About us

 

The Podvorie of St. Seraphim of Sarov, in Birmingham, Great Britain, was founded on 28 October 1986 with the blessing of His Grace Bishop CONSTANTINE (Jesensky) of Richmond and Great Britain.

Since that time it has remained a monastic centre and preaches the Gospel of Christ and the richness of the orthodox faith, thereby strictly adhering to the pre-revoiutionary tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church, rejecting the heresies of ecumenism and Sergianism.

After the betrayal and the forcible unification of the historic Russian Orthodox Church Abroad with the Patriarchate of Moscow, which proceeded despite protest raised by clergy and parishes in May 2007, our community decided to remain faithful to the legal First Hierarch METROPOLITAN VITALY of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. We are now under the omophorion of His Grace FILARET, Metropolitan of Moscow and eastern Russia. We believe that divine providence has preserved the existence and continuation, of the genuine Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia: The Lord himself, Jesus Christ, has granted us His blessing to follow the narrow path of salvation.

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From Appeal by His Eminence, Most Reverend Metropolitan Vitaly First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

In 1920 in Crimea took place the so-called "All-Russian Great Exodus". The glorius Russian Army under the command of general Vrangel was leaving Russia forever and with her 3 million of refugees, general Vrangel, who was expecting this turn of events, had prepared 160 + ships and after a short church service (moleben) in which all those who were already on the ships and those who were remaining on shore made to each other a prostration (zemnoi poklon), we began our wandering. I was then a small boy, but deep in my heart I felt and realized, that I was seeing my homeland for a last time before it disappeared on the skyline. Somewhere within all those people the future First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was present: Metropolitan ANTHONY Khrapovitski. In the same year, Patriarch TIKHON, realizing the critical situation of Russia, of the Orthodox Church, and of himself, and the possibility of his death at any moment, promulgated his Ukaz No. 362 (of November 7/20 1920) concerning the creation of a new Synod outside of Russia. This was the beginning of the ROCOR (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia). In Russia there remained another part of the Russian Orthodox Church -the Catacomb Church.

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Metropolitan VITALY
July 29/12 2004
Holy Apostles Peter and Paul