We are a parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) in the Diocese of Great Britain and Western Europe (ROCOR), striving to live the Orthodox Faith.

We are a growing community from various backgrounds, with people from The Russian Federation, The Baltic States, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia and  the USA with some converts to Orthodoxy  and others exploring the Faith. At the last count we had 16 nationalities. We use the Julian Calendar and our services are mainly in English with some Church Slavonic. We are a traditional parish  and very welcoming. If you are Orthodox already and looking for a parish, we are a lovely community to join. If you are interested in the Orthodox faith you are most welcome to contact us.  The Parish takes Safeguarding very seriously. Our Safeguarding Policy is available here.

Divine Liturgy every Sunday at 10.00 a.m. and some weekdays at 9.30 a.m. or just after

Contribution Lunch and talk by one of the clergy after the Liturgy on the last Sunday of the  month

Children's Church is normally once a month. Parents are contacted by WhatsApp. We meet on a Sunday immediately after the Liturgy.

Vespers most Saturday evenings at 5.00 p.m. 

Those interested in becoming Orthodox should initially speak with or contact Father Paul

Catechumen quiet sessions on occasional Saturdays  by arrangement with Fr Paul

There is normally an Akathist at 6.00 p.m. on a Tuesday  evening. In Lent it precedes the Presanctified Liturgy on a Wednesday.

There is a Parish Youth Group and University Orthodox Society. This meets by arrangement. There is Vespers in term time in St Philip Neri's as announced.

For arrangements of services  please see the details below

Parish Clergy

       Father Paul is our parish priest. He can be contacted on 07926194031 or frpaulelliott@aol.com

Fr Justin 07557951934 and Fr Vyacheslav 07342101347

Subdeacon Chad and Subdeacon Michael

Reader Serafim and Reader George

The Wonderworking Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God will be visiting our parish on Friday 28th November through to Sunday 30th November. There will be ample opportunities to venerate the holy icon. The approximate timetable is as follows:

Friday 28th November 2025

Arrival at Manchester Airport 12:10

Visits to homes in the Liverpool area

Moleben in St Elisabeth's at approximately 20:00

Saturday 29th November 2025

Divine Liturgy in St Elisabeth's at 07:00 

Visits to homes in Wirral, Chester and North Wales

Vespers in St Elisabeth's at approximately 20.00

Sunday 30th November 2025

Greeting of the icon at 08.00 The icon will thereafter be in Church

Divine Liturgy at 10:00

Contribution meal after the Liturgy 

Moleben at 14:00 

The icon departs at 14:45 approximately

Please do your utmost to come into the presence of the holy icon so that this is a whole parish event.

If the icon will be visiting your home, see Preparing for a Visit of the Kursk-Root Icon published by the diocese.

• Regular members of the congregation will be informed of services by text message.
• Private arrangements for confession or receiving of Holy Comunion are always possible.

      Church  services.

If you have any concerns please contact Father Paul on 07926194031 or frpaulelliott@aol.com

Recently, St Elisabeth's has had more involvement with the students from the various universities in Merseyside. There is a new Student Mission whose heavenly patron is St Gabriel of Georgia. Members of our church choir sang at the first Vespers in Liverpool  which was served by Father Alban Illingworth who was visiting from Durham. This was well attended and a beautiful occasion. We hope for many more in the future. Services will be held in the Chaplaincy, St Philip Neri's, 30 Catherine Street, Liverpool L8 7NL. Further details can be found on at Liverpool Orthodox Student Society  Monthly services in English will take place at the Chaplaincy mainly drawing upon the singing and serving skills of the students which will hopefully develop over the months. News of the new mission can be found on the Orthodox Christian Website https://orthochristian.com/173731.html and on the Diocesan Website https://orthodox-europe.org/content/st-George-student-mission-in-liverpool/

The society has  also collaborated with the Durham Orthodox Student Society on a pilgrimage to the holy sites of Durham and its surrounding area. The Durham Orthodox Student Society will be invited to a youth weekend from January 23rd to January 26th when there will be services and talks and the annual dip in the River Mersey on the Sunday nearest the Theophany for the Blessing of the Waters. It is hoped that arrangements can be made for the students to stay over in Merseyside possibly with visitors from other Youth Groups in the UK. Further details of this event and other activities will be publicised here on this website.

• A new schedule of services has been published above for November and December. There may be extra services added to this.
• The visit of the Kursk Root Icon will be on Friday 28th November to Sunday 30th November 2025. 
• Children's Church will meet after the Liturgy as announced.
• The Divine Liturgy is currently served on occasional weekdays and Saturdays.  It is always served on Sundays at 10.00 a.m. Please check in the schedule of services published above.
• A simple peoples' service book in English and Russian can be downloaded and printed. You can find more services under "Liturgica" on this website.
• An Akathist or Moleben will be served most Tuesday evenings at 6.00 p.m. though in Lent it precedes the Presanctified Liturgy at 5.30 p.m. on a number of Wednesdays (see above).
• Baptisms will normally take place on Saturday mornings during or immediately after Divine Liturgy or at about 10.00 a.m. or by private arrangement
• Choir Practice is at church as announced.

