Fellowship Newsletter Update

FELLOWSHIP OF ST ALBAN & ST SERGIUS NEWSLETTER

June 2006

DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
Russian Orthodox Church Abroad opts for unity with Moscow
The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad adopted a resolution in May at a historic synod that would accept the Moscow Patriarch as its head after more than 80 years of bitter separation following the Communist revolution. The 135 delegates and top church officials at only the fourth All-Diaspora Council since 1920 adopted a recommendation calling for spiritual unity with the Moscow Patriarchate but administrative autonomy. ‘We as a church have to do this to be in communion with the masses of faithful in Russia,’ said Archbishop Mark of Berlin, who has led the church's negotiations with Moscow.
Throughout Soviet rule the exile church considered the Moscow Patriarchate a tool of the state and the KGB. Some exile church officials are still suspicious of Moscow, and any spiritual reunion with Moscow may prompt some hardliners to leave the church, some clergy predict. On the part of Moscow, Patriarch Alexis has worked to heal the rift in recent years, apologizing for past transgressions and resolving some ecclesiastical differences, in particular the recognition of the new-martyrs and confessors, killed and persecuted for their faith under the communist regime. The patriarch had also expressed hope that the San Francisco council could finally end the long rift. ‘The more time passes, the less Russian the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad will remain,’ he said. ‘This could be the last opportunity to bring together within one church two parts of the Russian people who were divided for political reasons as a result of the 1917
tragedy.’
The Church Abroad's spiritual embrace of Moscow still leaves some thorny issues unresolved, including what to do about cities in which both have churches. Churches of both groups exist in quite a number of European and American cities as well as in Jerusalem. (information from Reuters)
Bishop Basil Leaves Moscow for Constantinople.
On 24 April 2006, Bishop Basil of Sergievo, then administrator of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh (the Moscow Patriarchate’s diocese in Britain and Ireland), wrote to Patriarch Alexis of Moscow and All-Russia, asking to be released from the Moscow Patriarchate, so that he and those clergy and lay members of the Diocese who wish to do so could be received into the Ecumenical Patriarchate to form part of the Exarchate of Russian Parishes in Western Europe which is under the leadership of Archbishop Gabriel of Comana.
On 14 May 2006, decrees of the patriarch were delivered, relieving Bishop Basil of his post as administrator, and appointing Archbishop Innokentii of Korsun as temporary administrator of the Diocese. In response to this, Bishop Basil appealed to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
A Commission of Enquiry was appointed by the Moscow Patriarchate to look into the situation.
On June 8 2006, The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate examined Bishop Basil’s appeal and unanimously decided to accept him under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, placing him in the Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe.
Bishop Basil was elected with the title of Bishop of Amphipolis, as auxiliary Bishop within the Exarchate, to serve the pastoral needs of Orthodox living in Great Britain who desire to place themselves under the jurisdiction of the Exarchate.
On 7 June the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate met to endorse the decrees of Patriarch Alexis II by which Bishop Basil was sent into retirement and Archbishop Innokentii appointed temporary administrator of the Diocese of Sourozh
On 12/13 June the they concluded that the acceptance of Bishop Basil by Patriarch Bartholomew under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate was invalid on the grounds that Moscow had not granted the release Bishop Basil asked for in his letter, and that a request had not been received from Constantinople asking for his release. They therefore decided to summon Bishop Basil before the meeting of the Holy Synod which will take place on 17 July 2006.
There has been a considerable amount of media interest and news coverage of these events, both in Britain and worldwide.
Bishop Basil has a website with news, comment and update on the situation at www.dioceseinfo.org – the website giving the perspective of the Moscow Patriarchate is at www.sourozh.org. Ruth Gledhill, the religious affairs correspondent for the [London] Times, has a web log on the subject at http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2006/06/bishop_basil_gr.html#more
UK diocesan crisis tests Church’s mission to all
The following article is the work of Fr Leonid Kishkovsky, a senior priest in the Orthodox Church of America, long responsible for its relations with other churches. It provides a useful analysis of the historical situation which lies behind current events.

Immediately after the Orthodox celebration of the Resurrection of Christ in April 2006, a new crisis confronted the Orthodox Church. Bishop Basil (Osborne) of Sergievo, the Administrator of the Russian Orthodox Diocese in the United Kingdom, wrote to Patriarch Aleksy II of Moscow to request a canonical release and subsequently to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of to request acceptance into the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The story of the emergence of this crisis (which is known and can be described), as well as the story of the response to the crisis (which cannot yet be fully known) yet again reveal fundamental questions of ecclesiology and mission which are in urgent need of common Orthodox reflection and action.
During the second half of the 20th century Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) made the presence of the Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom a dynamic reality. His ministry encompassed English-speaking seekers who found their spiritual home in the Orthodox Church as well as people of diverse national and cultural backgrounds who found their new home in Great Britain. Metropolitan Anthony’s teaching and preaching found its way to the diverse Russian-speaking people in the Soviet Union, both in the course of his periodic visits to the USSR, and through radio broadcasts of BBC.

