ARCHPRIEST SERGIY BARANOV
Secretary of the Orsk Diocese,
senior priest and spiritual father of the Iveron Monastery
Date of birth: March 7, 1967
Date of ordination to the diaconate: February 6, 1994
Date of ordination to the priesthood: August 27, 1995
Saint’s Day: July 18, October 8
BIOGRAPHY:
Sergey Nikolayevich was born in the small town of Batamshinskiy, Aktubinsk Region, on March 7, 1967 in a family of workers. He was baptized in 1987.
In 1984, he graduated from secondary school.
1985-1987 – compulsory service in the army.
In 1990, the Sacrament of Marriage with the servant of God Natalia took place. There are six children in the family.
On February 6, 1994, Sergey Nikolayevich was ordained to the diaconate and on August 27, 1995 – to the priesthood by Leontius, Metropolitan of Orenburg and Buzuluk.
1994-2000 – Father Sergiy was a cleric of the Transfiguration Cathedral of the city of Orsk. In 2000 he was appointed by Valentine, Metropolitan of Orenburg and Buzuluk, to the capacity of a senior priest of the Cathedral of the Great Martyr George of the city of Orsk in order to open the parish and build a new church.
In 2005, Father Sergiy graduated from the Pastoral Department of the Theological Seminary of Samara.
In 2009, he was appointed to the capacity of a senior priest of the Orsk District.
In 2011, appointed to the capacity of a Secretary of the Orsk Diocese and the head of the Department of Cooperation with Correctional Facilities and the Department of Church Architecture and Icon-Painting.
On June 14, 2016, was relieved of his duties as a senior priest of the Cathedral of the Great Martyr George and appointed as a spiritual guide of the Iveron Monastery, which originated with the community of sisters gathered around him.
Built the Iveron monastery, over ten churches, including the Cathedral of the Great Martyr George, an Orthodox Center for Youth; built several chapels – in places like hospitals and homeless shelters.
Founded a charity organization, a horseback riding center for youth, dedicated to the Great Martyr George, a parish zoo. Father Sergiy is a spiritual father to many imprisoned people, and is also the chairman of the board of trustees of the orphanage for the mentally challenged children in Gai.
The creator of an icon-painting workshop that produced many icons now adorning the churches and monasteries of Russia and other countries. Father Sergiy paints icons himself. He supervised the fresco painting at the Transfiguration Cathedral and at the Cathedral of the Great Martyr George. Finished many iconography projects in churches of the Holy Mount Athos.
Father Sergiy has been working on spiritual enlightenment for many years. He writes articles on spiritual topics, books and scripts, and creates spiritual movies.
2006-2020 – was a spiritual guide of the Diocese’s newspaper “Life in Christ – a word on the faith” published region wide.
He is also a spiritual director of the Christian youth theater “Meeting”. There were several plays put on, based on his scripts, including, but not limited to, “On the Other Side of a War”, “Lifelong”, “Monologues on Love”.
Father Sergiy founded the Iveron monastery in 2013. It began with a sisterhood under his spiritual guidance. The women from it became the first nuns of the monastery. Father Sergiy has been the spiritual father of the monastery since the very first days of its existence.
AWARDS
Church awards:
A hypogonation; a kamelaukion; a pectoral cross; a rank of an archpriest; the Order of the Saint New Martyrs of the Gornji Karlovac Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church; the III-Class Order of the Saint Venerable Sergius of Radonezh; the III-Class Order of the Saint Venerable Andrei Rublev of the Russian Orthodox Church; an epigonation.
Secular awards:
The II-Class Medal “Of Merit for the City of Orsk”. Father Sergiy was listed on the Board of Honor of the city of Orsk in the nomination of the “Best citizen of the city distinguished by a noble action”. Father Sergiy received a Grand Prix for the documentary “Philosophy of Repentance” at the International Film Festival “Nadezhda” (“Hope”) – the world’s unique festival supporting human rights, where the films created by the imprisoned people are demonstrated. The “Philosophy of Repentance” was recognized as the best among 150 films from Russia and many other countries. Father Sergiy Baranov is the scriptwriter and director of this movie.
I-st premium for the documentary “Liturgy” at the International Festival of the Orthodox Films “Pokrov-2015” in the nomination of the “Documentary Films”.