EDITOR’S NOTE (Nick Stamatakis). A remarkable event has taken place in Halifax, England, where an entire Protestant parish has embraced the Orthodox faith. Under the guidance of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland, the former Evangelical congregation has now become the St. Hilda Orthodox Community, with its first Divine Liturgy celebrated on August 17, 2025. Led by Pastor Douglas Clark—soon to be ordained Deacon “Caedmon”—and Associate Pastor Viviers Ferreira, the community is preparing for the formal reception of 34 members into the Orthodox Church this September. Their journey is not only a milestone for Orthodoxy in Britain, but also a striking example of how whole communities are rediscovering the fullness of the Christian faith.
At the same time, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain, under Archbishop Nikitas, has also witnessed remarkable conversions in recent years. Through the Discover Orthodoxy catechism program, entire groups of seekers have been received into the Church: nearly 200 faithful were baptized or chrismated on Lazarus Saturday in Hatfield this past April, 43 more the year before, and 29 in Battersea in 2023. These receptions, often celebrated by Archbishop Nikitas himself, highlight the growing spiritual thirst for Orthodoxy in England and mirror the collective movement now unfolding in Halifax.
BELOW THE LATEST CONVERSIONS BY ORTHOCHRISTIAN.COM
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Evangelical-turned-Orthodox congregation celebrates first Divine Liturgy
Halifax, England, August 20, 2025
antiochian-orthodox.com
The newly established Orthodox Community of St. Hilda in Halifax, England, celebrated its inaugural Divine Liturgy on August 17, marking a significant milestone in the congregation’s transition from Evangelicalism to Holy Orthodoxy.
The service, held at St. Malachy’s Catholic Church during the Afterfeast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, drew 61 attendees, with 15 Orthodox faithful receiving Holy Communion. Fr. Gregory Hallam of the St. Aidan of Lindisfarne parish in Manchester celebrated Liturgy, reports the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland.
antiochian-orthodox.com
The community, which began its journey to Orthodoxy earlier this year under the Antiochian Archdiocese, is preparing for a major reception ceremony on September 6. His Eminence Metropolitan Silouan, assisted by other clergy, will receive 34 believers into the Orthodox Church through either Baptism or Chrismation.
The following day, Met. Silouan will preside at a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, during which Douglas Clark, the congregation’s former Evangelical pastor, will be ordained to the holy diaconate. Clark will take the name Caedmon, after the spiritual son of St. Hilda of Whitby, a noted hymnographer and poet of the early British Orthodox Church.
The transition began earlier this year when the Evangelical congregation decided to convert collectively to Orthodox Christianity. Associate Pastor Viviers Ferreira joined Pastor Clark in becoming catechumens, along with most of the congregation’s members. The movement has also attracted additional individuals from Halifax and nearby towns.
Η ταραχώδης Ιστορία της Χριστιανικής Θεολογιας/ Γκουγκλ:
Με την γενική ονομασία «Μονοφυσίτες» εννοούμε ένα πλήθος θρησκευτικών ομάδων με μικρές δογματικές διαφορές αναμεταξύ τους.
Η βασική και μεγαλύτερη πλάνη της διδασκαλίας τους είναι πως ο Ιησούς Χριστός, δεν είχε δύο Φύσεις, την θεία δηλαδή και την ανθρώπινη, όπως πιστεύουμε και ομολογούμε εμείς οι Ορθόδοξοι, αλλά είχε μόνο μια Φύση, -εξ ου και η ονομασία τους- την θεϊκή.
Πάνω σ΄αυτό δε λένε ότι, κατά την ένωση της θείας με την ανθρώπινη Φύση, υπερτέρησε η πρώτη και ούτε λίγο ούτε πολύ η πρώτη, η θεία Φύση, «απορρόφησε» την δεύτερη, την ανθρώπινη Φύση.
Αυτήν την αυθαίρετη θεωρία επινόησε πρώτος ο Αρχιμανδρίτης Ευτυχής τον 5ο αιώνα παρασύροντας μαζί του στην πλάνη πολλούς ακόμη, όπως τον Διόσκορον, Πατριάρχη Αλεξανδρείας, τον Σεβήρον και άλλους.
Η Δ΄Οικουμενική Σύνοδος
Η Δ΄ Οικουμενική Σύνοδος, καταδίκασε αυτήν την αίρεση. Η απόφαση μάλιστα αυτή επικυρώθηκε και με το γνωστό θαύμα της Αγίας Ευφημίας, όπου θαυματουργικώς όλα τα ορθόδοξα βιβλία βρέθηκαν στα χέρια της Αγίας, ενώ όλα τα αιρετικά και κακόδοξα στα πόδια της.