The persecution and humiliation of the Russian Orthodox Church by the communist regime strengthened the bonds of affection and solidarity which connected Metropolitan Anthony with the Russian Orthodox Church. He was made diocesan bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church in the UK, and his diocese became known by the name of “Sourozh,” an ancient episcopal missionary see in the Crimea whose title was given to him as archbishop and finally as metropolitan.

In the UK the distinct and dynamic witness of Orthodoxy was not a matter of numbers, but a matter of spiritual integrity, integrity manifested both in the voice of Orthodoxy to the society at large and in the internal life of the diocese led by Metropolitan Anthony. There was a period during which his views and words were sought out in the same way as the views and words of the Archbishop of Canterbury (Church of England) and the Archbishop of Westminster (Roman Catholic), although Metropolitan Anthony’s flock, by comparison, was numerically a tiny one. In ordering the life of his diocese, Metropolitan Anthony was guided by the Church of Russia’s Moscow Council of 1917-1918. In accordance with the vision and norms of this Council, clergy and laity were seen as collaborators of the bishop, and not as the bishop’s “subjects.”

When in the 1990s the communist regime in the USSR collapsed, the Russian Orthodox Church was liberated from oppression, a revival of religious life began, and Orthodoxy could be heard and seen in public life. At the same time, many Russians found their way to Western Europe, North America, and other regions. In the UK there are now many thousands of Russian-speaking immigrants from the former Soviet Union, with estimates ranging from sixty or seventy thousand to two hundred fifty thousand.

Tensions between the ecclesial “orientation” and “style” of the Diocese of Sourozh and many new Russian immigrants were painfully evident long before the death of Metropolitan Anthony in 2003, and became progressively deeper and more acute. It was this trajectory of tension and mutual alienation which led to the letters of Bishop Basil to the Patriarch of Moscow and Constantinople. In addition to Bishop Basil’s letters, the chronology of developments includes the following: Patriarch Aleksy wrote to Bishop Basil, calling on him to continue the ministry of Metropolitan Anthony, in the same unity with the Russian Orthodox Church which was maintained by the late Metropolitan; Bishop Basil wrote to the clergy of his diocese, freeing them to seek canonical protection outside the Diocese of Sourozh; by decision of Patriarch Aleksy, Bishop Basil was sent into retirement, and Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun (hierarch of the Moscow Patriarchate residing in Paris and responsible for parishes in Western Europe) was appointed Temporary Administrator; the Patriarch of Moscow appointed a commission of inquiry composed of Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun, Archbishop Mark of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (residing in Germany), and two priests of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate; approximately half of the clergy of the Diocese of Sourozh petitioned the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Thyateira (residing in London) for acceptance into his canonical jurisdiction and received favorable responses; Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew met with Bishop Basil at Chambesy, Switzerland.

The present crisis offers a new opportunity to address an important challenge faced by contemporary Orthodoxy. There are, without any doubt, various Orthodox “diasporas” in many parts of the world. These are Greeks, Russians, Romanians, and others who now live outside their cultural homes and who are tied by bonds of affection and affinity and nostalgia to the countries and cultures from which they come. There are – equally without any doubt – Orthodox people and communities in such places as France and Great Britain, the United States and Canada who do not understand or feel themselves to be in diaspora. These are descendants of immigrants of many decades ago and these are converts to the Orthodox Faith and their descendants.

On the level of pastoral care the Orthodox Church bears responsibility for both dimensions of Orthodox life. The two dimensions require different pastoral approaches, different languages, different cultural sensitivities.

On the level of ecclesiology, however, there is one Orthodox Church, with one sacramental life, united in the one Orthodox Faith. The Orthodox Church is spacious enough to embrace all diasporas. No diaspora is spacious enough to encompass the Orthodox Church.

Today’s Orthodox consciousness tends to be held captive by the needs and requirements of the Orthodox diasporas. Let it be clearly understood that the large and often growing Orthodox national and cultural diasporas of today are worthy of pastoral care and missionary work. This is not only a legitimate concern of the Orthodox Church – it is an inescapable responsibility. Yet it must also be well-understood and accepted that the Orthodox Christians of Western culture and Western languages are equally worthy of pastoral care. And if the “universality” or “catholicity” of the Orthodox Church is to be evident today, the ability of Orthodoxy to be more than an “immigrant” Church is critically important.

