The weekend celebrations started with a vespers service immediately followed by a folklore performance. His Grace Dositej welcomed a packed hall of guests for St Sava’s Evening. The parish’s ensemble Rastko welcomed special guests Gračanica, Serbian folk dance ensemble who had especially flown over from Boston, USA. Both dazzled the audience.

On Sunday, the parish came together in huge numbers to celebrate our national saint in a festive spirit despite the troubled times we presently live in.

Divine Bishop’s Liturgy was served by Dositej, Bishop of Britain and Scandinavia in concelebration with clergy from London and the rest of Great Britain. Parishioners, children and parents were joined by Her Excellency Ms. Aleksandra Joksimović, Serbia’s Ambassador and her partner, HRH Princess Katarina Karađorđević da Silva, Miss Marijana Ognjanović, Consul of the Republic of Serbia, the military attaché Mr. Dragan Dabović and his wife.

Luka Milivojević, captain of Crystal Palace FC, was also present along with his family, who often attend St Sava’s.

The host of this year’s St Sava’s celebration was Mr. Predrag Pisić, who presented all the students of the Church Sunday School with gifts.

During Divine Liturgy, His Eminence Bishop Dositej ordained Reverend Bojan Radičević, parish priest from Halifax, to the rank of archpriest in recognition of his dedicated service at Halifax parish. With the Bishop’s blessing, Father Bojan proclaimed the significance of St Sava’s character for our Church and his inspirational legacy for all the Orthodox faithful.

Bishop Dositej also announced a change in position. After many years in the post, Protopresbyter Stavrophor Goran Spaić had asked to be relieved of his role as the elder of St Sava’s Church and also as the eparchial emissary of the Bishop. The Bishop had therefore decided to appoint Protopresbyter Stavrophor Dragan Lazić in his stead and wished him every success. At the same time he thanked Protopresbyter Stavrophor Goran Spaić for his diligent previous service. Father Goran remains the Bishop’s official deputy.

After Divine Liturgy, the children of the Church Sunday School gave a festive academy together with the Rastko and Gračanica folklore ensembles. The St Sava sermon was delivered by subdeacon Siniša Macakanja, a graduate of theological studies from London.

A festive lunch was prepared by the parish’s industrious Kolo Srpskih Sestara “Kosovka devojka”.

PHOTO GALLERY

On 20th January 2023, pupils of our school virtually hosted the poet Tatjana Pupovac from Novi Sad. Although she writes poetry for adults as well, Tatiana is better known as a children's poet. He is a frequent guest in many schools in Novi Sad and throughout Serbia. Our pupil Aleksandra Tošić will recite poem "My Laza" written by Tatjana at the St Sava Academy on 29th January 2023. During the online session Tatjana recited several of her songs and answered questions of our pupils. Each of our students recited or sang something in Serbian. They invited Tatjana to visit them in London, and she promised to send several of her books as a gift to our School. 

Prof. Goran Mashanovich, member of the School Education Board was in Serbia during December 2022 and had a series of talks and visits to various institutions. At the invitation of the management of the elementary school "Milovan Glišić" from Valjevo, he visited this school, which was founded in 1961, as the sixth primary school in the city of Valjevo. The school has over 600 pupils and since 2019 is located in a new building equipped with modern classrooms, labs and teaching aids. In 2019, the Diocese of Valjevo awarded the school with the Order of Saint Bishop Nikolaj for "fostering the spirit of Saint Sava and for excellent organisation on the occasion of the consecration of the new building".

Prof. Mashanovich had the opportunity to visit the school and see of the quality of teaching, to talk with the school's management, led by the head teacher Nataša Badovinac, and to learn about the plans for future work. On this occasion, the "Milovan Glišić" school sent books and teaching materials to our school, and mutual visits and exchange of experiences are planned in the future.

On 15th December 2022, Prof. Goran Mashanovich visited Radio Slovoljubve of the Archdiocese of Belgrade and Karlovac in Belgrade, Serbia. He informed the editorial board about the activities of the Saint Sava Church School and about the celebration of 60 years of continuous operation of the school, which was held on 19th November 2022 in London. The show "Diocese info" broadcastед parts of this conversation on 16th December 2022. You can listen to this show HERE and the conversation with Prof. Mashanovich starts from 44:45.

Saint Sava Church School organised its traditional cake sale on Sunday 27th November from 11.30 until 13.00. It was a very successful event run by the Parents Council. Funds collected on the day were used to purchase a couple of laptops that will be used for teaching. We would like to thank all the parents and parishioners who made cakes or donations to the school. The next School cake sale is in June 2023. 

Parents Council and Educational Board, St Sava's School

This year we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the consecration of St. Sava Church in London and the 60th anniversary since the St. Sava Church School was established. Therefore, on Saturday 19th November 2022 we celebrated these significant anniversaries in the recently decorated Bishop Nikolaj Hall in the presence of our bishop Dositej, Her Excellency Mrs. Aleksandra Joksimovic, and HRH Princess Katarina Karađorđević de Silva. A rich cultural programme was performed by the church choir, folklore ensemble Rastko, pupils of St Sava Church School, and our London based actresses and artists: Vesna Stanojević, Maria Pavlovich Allport, Silva McQueen, Živorad and Anđelija Nikolić, and Ilija Obradović. After the program, 200 guests enjoyed a dinner prepared by members of the Circle of Serbian Sisters.

Photos from the event can be found in two galleries:

Gallery 1

Gallery 2