Orthodox churches in Europe. History of Evangelical Christians

For most Russians, Europe is a territory of free morals and bold laws. Some perceive it negatively, others approvingly. Without relying on information from secular publications, our correspondent asked how the Orthodox priests working there see the Western world.

1. I would like to believe that along with the Europe of permissiveness there is a Europe of traditions and faith. Christianity in Europe- In your opinion, How religious is European society and how is this expressed in life?– holidays, volunteering, charity, peculiarities of family relationships.
2. Islamization is considered the main threat to Europe. I recently read about a sixteen-year-old German woman who was taken by her Chechen husband to the Middle East to join the ranks of a radical group. Girl arrested in Iraq and threatened the death penalty. But maybe this is an exceptional case and not a trend.Islam in Europe - how attractive is Islam for young Europeans and is there a reverse process - Christian missionary work and the baptism of migrants?
3. What are the problems of the Orthodox community abroad?

Answered by Archpriest Sergius Prosandeev, Valencia (Spain).

Archpriest Sergius Prosandeev, rector of the parish in the name of the Holy Martyr. George in Valencia (Spain).

1. European society has not been religious for a long time

Largely thanks to active anti-church propaganda, the forced imposition of atheism in schools (here, “Darwin’s theory” is also the basis for children’s education), and the special policy of the European Union, when they care more about Muslim “refugees” on the one hand, and about various perverts and “minorities” with another. Some remnants of the Christian faith can still be seen in family life in Poland and Spain. For example, here in Spain up to 200 relatives can gather for a christening or wedding - blood and spiritual kinship is sanctified by centuries-old traditions, which are difficult to achieve by the anti-Christian propaganda of the owners of the mass media.

Among the Spaniards, such a holiday as Christmas is considered the most important church and family holiday. Nowadays it is increasingly a commercial project - Christmas sales, travel holidays, and, of course, family gatherings and gifts. In Spain they are given both for Christmas - December 25, and January 6 - the day of Los Reyes, the Magi Kings who came from the East to worship the Infant Christ.

At the same time, there are concerts, exhibitions, and, most importantly for the Spaniards, the Loteria Navidad, the Christmas lottery, part of the proceeds from which goes to charitable projects. It seems like every Spaniard is participating in this lottery, and the drawing is broadcast on live- the whole country watches with bated breath: huge gilded nets with balls are spinning, and children from the Catholic school of St. Idelphons loudly sing the dropped numbers to a simple old tune.

Another feature of the Spanish Nativity is the nativity scene, Belen in Spanish, literally Bethlehem, a built-in figurine scene in the cave of the Nativity, with animals and often large parts of the gospel story. This nativity scene is everywhere - in every church, in every public institution, in every store and mall, in all administrative buildings, in the police, in hospitals. There is also a name for the profession - el belenista, a respected person, an artist who spends his entire life preparing and decorating such nativity scenes. The richest and most expensive ones are located in the city administration and the cathedral in each city.

This is the outside. And there is a sad side - they remember less and less about Christ.

It has become indecent to talk about faith.

For years now I have been listening to the Christmas message of King Philip VI of Spain, and not a single word about Christ, the Christian faith, or Christmas, only general phrases about certain “ holidays”, in which he sums up the political results of the year, talks about “European values” - democracy, tolerance, tolerance and other nonsense.

Easter, by the way, passes almost unnoticed - they only broadcast the solemn torchlight processions with the Cross on Good Friday, which are very spectacular, with brass bands, stops with the reading of the Gospel and prayers.

2. Islam in Europe

I have never heard of migrants from the East and Africa converting to Christianity. These are the absolute majority of young people who most of all do not want to study or work, although all doors are open to them. They are not yet very comfortable in Spain, the country is too poor for them, and having sailed on boats to Spain, having received first aid and temporary shelter, they try to go further - to France, Germany, Norway. The benefits there are serious, and they are protected in every possible way.

Spain is ready to immediately issue them a residence permit. This is different from the migration of the white population from Ukraine, Russia, and other countries of the former Soviet Union: our people have to wait humiliatingly for years, without any rights to work.

Our people who are ready to work are used as slaves - they have no rights, and are paid much less than the Spaniards, in black money, because they do not have the right to work, and if they are caught, they are deported back.

Islamic centers are growing noticeably. There are also many Spaniards themselves who convert to Islam: I have an imam I know here, his name is Mansur - he is a Spaniard who became disillusioned with Catholicism and decided on his spiritual quest by accepting Islam, then studied at a madrasah in Paris, interned at Saudi Arabia, and now heads one of the Islamic centers, where educational and publishing activities are in full swing.

But they also have problems with other similar centers, but which are financed, for example, from London - there is already some kind of different Islam, and a different ideology.

Yes, there's something going on big game with this artificial wave of migrants, and with the teachings and attitudes that they bring to Europe.

I really want to know that these processes are somehow controlled national authorities security and police.

The “ideals” of consumer society are becoming more and more disgusting for young people who are still looking for the meaning of life. Some people find Islam, but for others this search most often ends with “weed,” pills and drugs – this stuff is in abundance here. Marijuana is already legal - young boys and girls walk and smoke on the streets without hesitation.

3. On the problems of the Orthodox community abroad.

Firstly, This is the disunity of people. I won’t delve into the reasons, this is some kind of fear, and a desire to be “inconspicuous” here, and a reluctance to see compatriots, and ordinary pride and ignorance. When someone comes to Church, it is a joy, because it is like a feat of overcoming oneself.

As abbot, I forbade all conversations about politics, because, unfortunately, many still love this matter, they just watch different channels: some only Ukrainian, others only Russian; some people are from Western Ukraine, and others from Donbass, in front of whose eyes their neighbors were burning under fire.

We have Bulgarians, Georgians, and people from different places. What can bring them together? Only the Holy Orthodox Faith.

Parish in the name of the Holy Martyr. George in Valencia (Spain).

Secondly, material problems, especially with premises and other property. Our community in Valencia is already 8 years old, and our property is books, liturgical utensils and vestments.

For many years now we have been renting a former garage, which was converted into a temple - but there are no windows, like in a cave, and there are problems with ventilation, which we are gradually solving.

We regularly pay rent for the premises, people collect little by little. And our people are mostly the same hard workers who take on the most difficult and low-paid jobs to help their children study, or to help their parents in Ukraine. And now we are faced with the task of buying this premises together with the refectory on the second floor - the owner was going to sell it, and set the price at 100 thousand euros. We have already raised a third, but we are unlikely to be able to do it ourselves.

Therefore, we appeal to everyone who can contribute - transfer at least a little into our account, and we think, one by one, we will have OUR premises, like a base at a distant outpost, so that we can continue to study and strengthen our faith, Christian hope and love.

Answered by Archpriest Vitaly Babushin, Stockholm. (Sweden).

Archpriest Vitaly Babushin, rector of the parish of St. Sergius of Radonezh in Stockholm. (Sweden).

1. So far, in traditionally Catholic Europe, the religious motive of the main Christian holidays prevails.

He can gather people in a church for prayer, set the tone for social and humanitarian projects, and can be decisive in the simplest everyday matters. But in order to maintain this Christian course, there must be bearers of culture, knowledge, traditions, a kind of pilots who know navigation and know how to guide others.

Unfortunately, Christian navigation in conservative old Europe is fading along with the older generations of Christians.

This is clearly noticeable in the example of Scandinavia and, in particular, the once Protestant Sweden. Complete absence of religious motives, spiritual quests and aspirations of Eternal Life in Christ.

Everything was swallowed up by liberalization and the pursuit of benefits and discounts. There are even discounts on coffins and corresponding advertising on city streets.

The churches are empty. They play jazz or set up cafes where old people meet and spend their simple leisure time before returning to their room in the nursing home.

Restaurant "Church" in the building of the former Lutheran church

Alas, for a Protestant who has ceased to trust the authority of the Bible and considers himself to have the right to change the sacred texts themselves, adjusting them to a new system of ideological state coordinates, the authority of God is more than doubtful.

Hence gays, trans, genders, shameful pictures in the subway and who knows what - all this is a caricature of European freedoms and achievements, which, among other things, are inspired by the current Swedish church.

Therefore, ordinary people who have lost confidence in the national church are leaving it en masse. Unfortunately, their disappointment is such that the remnants of their religious feelings are drowned in the stream of life, and they become more and more atheists.

Today's example of the Swedish Church is an example of what the Church can become when it loses Christ.

These words are confirmed by the dissolution of ties between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Swedish Protestant Church in 2005.

2. Islam is the final and irrevocable end of Christian Europe.

It is impossible not to notice this.

In its own way, Islam may be attractive to spiritually impoverished Europe. Attractive for its dogmatic simplicity, traditional moral imperative and specificity for personal self-affirmation. This new system coordinates

The Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Vienna is an Orthodox church; currently the cathedral of the Vienna Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).

The temple was built at the Russian imperial embassy in 1893-1899 by the Italian architect Luigi Giacomelli according to the design of G. I. Kotov. A significant part of the construction costs - 400,000 rubles - were donations from the emperor Alexandra III. The temple was consecrated on April 4, 1899 by Archbishop Jerome of Kholm and Warsaw.

The church is made in the forms of pseudo-Russian architecture. The cathedral building has 2 floors: the upper church is consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker; the lower one is in memory of Emperor Alexander III, his patron, the blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky.

After the outbreak of the First World War, due to the breakdown of diplomatic relations between Russia and Austria, the embassy and the cathedral were closed. Upon the establishment of diplomatic relations between the USSR and Austria in February 1924, the temple was transferred to the jurisdiction of the community under the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Evlogy (Georgievsky), loyal to Moscow. In June 1941, all the property of the Soviet diplomatic mission in Vienna, including the cathedral, was confiscated by the Foreign Office of the Third Reich. On May 19, 1943, the cathedral was transferred for temporary use to the ROCOR community. After the liberation of Vienna by Soviet troops in May 1945, the temple came under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. In 1962, due to the establishment of the Vienna and Austrian diocese by the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the temple began to be called a cathedral.

2 Church of Saints Constantine and Helena in Berlin

The Church of Saints Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen is an Orthodox church in the Tegel district of Berlin, in the center of a Russian cemetery. Belongs to the Berlin diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 1892, the Orthodox St. Vladimir Brotherhood and the rector of the Embassy Church in Berlin, Archpriest Alexei Maltsev, acquired two plots of land: one for the construction of an Orthodox cemetery in the then suburban village of Tegel and the other for the construction of a Brotherhood House (for charitable and educational activities). In 1893, a golden-domed Orthodox church in the name of Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen was founded on the purchased plots.

The church was built according to a design sent from Russia, and the local architect Bomm supervised the construction. One of the Eliseev brothers, Alexander Grigorievich, donated a gilded carved oak iconostasis to the temple. A year later, the Church of Constantine and Helena was solemnly consecrated. Since the cathedral was built only for cemetery needs, it can accommodate only 30-40 people.

By order of Alexander III, 4 tons of earth were brought to Tegel, collected from 20 Russian provinces, the earth was scattered throughout the cemetery. Tree seedlings were also delivered from Russia so that those who had died in a foreign land could find peace in their native land under the canopy of Russian trees. Over time, the cemetery became a memorial to Russian emigration in Germany.

3 Church of St. Mary Magdalene Equal to the Apostles in Weimar

The Church of St. Mary Magdalene Equal to the Apostles is an Orthodox church in the historical cemetery of the city of Weimar. The temple belongs to the Eastern Deanery of the Berlin and German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The first Orthodox church in Weimar was built for Princess Maria Pavlovna of Saxe-Weimar, daughter of Emperor Paul I. The house church of St. Mary Magdalene, Equal to the Apostles, was consecrated on December 18, 1804 on the ground floor of the von Stein mansion. In 1835, on the second floor of the northern wing of the castle, the “winter” church of St. Mary Magdalene was consecrated, which operated until the death of the Duchess in 1859.

A separate Orthodox church was founded on July 20, 1860 next to the tomb. Before construction began, large volumes of land were brought from Russia for the future temple. The construction was supervised by local architect Ferdinand von Streichgan, but the project was completed in Moscow. On December 6, 1862, the church was consecrated by the duchess's confessor, Archpriest Stefan Sabinin. With the outbreak of the First World War, services in the temple ceased. On September 2, 1950, the temple was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church.

