Dear friends,
As we approach the great Feast of the Lord’s Nativity, I look back on the Institute’s 25th anniversary year with gratitude and a sense of renewal, in equal measure.
One cannot but feel compelled to convey gratitude for all the people who have built and sustained IOCS since its establishment and equally for those who, particularly this year, facilitated with abundant generosity the celebration of this landmark anniversary: donors, Patrons, alumni, and students. Thank you for celebrating this anniversary year with us, whether by your presence at our events, by your donations, by promoting the Institute online and in your communities, or indeed by being part of our students and researchers collective.
The sense of renewal that I mentioned is bonded to our 25-year history. If I were to point to an overarching theme that captures the spirit of this silver jubilee year for IOCS, that theme would be ‘continuity with purpose’. All our experiences this year have reaffirmed to us how crucial it is for IOCS to harness the legacy of our founders, even as we move forward with clear purpose about the role and importance of IOCS as a Orthodox Christian place of learning and mission in Cambridge, in the 21st century.
The work and vision of our founders was for IOCS to embody a welcoming Orthodoxy, ecumenically receptive and in tune with the pressing issues of our contemporary world. The Institute continues on this path, of offering pertinent insights to present faith issues by means of top Orthodox Christian education and research.
In an increasingly polarised – even divided – world, this original IOCS vision for openness with rigour, for education that provides the right hermeneutic tools for our students to navigate divergent narratives and plurality in the light of the Gospel and with ‘the mind of the Fathers’, our vision for pan-orthodox unity and ecumenical fellowship must continue with renewed purpose. To do so, it needs renewed support.
Therefore, as we cross the threshold of our first 25 years into a New Year, and looking forward to even more landmark anniversaries, the Institute needs your help for the future. For example, if every person receiving this newsletter establishes a £10 monthly donation, in 2025 alone we would be able to raise enough funds to offer 10 full scholarships for our Master’s programmes. What a difference that would make! Please consider making a donation and supporting our vision.
A vision is like the light of a single candle. On its own, it can easily be snuffed out, it can be discouraged and doubted. But if that light is taken up by more candles, it becomes a beacon on a hilltop. The fragile light of the IOCS vision ignited 25 years ago progressively became a radiant beam as it was taken up by those who, in its light, shone with new possibilities and positivity. We recognise it in our students and alumni, in our donors and friends and we are grateful for it!
Warm wishes and blessings to all for the Feast of Christ’s Nativity and the New Year!
Father Dragos
Gratitude to our donors:
We are grateful to all our donors and benefactors, each and every one of whom makes our activities possible. From among our major donors in 2024 we would like to remember a few:
HE Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain
The Gerald Palmer Eling Trust
Westminster Abbey
Kathleen Eden
Issa Audeh
Christ the Saviour Monastic Trust
The Koga Family
Gladys Bland
Revd David Lowell
Saint Ephraim’s Orthodox Parish, Cambridge
Saint John the Evangelist Orthodox Parish, Cambridge
Roger Harrison
Dr Elizabeth Theokritoff
Aleksandar Bradic
The Revd Canon Hugh Wybrew