Priest in charge
Αρχιμανδρίτης ΓρηγόριοςWellington / Archimandrite Gregorios Wellington
Fr Gregorios was born in the Northeast of England and completed his schooling there.
He was brought up by church-going parents in the Anglican Church. His parents later followed in his footsteps and were received into the Orthodox Church.
He attended Durham University, receiving a BA (Hons) and MA degree in Theology.
At the first lecture of his undergraduate degree, he encountered the Orthodox Church in the form of the writings of St John of Damascus and spent the next 4 years exploring Orthodoxy both through reading, and through meeting and being catechised by the late Archimandrite John Maitland Moir in Edinburgh.
In 1999 Fr Gregorios moved to Greece to study modern Greek in Thessaloniki at the School of Modern Greek Studies at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. During this time, he was received into the Orthodox faith at the Monastery of St Arsenios of Cappadocia in Chalkidiki. Aside from his language studies he assisted in the altar, at the analogion and in the offices of the Church of Panagia Acheiropoiitos.
In 2000 Fr Gregorios started a PhD with Archpriest Prof. Andrew Louth back at Durham assessing the contribution of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware to Modern Orthodox Theology, but after a year of study decided that he wasn’t suited to academia.
In 2001 Fr Gregorios returned to Thessaloniki on the instruction of the late former Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain Gregorios to gain further pastoral experience in the parish of Panagia Acheiropoiitos, to undertake private lessons in Greek, and to further immerse himself in Greek Orthodox culture.
During a visit to Edinburgh in 2001 Fr Gregorios met Dr Christana Dymiotou-Wellington whom he married in 2003 and with whom he had two children. Nicola (2004) and Timothy (2007). Presbytera Christiana reposed in the Lord in 2012.
Fr Gregorios was ordained Deacon in 2011 and Priest in 2014 at St Katherine’s Greek Orthodox Church in Friern Barnet by the late Archbishop Gregorios, where he was an unpaid assistant priest until 2024. He had previously been a Reader and Subdeacon at that parish before his ordination to the Diaconate.
In 2016 Fr Gregorios was given the office of Oikonomos by Archbishop Gregorios
In 2020 Fr Gregorios was given the office of Confessor by Archbishop Nikitas
In 2025 Fr Gregorios was elevated to the office of Archimandrite with him being a widowed priest with grown up children.
From late 2023 until Pascha 2024 Fr Gregorios assisted as a peripatetic priest assisting in parishes from Great Yarmouth to Cheltenham providing covers, including a longer stay in Reading.
In 2024 Fr Gregorios was asked to cover services in Milton Keynes and Northampton and continued to do so after Holy Week 2024 at the request of Archbishop Nikitas. As the two parishes felt Fr Gregorios was a good fit with their situation, they asked Fr Gregorios to become their assigned Priest in Charge which was confirmed by letters of appointment by the archdiocese in early 2025.
Fr Gregorios commutes to Milton Keynes at the weekend and is available for confessions on Sunday after Liturgy and at other times by request. He can hear confessions in both Greek and English.
He works at City St George’s, University of London in a full-time salaried post as Head of Student Systems and Data Quality, while also volunteering as an Honorary Assistant Chaplain.
Fr Gregorios is a Hellenophile and has a love for the Ecumenical Patriarchate as an institution. He holds an Intermediate Amateur Radio Licence which allows him to enjoy a hobby in his limited spare time. He also enjoys reading, listening to a wide range of music (including Greek traditional folk music) and messing about with computers and technology.
As Northampton currently shares a priest with Milton Keynes, he is also Priest in Charge at St Neophytos in Northampton which he serves on alternating weeks with Milton Keynes.
He is willing to be addressed as Fr Gregory or π. Γρηγόριος or Fr Gregorios as people wish and feel comfortable.
History of the Church and Community
The Greek Orthodox Church of St. Ambrosios and St. Stylianos has a long history.
In 1868 the Parish of Wolverton, which covered the eastern and southern sides of Stony Stratford, established the church dedicated to St Mary the Virgin in London Road, built to an early design by Sir George Gilbert Scott. A Vicarage (opposite the church), two Curate’s houses (now known as ‘Jesuan House’) and a Parish Hall were built.
In 1964, when a fire caused considerable damage to the interior of the St Giles church, the Oxford Diocesan authorities questioned the need for two churches and parish priests in Stony Stratford. At first it was thought that the church of St Mary the Virgin should be extended and made the Parish Church for the town. However it was decided to retain the church of St Giles and close the church of St Mary the Virgin and combine the two parishes under the Church of St Mary & St Giles, on Palm Sunday the 7th April 1968.
The former church of Saint Mary the Virgin then became a Community Centre (evident from the carved lettering in the stonework on the front of the church), until the church and hall were acquired by the Greek Orthodox Community of Milton Keynes in 2010 This was made possible through the generous and substantial support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The two buildings have been restored extensively and are used by the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Ambrosios and Saint Stylianos, the Greek community and the Greek school. The church also houses the Chapel of St Mary of Vlachernae.
The Chapel of St. Mary of Vlachernae
The chapel was established within the church when it became the Greek Orthodox church of St. Ambrosios and St. Stylianos.
As the building was honouring the Saint Mary, the Mother of God when built, this had to be incorporated, hence we dedicated a small part of the Church as a chapel under the name of "St.Mary of Vlachernae". Vlachernae, modern name Ayvansaray, is a place near the Golden Horn and Bosphorus in Istanbul, where a Shrine is built on top of the original Byzantine Church which was burnt down and rebuilt a couple of times over the years.