Segej, I wrote a letter to the SOC about two and a half weeks ago. Now I'm just waiting to see if I hear back.
Sve najbolje,
Sheila

http://www.rodoslovlje.com/en/groups/researching-ethnic-serbian-ancestors-austria-hungary

 RESOURCES OF THE  SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH:

DOCUMENTS AND RECORDS

-Although in many cases they do not posess the original church vital records  there are a lot of church archives and a lot of documents they hold that are not available to public – lists of donations to the temple, lists of parisheners,  diaries of the parish that were written by the priests, internal communication  and correspondence with church or civil authorities.

Here is the wealth of the genealogical  information from one such diary of the parish written by the Serbian orthodox parish priest in 1926, that has been published in a book recently:

http://www.rastko.rs/rastko-bo...

-Books of mentions ("Pomenik")  -  names  of people that were mentioned during the religious service, both living and the deceased.

- Obituary lists  for large territories from monasteries:

- In many very old almanachs and written annual summaries of parish or monastery history  made by the monks and priests of the SOC that preceed the date when the vital records were started for the parish  , names of merchants, land owners  and other non-clergy from parishes are mentioned with details of place of residence, clan and other information.

 Very important are the records of church baptism or marriage certificates that were issued later (to obtain a passport  or provide documents  to the authorities in the country where they emigrated) which will have data on your ancestors .

-Sometimes the current parish priest is young and from elsewhere, and he may need to direct you to seek some other/older member of the clergy or someone from the area  who knows everything about the village and its past.  Such a person will have information on all different branches of the same surname and families known by their clan *nicknames*, locations of cemeteries and any living members of the same family, and much, much more.

-SOC even has its own *vetted* historians and researchers that can help you, and whose published articles and books  must be  consulted by anyone conducting more than primary research .  I do not know if  you can ask any of them to search for your ancestors  as they are established scholars. They will have the most accurate information on the archival holdings related to the SOC, both in church archives and the state ones. Their work is  published and  availble through academic networks in the region, mostly in Serbia.

-This is the most important line of research for anyone looking into the parishes where the original church vital records were destroyed or are only available in fragments. Whether you will recive any information or not  is up to the SOC  and how much they are willing to help.  In my experience, if you contact them  in the right manner, many individual priests and some eparchies will go above and beyond to help you find answers.

CONTACTING THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

You can send emails and ask by phone. You can hire a researcher to do this for you. You can make a trip and go see the parish priest in the temple.  In most cases, you will get no information  or direction.

The church is neither backwards or non-responsive, it is simply weary of any outsiders – given the fate it has suffered I find this attitude understandable.   Also, you may not be aware of some *unwritten rules* and  customs that exist and are known to people who attend it.

First of all, understand that you are contacting  a church – and customary thing  over here is that before you ask  any  church to do anything for you (which includes responding to your questions) , you should make a  donation to them.   

 DONATIONS TO THE  SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

-Your call. What is culturally appropriate and right from over here,  may be totally off from your perspective.  Here is a case I recently encountered:

 The SOC temple   one person’s  ancestors were baptized/ married in has been destroyed,  then rebuilt by the SOC after the WWII, then destroyed completely again in recent wars,  and is currently being rebuilt again through donations of the people from the same village (many with the same surname) who are scattered  around the globe  and only gather in the village once a year.  Asking  them  about their  family or the eparchy about the parish that has suffered so much ,  this church and these people   who are together  making an effort to rebuild  the same  temple again,  while at the same time not making at least a symbolic contribution of your own,  is something I would never attempt  or even consider  doing if it were my  ancestors and the village that they emigrated from.

- A donation to the SOC   should only be carried out  either through the SOC central administration in Belgrade or the official appeal for donations of the eparchy  your ancestors belonged to.  ( There would be no point donating to the eparchy that covers  totally unrelated church district). If you are making a donation through central administration, ask them to contact the eparchy you are researching on your behalf.

  http://www.spc.rs/eng/contact

http://www.eparhija-gornjokarl...

-Write  and explain who you are and what you are trying to do  in  humble manner and politely

 – Do not address the church dignitaries  with their title (arhimandrit, jerej,otac, vladika) if you are not sure of the exact corresponding phrase that ought to be used for that position .

- Best if you start your email/letter in the most usual way to adress a Serbian Orthodox priest  : „Pomaže Bog!“ (God Helps!) –slightly informal, but covers all the bases – it is both accurate and appropriate in communicating via email.

CONTACTING THE PRIESTS AND VISITING TEMPLES

-If you are contacting the priests directly, you need to mention names or include correspondence  with  someone from the SOC who is *recommending* you – like your local priest if your family is still Serbian Orthodox, or  someone in the eparchy that you contacted previosly about making the donation that can vouch for you being a genuine descendant  and for your honest intentions ( there’s been problems with people who work for a fee trying to pass themselves off  as  descendants, and even  distributing false information about the church, parish or the records ) .

-If you are visiting the original temple please try to find and be accompanied by the member of *your  family* or someone  from  the parish who at least occasionally visits the church and is known to the parish priests – again, their presence will *vouch* for you and you will recieve more information than by just  showing up and asking for information on your own, or with any other guide you may enlist for such a trip.

If you have contacted the Serbian Orthodox Church in the past and recieved no reply or no information, send me an email and I will contact them for you again .