Archpriest Sergei and Matushka Elena Rasskazovskiy

Archpriest Sergei Rasskazovskiy (1948-____)

and

Matushka Elena Rasskazovskiy (____-____)

Sergei may be spelt Serge, Sergey, Sergii, Serguei, Sergius.

Rasskazovskiy may be spelt Raskazovskiy, Raskazovsky.

Early life of Sergei Petrovich Rasskazovskiy

Sergei Petrovich Rasskazovskiy was born on 30 July, 1948, in the city of Leningrad (now returned to its original name, Saint Petersburg) in the Soviet Union, of Orthodox Christian parents.

His father fell asleep in the Lord when Sergei was only 2 years old.

His mother raised him within the bosom of the Russian Orthodox Church. She imparted to him the Orthodox Christian Faith during years of very strong anti-Christian pressure by the Soviet State against the Orthodox Christian Church.

Sergei completed his primary and secondary education in Leningrad.

However, because his mother had become seriously ill during his childhood, he lived and studied in an orphanage for several years, and then in a boarding school.

Sergei began working in a turnery at the age of 15 years.

Higher education

After Sergei graduated from the evening school of “Working Youth” with honours (and a silver medal), he enrolled in the Electro-physical Faculty at the Electro-Technical University in Leningrad, which he completed in 1974, at which time he graduated.

In 1973, he began work at the Pavlov Institute of Physiology as an engineer.

In 1977, Sergei continued his studies part-time at the Theological Academy in Leningrad, concurrently completing an external degree at the Seminary. By taking this step, Sergei came under the scrutiny of certain Soviet authorities, as did all such students. The Orthodox Church was still enduring oppression at that time.

In 1980, Sergei participated as a student in the Triennial World General Assembly of the "World Fellowship of Orthodox Youth" ("Syndesmos") which met that summer at New Valamo Monastery at Heinävesi, Finland.

In 1981, upon completion of the Academy and Seminary and graduation with distinction, Sergei was appointed as a lecturer of Dogmatic Theology at the Seminary.

In 1982, Sergei received the degree of Master of Theology (honours) for his thesis : “Ecclesiological Opinions of Professor Archpriest Pavel Svetlov issued in the edition ‘Where is the Oecumenical Church ? – concerning the question about Church Unity and about Ecclesiology (1905)’”.

Subsequently, from 1983 to 1991, Sergei was 3 times elected to be the vice-president of the Syndesmos Fellowship.

Saint Petersburg Theological Academy

Teaching service

In 1991, Sergei was assigned to serve as secretary of the Theological Academy and Seminary in Leningrad (Saint Petersburg).

In 1996, Sergei began tutoring in Dogmatic Theology at the Theological Academy in Saint Petersburg.

From 1991 to 1999, he tutored in Dogmatic Theology at the Russian Orthodox Humanitarian Institute of Saint Petersburg.

Marriage

At some time during these years, Sergei was married to his wife Elena.

Ordinations, 1991

On 4 April, 1991, Sergei was ordained to the Holy Diaconate in the Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Virgin Mary in Saint Petersburg.

On 7 April, 1991, Deacon Sergei Rasskazovskiy was ordained to the Holy Priesthood during the Divine Liturgy of Pascha.

Pastoral service

The Priest Sergei Rasskazovskiy was then assigned to serve as a priest at the Church of Saint John the Theologian in Saint Petersburg, whilst at the same time being a confessor at the local children’s school of theology.

From 1998, he served as Rector of the Church of Saint Basil the Great in Saint Petersburg.

Father Rasskazovskiy was a participant in numerous theological conversations, Church assemblies, conferences and seminars.

Transfer to South Africa, 1998

On 30 December, 1998, by the decision of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Priest Sergei Rasskazovskiy was assigned to serve as the rector of the Parish of Saint Sergius of Radonezh in Noordwyk, in the Midrand Municipality, a suburb of the City of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. Midrand is a suburb of Johannesburg, halfway between Johannesburg and Pretoria. It had been his particular responsibility to head the development of a newly-formed Russian Orthodox community. This Russian Orthodox community in South Africa was established with the blessing of the Patriarch of Alexandria. The Moscow Patriarchate and the Alexandrian Patriarchate established a special agreement about this presence in Africa, and it served as a model for the future Romanian Orthodox presence as well.

