Protestant community in England converts to Orthodoxy

A priest from the Manchester parish blesses adults and children for catechism classes at a school in Halifax. Photo: antiochian-orthodox

An evangelical community in Halifax (West Yorkshire, England) is in the catechumenate process of joining the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland, according to the antiochian-orthodox website.

With the blessing of Metropolitan Silouan, head of the archdiocese, the community will become a new Orthodox mission named after Saint Hilda of Whitby.

Most of its members, including Pastor Douglas Clarke, have already begun catechism classes. The process is expected to be completed in early September with an official service of reception into Orthodoxy and a possible ordination to the diaconate.

Back in 1995 when the Orthodox Church of Antioch expanded in the UK, several communities such as this were catechised and received into the Church in a process called "Pilgrimage to Orthodoxy." With this new Orthodox mission of St Hilda, Whitby on the horizon and the same process being followed, Pilgrimage to Orthodoxy (PTO) has been reborn.

“The Antiochian Orthodox Church here in the British Isles and Ireland remains open to receive not only individuals into the Church but also whole ecclesial communities as the seeds of new missions in this Archdiocese,” the statement reads.

As previously reported, young people in the U.S. are increasingly converting to Orthodoxy.

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