In 1986, by means of a loan, the former Methodist Chapel in Great Walsingham was purchased, an appeal was launched, and work began at once to convert the chapel for use as an Orthodox Church. In August of that year Metropolitan Anthony visited Walsingham and gave his blessing for the formation of an Orthodox Parish with its centre of worship in the converted chapel.
The Church of The Holy Transfiguration, Gt Walsingham, serves a parish community of several nationalities. (The majority of the regular congregation are British, although we also have Cypriots, Poles, Russians, Romanians, Ukrainians, Americans and others). We are under the jurisdiction of John, the Archbishop of Charioupolis, based in Paris, who is himself under the jurisdiction of Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch, the Archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul). We are part of the Orthodox Church - a family of churches which are united in faith and worship, and which have an unbroken continuity with the earliest Christian church.
Ikons are, for Orthodox Christians, "windows" into the eternal dimension of reality. They are not "realistic depictions" or even "works of art", but are a means by which Christ and his saints are made present to us. We acknowledge this presence by bowing before the ikons and kissing them.
A new wall ikon has been installed in our church, perhaps one of the biggest contemporary wall ikons in the country. Visitors will be greeted by the most wonderful of sights, and we are grateful to our benefactor and the skill of ikon writers we have engaged to make this very special addition. If, in the past, you have visited our church and were impressed, you need to make another visit.
We aim to ensure that the church is open during the day for visitors and for prayer. Despite our being in a fairly remote part of Norfolk, hardly a week goes by without several people 'dropping by'.
Visitors are ALWAYS welcome, and if you turn up while a service is in progress please don't feel embarrassed about coming in late or needing to leave early. It is perfectly acceptable to us that people should come and go as they please.
Our services are in English, and we follow the Russian tradition of worship which - except for the music used - differs very little from the forms of the Greek and other Orthodox traditions. Our normal weekly services are Great Vespers on Saturday evening and the Holy Liturgy on Sunday morning. Vespers - which lasts about forty-five minutes - begins at 5.00pm in Winter and 6.00pm. in Summer. The Liturgy starts at 10.30am and lasts about an hour and a half. Everyone - Orthodox or otherwise - is welcome at these services, and after the Sunday Liturgy there are refreshments available.