Sadly, when faced with serious questions and challenges of contemporary life and mission the Orthodox Church is either in a state of paralysis and immobility, or in a state of crisis and confrontation. Questions are not answered and solutions are not found at either one of these extremes, but in the middle ground of reflection and thoughtful common action. Will the answers to the current painful questions found within the very small Diocese of Sourozh and within the Patriarchates of Constantinople and Moscow offer signs of impasse and stagnation, or signs of hope? Archpriest Leonid Kishkovsky

CARDINAL SAD AT LIKELY END OF ANGLICAN UNITY PROCESS
The Archbishop of Westminster says he is sad at the prospect that full Anglican-Catholic unity will be ‘out of reach’ following a decision by the Church of England to ordain women as bishops.
He told the Sunday programme that as the Church of England moves towards ordaining women as bishops “we will more and more now exist, as it were, in parallel rather than converging towards the full communion, unity which we believe is the will of Christ”.
Although no decision has been taken by the Church of England, the mechanism for deciding to admit women as bishops has been put in place.
The Cardinal’s language marks a shift from his previous insistence over the years that the process towards unity was a “road without exit”. It follows a bracing speech last week by Cardinal Walter Kasper to the Church of England’s House of Bishops in which the head of the Vatican’s Christian Unity Council warned of the consequences that would follow the Church’s decision.
Cardinal Kasper said that while the decision to ordain women as bishops followed logically from the decision to ordain women as priests, the move was more significant because of the bishop’s role as the agent of communion.
“Cardinal Kasper was saying to them very seriously these are the consequences if you do ordain women to the Episcopate it will affect relationships not only within the worldwide Anglican Communion but also within the Church of England itself and also, of course, relationships with the Roman Catholic Church and with the Orthodox,” Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor said.
But the Archbishop of Westminster stressed that “the relationship and the friendship and the cooperation between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church will continue” whatever the Church of England’s decision.
But “we would be glad if this step was not taken,” Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor said.
The two cardinals’ intervention comes at a testing time for the Anglican Communion, as the North-American Episcopalians (ECUSA) vote whether to accede to the Anglican primates’ bar on practising homosexuals becoming bishops.

FR SERGEI HACKEL MEMORIAL LECTURE
On 4 May a memorial event was held to honour the life and work of Archpriest Sergei Hackel, for many years the editor of the Fellowship’s journal, Sobornost. The event, hosted by our patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and one of our vice-presidents, Bishop Basil of Sergievo, took place in the Archbishop’s Chapel at Lambeth Palace. Following a brief panikhida (Orthodox memorial service), Jim Forest, founder of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship, delivered a lecture on the theme: ‘Reconciliation, Peace, and the Role of the Radical Outsider in Orthodox Spirituality’. Much of the lecture was a reflection on the life of St Maria Skobtsova of Paris, of whom Fr Sergei had been the biographer.

RELIC OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST RETURNS TO RUSSIA
For the faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church, it is a hugely significant event. Since 7 June, a relic which they believe to be the hand of John the Baptist has been on public display in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. It is back in the Russian capital for the first time since the mother of the last tsar, Empress Maria Fyodorovna, fled with it in the aftermath of the 1917 Bolshevik revolution. After that it was cared for in Russian émigré communities, before finding a more permanent home in a monastery in Montenegro.
The queue to see the relic stretches for hundreds of metres. It begins beneath the shining onion domes of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and ends near the banks of the Moscow river, in the heart of the Russian capital. The believers wait patiently. Some occasionally sing or pray.
‘The relic is the right hand of St John the Baptist. The hand that actually baptised our Lord Jesus Christ,’ says Father Zacchaeus, the Orthodox Church in America's representative in Moscow. ‘You see that the hand is intact, you see the skin, although it's dried and darkened, the skin is also intact. The only thing missing are two fingers.’
The fact that there are so many people here shows how Russia has changed. Until the collapse of communism in 1991, the country was officially atheist. Since then, its Orthodox Christian traditions have taken on a new life. The cathedral itself is the most visible symbol of the transformation - it was completely demolished in the Soviet era, then rebuilt in the 1990s. It now stands as unshakeable as the faith of those waiting to gaze on the relic.
Cynics might question whether the object in the case is really the hand of a man who lived 2000 years ago. Those waiting here to see it have no such doubts. ‘We’re here because we are Orthodox believers,’ one elderly Muscovite told me as she waited her turn to enter the cathedral. (BBC News)

PRAYER ROPES
From time to time, people contact the Fellowship asking if we know how to obtain prayer ropes (komboskini or chotki), used in the Eastern Christian tradition to aid with the recitation of the Jesus Prayer. We have now been informed of a reliable supplier. Reader Michael Beshonges makes and sells prayer ropes, which may be ordered via his website, Heavenly Realm (www.heavenlyrealm.co.uk). He also accepts orders by post or telephone, and may be contacted at Heavenly Realm, 28 Freston Gardens, Barnet, EN4 9LX
Tel: 01707 664641; E-mail: michael@heavenlyrealm.co.uk

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

FELLOWSHIP CONFERENCE 2006: ‘THE CROSS’
21 - 25 August, 2005
Details of this year’s conference are to be found on the booking form accompanying this newsletter. To apply for a place at this year’s conference, please complete and return the form, together with your deposit, or book online at http://www.sobornost.org/conference/bookinginfo.html
The 2006 AGM will be at 4.00 p.m. on Thursday 24 August, also at The Friars (see official notice below).

