Obituary – Father Peter Scorer

Our dear Reverend Father Peter Scorer, priest of the Parish of the Holy Prophet Elias in Exeter, fell asleep in the Lord on 11 September 2020. Father Peter was ordained Deacon on 21 October 1973 by Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh and lived his diaconate to the full for almost fifty years. After the Parish of the Holy Prophet Elias was left without a priest following the division of the Archdiocese of Orthodox Churches of Russian Tradition in Western Europe, Father Peter was ordained to the priesthood on 1 February 2020 by Archbishop Nikitas of Thyateira and Great Britain. Through his numerous activities in service to the Church, he was much loved by all generations within the Deanery of Great Britain.

Father Peter was born of an English father and a Russian mother on 15 October 1942, in Essex, and was baptised by Father Lev Gillet. Peter grew up in North London and studied Russian and French at the University of Oxford. He further studied at Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York where he had as professors Fathers Alexander Schmemann and John Meyendorff. He married Irina Hoecke on 1 September 1967 in New York and together they had three children. Peter and Irina settled in Exeter where Peter taught Russian at the local university for about thirty years.

From 1979, Deacon Peter became heavily involved in the summer camps organised by the Church for Orthodox youth. Through his connections with young people, he was known by countless families of the Deanery. Blessed with remarkable energy, he was thoroughly involved in all camp activities and could be found in the kitchen, on the tractor or in chapel.

With his theological knowledge and lengthy experience of the diaconate, Father Peter celebrated the Divine Liturgy in a dignified and natural manner. Always at the centre of liturgical action and with a beautiful and strong bass voice, he led the parish through prayers, the messenger moving from one side of the iconostasis to the other, the visible link between the people and the sanctuary. As Protodeacon, he also trained many newly-ordained deacons.

He gave his all to serve charities, becoming President of the St Gregory Foundation and then Chairman of the Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh Foundation. A disciple of Metropolitan Anthony, Father Peter strove to share Metropolitan Anthony’s legacy through numerous conferences in Great Britain and Russia and by publishing his written works.

Father Peter always made himself available for the faithful and his clergy brothers. He served his Lord and his neighbours. Through his natural and easy interactions, his kindness, his sincerity, his sense of humour and his warmth, he was a pillar of the Deanery of Great Britain. We miss him and he will always be in our hearts.

Memory Eternal!

Archpriest Stéphane Maikovsky