Initially, the parish of Saint Sergius operated from a small house in Midrand, where a house-church with regular services had been arranged. Father Sergei Rasskazovskiy had then been assigned to the parish as the first Rector. He organised the Russian Orthodox community. He found a suitable site for the construction of a Temple, and he also initiated fundraising for the purchase of a site.

By September, 2000, the ground site had been bought in Midrand. A Saint Petersburg architect, Yury Kirs, was appointed to design and oversee the construction of both the Temple and the Church Complex, and construction was readied.

The priest Sergei Rasskazovskiy was elevated to the dignity of archpriest.

Saint Sergius Church in Noordwyk

As of the year 2000, Father Sergei became an official member of the “Russian Academy of Natural Sciences” (RAEN).

However, it became the responsibility of Father Sergei's successor, Hieromonk Philaret (Bulekov), to lead the completion of the project during his 4 years of service there.

Transfer to Canada, 2000

In a follow-up resolution of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on 29 December, 2000, the Archpriest Sergei Rasskazovskiy was assigned to serve as the rector of the Church of Saint Tikhon in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He travelled to Toronto with his wife Elena and their son Nikolai.

The community to which he was assigned had very recently been given the blessing by Patriarch Aleksey II (Ridiger) and the Holy Synod to come into existence. This was in response to a petition to do so by a large group of persons in Toronto. The formation of such a community, however, required a special status within the canonical territory of a diocese of The Orthodox Church in America, and negotiations to enable this blessing had been engaged previously.

Because of the terms of the “Tomos of Autocephaly” which had been given in 1970 by the Moscow Patriarchate to the “Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of North America”, which established “The Orthodox Church in America”, it was not possible for the Moscow Patriarchate independently to open a parish in North America without the agreement of the OCA. After the negotiations, it had been agreed that this parish could be formed under the same conditions by which the OCA had established a Representation Church in Moscow : the parish would belong to the local Church, but the rector would be sent from the mother Church. The main concern that had to be considered was how this representation would be related to the Metropolitan of the OCA, to whom it would be making a representation. Thus, although it is not always listed as such, the parish is also a stavropegial institution directly related to the metropolitan, and to the Holy Synod of Bishops of the OCA. Its official title is “Podvoriye of Saint Tikhon of Moscow, Toronto”.

After his arrival in Toronto, Father Sergei continued to foster the development of the parish given into his responsibility.

He has also paid careful attention to maintaining communications with the bishops and administrations that he serves. He has maintained a visible presence amongst the Orthodox clergy in the Greater Toronto Area.

First, rented, place of worship, 2000

At first, the community was able to meet only in a small Anglican cemetery church in Scarborough (Saint Jude’s, Wexford). The community faced many difficulties, in particular because it was not able to have complete access to this small and old building. The space had to remain intact as an Anglican place of worship, and all icons and other Orthodox necessities for worship had to be removed and stored after every service. Moreover, the community was not free to use the space at “normal” worship times. This situation continued for many years.

The first, rented, quarters of the parish, 2000

Purchase of a permanent Temple, 2009

In October, 2009, it became possible for this community to purchase the Temple of the Greek Old Calendarist English-language Orthodox Church of Saint Joseph of Arimathea in North York (this community is now in Whitevale). That community had outgrown the space available, and another, larger space had been purchased. Since that time, this representation parish in Toronto has continued its life of worship and service in this newer and more appropriate building in North York.

The purchased, permanent Temple, 2009

The permanent iconostas

Reflections

Father Sergei's personal experience has been helpful to him in his service, particularly since (in terms of the relationship with the patriarchate) there was for many of the years of his service a Vicar-Bishop of the Patriarch of Moscow present and serving in Canada. Therefore, he took care at all times to work and to serve harmoniously with the bishop of the Moscow Patriarchate Parishes in Canada.

The same may be said about the care that was required and carried out by Father Sergei with regard to his relationship with the OCA archbishop of the Archdiocese of Canada and with the OCA metropolitan in the USA.

In addition to his participation in various events, activities and other responsibilities within the Canadian Moscow Patriarchate Parishes, the Archpriest Sergei Rasskazovskiy participated in various events and activities of the Archdiocese of Canada (OCA) and of The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) in the USA from time to time.