Distance Learning Programme
��
Latest News and Forthcoming Events
THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH ENDORSES IOCS
His All-Holiness Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch and senior hierarch of the Orthodox Church, has sent a letter of commendation to the Orthodox Institute for its work, which is also an endorsement of the Institute's cooperation with the Cambridge Theological Federation. His All-Holiness, who has "carefully read through the contents and pamphlets of your correspondence" (the outlines of all IOCS' courses) "would like to congratulate you on the impressive and expansive work of the Institute".
Read the letter from the Patriarch here �.
'THE WAY' - IOCS COURSE IN INTERNATIONAL USEPlease click on the above link for details
THE CAMBRIDGE THEOLOGICAL FEDERATION is unique in bringing together of a variety of Christian traditions in joint teaching and learning by which our horizons are expanded and our experience shared - but it is also a place where each tradition has to accept informed criticism of things it holds most dear.
This is true of a forthcoming study, Wrestling with a Godly Order: Encounters with the 1662 Book of Common Prayer from Sarum College Press and edited by James Steven, to be launched on 20 May 2015. In it, two Federation members, Revd Dr Susan Durbar, former Principal of Westminster College (United Reformed Church) and Professor David Frost, Principal of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, join five other liturgical scholars, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist and Roman Catholic, in examining the effects of a foundation document of the Church of England, the 1662 BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, on their own communities. It is a history of massive influence, adaptation and appropriation, but also of fierce theological criticism and political opposition.
All are invited to the Book Launch at Sarum College at 12.25 pm on Wednesday 20 May, and to buy a copy at a pre-order price of �14.19 from Sarum College Bookshop, 19 The Close, Salisbury SP1 2EE (tel. 01722 326899).
Click here for more details �.
THE IOCS LITURGY PROJECT
The Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies has launched a programme of translation to present the ancient Liturgies of the once-united and universal Church at their best. The programme is also intended to assist the worship-experience of the Orthodox communities of Great Britain, whatever their ethnic background, by producing a single modern English translation of the Greek originals that can lie alongside texts in a church's language of origin
Click here for more details �.
A Message from the Principal.
THE PLIGHT OF CHRISTIANS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
The trials and sufferings of Christians in the Middle East, in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, are constantly in the mind of members of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies - not least because one of our Directors, Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East, is with his people in Damascus at the centre of civil war, whilst his brother, Metropolitan Paul of Aleppo, our close friend and a Visiting Lecturer at the Institute, is, along with the Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo, held hostage and at the mercy of rebel forces.
We have petitioned the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary to seek the release of the two Bishops and have received an assurance from the department handling Middle Eastern affairs that they are doing all they can. Many of us will be moved to contribute to the relief of Iraqi and Syrian refugees - though it is wise to take note of the warning from the Charity Commission to check the credentials of relief organizations before you give.
Meanwhile, we draw your attention to the outstanding address given at Great St Mary's Church, Cambridge, during a Prayer Vigil for Christians in the Middle East, by the Coptic Bishop in Great Britain, Bishop Angaelos. As a path to understanding what is happening, in its historical and scriptural context, and as an aid to deciding how we should response, it could hardly be bettered. It is to be found at http://www.bishopangaelos.org/content/hope-christians-middle-east.
Cambridge Liturgical Psalter - Now as an AUDIO BOOK
A reading by the Principal, Professor David Frost, of the complete Book of Psalms (Cambridge Liturgical Psalter version) is now available
as an audio book from AUDIBLE, price �14.49, but only �3.99 if you take out membership of Audible. The recording is also available from iTunes and Amazon.
Buying the Cambridge Liturgical Psalter Audio Book is another way you can help IOCS, because for every person who gets the recording at reduced membership price, the publisher gets a bounty of $50!
Purchase here �
Yoga and Christianity: click here to listen to Dr Christine Mangala Frost's recent contribution on the BBC Radio 4 programme on Yoga.
ONLINE COURSE IN NEW TESTAMENT GREEK. The Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies recommends a course in New Testament Greek by Distance Learning, for which enrolments will start from March this year. The course is organised and run by Archimandrite Nikodemos Anagnostopoulos, currently a Visiting Lecturer with our Institute. For more information about the course please see the attached leaflet or contact Fr Nikodemus at [email protected] or [email protected] Please click here for more information �
Appeal to to the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary on behalf of kidnapped Syrian Bishops. Please click here to see the letter which our Principal, Professor David Frost, sent to the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary, regarding the kidnapping of Metropolitan Paul Yazigi, the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo, and Metropolitan Youhanna Ibrahim, the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo. We urge all our friends to also write to the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary with similar pleas.
IOCS acquires new home! The Institute is delighted to announce the purchase of own premises at 25-27 High Street Chesterton, Cambridge, CB4 1ND. To learn more about this major development in the life of the Institute, please read the Principal's letter here.