As the number of parishes and bishops of the FROC increased in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, conflicts among them likewise increased, as well as conflicts between the leaders of the Synod of ROCOR and the bishops in Russia. Bishops of the Free Russian Orthodox Church, who were under the jurisdiction of ROCOR, i.e., [[Archbishop]] Lazar and Bishop Valentine, were ultimately removed from their [[see]]s. They chose to separate from ROCOR administratively and form an autonomous, self-governing Church, citing as their canonical basis [[Ukaz No. 362]] of St. [[Patriarch]] [[Tikhon of Moscow|Tikhon]] of [[November 20]], 1920. They also consecrated three bishops for the Russian church, Theodore, Seraphim, and Agafangel.

In 1995, Abp. Lazarus, with Bishops Benjamin and Agafangel, came back to ROCOR, while three bishops, with Abp. Valentine at the head, remained in schism. In May 1995 the long-term secretary of the Synod of Bishops of ROCOR, the famous [[Church History|church historian]] and [[canon (law)|canonist]], Bishop Gregory (Grabbe), visited Suzdal. He approved the decisions of the Russian bishops to withdraw from administrative subordination to the ROCOR synod just before he passed away. Some attributed this to his age, while others claimed this was due to his belief that they were following the "true" historical course of ROCOR.

==American parish list==