The temple, designed in the Russian-Byzantine style, stands on a high plinth. The five domes are covered with copper and painted with patterns. The side heads are located on high decorative drums. The sarcophagus with the coffin of Maria Pavlovna is located in the northern part of the temple, in the crypt connected to the tomb by an arched passage.

4 Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Nice

The Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is an Orthodox church in Nice. Since December 15, 2011, under the jurisdiction of the Korsun diocese of the Moscow Patriarchate.

In April 1865, in Nice, in the mansion of Bermont Park, the Russian Heir Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, the son of Emperor Alexander II, died of a serious illness. The Emperor acquired Villa Bermon, where the St. Nicholas Chapel was founded on March 14, 1867. On April 7, 1869, it was consecrated.

In 1896 at Cote d'Azur The Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna arrived. At the request of the Russian community of Nice and in memory of the deceased prince, Emperor Nicholas II and Maria Feodorovna took the construction of the temple under their patronage. The foundation stone of the temple was carried out on April 25, 1903 by Archpriest Sergius Lyubimov. The plan of the temple was drawn up by M. T. Preobrazhensky. Construction work was carried out under the supervision of local architects. In 1906, construction work was suspended due to lack of funds. In 1908, Emperor Nicholas II donated 700,000 francs from his personal treasury, with which the dome was erected and the main construction work was completed. The temple was consecrated on December 17, 1912.

The five-domed cathedral was built on the model of Moscow five-domed churches of the 17th century from light brown German brick, but decorated with local materials: pink granite and blue ceramic tiles. From the west, the cathedral is preceded by a bell tower and two high white stone porches topped with tents with zinc-gilded eagles.

5 Church of St. Simeon the Divnogorets in Dresden

Church of the Holy Venerable Simeon of Divnogorets is an Orthodox church in Dresden. The temple belongs to the Eastern Deanery of the Berlin and German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 1861, at the request of the Russian community in Dresden, a house parish church was built in a private house on Sidonienstrasse. In 1864 the community moved to a house on Beuststrasse. In 1872, the building in which the temple was located passed to a new owner who did not want to have an Orthodox church there. Russian citizen A.F. Wolner donated the plot of land necessary for the construction of the church in one of the best parts of the city on Reichenbachstrasse. The design of the temple, founded on May 7, 1872, was drawn up free of charge by the architect G. Yu. von Bosse. On June 5, 1874, Archpriest Mikhail Raevsky consecrated the church in honor of St. Simeon of Divnogorets.

After the outbreak of the First World War, the church was closed. In 1938−39, the church was transferred to the Berlin and German diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. During the bombing on February 13, 1945, the church miraculously survived, but suffered significant damage (the bell tower was badly damaged). In the summer of 1945, the church again transferred to the Western European Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The temple is the most elegant expression of the Russian-Byzantine style. The main building of the temple is crowned with five blue domes. Above the western part there is a bell tower ending in a pyramidal octagonal top. The walls of the temple are made of hewn Thuringian sandstone.

6 St. Alexis Church-Monument of Russian Glory in Leipzig

St. Alexis Church-Monument of Russian Glory (Church-Monument of St. Alexius, Metropolitan of Moscow) is an Orthodox church in Leipzig, built in memory of the “Battle of the Nations.” The temple belongs to the Eastern Deanery of the Berlin and German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The desire to immortalize the place where the “Battle of the Nations” took place prompted Russia to erect a temple-monument. Donations for construction have been collected since 1907 in both Russia and Germany. On May 4, 1910, the Committee for the Construction of the Temple was formed, headed by Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. The Leipzig authorities provided a plot of land on the edge of the field where the battle took place. The ceremonial laying of the temple took place on December 28, 1912. The author of the temple project is V. A. Pokrovsky. The church was consecrated on October 17, 1913. The remains of Russian soldiers and officers who died in the “Battle of the Nations” were transferred to the crypt of the temple with military honors.