Children are welcome at the Divine Liturgy. If they need a bit of "time out" there is a place for them in the side porch where mums or dads can sit with them with some toys and books and they can still see what is happening in the Liturgy. Children's Church tries to meet monthly on a Sunday after the Liturgy.

Our church choir has recently recorded a Cherubic Hymn arranged by Alison Sailer.

Sheet music is available here: Picardy Cherubic Hymn (Nativity Season)

This Parish supports the Fund for Assistance. Please consider this in your giving.

 Father Paul will send £500 to this Christmas appeal this year. We are very fortunate at St Elisabeth's and so should look at opportunities to support those priests and parishes far less fortunate than ourselves.

Well done St Elisabeth's!

Fr Paul now serves a few more weekday services. 

Akathists of intercession

There will normally be an Akathist to the Mother of God or occasionally a Moleben served on Tuesdays at 6.00 p.m. and some Wednesdays at 6.30p.m.   These services may be subject to change due to Fr Paul's commitments. It is best to text Fr Paul on 07926194031 to check if it is going ahead. There are details in the Timetable of services above.

Great Vespers

Great Vespers is often served on the eves of Great Feasts at 5.00 p.m. and on some Saturday evenings

Divine Liturgy

The Divine Liturgy is served on some Saturdays  at 9.00.a.m. and at 9.30 a.m. whenever possible on Great Feasts. 

Presanctified Liturgy

This will be served during Great Lent normally on most Wednesday evenings after the  Ninth Hour 

Pannikhidas 

These are served on request and on some Saturdays during March and April or on Sundays after the Divine Liturgy

Hierarchal Unction

Bishop Irenei normally comes to St Elisabeth's to serve the Unction service in Great Lent. Details will be posted on the website nearer the time.

Church Singing is a very important work in any Russian Orthodox Parish. Matushka Elizabeth is the choir director, assisted by Mariia Rak . They work hard to enable the choir to sing as beautifully as possible. We are blessed with some very good singers and the choir does a wonderful job creating the right prayerful atmosphere for the Holy Liturgy.  If you feel you are able to contribute to choral singing please speak to Matushka. We especially need singers for occasional and weekday services.

An initiative of our choir, Blessed by Metropolitan Nicholas, is in the promotion of an English-American Paschal Troparion composed by Alison Sailor and first performed at the Liturgical Music Conference in New Divievo, last year. If you would like to hear it please follow the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLNcmjSUeQY

Please copy this into your browser if the link does not work

Since the earliest times young men served in the altar. This is important work as it enables the Bishop or Priest to concentrate on the prayers. The traditional vesture for a server is the Stichar, which was originally a decorated garment which covered the toga in the Eastern Roman Empire. The vesture assists the server to step into the role and stay focused upon spiritual work. We have a number of servers at St Elisabeth's who greatly add to the solemnity of the service and therefore the sense of holiness. Some new vestments have just been made for them at the Convent of St Elisabeth, in Minsk. Some of the funding for this has come from Lena Miloshovich in memory of her mother Dushanka. The recently acquired red vestments are the kind donation of Subdeacon Pavel Lisitsin. Father Paul is very grateful for those who assist him in the altar. If you are interested in serving in the altar, please talk to Subdeacon Chad or Father Paul.

We are delighted that you would like to have your child baptised in our church. Baptisms are normally conducted at about 10:30 on a Saturday morning though other arrangements can be made. The post code of the church is CH45 5DE. Father Paul’s phone number is 07926194031 and his email is frpaulelliott@aol.com  Please fill in the online Baptism Registration form and email it to Fr Paul. For details of having your son or daughter baptised in St Elisabeth's please follow this link : Baptism in the Russian Orthodox Church

Getting married in St Elisabeth's can be arranged. Normally, the couple must be married in the Registery Office first unless the Registrar is present. The couple should both be baptised and free to marry. The chief bridesmaid and the best man should be of the Orthodox faith. Couples should normally ask Fr Paul to seek a blessing from Bishop Irenei before the wedding is arranged especially if either the bride or the groom are not of the Orthodox Faith. A blessing can be granted, though any children of the marriage must be brought up Orthodox. Weddings take place normally at 13:00 on a Sunday and only then outside the church fasts.

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St Elisabeth's Russian Orthodox Church - Liverpool, Wallasey, Birkenhead