PILGRIMAGE TO ST ALBANS
This year's annual pilgrimage Liturgy at St Alban's will take place on Saturday, 8th July The programme for the day is as follows:
 10.00 a.m. - Orthodox Divine Liturgy in English (the Liturgy will be concelebrated by clergy of different Orthodox jurisdictions)
 11.30 a.m. (approx.) - Procession to the Shrine of St Alban, followed by intercessions at the Shrine and veneration of the relic of St Alban
 12.00 a.m. – Coffee (please bring a packed lunch)
 12.30 p.m. – Talk (speaker to be confirmed
 The day will conclude at approx. 1.30 - 2.00 p.m.

WEEKEND CONFERENCE IN SALISBURY
‘LIFE AFTER DEATH’
Leader and Principal Speaker: Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia
Other speakers:Sir John Tavener (Composer), Jill Storer (Byzantinist)

3rd-5th November 2006 at Sarum College, Salisbury, Wiltshire, UKFor a detailed programme and registration form apply to: “Hospitality”, Sarum College, 19 The Close, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 2EE, U.K. [Tel: (0)1722 424800; e-mail: hospitality@sarum.ac.uk] Residential and non-residential places are available. Please apply to the College as early as possible; residential places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
The Conference is sponsored jointly with the Salisbury Branch of the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius. There will be an Orthodox Divine Liturgy and Orthodox Vespers in addition to Compline and Morning Prayers.

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
OXFORD THEOLOGICAL EXCHANGE PROGRAMME (OTEP)
(CHEVENING SCHOLARSHIPS)

BOARD OF THE FACULTY OF THEOLOGY

THEOLOGICAL SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THE COUNTRIES OF EASTERN OR CENTRAL EUROPE, RUSSIA AND THE COUNTRIES OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION

FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2007-2008

The University of Oxford in collaboration with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the member Churches of the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), in particular the Methodist Church and the Church Mission Society, jointly offers three, possibly four, Scholarships, to enable theological students of outstanding academic merit to pursue further studies in the University’s Faculty of Theology. The programme is supported by an association with the House of St Gregory and St Macrina and the Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius whose charitable aims are to work for greater understanding between the Christian traditions. The Scholarships are open to candidates (normally between the ages of 25 and 40) who, in most cases, will already have, or expect to obtain before October 2006, a theological degree from a recognised university or theological college. Applications are invited for 2006-7 from citizens of Russia, the Ukraine, and any other countries of the former Soviet Union, (apart from the Baltic States), Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia, FYR Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania. The Scholarships will be tenable for up to one year of study and will cover fees, a maintenance allowance, and where necessary, a return air fare. All applicants must be approved and sponsored by a recognised Church authority in the applicants’ home countries. The Scholarships are open to members of any Christian denomination. Successful applicants should be willing, if asked, to attend an interview by diplomatic and Church personnel in their home country.

As one objective of the programme is to develop contacts between Churches in the United Kingdom and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union in order to provide a basis for future collaboration, applicants should have some motivation towards ecumenism in coming to Oxford. All applicants should complete a preliminary application form available from Mrs Elizabeth Macallister, University of Oxford, Humanities Divisional Office, 34 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LH. Mrs Macallister may be contacted by telephone: 01865 270117, Fax: 01865-270554 or email: elizabeth.macallister@admin.ox.ac.uk.
The completed application forms must be returned to the same address not later than 31 December 2006.
NOTICE

The Annual General Meeting of the Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius will take place at 4 p.m. on Thursday 24th August 2006 at The Friars Conference Centre, Aylesford, Kent, its business being:
1 To approve and adopt the minutes of the Annual meeting of the Fellowship held in August 2005
2 To receive the accounts and annual report of the Fellowship for the financial year ending 31st March 2006
3. To receive reports from the General Secretary, Treasurer and local branch representatives of the Fellowship
4. To elect officers of the Fellowship and council members as required
5. To conduct any other business at the discretion of the chairman

The Reverend Stephen Platt
General Secretary
June 1 2006

• Fellowship Newsletter no. 55: March 2004
• Fellowship Newsletter no. 54: January 2004
• Fellowship Newsletter no. 53: May 2003
• Fellowship Newsletter no. 52: March 2003
• Fellowship Newsletter no. 51: December 2002
• Fellowship Newsletter no. 50: July 2002
• Fellowship Newsletter no. 49: January 2002