With the outbreak of the First World War, the temple-monument was closed. The building was taken over by a local resident who rented out the church. Since 1927, the temple was under the jurisdiction of the Administrator of Russian parishes in Western Europe of the Russian Orthodox Church. On May 5, 1939, the parish with all its property was transferred to the Berlin and German Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. During the bombing of Leipzig during the Second World War, local residents took refuge in the lower rooms of the temple. In the summer of 1945, the church, being in Soviet occupation territory, again transferred to the Western European Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The temple was built in the style of stone hipped churches of the 17th century. Pokrovsky took the Ascension Church in Kolomenskoye as a model. The tent is crowned with a gilded dome with a cross supported by chains. The church is surrounded by a circular gallery with 8 tall faceted lanterns, symbolizing funeral candles. At the entrance to the lower temple there are two marble plaques, which in Russian and German remind of the number of those killed in the battle.

7 Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky in Paris

Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky is a cathedral in Paris. The temple belongs to the Western European Exarchate of Russian parishes of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

In the first half of the 19th century, about a thousand Russians lived permanently or temporarily in Paris. The only place of worship was at the Russian embassy, ​​and this was sorely missed. In 1847, the priest of the Russian embassy, ​​Joseph Vasiliev, began work on designing a permanent church. The construction was financed mainly by donations. Alexander II made a personal contribution - approximately 150,000 francs in gold. The church was consecrated on September 11, 1861 by Archbishop Leonty (Lebedinsky), the future Metropolitan of Moscow. In 1922 it became a cathedral.

The architects of the church are R. I. Kuzmin and I. V. Shtrom. The plan of the church is in the form of a Greek cross. Each ray of the cross ends in an apse. Turrets with domes were erected on the apses. The central dome rises to a height of 48 m. On the facade there is a mosaic image “Blessing the Savior on the Throne” - a copy of the mosaic from the Church of St. Apollinaris in the Italian city of Ravenna.

The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is associated with the lives of many famous people. On July 12, 1918, Pablo Picasso and ballerina Olga Khokhlova were married there. The funeral services for Ivan Turgenev, Fyodor Chaliapin, Vasily Kandinsky, Ivan Bunin, and Andrei Tarkovsky were held in the cathedral.

Evangelical Christians (evangelical Christians, evangelicals, etc. evangelicals) - an interdenominational movement in Protestant denominations.

Basic character traits evangelical Protestant churches: emphasis on the personal spiritual rebirth of each believer, missionary activity and a strict ethical position.

View salvation as an accomplished fact and that it is only possible through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

The main source of doctrine is the Gospels or New Testament (which is the reason for the name).

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  Evangelical Christians believe that a person's salvation is possible only through his personal faith in Jesus Christ. They emphasize that belonging to any religious organization or regular participation in its Sacraments does not save a person in the absence of personal faith.

  It is also believed that no good deeds, without faith in Christ, ensure the salvation of the soul. Some congregations emphasize that faith without good works does not save, since it is “dead.”

  Evangelical Christians believe that being born again is prerequisite to find salvation. By “being born again” is meant not the acceptance of water baptism (as in Orthodoxy), but a special spiritual experience when turning to God, the revival of a person’s dead spirit. When a person is born again, he experiences repentance (repentance for his former sinful lifestyle) and the joy of knowing that his sins have been forgiven due to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Being born again is accompanied by a renunciation of a sinful lifestyle in the future.

  Confessions and directions

  In Russian-language discourse, this group primarily includes such denominations as Pentecostals and Charismatics, Mennonites, Baptists (in Russia - Evangelical Christians-Baptists), as well as the All-Russian Commonwealth of Evangelical Christians (ALL), which declares its continuity from historical Evangelical Christians (Prokhanovites) .

  At the same time, the historical pioneers of the evangelical movement, an integral part of the concept of Evangelicalism in the international understanding - the Moravian Church, Methodists, Presbyterians, as well as Lutheran Pietism and low-church Anglicanism - are poorly represented in the Russian-speaking environment, so when speaking about Evangelical Christianity they are rarely meant. In addition, it should be borne in mind that in the West, confessions traditionally classified in this group by Russian-language discourse may include both “evangelical” and “liberal” churches and unions, therefore “evangelicals” in the Western sense are not a collection denominations, but a movement represented within various denominations.

  In addition to the confessional division, experts see two main directions in the structure of the evangelical Christianity movement: liberal and conservative. An extreme manifestation of the latter is fundamentalism.

