Pokrov parish news, and events related to Orthodox Christianity

Repose of George Koncevich

✝ GEORGE E. KONCEVICH George Emilianovich Koncevich, one of the oldest parishioners of the Pokrov parish in Manchester, who had been the parish council member and trustee for many years, reposed in the Lord on Friday 11 March [=26 February o.s.] 2011, on the first week of Lent. Memory eternal! The funeral service took place on Tuesday 22 March [=9 March o.s.] at 9.15 a.m. at the Greek Orthodox church of the Three Hierarchs, Harehills Avenue, Leeds LS8 4EU. The burial took place at 11 a.m. at Harewood Cemetery. The funeral service was celebrated by Archpriest Gennady Andreev. ✝ Георгій Концевичъ. Георгій Емиліановичъ Концевичъ, одинъ изъ старѣйшихъ прихожанъ Покровскаго прихода въ Манчестерѣ, бывшій въ теченіе многихъ лѣтъ членомъ Церковно-Приходскаго Совѣта и попечителемъ прихода, почилъ о Господѣ въ пятницу 11 марта (26 февраля по ст.ст.) 2011 г., на первой седмицѣ поста. Вѣчная память! Отпѣваніе состоялось во вторникъ 22 марта (9 марта по ст.ст.) въ 9.15 утра въ греческой православной церкви Трехъ Святителей на Хэрхиллсъ Авеню, Лидсъ LS8 4EU. Погребеніе состоялось въ 11 утра на Хэрвудскомъ кладбищѣ. Отпѣваніе совершилъ протоіерей Геннадій Андреевъ.

Great Consecration of the church
     Saturday 12 March 2011 new style [= 27 February 2011 by the church calendar]. This joyful event took place on the first week of Lent. It started by solemn Matins in the evening of the preceding day, Friday 11 March n.s. [= 26 February] in front of the closed sanctuary and continued by the magnificent consecration service on Saturday morning celebrated by Archbishop Elisei together with numerous clergy from several local Orthodox Churches present in England, which was immediately followed by the pontifical Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom. (More information to be posted.) Some pictures from the services:

Archpastoral Visit of His Eminence Archbishop Elisei of Sourozh to Manchester and the General Parish Meeting
     Sunday 9 January 2011 new style [27 December 2010 old style]. His Eminence Archbishop Elisei of Sourozh visited the Manchester Pokrov parish on the Sunday after the Nativity as Parish Rector and celebrated the Pontifical Divine Liturgy with Archpriest Gennady Andreev and Archdeacon Dimitri Nedostupenko concelebrating. After the Liturgy and the common meal, the General Parish Meeting took place. It was presided by Archbishop Elisei as parish Rector and attended by approximately 30 parishioners. Archbishop Elisei opened the meeting. The main items on the agenda were adoption of new parish statutes and election of parish officers. There was a heated discussion of the first item. Two main points of concern were raised, (1) that the draft statutes had arrived practically just before the meeting, so it was hardly possible to study them, and (2) that the text was obviously raw, with discrepancies between the Russian and the English versions, and ambiguities potentially causing legal problems for parish management and property rights. An appeal was made to Archbishop Elisei to postpone adoption of the statutes until all the issues are clarified and to proceed directly to the parish elections according to the provisional procedure set forth by His Eminence for that meeting. However, Vladyka Elisei argued for the adoption of the statutes without any delay (with a possibility of later editing mentioned) so that they could be presented to the Holy Patriarch for his approval as soon as possible. He repeatedly re-assured the parishioners that the statutes were not a legal document and that their adoption would not result in any legal changes such as the property rights of the parish. Hopefully it will be so. (The parish has charity trustees who have had control of the parish property and funds as a trust since the establishment of the parish in Manchester in 1952 when the property at 64 Clarence Road was first acquired.) Eventually, after two iterative votes, the new parish statutes were adopted by the majority vote. (An evidence of how heated the discussion was initially, was the adoption by vote of the meeting's procedure together with a choice of the minuting secretary only in the middle of the meeting after a substantial part of the discussion had already taken place, by an obvious omission!)

