Serbian Orthodox Church, Halifax

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Coordinates: 53°44′07″N 1°51′55″W / 53.7354°N 1.8654°W / 53.7354; -1.8654
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Serbian Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Christian
History
DedicationSaint John the Baptist
Administration
DioceseDiocese of Great Britain and Scandinavia

The Saint John the Baptist Church (Serbian: Црква светог Јована Крститеља, romanized: Crkva svetog Jovana Krstitelja) is a Serbian Orthodox church in the Boothtown area of Halifax, West Yorkshire, England.

There has been a

Methodist chapel in Simpson Street to worship in. Closed in the 1950s, it was acquired by the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1952. The building, which had already deteriorated, was repaired and renovated, and was consecrated on 26 September 1954.[1]

In 1963, a split emerged in the Serbian Orthodox community in England, and in the

USA, between those who believed that the Belgrade central hierarchy of the Church was too much influenced by the Communist
government there, and others who believed that they must adhere to the official Church hierarchy in Belgrade, regardless of the political complexion of the Government there.

This dichotomy was exacerbated in 1964 when the Serbian Orthodox Bishop in the USA was removed from office by Belgrade, and the groups formally split. After the split, those who recognised the authority of Belgrade remained at Simpson Street, but were much reduced in numbers.

In the early 1970s, that group moved to join a Serbian Church in Bradford and the Simpson Street site ceased to be a church.

The larger part of the Halifax Serbian community followed the anti-communist line and established their own separate Church with links to a body in the USA known collectively there as The Free Serbian Orthodox Church in Exile.

In 1965, the former Akroydon Wesleyan Methodist Church and Sunday School in Boothtown, were bought by this group. The main Church building was adapted for their style of worship with a new Social Centre created on the lower floor.[2] The church had been built in 1871 as a Methodist church and was abandoned in 1964, when the Methodists moved to Boothtown United Methodist Chapel nearby.[3]

The interior of the church was adapted, by financial input and renovation work, to accommodate Orthodox Christian services. His Majesty King Peter II Karadjordjevic attended the formal consecration of the church by bishop Dionisije Milivojević on 5 September 1965. The property has two function halls, a car park and a vicarage. The parish priest is the Very Reverend Protopresbyter-Stavrophore Aleksandar Ilic.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ "History of St John the Baptist Orthodox Church Halifax". Official website. Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  2. ^ "Serbian Orthodox Church in Boothtown, Halifax". Calderdale Companion. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Akroydon Wesleyan Methodist Church". Calderdale Companion. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  4. ^ "About St John the Baptist Orthodox Church Halifax". Official website. Retrieved 26 November 2014.

External links

53°44′07″N 1°51′55″W / 53.7354°N 1.8654°W / 53.7354; -1.8654

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