  The majority of evangelical Christians, despite obvious disagreements on a number of issues (liberalism and conservatism, Arminianism and Calvinism), consider other evangelical denominations to be related.

  Divine services

  The main worship services (otherwise called “meetings”) in evangelical churches usually take place on Sundays. Meetings are also held on weekdays. The so-called “home groups” are common - communication, joint Bible study, prayers and chants of Christians living in the same area in the home of one of the believers.

  Typically, services consist of one or more sermons; singing psalms and prayers between hymns (the so-called Service of Praise); a call to repentance for those who have not yet become Christians; personal testimonies; recitation of spiritual poems.

  Even a century before the European Reformation, movements arose within or outside the official church organization that some evangelical Christians consider close in spirit. In Europe they are Waldenses, followers of Wycliffe, Lollards, Hussites... In Rus' they are Strigolniki, non-covetous people.

  The development of the evangelical movement was influenced by the works of the founder of Pietism, Philipp Jakob Spener and August Hermann Franke.

  Evangelical Christians first appeared in the 18th century in England and New England. The first preachers of this movement are believed to have been the Welsh Methodist Howell Harris and the Welsh Calvinist Daniel Rowland. In the same century, Jonathan Edwards preached in Massachusetts, influencing the development of American Pietism in North America. In 1735, Methodist George Whitefield joined the evangelical movement, under whose influence he became an evangelical in 1739 younger brother Methodism founder John Wesley Charles Wesley. Under their influence, the Great Awakening occurred in the English colonies in North America in the forties of the 18th century. The Great Awakening emphasized a sense of deep personal conversion and the need for salvation through Jesus Christ. The Great Awakening was aimed at the average person, who was offered a new standard of morality and spiritual introspection with a denial of the significance of rituals. The so-called divine outpouring of the Holy Spirit, necessary for intense love of God, was emphasized.

  In 1790, the so-called Second Great Awakening arose in North America, which led to an increase in the number of Methodist and evangelical congregations. IN late XIX century, the Holiness Movement began to develop, based on the ideas of Arminius and moving away from the ideas of Methodism. John Nelson Darby developed the ideas of modern dispensationalism, which became an innovative Protestant biblical interpretation that became the basis for subsequent evangelical Christian theology. Dispensationalism was further developed in the biblical exegeses of Cyrus Ingerson Scofield's Scofield Reference Bible. According to Mark Sweetnam, dispensationalism, with its teaching about the literal interpretation of the Bible, the statement about the stage-by-stage historical relationship of God with humanity, the expectation of the near coming of Jesus Christ, apocalyptic and premillennial ideas, became the impetus for the emergence of the evangelical Christian movement. In the second half of the 19th century, Charles Haddon Spurgeon became a famous preacher of dispensationalism. From the 50s of the 19th century to the 20s of the 20th century, the so-called Princeton Theological School, whose representatives were Archibald Alexander and Benjamin Warfeld, had a great influence on the development of the evangelical Christian movement.

  At the beginning of the 20th century, the evangelical Christian movement of the early 20th century was dominated by fundamentalist ideas that rejected liberal interpretation of the Bible and emphasized the inerrancy of the Bible. After World War II, a split arose among evangelical Christians based on attitudes towards non-believers environment. The term neo-evangelicalism emerged, coined by Harold John Ockenga in 1947, as a basis for identifying certain groups of evangelical Christians who abandoned fundamentalism and embraced ideas of dialogue with the world and the application of the gospel in social, political and economic fields. Fundamentalists rejected the ideas of neo-evangelicalism, calling the followers of Harold Ockenga "neo-evangelicals." The representative of neo-evangelism was Billy Graham, who for the first time began to engage in dialogue with non-evangelical Christians, in particular with the Roman Catholic Church, which considered evangelicals heretics. The post-war period is characterized by ecumenical efforts on the part of evangelical Christians and the founding of the World Council of Churches, in which evangelical Christians initially took an active part.

