The Parish of St Kentigern in Glasgow is numerically one of the biggest parish in the Diocese of Sourozh. Services are conducted in Church-Slavonic with some readings and some music in English. The parish adheres to the old Julian calendar used throughout the churches of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Its history began in 2003 when Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh gave instructions that a church be founded in Glasgow for the spiritual welfare of people of Russian Orthodox faith. The first service of worship was conducted by Father Andrei Kordochkin in early February 2003 in Strathclyde University Chapel. Services were subsequently conducted there in alternation by Fr Alexander Williams (rector of St Nicolas parish, Dunblane) and Fr Maxim Nikolsky (priest of the Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God and All Saints, London).
On 24 April 2004, shortly after Easter, a celebration of the parish’s first anniversary was held at St Bride’s Scottish Episcopal Church and attracted many visitors. This was the first major assembly of the Russian-speaking diaspora of Glasgow. Members of the Community’s children’s music studio and the church choir took part in the celebratory concert.
In conjunction with registering the Glasgow Community at the Diocesan AGM, a Community Council was elected. Its membership consisted of Sergei Sokolovsky (elder), Larisa Sokolovskaya (elder’s assistant), Svetlana Zvereva (secretary), Tatyana Hine (treasurer), Nina McGuire (choirmaster). A year later, when Nina McGuire moved to Russia, the reader Mikhail Rozhkov was co-opted to her position on the Community Council. Irina Tugaleva began carrying out the responsibilities of choirmaster in mid-2005.
For the first year worship took place in Glasgow once every two months and then monthly. In the rare cases when there was a need to conduct additional worship or special services, the Greek Cathedral of St. Luke in Glasgow always welcomed the Russian community. The first celebration of Christmas and the New Year took place in the hall of St Luke’s Cathedral on 16 January 2005.
As the number of parishioners was rising, the idea arose of creating parish classes on the basis of the music studio. The central aim was to teach children the Russian language and the fundamentals of Orthodox belief; the children also studied church music, Russian history and culture, participated in theatrical performances, games and entertainments. The classes started on 20 January 2005 in St. Luke’s Greek Cathedral in Glasgow.
The first teachers were as follows: Sergei Sokolovsky, director and instructor in Scripture; Svetlana Zvereva, teacher of music and church music; Elena Vakaryuk, teacher of the Russian language and reading; Larisa Sokolovskaya, teacher of the drama group; Elena Karpova, teacher of Russian history.
In September 2005, the school moved to the m
ore spacious premises of Anderston-Kelvingrove Parish Church (Church of Scotland, Presbyterian), where lessons took place on Saturdays. As time went on, new subjects appeared in the curriculum: Russian literature, culture, sport, handicrafts, and the lives of Orthodox saints. A section was also opened for children aged from eighteen months to four years, who received lessons to develop their speech, in music and physical exercise. Many members and friends of our parish acted as teachers: Natalia Ali, Natalia Dun’kova, Nelly Guslina, Natalia McVitie, Alina Marshania, Irina Tugаleva, Anna Radutskaya, Marina Shumitskaya, Andrei Rubashkin, Svetlana Higgins, Lilia Shuvalov and Vladislav Yakovchuk.
In early 2006 the second Christmas celebration took place in the hall of Anderston-Kelvingrove Parish Church; guests from Moscow Theological Academy Frs Vassian (Zmeyev) and Evfimy (Moiseyev) who came to Glasgow to further their study of English. The priests greatly enjoyed watching the children’s show. Our visitors from Sergiyev Posad conducted a public discussion about Orthodoxy, and it attracted not only parents and children but also other Glasgow residents. Frs Evfimy and Vassian also visited the Chaplaincy Centre in the University of Strathclyde where services then took place.
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In May 2005, it became known that the St Nicholas parish in Dunblane, to which the Glasgow community was attached, together with its priest Fr Alexander Williams, had left the Moscow Patriarchate. For many Orthodox in Glasgow, who continued to retain their spiritual bond with their Mother-Church while living in a foreign land, this decision was unacceptable.
On 1 July 2006 a meeting of the community resolved to petition Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun, the temporary administrator of the Diocese of Sourozh, to grant our community the status of an independent parish. Archbishop Innokenty granted the petition of the Russian Orthodox of Glasgow and announced that the parish should be named in honour of the heavenly protector and founder of this city St. Kentigern, one of the pioneers who brought Christianity to the land of Scotland in the sixth century.
