Archbishop Averky (in the world Alexander Pavlovich Taushev) was born on October 19, 1906 in Kazan’, Russia, to an aristocratic family. After 1920, the Taushevs found themselves exiled, and the future hierarch’s youth was spent in Bulgaria. In 1926, he graduated from the Russian school, and in 1930 received a degree in Theology from the University of Sofia. He was a student of Archbishop Seraphim (Sobolev – glorified on February 3, 2016). He served in Carpathian Rus’, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Germany, and taught Law of God in the Displaced Persons camps.

In 1951, at the invitation of Archbishop Vitaly (Maximenko), Archimandrite Averky moved to the U.S., where he became a professor at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, NY. In 1952, he became the permanent rector of the seminary, and the editor-in-chief of "Pravoslavnaya Rus’" ("Orthodox Rus’") magazine. He was an academic and theologian, author of renowned exegeses on the New Testament.

On August 17, 1961, he was elevated to Archbishop of Syracuse & Holy Trinity. From 1964 on, he served as a permanent member of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad. He reposed on April 13, 1976, and is buried in a crypt beneath Holy Trinity Cathedral at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville.