British Orthodox Church
| British Orthodox Church | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Jules Ferrette in 1866 |
| Independence | 2015 |
| Primate | Seraphim |
| Headquarters | Glastonbury in Somerset, England |
| Territory | Iona & its Dependencies, Britain, Ireland, Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands |
| Possessions | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands |
| Language | English |
| Website | britishorthodox.org |
The British Orthodox Church, formerly known as the Orthodox Church of the British Isles, is a very small autonomous Orthodox jurisdiction. Its mission is to the people of the British Isles and though it is Orthodox in its faith and practice it remains British in its ethos. It is a missionary community seeking to promote Oriental Orthodox Christianity throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The present British Orthodox Church has developed from a Frenchman, Jules Ferrette, who, in the year 1866, was consecrated as a bishop by the Syriac Orthodox Church with the purpose of establishing Oriental Orthodoxy in the West. Various names have been used, for example Ancient British Church and Catholic Apostolic Church (Catholicate of the West) (not to be confused with the "Irvingite" movement known as the Catholic Apostolic Church).
Metropolitan Seraphim is Metropolitan of the Holy Metropolis of Glastonbury and Primate of the British Orthodox Church.
The British Orthodox Church came under the jurisdiction of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in 1994 and its mission is to the British people.
On 4 October 2015 the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, in response to a request from the British Orthodox Church, "in the same spirit with which this union came into being", agreed to the British Orthodox Church returning to its pre-1994 status "in fulfilment to what it sees as its current mission in the light of the developments and changing dynamics of the Middle East and Britain." The British Orthodox website spoke of it "amicably returning to its original status in order to fulfil its mission more effectively."
Seraphim (William Henry Hugo Newman-Norton), Metropolitan Archbishop of the Holy Metropolis of Glastonbury and Primate of the British Orthodox Church.
Over the years this mission lost touch with its Eastern origins, but in 1994 under the leadership of the present bishop, discussions with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria bore fruit and the British Orthodox Church was reunited with the Oriental Orthodox Churches from which it had come. On the feast of Pentecost in 1994, at Saint Mark's Cathedral in Cairo, Abba Seraphim was ordained as Metropolitan by Pope Shenouda III, and the British Orthodox Church became a constituent of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate. The current head of the British Orthodox Church is Metropolitan Seraphim of Glastonbury who was a full member of the Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, 1994-2015.
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Wikipedia