In January 2007, the community moved to the building of St Bride’s Scottish Episcopal Church, where parish celebrations and meetings had taken place on several earlier occasions. This was possible thanks to the support of Idris, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church and Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway, the rector of the church Fr
It is noteworthy that during the first half of the twentieth century St Bride’s Church was the place where services for Serbian and Greek Orthodox communities were on occasion conducted. The building dates from 1903-1904 and is the work of the eminent exponent of the Decorated form of Gothic architecture G.F. Bodley, with the assistance of H.O. Tarbolton.
Priests have been sent several times to Glasgow from Russia and Belarus to conduct services for great church festivals. But without constant pastoral guidance the numbers in the parish declined visibly. During this difficult time of transition the place where the community gathered was the children’s classes attached to the parish. Lessons continued there week in week out, celebrations were organized, and Russian-speaking adults met to talk to one another.
Everyone remembers the striking Christmas show of 2007. Children’s celebrations of Christmas and Easter have become a school tradition. The secular holiday for Victory Day (9 May) has been marked. Butterweek (the period before Lent) was celebrated for the first time on 17 February 2007. It has also become customary to round off the school year with an out-of-town excursion by children and adults; a picnic, various entertainments and sports are organised in the bosom of Nature.
From August 2007 to December 2009 the parish of St Kentigern was under the care of sacristan of the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God and All Saints in London, Archpriest Mikhail Dudko. The head of the Diocese Archbishop Elisey made three visits to the Glasgow parish during this time.
Services were conducted on a monthly basis, sometimes twice a month as for example on Christmas and Epiphany in January. Church festivals were followed by greetings and a shared meal. In March 2008 the Glasgow parish website was launched. On Holy Saturday, on the eve of Easter 2009, with the help of Glasgow parishioners the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in Dundee.
It was the first Orthodox Liturgy in this city. At the beginning of May 2009 several events dedicated to Victory Day took place. On 9 May those who fell on the field of battle were commemorated and parishioners who had witnessed the war years were congratulated on the anniversary. Deacon Mikhail was invited by the commander of the 51 (Scottish) Brigade to the briefing and reception dedicated to Victory Day in the Glasgow Science Centre. A delegation headed by the parish elder took part in the Annual Diocesan Conference for 2009. In May 2009 the premises of Anderston-Kelvingrove Parish Church were blessed by Vladyka Elisey as a temporary place of worship.
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Since January 2010 the Russian Orthodox parish of St. Kentigern in Glasgow has been under the care of the permanently appointed Archpriest Gennadiy Andreev. He also served in other parishes and eucharistical communities throughout Great Britain: Dundee, Aberdeen, Hull, Newcastle and others. In some of these places Russian Orthodox services were conducted for the first time.
Services in the Glasgow parish of St Kentigern are held at least once a week. During the first week of Great Lent and in Holy week, services were conducted almost every day.
On 31 January 2010 a new Parish Council was elected: elder of the parish – Vladislav Yakovchuk, treasurer – Ludmila Mamedova. The readers are: Deacon Mikhail Rozhkov, Anna Klimova, Filipp Matveev and Clyde Ross. From 6 February the responsibilities of the choirmaster were carried out by Svetlana Zvereva. In April and May the choir had been conducted at many services by Svetlana Arkhipova; from September 2010 the responsibilities of choir master were entrusted to Filipp Matveev. The membership of the choir is completely changed and children of all ages have started to participate in the singing. Some of them rehearse together with the mixed-voice choir “Russkaya Cappella”, studying choral singing. From time to time members of the “Russkaya Cappella” take part in the Russian choir services.
As of 6 February, Govan Old Church became the place of worship for the Russian parish of St Kentigern (See directions). The premises were kindly made available for the Russian Orthodox services by the Kirk Session of Govan and Linthouse Parish Church (Church of Scotland) and its Minister Rev Dr Moyna McGlynn.
On 10 April, shortly after Easter, the Divine Liturgy was conducted in this church by the Archbishop Elisey of Sourozh for the first time. The service was attended by the Consul-General of the Russian Federation in Scotland S.K. Krutikov and his wife.
Govan Old Church was built in 1888 by the famous Scottish architect Robert Rowand Anderson. It is located on the site of a Christian monastery of the sixth century, founded by St Constantine of Strathclyde, the first martyr of Scotland. The shrine of the church is the sarcophagus of St Constantine. It is believed that his holy relics were buried in it.
In April 2010 the Orthodox School also moved to larger premises better equipped for the school's activities.
Fr Georgy Zavershinsky was appointed rector of the Church of St Kentigern in Glasgow on 6 October 2010. On 7 November he conducted his first service in the parish.
Fr Georgy has charge of the Russian Orthodox parishes belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The history of the parish life is reflected in the Photogallery.