Consecration of the Church in Torquay

 
This concerns the Greek church of Saint Andrew the Apostle in the town of Torquay, Devon. The town lies on the coast of the English Channel, and already in the middle of the twentieth century a group of Orthodox Cypriots and Greeks settled there. They established a church community and, in 1976, succeeded in obtaining for their religious needs an old church building that was no longer in use, situated within an old Anglican cemetery. This was related to me by the secretary of the parish council, Robert Skrivanos, who is half Greek and half English.
 

For decades afterwards, the church was served by Fr Gregory Carpenter, an Englishman who had embraced the Orthodox faith in his youth, studied and specialised in Greece, and became a priest under the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain. At his ordination he was given the name of Saint Gregory Palamas, and now no one uses his English name anymore; he is simply Fr Gregory.
 
Eight years ago, I began from time to time to serve together with Fr Gregory in the church, where, alongside the Cypriots, many Greeks from Greece had also begun attending regularly. Orthodox faithful from other nationalities also came, mainly immigrants from Eastern Europe, as well as English converts to Orthodoxy.
 

Seven years ago, because of old age and certain infirmities, Fr Gregory entrusted me (with the blessing of Archbishop Nikitas) with the responsibility of serving the parish. In 2023 I officially received a letter from the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain informing me that I had become the principal priest of the parish.
 
When Fr Gregory was handing over the parish documentation to me, he remarked that the church had never actually been consecrated. This struck me as rather strange: how could services be celebrated in a church that had never been consecrated? As far as I had heard from him, many bishops had visited over the years, but either they had forgotten this fact or had simply paid no attention to it.
 

One day, Robert and I began looking through the documents and discovered that the Greek-Cypriot community had leased the abandoned Anglican church of St Saviour’s in 1976 and had entered into negotiations with the cemetery authorities in order to purchase it. In October 1978 the final legal document granting ownership of the church was received from the Queen (an English matter indeed!), excluding the pathway and burial plots. Even before the signature of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had been obtained, services had already been celebrated there by Orthodox priests visiting from other towns. This year (2026) marks fifty years since Orthodox services first began to be celebrated in this church.
 
As parish priest (although with an unresolved formal transfer from the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to the local Archdiocese), I considered that this jubilee presented a suitable occasion to request from our Archbishop Nikitas the consecration of our church. A long correspondence then followed with his secretary, Archdeacon George, with months of waiting for a reply, until it was finally decided that the Archbishop’s young vicar, Bishop Maximos of Melitene, would come and consecrate the church.
 

As you may imagine, the consecration of a church may happen only once in the life of a priest, and it may never happen at all if he serves in an already-consecrated church. As a priest serving in the Diocese of Plovdiv and in the Diocese of Vidin, I had never before attended such a consecration. As the Bishop himself said in his homily, it was also his first time performing one. The rite itself is quite complex, and because no experienced priest could be found within the Archdiocese to prepare the special mixture required, a priest had to come all the way from Thessaloniki. This further complicated our preparations. Fr Ignatios, who came, spoke only Greek, and I was left somewhat suspended, relying entirely upon my Greek-speaking altar assistants to prepare everything necessary for the consecration.
 
On Saturday, 20 June 2026, we welcomed Bishop Maximos, the Greek priest Fr Ignatios, and Archdeacon George at the church at 6 p.m. They brought relics to be placed within the Holy Altar Table. The relics consisted of particles of Saint Menas (11 November), Saint Paraskevi the Virgin-Martyr of Rome (26 July), and an unnamed martyr from the Lavra of Saint Sabbas the Sanctified, who was slain when the Persians devastated Palestine and massacred the monks of the Lavra in 614. The Church commemorates them on 16 May.
 

We served Solemn Great Vespers. The church was full. At the conclusion, the holy relics were brought out for veneration.
 
After Vespers, the priests and parish council members went for dinner at a Bulgarian-Romanian restaurant. We ate fasting dishes, and such a pleasant conversation unfolded that, although darkness had not yet fallen (these are now the longest days here in the North), at ten o’clock I said to everyone: “Go home now, because tomorrow an important work awaits us!”
 
The Historic Day: 21 June 2026
 
In the morning, we began Matins at 9 a.m. The Bishop and the other guests arrived at 9:25. The church was already full. Around 10:30 the actual consecration began. I was merely an observer of something truly unique.
 

In advance, we had cut an opening measuring approximately 15 x 15 x 15 cm in the centre of the Altar Table. Into this we placed many names of both the living and the departed, brought by parishioners to be sealed there “until the Second Coming,” as the Bishop read aloud.
 
First we washed the Altar Table with water and dried it. Then Fr Ignatios wrapped the small reliquary in cloth and placed it into the opening together with the names. During Matins he had melted the wax-mastic mixture (an aromatic blend of pure beeswax, pure incense, mastic and other fragrant substances). He poured several packets of marble powder into the opening and then filled it to the top with the wax mixture. This mixture cools quickly (just as candle wax does when it drips), but it also expands slightly. When Fr Ignatios placed the marble cover over it, it would not fit into the opening but protruded above the surface.
 

A commotion followed. The now-hardened mixture had to be scraped away. A second and third attempt also failed to make the cover fit level with the surrounding marble so that the surface of the Holy Altar Table would remain smooth. We had certainly drawn the attention of everyone in the church outside the sanctuary.
 
Afterwards, much fragrant oil and perfume was poured upon the Holy Altar Table while we priests wiped it thoroughly with towels. Then, before placing the white covering upon the Altar Table, Fr Ignatios poured the wax mixture in the form of a cross at both ends, and the covering became permanently affixed to the Altar Table. We completed the vesting with the remaining white coverings. This took quite a long time, although Fr Ignatios worked quickly.
 
Finally, we continued with the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy.
 
Before the conclusion, at my suggestion the Bishop tonsured two men as Readers to assist me in the altar, while Fr Brandon Gallagher of Exeter, ordained three years ago and a professor of theology, read the prayer appointing him as a spiritual father and confessor—something we do not have in Bulgaria. This means that he may now hear confessions. This is a great help to me, because until now his parishioners had to travel from Exeter to Torquay for confession. I myself also travelled there twice a year, before Pascha and before Christmas, in order to hear their confessions.
 

We finally finished around 2:30 p.m. In the church grounds the young men had erected a tent, while the women had set out tables. The Bishop offered a blessing, and people lined up in an orderly manner to refresh themselves. We had the opportunity for everyone to speak with one another. Some sat beside the Bishop to share their concerns with him. Many people came to me expressing their joy at this unique service.
 
I had thought that five and a half hours might prove too much for them, but they were full of joy. Pilgrims had come from the parishes in Exeter and Plymouth, but what was most interesting was that people had also come from London, the Midlands, and Cornwall.
 
At around four o’clock our guests departed and we began tidying everything away.
 
As I said to my parishioners: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
 
May God, through the prayers of Saint Andrew, Saint Menas, and Saint Paraskevi the Great-Martyr, fill this house of His with faithful followers from among whom future chanters, monks, and priests may arise. Amen.
 
Fr. Trayan Goranov