The British Orthodox Church (BOC), formerly the

Orthodox Church of the British Isles The Catholicate of the West was a Christian denomination established in 1944 and which ceased to exist in 1994 to become the British Orthodox Church. The denomination was also known as the Catholic Apostolic Church, the Catholicate of the West ( ...

, is an independent Oriental Orthodox church. The British Orthodox Church has not been in communion with any of the Oriental Orthodox churches since a 2015 decision to return to an independent status.

History

Origins

The church claims to be the continuation of the

Ancient British Church The Ancient British Church was a British religious movement supposedly founded in the 19th century by Jules Ferrette ( Mar Julius) and Richard Williams Morgan (Mar Pelagius). The Ancient British Church ceased to exist in 1944. Foundation Jules ...

Jules Ferrette Jules Ferrette, also spelled Julius Ferrette (22 April 1828 – 10 October 1904 or in 1903), was allegedly bishop of Iona; he is allegedly the founder of the Ancient British Church. Biography Ferrette was born in Épinal, France, possibly of Pr ...

Metropolitan Seraphim of Glastonbury William Henry Hugo Newman-Norton (born 27 February 1948) is a British independent Oriental Orthodox bishop. He is the Patriarch of Glastonbury and head of the British Orthodox Church (BOC) with the title of British Patriarch and is known as Abba ...

has served as the metropolitan of the Metropolis of

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

and

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

of the

, succeeding

Hugh George de Willmott Newman Hugh George de Willmott Newman (17 January 1905 – 28 February 1979) was an Independent Catholic or independent Old Catholic bishop. He was known religiously as Mar Georgius I and bore the titles, among others, of Patriarch of Glastonbury, ...

Creation: merge into the Coptic Orthodox Church

The

and the

Celtic Orthodox Church The Celtic Orthodox Church (COC; ), also called the Holy Celtic Church, is an autocephalous Christian church founded in the 20th century in France. Since 25 December 2007, the Celtic Orthodox Church has been in communion with the French Orthodox ...

split in 1994, under

Mar Mar, mar or MAR may refer to: Culture * Mar or Mor, an honorific in Syriac * Earl of Mar, an earldom in Scotland * MAA (singer) (born 1986), Japanese * Marathi language, by ISO 639-2 language code * March, as an abbreviation for the third mon ...

Seraphim (

William Henry Hugo Newman-Norton William Henry Hugo Newman-Norton (born 27 February 1948) is a British independent Oriental Orthodox bishop. He is the Patriarch of Glastonbury and head of the British Orthodox Church (BOC) with the title of British Patriarch and is known as Abba ...

). For its part, the Orthodox Church of the British Isles joined the Coptic Orthodox Church and changed its name to ''British Orthodox Church''. On 6 April 1994, a protocol enacting the merge of the Orthodox Church of the British Isles into the Coptic Orthodox Church was signed by both parties. The Orthodox Church of the British Isles, headed by Seraphim, changed its name to ''British Orthodox Church'' for the union, and became "a diocese of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria with

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

over the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands". The British Orthodox Church was distinct from the other communities in the British Isles of the Coptic Church. Seraphim, primate of the British Orthodox Church, was not reordained, but received a

chrismation Chrismation consists of the sacrament or mystery in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, as well as in the Assyrian Church of the East initiation rites. The sacrament is more commonly known in the West as conf ...

. On 19 June 1994, Seraphim "was consecrated as a Metropolitan in the Coptic Patriarchate by His Holiness Pope Shenouda assisted by some seventy Metropolitans and Bishops". Seraphim then became member of the

Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church The Holy Synod of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is the highest Orthodox authority in the Coptic Orthodox Church. It formulates the rules and regulations regarding matters of the Church's organisation and faith. The synod is chaired by ...

Independence again

On 4 October 2015 the

Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

, 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". This resulted in the British Orthodox Church returning to a non-

canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical examp ...

status, outside of communion with any church. In January 2019, the BOC announced that Seraphim was once again considered as its

, since from the moment of the union with the Coptic Church Seraphim had ceased to use this title. On 29 October 2017, Metropolitan Seraphim, acting '' solus'', consecrated Father David Seeds as Bishop David of

Priddy Priddy is a village in Somerset, England in the Mendip Hills, close to East Harptree and north-west of Wells. It is in the local government district of Mendip. The village lies in a small hollow near the summit of the Mendip range of hills, ...

. On 23 February 2019, Patriarch Seraphim, acting with Bishop David of Priddy, consecrated Father James Maskery as His Eminence Abba James, Archbishop Titular of Caerleon-upon-Usk and Mafrian of the British Orthodox Church. Mafrian is a title used in the Syrian Orthodox Church for the Catholicos of the East, and the primate of the church in the Sassanid Empire, now Iran and Iraq.

Publications

Through the church press it publishes the ''Glastonbury Review'', the only English-language journal committed to regular reporting about the activities of the Oriental Orthodox churches and it has also begun to republish some important theological works.

Primates

* Richard Williams Morgan (claimed) *

Charles Isaac Stevens Charles Isaac Stevens (1835–1917) was allegedly the second patriarch of the Ancient British Church from 1889 to 1917 and also was ''primus'' of the Free Protestant Episcopal Church of England from 1900 to 1917. He was born on 28 November ...

(claimed) * James Martin (claimed) * Andries Caarel Albertus McLaglen (claimed) * Herbert James Monzani-Heard (claimed) *

* Abba Seraphim

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Oriental Orthodox church bodies Oriental Orthodoxy in the United Kingdom 1994 establishments in the United Kingdom Religious organizations established in 1994