The other item on the agenda, the parish elections, took much less time and went much more smoothly. According to the provisional procedure suggested by Archbishop Elisei and adopted by the meeting (and which is an extraction from the draft statutes), the parish had to elect the churchwarden, the treasurer, and up to three other members of the parish council. Notably, only the Rector (of all the parish clergy) was supposed to be in the council ex officio. Without vote, the existing churchwarden Mariana Greenan and treasurer George Dance were confirmed in their respective positions, and also without vote, the Vice-Rector Fr Gennady Andreev and the choirmistress Valentina Futoryanova were elected parish council members. Ludmila Jones was elected to the remaining place by a majority vote. Thus, the composition of the new Parish Council is as follows:

1. His Eminence Archbishop Elisei of Sourozh, rector and chairman.
2. Very Reverend Archpriest Gennady Andreev, vice-rector.
3. Mrs Mariana Greenan, churchwarden.
4. Mr George Dance, treasurer.
5. Miss Valentina Futoryanova, choirmistress.
6. Mrs Ludmila Jones, member.

After the new council and the auditing commission were elected, the meeting listened to a brief report of the outgoing parish council provided by the churchwarden Mrs Mariana Greenan. For many reasons, that had been a "long council" (like a "long parliament"), initially elected in 1993 when the parish moved from the jurisdiction of the Church Abroad to that of the Moscow Patriarchate. Additionally, many important facts about the work of the parish council, the parish jurisdiction and the parish property were brought to the attention of the parishioners by the previous churchwarden Dr Vasily Kaklugin, who spoke earlier and gave a carefully prepared and detailed speech near the beginning of the meeting when the question of the statutes was discussed. (Dr Kaklugin held his post in 1993--2009.) By the suggestion of Vladyka Elisei, the meeting expressed thanks to the members of the previous parish council and of the building trust, whose work allowed the parish to survive in difficult circumstances and to re-build the parish church.

The new parish statutes envisage fixed membership together with membership dues. (So that a member who has not paid dues for 6 months loses the right of vote at the parish meeting.) Concern was raised by some parishioners about the latter. It was decided eventually to make the dues rather symbolic but to keep them as a matter of principle. The meeting approved the establishment of the parish membership dues in the amount of £5 per month. Future parish members will be able to become such by application to the parish meeting provided they satisfy criteria set forth in the parish statutes. (It remains to work out the precise current parish roll and the procedure of practical collection of the membership dues. Presumably, this is a task for the parish treasurer together with the churchwarden.)

Finally, at the meeting it was announced by Archbishop Elisei that the Great Consecration of the parish church will take place on Saturday 12 March [= 27 February by the church calendar] 2011, which is the Saturday of the first week of Lent, before the Sunday of Orthodoxy. A lot of preparation is needed, of course. There will be a Vigil on the eve, on Friday 11 March [= 26 February by the church calendar], and the consecration will begin in the morning of Saturday and will be followed by the Pontifical Divine Liturgy. Many guests are expected and there will be some reception afterwards. Details will be known closer to the event.

After the very long meeting (it lasted around four hours or more, way longer than the two hours envisaged by the procedure), Vladyka Elisei gave his blessing to the parishioners and departed to London. Eis polla eti, Despota! Многая лѣта, Владыко!

Pontifical Divine Liturgy in Manchester and Archpastoral Visit of His Eminence Archbishop Elisei of Sourozh
     Sunday 28 November [15 November old style] 2010. His Eminence Archbishop Elisei of Sourozh visited the Manchester Pokrov parish on the first day of the Nativity Fast, on the feast of Sts. Gurias, Samonas and Abibus. (News about the forthcoming visit was announced two Sundays before by Fr Eugene Selensky.) At the church door His Eminence was met by the Pokrov parish Churchwarden Mrs Mariana Greenan with the traditional Russian bread and salt, and with flowers. (It may be symbolic that the beautiful pre-revolutionary Russian silver salt cellar and tray, kept by several generations of White Russian refugees, were used to greet the new Russian bishop at his parish in Manchester.) Archbishop Elisei was accompanied by Archdeacon Dimitri Nedostupenko and subdeacons. With bell ringing, Vladyka Elisei proceeded to the church where the choir started singing "Axion estin" (It is truly right to bless thee, O Theotokos). Archpriest Gennady Andreev and Priest Eugene Selensky, who had arrived on Saturday evening, welcomed His Eminence in the church. By that time, the Hours had already finished and after the entrance prayers and vesting of Vladyka in the middle of the church, the Pontifical Divine Liturgy immediately started. Archpriest Gennady Andreev and Priest Eugene Selensky concelebrated, together with Archdeacon Dimitri Nedostupenko.

