2024.

May he rest in peace and rise in glory!

On Sunday 3rd December 2023 St. Andrew’s hosted the Norwegian Church abroad (Sjømannskirken) at a joint service to celebrate Advent Sunday.

The service was led by the Revd Alec Mitchell and Diakon Annelis Holmedahl.

Below are some photographs of the service courtesy of Linda Balfe.