JOSEPH Coleman comes from Texas, has not a drop of Greek or Greek Cypriot blood in his veins, and yet for the last year and a half he has been serving the Orthodox Mass Divine Liturgy in English with the blessing of the Bishop of the Tamassos Metropolis.
His church, the All Saints Greek Orthodox Church, which meets at the old church of St Nikolaos in Pano Lakatamia, is from this month officially a fully-fledged English-language Greek Orthodox parish church.
Father Joseph will be conducting all the services of the Orthodox Church in English. There will be Sunday Divine Liturgy every Sunday morning 8-10am with Saturday evening Vespers at 6pm. All Christmas, Lent and Easter services will be celebrated at the little church, in addition to the other main holy days in the church calendar, like August 15.
He said the aim of the Church is to “provide English-speaking services for the target demographic”, mainly repatriated Cypriots from English-speaking countries. The community numbers around 150-200, with parishioners coming from all over the English-speaking world such as the UK, the USA, Australia, South Africa and Canada. Most are from the Cypriot diaspora and have returned to their homeland after many years away.
Among his parishioners he also counts those who have married into the Orthodox Church, some of whom have converted and some who have not but want to “bring up their children in the Orthodox faith in an English-speaking environment”. One family has no Cypriot link at all but have been living on the island for many years and converted to the Orthodox faith.
His own road to Orthodoxy started in childhood. He was raised in Texas as an Episcopalian but in a family that was a “smorgasbord of different Christian denominations” including Baptist and Lutheran.
His introduction to Orthodoxy came from his father, who had researched the faith extensively and taken an active interest in it. “I didn’t take much interest in it as a child, it was later that my faith was awakened,” he said.
“My father was living in Japan and I went to visit him there. During my stay we visited a Russian Orthodox Church and attended the service. Although the service was in a language totally unknown to me I found myself feeling a profound sense of tranquillity and calm.
“It wasn’t a feeling of ecstasy or euphoria,” he explains. “Just a deep and wonderful feeling of inner peace and comfort. I felt as though I had come home. I had finally found what I was looking for. It was a personal conversion through the Holy Spirit.”
On his return to the USA he became more active in his research of the faith. He bought books and read widely around the subject of the Orthodox Church. He began to attend Orthodox masses, was baptised and became an active member of the church.
He travelled to Greece to receive theological instruction. During this time he also learnt to speak Greek fluently and met his wife, with whom he has three children. The youngest two, a girl and a one-year-old boy, wander in and out of the room while we chat, golden-haired children with cheeky faces.
Father Joseph was ordained two years ago, after being a Deacon for five years. His faith is deep-rooted, strong and infectious. He has great plans for the All Saints Greek Orthodox Church, but his main aim is to build an active and close community.
The English Divine Liturgy used in his services comes from America, where they have long had English translations of the Greek Orthodox liturgies. “One very good book is in English in the front and in Greek at the back. Often I include parts of the liturgy in Greek within the English language service,” he said.
Many activities are planned for the church. Among them is the Tuesday morning Mothers and Toddlers group which was in full swing in the background as we spoke. It was the group’s first meeting and appeared to be going swimmingly. A small collection of children, from a few months to about four years old were enjoying a variety of toys and colouring books. Later, there was a craft hour, followed by story time. As the summer comes to a close and the group takes off, Father Coleman anticipates a rise in numbers. “There are about 8-10 mothers with 15-20 children who have expressed an interest,” he said.
From October there will be an Open Discussion group on the first and third Wednesday of each month. People will be invited to bring their enquiries about the church, its faith, teachings and practices, with a particular focus on church history and on developing theology as a whole. A Bible Study group will be organised for the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month.
Father Joseph explains that it is important to separate “true Orthodox beliefs and practices from folklore. It is extraordinary how unknown the real beliefs of the Orthodox Church are,” he says.
Father Joseph also aims to reach out to the youth of his community and draw them together with a weekly youth group. This group will focus on religious education and fun activities. He also intends to focus strongly on environmental issues and the idea of Stewardship (the belief that we are responsible for the Earth as God’s children). He aims to educate children on the importance of looking after their environment in order to bring about a change in mentality in Cyprus.
He also anticipates setting up an electronic sermon, in which he will send inspirational messages via email for who those who are reluctant to attend the full Sunday service.
Father Coleman’s central concern for his church is the development of the community. “The physical closeness of traditional village or parish life is missing because our parishioners are so spread out. It is vital to promote church life through community events and to develop spiritual life through community participation. We had a barbeque this summer on the Feast of All Saints in Machairas with about 100 people. We hope to make this an annual occasion.”
After the Sunday service there will be a Fellowship Hour of coffee and a chat and once a month the community will hold a Pilgrimage Sunday when after the church service, the community will travel together to visit cultural, natural and religious sites across the island, followed by a meal all together at a local restaurant.
The English-speaking Orthodox community hopes to build their own church one day. But for now Father Joseph has a busy period ahead of him, regrouping his community after the summer, and setting up church activities.
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