  History of the Evangelical Christian movement in Russia

  Communities of evangelical Christians appeared in Russia along with the founding of the German colonies, among the inhabitants of which were Mennonites and representatives of evangelical movements of the Calvinist direction. The movement experienced sharp growth from the mid-50s of the 19th century, when communities of evangelical Christians began to form among the indigenous population of the country. In the South of Russia and Ukraine, this was expressed in the Stundist movement, in the Caucasus, Baptist communities also began to form among the Molokans, and in St. Petersburg and the North-West of the Russian Empire, the main role was played by the preaching of a missionary from among the Plymouth Brethren, Lord Grenville, Waldigrev, Redstock , who managed to convince a number of representatives of the Russian aristocracy, in particular the retired guard Colonel Vasily Alexandrovich Pashkov, of the truth of the teachings of Evangelical Christians.

  Redstock's students organized missionary activities among the workers of St. Petersburg, which were subsequently transferred to Moscow, Tver, Tula, Nizhny Novgorod, Pskov and other central provinces of Russia.

  In 1909, the First Congress of Evangelical Christians was held in Russia in St. Petersburg, and in 1911 - the Second, at which the All-Russian Union of Evangelical Christians (ALL) was established, the chairman of which was Ivan Stepanovich Prokhanov. At the same congress, the Creed of Evangelical Christians, compiled by Prokhanov, was adopted, which is a variation of the Baptist doctrine.

  In March 1917, Prokhanov came up with a project for socio-political reforms based on religious reformation. To implement this, he proposed creating the Christian Democratic Party “Resurrection”, but did not find support among his fellow believers.

  In the process of preparing and holding the Anniversary Congress of ALL (100 years in Russia) in 2009, the movement of Evangelical Christians in Russia was reorganized as the All-Russian Commonwealth of Evangelical Christians (ALL). Valerian Pavlovich Ten was elected Chairman of the Council of ALL. Secretary of the Council of ALL - Alexander Trofimovich Semchenko.

  Before the preparation of the Second Congress of ALL, held in April 2011, the Chairman of the Council of ALL, Pavel Nikolaevich Kolesnikov, was re-elected [ ] .

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  What is the position of the Orthodox Church in Western Europe? What difficulties is she experiencing? And how do residents of those countries accept it where the state religions are Catholicism and Protestantism, and the majority of the population are generally non-believers? Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Salford, and now a teacher at Baranovichi State University (Belarus), Sergei Aleksandrovich Mudrov lived and studied in Europe for several years. In the book “Orthodoxy in Europe” - evidence of our days" he collected interviews with Orthodox priests that were made during this period.

  Sergei Alexandrovich, I think with your book you wanted to help the reader get an idea of ​​the situation of the Orthodox Church in Western Europe. But the impression is not the most rosy: Orthodoxy in Europe is a Church of minorities and migrants...

  I can't agree with you. In my opinion, not everything is so unambiguously bad. Of course, in countries where Protestant and Catholic denominations dominate, Orthodox believers are in the minority. It so happened historically that in, say, Portugal, France, Belgium or Denmark, the majority of the local population does not belong to the Orthodox Church. And if you look superficially, the impression may indeed not seem the most positive.

  

  But from a historical perspective, everything is seen somewhat differently. Yes, there are not so many Orthodox Christians in Europe yet, but there are significantly more of them than, say, 20 years ago. Most Orthodox Christians are immigrants, but the local population is also showing interest, and cases of conversion to the true faith are increasing every year.

  Representatives of the Romanian diocese in Italy told me that back in 2004 there were only 30 Romanian parishes in the country, but now there are more than 200! Moreover, more than 100 Italians convert to Orthodoxy every year! Quite strong communities consisting of local people have formed in Great Britain, France and Germany. Even in distant Iceland there are people who were able to learn about Orthodoxy and converted to the true faith.

  At the same time, in countries such as Spain and Portugal, Orthodox communities consist almost entirely of immigrants. And this is quite understandable. As one priest from Zaragoza told me, in order for a Spaniard to renounce Catholicism and convert to Orthodoxy, he must, in fact, stop being a Spaniard.

  By the way, often in those countries where Orthodoxy is not the state religion, people gather in churches not so much to pray, but to communicate with people of their own nationality. Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann, who lived in America, has repeatedly noted that among immigrants, Orthodoxy is sometimes replaced by “national ideas.”

  

  - Yes, such a problem exists. Sometimes in the West people come to an Orthodox church not so much for the sake of prayer, but for the sake of communicating with their compatriots. But I don't think this problem should be exaggerated. In the West there are many different public organizations and interest clubs: Russian, Ukrainian... Those who long to communicate with their own people usually go there. And less often - to church.

