Ordination of new presbyter by the Bishop of Melitene

On Sunday, July 5, 2026, at the Holy Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Archangel Michael in Golders Green, London, the Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Bishop Maximos of Melitene.

Concelebrating with the presiding Hierarch at the holy altar were the parish priest of the church, Archimandrite Vissarion Kokliotis, Archimandrite Theophanes Petrou, Presbyter Dimitrios Mislis, as well as Deacons Daniel Johnson and David Johnson. During the Eucharistic gathering, the Bishop performed the ordination to the priesthood of the most devout deacon David Johnson, admitting the new clergyman to the second degree of holy orders.

Addressing the newly ordained clergyman, Bishop Maximos offered fatherly counsel, urging him to serve his flock while constantly carrying in his heart simplicity, a smile of kindness, and unfeigned love for all people. Reflecting on the course of human life through time, the Hierarch underscored the vanity of worldly attachments, reminding those present that earthly life inevitably ends at the hour when a person is stripped bare before Jesus Christ. He identified the mistaken belief in the eternal possession of material goods as a sign of spiritual immaturity. “It is…