Abba Seraphim

His Eminence Metropolitan Archbishop
Seraphim
Primate of the British Orthodox Church
Church British Orthodox Church
Metropolis Holy Metropolis of Glastonbury
Appointed 19 June 1994
Personal details
Birth name William Henry Hugo Newman-Norton
Born (1948-02-27) 27 February 1948
London, England
Denomination British Orthodox

Abba Seraphim El-Suriani (born 27 February 1948 in London, England), born William Henry Hugo Newman-Norton, is the Metropolitan of Glastonbury and Head of the British Orthodox Church.[1]

Posts held

Metropolitan Seraphim was ordained as a deacon of the Celtic Orthodox Church in 1967 and as a priest in 1971. During this time he was diocesan secretary from 1968 to 1977. He served as an assistant priest in Blackheath, London, from 1972 to 1977.

He was consecrated as coadjutor bishop to the Metropolitan of Glastonbury in 1977[2] and succeeded him as Metropolitan of Glastonbury in 1979. In 1994, Mar Seraphim led much of the UK branch of the Church into union with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, thus forming the British Orthodox Church, and he was consecrated as a metropolitan of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate by Pope Shenouda III.

In 1994 he became a monk of the Monastery of the Holy Virgin Mary (El-Surian), Wadi El Natrun, Egypt, hence the name Abba Seraphim El-Suriani.

On 4 October 2015 the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate, in response to a request from the British Orthodox Church, agreed to the British Orthodox Church returning to its pre-1994 status as an autonomous jurisdiction, with Seraphim as primate. [3]

Councils membership

Arms

Arms of Abba Seraphim
Crest
In a Crest Coronet Or a demi-Lion double queued Azure holding in the dexter paw a Bell Or
Escutcheon
Azure a Chevron between 2 Bells in chief and a Crescent in base Or

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About the British Orthodox Church". Retrieved 2015-11-08.
  2. ↑ Hollands, Leonard (9 July 2014). An Introduction to the Celtic Orthodox Church. Lamorna Publications. p. 37. ISBN 978-0955983283.
  3. ↑ "Joint announcement from the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom and the British Orthodox Church of the British Isles" (PDF) (Press release). 2015-10-05. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
  4. ↑ "About the London School of Orthodox Christian Studies". Discovering Orthodoxy. 2012. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
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