by Reader Hector Panos
On Saturday 14th March 2026, our Church community commemorated the 30th anniversary since the death of its founder, Archimandrite Barnabas (Burton) of New Mills.
The day commenced with the celebration of Hours and the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the 318 God-bearing Fathers of Nicaea, officiated by the Rev. Archpriest Father Pancratios Sanders, Priest-in-Charge Emeritus of the parish community of Saint Barbara, Chester, and concelebrated by the Rev. Presbyter Father Panteleimon Maxfield, Priest-in-Charge of our community.
In his sermon, Father Pancratios highlighted the importance of Archimandrite Barnabas in the establishment and development of regular Orthodox liturgical life in the western part of England and Wales, saying: “Without Father Barnabas, Chester would not exist, Shrewsbury would not exist, most of the parishes in the North West would not exist.” He further testified to this unwavering influence, admitting Archimandrite Barnabas’s most profound impact on his spiritual life, growth and formation as an Orthodox Christian and priest, recalling with fondness the many blessed memories he, alongside many others, received during their time at the Monastery of Saint Elias, New Mills, of which the Archimandrite was the first abbot.
After the Divine Liturgy, the faithful drove through the sunny, blooming Welsh countryside to the village of Manafon, Montgomeryshire, where the remains of Archimandrite Barnabas, as well as Mother Mary (Tribe), a nun under his pastoral care, are buried in the graveyard of Saint Michael’s Church. A memorial was served there, officiated by Fathers Pancratios and Panteleimon, and attended by faithful from Shrewsbury, Welshpool, Chester, Stafford, Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent and North Wales.
The faithful then partook in fellowship with one another by means of a spring picnic in the village hall car park, next door to the (former) Monastery of Saint Elias in New Mills, reminiscing the many blessings Archimandrite Barnabas brought to the local Orthodox presence, and cherishing the day’s manifold blessings.
Tad Barnabas
By Reader Hector Panos
Who would have known, that the hills of Pennal would give birth to such a great star as you?
Who would have known, that the Church could make an Apostle out of a wee lad from the valleys of Gwynedd?
Who would have known, that your pilgrimage through this life would be such strange, yet wondrous?Church door to door, the truth you sought, and much to your dismay;
the inner stillness of your heart you could not thus regain.But, when you sought Mount Tabor’s light, you hence found ease and calm;
through life’s travails, great losses and pains, by bearing the Lord’s word.Where there were needs for spiritual seeds, you sowed them like the Sower;
today these stand as brightmost lamps and beacons of your labours.And when the time indeed had come, for Christ the Lord to take you,
your heavenly tongue thus prophesied in words of truth and prayer:
‘Jerusalem, the Bride and New, may it be for you so pleasing;
that I pass now, through this life’s veil, with angels’ songs, unceasing.’And so do we, in truth and prayer, gather with love and fondness;
to honour you and not forsake your life, full of kindness.
And the Welsh hills sing with us all; “Tad Barnabas, Cof Tragwyddol!”
Who was Archimandrite Barnabas?
Born Ian Burton in Pennal, Wales, in 1915, he was received into the Orthodox Church in Paris in 1960 by Archimandrite Sergius, becoming a novice under Archimandrite Dom Dennis Chambault. He studied theology at Villemoison Seminary. He was tonsured a monk, and later ordained a deacon and priest in the same year, also receiving the rank of archimandrite.
He returned to Britain in 1964, establishing Orthodox hermitages and monasteries: first at Saint Leonard’s-on-Sea (1965), then Willand, Devon (1967–1973), and New Mills (1974–1996). A tireless missionary, he brought many to Orthodoxy through preaching, writing, and spiritual guidance. He prepared clergy for ordination, established parishes including the church in Shrewsbury, and maintained the daily monastic offices until his death on March 14th, 1996, aged 80.
Our community, alongside many others, consider his selfless commitment to the growth of Orthodox Christianity in Britain as a manifest sign of his holiness of life.
Among his many spiritual teachings, a useful precept of Archimandrite Barnabas for our life as Orthodox Christians is that our Faith, expressed in its fullness, is “to be lived rather than talked about, to be prayed rather than preached, to be listened to rather than dialogued over”. In living our Faith, Archimandrite Barnabas believed that the catalyst for a life of genuine commitment to Christ is to “rely on His Grace through all the ups and downs of life’s pilgrimage”, for “the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13).
More on Archimandrite Barnabas can be found in his autobiography A Strange Pilgrimage (1985), available for free online:
Memory Eternal, Father Barnabas — Cof Tragwyddol, Tad Barnabas!
