The Role of the Russian Orthodox Diaspora in Great Britain in Strengthening Anglican-Orthodox Interaction in the 1920s–1940s

Abstract

The article examines the activities of the Fellowship of Saints Alban and Sergius for strengthening the relationship between the Russian Orthodox and Anglican churches. The Fellowship was formed in 1928 on the initiative of Anglicans and Russian Orthodox people who found themselves in exile abroad. Theologian and public figure Nikolay Mikhailovich Zernov played a major role in the work of the Fellowship and the popularization of Orthodoxy in English land. Special attention is paid to the topics of the annual Anglican Orthodox congresses held by the Commonwealth, which were attended by such prominent figures of the Russian Diaspora as Metropolitan Evlogy (Georgievsky), archpriests Sergiy Bulgakov and Georgy Florovsky, historian Anton Kartashev, and philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev. Thanks to the activities of the Orthodox members of the Fellowship, many theologians and clergy of the Anglican Church, including the future Archbishop of Canterbury, Arthur Michael Ramsay, were able to get acquainted with the basics of the Orthodox faith. Despite the fact that the members of the Commonwealth did not have official authority to speak on behalf of their Churches and make any responsible decisions, their educational activities brought significant benefits to the Anglican–Orthodox dialogue, including large sections of the English Church community in its orbit.