Η Δ΄Οικουμενική Σύνοδος συγκλήθηκε από τον Αυτοκράτορα Μαρκιανό και τη σύζυγό του, Αυγούστα Πουλχερία το 451 μ.Χ. στην Χαλκηδόνα. Αποτελούνταν από 630 επισκόπους και καταπολέμησε την αιρετική διδασκαλία αυτή του Μονοφυσιτισμού.
Η Δ΄ Οικουμενική Σύνοδος μετά από μια ταραχώδη περίοδο ήρθε ως το αναγκαίο επιστέγασμα της διασφάλισης της καθολικής πλειοψηφίας του σώματος των μελών της εκκλησίας ως προς την απόρριψη κάθε μονοφυσιτικής ή ακραίας δυοφυσιτικής ορολογίας, την επικύρωση στην πίστη του συμβόλου της Πίστεως τόσο της Νίκαιας, όσο και της Νίκαιας-Κωνσταντινούπολης, τη θέσπιση του διοικητικού καταστατικού κανόνα της ορθοδόξου εκκλησίας σύμφωνα με το λεγόμενο μητροπολιτικό σύστημα και την οριστική επίλυση του χριστολογικού ζητήματος, το οποίο για περισσότερο από 80 έτη βρέθηκε στο προσκήνιο της θεολογικής διαμάχης στη Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία.
Δυστυχώς από τότε, πολλοί αποκόπηκαν από την Εκκλησία μένοντας μέχρι και σήμερα σ΄αυτήν την πλάνη και αίρεση και παραδεχόμενοι μόνον τις 3 πρώτες Οικουμενικές Συνόδους.
Απόγονοι αυτών των Μονοφυσιτών σήμερα είναι οι Κόπτες, Συριάνοι, Ιακωβίτες, Αρμένιοι, Αιθίοπες, Αντιοχειανοι κ.α.
After a 6 and 1/2 year journey, God blessed me to lead our former Evangelical Protestant congregation into this same kind of conversion in February of 1997. This brings back many happy memories and also the sobering reality of how difficult it is to lead an entire Parish from Protestantism into Orthodoxy. 28 1/2 years later, I thank God everyday for his mercy, enlightenment and courage to see it through. I often wonder, of all the non-orthodox pastors in the world, why did God open my heart to see the truth of His Church? I’m not sure I could even answer that, but I’m so grateful that He did and so grateful that he has done the same with this new Parish. This is the beginning of an incredible journey and perhaps the beginning of many such Evangelical conversions. May God bless you for your courage & devotion. Fr David Hovik (St Andrew – Arlington, WA). PS If you’d ever like to talk, please contact me. I’d love to compare notes.
Well, well, well curb your enthusiasm… These “conversions” do they happen canonically? With Baptism and Chrismation? I don’t think so!!!!!! Do they Learn Greek? I don’t think so!!!! Do they learn to parse the trifecta of Holy Scripture, Holy Tradition, Holy Canons in Greek??? I don’t think so!!!!!! Regardless of the language of Instruction do they follow the tenets of the Trifecta??? DEFINITELY NOT!!! We see Priests who don’t even properly dress who are ashamed or too lay to wear their rasso or their cross or their Kalimafki (the cylindrical cap pointing to heaven) in public (let alone in private) we have Priests who shave!!! “A shaved priests is a defrocked priest”!!! So the clergy who perform these conversions are not even orthodox! So I think the reverse of what is prima fasciae showing is happening: ie the Destruction of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church (resundantly labelled as Orthodox). And a final point how many of these so called concerts are allowed into the Priesthood, on Parish Councils while they are at large ignorant and “babies” in their knowledge and understanding of the trifecta???? MANY! Thats against the Canons! Converts cannot join the Clergy! We are witnessing a Genocide of Christianity by its biggest enemies which is the Vaticanists (mislabelled as Catholics or even Roman Catholics, they are neither nor…) and the Protestants… just count the Genocidal campaigns they have been launching against Christianity for thousands of years starting with the four Crusades of the Vatican, continuing with the Uniate movement in East Europe (the results of which have been many fracticidal wars with the latest one taking place in the Ukraine) the Genocide of Greeks, Armenians and Assyrians in Asia Minor by Kemal Atarurk (the Hitler of the Turks) but really engineered and designed by the European enemies of Christianity and end with the Genocide of the Christians in the Middle and Near East perpetrated mostly by the ZionistoPuppeteered PseudoChristian Americans… Remember the wolf will be draped in sheep’s attire!