ABSTRACT

This chapter gives an overview of the origins and present situation of Orthodoxy in the United Kingdom. Before the twentieth century Eastern Orthodox Christians were a rare presence in the United Kingdom, and confined to a very few places. The Greeks were the first to establish an organised community in England in the seventeenth century. From 1716 a Russian Embassy church existed in London and was the home of the parish of the Dormition. A Serbian church community was formally set up in 1942. Serbs first settled in Great Britain in any numbers after the Second World War. A chaplain has been attached to the Romanian Legation in London to serve the diplomatic community before the Second World War. A few have joined the Greek, Serbian or Romanian Orthodox churches, while some are in the Patriarchate of Antioch. In addition, a few Orthodox are happy to attend their local Anglican church.