Fr. Barnabas’ 30th Memorial

 
This Saturday (14th of March 2026), our community will be prayerfully commemorating the 30th anniversary of the death of its spiritual founder, Archimandrite Barnabas of New Mills.
 

We will be celebrating the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the 318 Holy Fathers, SY2 6FB, at 10:30am (no Matins beforehand).
 
We will then meet at the graveyard of Manafon Church (4 Glanrhiw, Manafon, Welshpool SY21 8BL) for 1:30pm (approximately), for a Panikhida at the grave of Father Barnabas.
 
Who was Archimandrite Barnabas?
 
Born Ian Burton in Pennal, Wales, in 1915, he was received into the Orthodox Church in Paris in 1960 by Archimandrite Sergius, becoming a novice under Monsignor Dom Dennis Chambault. He studied theology at Villemoison Seminary. He was tonsured a monk, and later ordained a deacon and priest in the same year, also receiving the rank of archimandrite. He returned to Britain in 1964, establishing Orthodox hermitages and monasteries: first at Saint Leonard's-on-Sea (1965), then Willand, Devon (1967-1973), and New Mills (1974-1996). A tireless missionary, he brought many to Orthodoxy through preaching, writing, and spiritual guidance. He prepared clergy for ordination, established parishes including the church in Shrewsbury, and maintained the daily monastic offices until his death on March 14th, 1996, aged 80. Our community, alongside many others, consider his selfless commitment to the growth of Orthodox Christianity in Britain as a manifest sign of his holiness of life.
 
Among his many spiritual teachings, a useful precept of Father Barnabas, for our life as Orthodox Christians, is that our Faith, expressed in its fullness, is "to be lived rather than talked about, to be prayed rather than preached, to be listened to rather than dialogued over". In living our Faith, Father Barnabas believed that the catalyst for a life of genuine commitment to Christ is to "rely on His Grace through all the ups and downs of life's pilgrimage", for "the one who endures to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:13)
 
Therefore, let us come together this Saturday and offer thanksgiving to Almighty God for the life and many gifts of our spiritual father, meditating on the words of the Psalmist: "In everlasting remembrance shall the righteous be." (Psalm 111:6)
 
Note: The above text was posted on the Facebook Group of the Shrewsbury Orthodox Church.