After the Divine Liturgy, His Eminence Vladyka Elisei, speaking from the ambo, made several important announcements concerning the Pokrov parish. They are as follows:

• By the decree of His Holiness Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow and All Russia, His Eminence Archbishop Anatoly of Kerch has been relieved from his duties as the parish rector; the Holy Patriarch thanked Vladyka Anatoly for all his work done for the parish.
• By the same decree, His Eminence Archbishop Elisei of Sourozh has been appointed the Rector of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin parish in Manchester. The parish remains stavropegic, i.e., under the direct jurisdiction of the Holy Patriarch; however, the new arrangement will make it possible to have closer ties with the Diocese of Sourozh.
• His Eminence Archbishop Elisei, now as Rector, has appointed the Very Reverend Archpriest Gennady Andreev as his deputy, i.e., the Vice-Rector and Sacristan of the parish. He has also appointed the Reverend Priest Eugene Selensky to celebrate in the parish alternating with Fr Gennady Andreev.
• From now on, the following regular divine services should take place in the parish: Divine Liturgy on every Sunday; and on every Wednesday, the Supplicatory Service (in Russian, молебен) with the Akathistos to the Mother of God. It should be possible to see the priest after each Wednesday service.
• His Eminence Archbishop Elisei, as the parish Rector, announced the General Parish Meeting to be held on Sunday 9 January 2011 [= 27 December 2010 by the church calendar], the first Sunday after the Nativity. He will be coming to celebrate Pontifical Divine Liturgy on the Sunday and will be presiding at the meeting. At the meeting, in particular, new parish statutes should be adopted and a new parish council elected.
• There will be a Great Consecration of the Manchester Pokrov church some time in the new year, without much delay; the exact date will be announced later.

It should be said that the news announced by Vladyka Elisei --- that after so many years our parish will have the benefit of weekly Divine Liturgies (together with weekly Molebens), and will finally have a permanent priest attached to us --- have been met with enormous joy by the parishioners.

Glory be to God!

We are most grateful to Vladyka Elisei for his archpastoral care and for the good priests, Fr Gennady and Fr Eugene, whom he has sent to us. The services have already started as he said and we have had two most wonderful Supplicatory Services with the Akathistos (molebens) on Wednesday evenings on 1 December [18 November old style] and 8 December [25 November old style]. Eis polla eti, Despota! Many years! Многая лѣта!

Visit of the relics of the New Martyrs Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Nun Barbara to Manchester:

On Saturday 1 August [19 July] and Sunday 2 August [20 July] 2009 the relics of the New Martyrs Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Nun Barbara visited our church. They arrived on Saturday from Birkenhead (where they were visiting the parish of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad dedicated to St Elizabeth) brought here by Fr Nicholas Savchenko, the rector of the parish of the Dormition and the Holy New Martyrs of Russia in London. All-Night Vigil was celebrated by Archbishop Anatoly and Fr Nicholas. The service was also attended by Fr Paul Elliot from the Birkenhead parish and Fr Gregory Hallam from St Aidan's parish in Manchester, together with pilgrims who came from various places to venerate the relics. On Sunday there was a Divine Liturgy followed by a short intercession service to St Elizabeth and St Barbara. The holy relics were venerated by the parishioners and pilgrims. Later the same day the relics departed to London, carried by Archbishop Anatoly. The New Martyrs Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Nun Barbara are the principal among the Alapayevsk martyrs. Some information about them can be found here (in Russian).

Visit of the miracle-working Kursk-Root icon of the Theotokos "the Sign" to Manchester:

Курская Коренная икона Божией Матери Знамение.
Kursk-Root icon of the Theotokos "the Sign"

Pannikhida
     Friday 23 November [10 November] 2007. Pannikhida for our parishioner, Vera Puninskaya, who died on 12/15 October 2007, was held in the Pokrov church. Memory eternal!

Patronal Feast and visit of Bishop Elisei
     Sunday 14 October [1 October old style] 2007. A joyful celebration of the Patronal Feast took place at the Manchester Pokrov parish. This year there was a Divine Liturgy, celebrated by Archbishop Anatoly with concelebration of Bishop Elisei of Bogorodsk. Many people attended the service and then participated in the festal meal in the parish hall. The visit of Bishop Elisei came as a surprise for us; nevertheless, it was very nice to have such a guest for our parish feast. It seems that His Eminence liked what he saw in Manchester. See a report (in Russian) that appeared at the Sourozh Diocese website.

Some previous news and events.

Webmaster. 30 March n.s. [17 March] 2011