There are Anglican congregations all over the 'Costas' of Spain, but surprisingly, in spite of peoples’ efforts, until recently, there had never been one on the Costa Brava. Revd Rolf Hjorth worked hard for several years during his summer holidays to offer Anglican services in La Escala for holiday makers, but it wasn’t until 2001 when a retired priest, Rev Colin Levey, came to live in the area and realised how much he missed celebrating the Eucharist, that the services became a regular monthly event. Colin and his wife Melissa invited four friends to join them in their sitting room and the first Communion Service in the area was celebrated. A year later, when Colin had become good friends with the Roman Catholic priest, he and the fledgling congregation were encouraged to use the church there for Anglican worship. Mossen Josep Maria said he would sort things out with the Ecumenical Officer of the Diocese and the Bishop.
So Colin planned the first service to be held on Easter Sunday 2002 in the Roman Catholic church. He was happy. The computer and the printer were red hot churning out service booklets, and all was ready. The service was well attended and a “Pot Luck” lunch was enjoyed afterwards at Colin and Melissa’s home.
But it wasn’t to be … the very next service was Colin’s funeral taken by Mossen Garcia, as requested by the people of the village of and assisted by Revd Marj Stanton-Hyde, Colin’s curate from his Worcester parishes in England. Colin collapsed and died on his first “Witty Walk” on a beautiful beach on a beautiful day, 27th April 2002.
Now what? Well, there were very capable and qualified people in the congregation: especially a licensed Reader, John Copestake, and the fastest writer on computer and willing organist, Trevor Rushby. Marj Stanton-Hyde in her usual forthright manner instructed them in no uncertain terms to “CARRY ON!”
The next 10 years were hard work and often put our faith to the test, but the congregation grew and many talented people generously helped to build up the church. Very kind clergy friends gave their time and came over here from the UK to support us so that we could offer a Communion Service every month. Slowly but surely we became an official congregation in the Anglican Diocese in Europe.
2012 saw the next stage in our journey when a part-time 'House-for-Duty' priest, Anne Jenkins, was appointed. Now there is an Anglican Church on the Costa Brava with four worship centres and we have been officially recognised as part of the Diocese in Europe. The church members met for Sunday services on the last Sunday each month followed by a shared lunch in Church House. There is a warm welcome for all at every service and event. We are a lively active group with many events happening each week. Look at our calendar for more details.
See the page on 'Contact us' for directions to all our services or for any enquiries.
Revd Anne Jenkins our first Priest retired and we went into an Interregnum. Our new chaplain, Revd Rachel Shock arrived in August 2018. We have carried on successfully with the support of many willing and able members of the congregations. In March 2020, COVID arrived and all stopped. We moved online via Zoom and have counted our blessings. Zoom had many hidden benefits and bought the congregations together. Breakout rooms after the services enabled people from the different congregations to get to know one another. Brexit has also made a huge difference with many people relocating back to the UK.
As from 2nd July, we went into another interregnum, as Rachel came to the end of her 5 year term .... we will continue online but subscribe to our weekly email for the latest developments.