  Another thing is alarming: sometimes believers try to “privatize” Orthodoxy and are distrustful of people of other nationalities who seek to accept the true faith. I remember that in one Orthodox monastery in France, two monks (an Englishman and a Dutchman) asked me with great wariness if I agreed with the idea that Orthodoxy is a faith only for Russians and for other “traditional” Orthodox Christians (Greeks, Romanians, and so on) . How happy they were when I told them that, in my opinion, the Orthodox faith is for everyone and cannot be limited to the boundaries of some nations or countries.

  In the West, some priests try to establish contact with local residents in different, sometimes very strange ways. Thus, the rector of one of the churches in Holland expressed the opinion that the Church should be alive and “it is necessary to form a commission on the role of women in the Church.” What do you think, Sergei Alexandrovich, is such an approach a “forced” missionary measure or a consequence of a departure from the truth?

  I think it all depends on the specific situation. The priest you are talking about seemed to me to be a very good priest who sincerely cares about Orthodoxy. Perhaps his lenient approach is due to the environment in which he has to serve. But it does not go beyond the Orthodox tradition. This priest understands well that only the church authority, the Council, can make decisions on issues that seem important to him...

  

  It is much worse if this kind of liberalism leads to the violation of commandments, as, for example, in the Dutch Deventer. There, according to priest Georgy (Timmer), the Orthodox parish gives communion to persons who are officially in a same-sex “marriage.” Of course, according to Dutch laws, such “marriages” are no different from a normal marriage, but still we should not forget that for the Church the voice of God and the Holy Scriptures is more important than the regulations adopted by earthly authorities.

  My next question may seem too abstract to you... And yet, let's assume for a second that you turn out to be the rector of the parish. Let's say in Maastricht with its population of 120 thousand people. How would you start communicating with local residents to attract them to an Orthodox church?

  Maastricht is a wonderful city. I still remember with warmth my time as a graduate student at the university there. If I suddenly had to become rector of a parish in Maastricht, my missionary work would probably be carried out in two directions. Firstly, I would try to “reach out” to those who came to Holland from Orthodox countries: Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians... There are many of them there, and many of them were not churched in their homeland.

  I think it would be more difficult to “reach out” to the native Dutch, due to their general religious indifference. I would probably try to hold some “presentation” events about the Orthodox Church, say, in a university library. Since the spirit of ecumenism is alien to me, I could try to hold a debate with Catholics and Protestants in order to emphasize that the differences between our faiths are many and fundamental.

  Secondly, I would try to organize religious processions and prayer services in the city, and in Dutch. I would strive to actively use the Dutch language in worship. Few local residents will want to attend a service where prayers are read in a completely unfamiliar language.

  

  Sergei Alexandrovich, you have probably often attended services in a variety of countries. We usually say that every country and every Church has its own national characteristics. For example, in Bulgaria it is customary to sit, and the course of Greek services is somewhat different from ours. What are the most striking features or traditions you saw in parish life?

  I have the impression that in general in the West parish life is more active than, say, in Belarus, the country where I live now (unfortunately, I cannot compare it with Russia). I want to emphasize that European parishes are well organized: they hold joint events and make pilgrimage trips. People know each other well and actively communicate... Paradoxically, in those European countries where I lived long time, I knew the parishioners of the church I attended better than the parishioners of the church in Baranovichi (in Belarus), where I have been going for many years.

  Of course, in Europe it is easier to organize communication, because parishes, as a rule, are not so numerous...

  As for the peculiarities of religious services, in the West, first of all, multilingualism is noticeable. They serve, as a rule, in Church Slavonic and in the language of the country where the parish is located (English, French, etc.). Sometimes (although rarely) part of the service is in Russian.

  Another feature that cannot be ignored is the mention of local monarchs in the litany during the Liturgy. This practice raises some questions for me. For example, the British Queen is not only far from Orthodoxy, but is also formally the head of the Anglican Church. And when at the Liturgy you hear the words of a priest or deacon’s prayer about “Queen Elizabeth,” you experience conflicting feelings. It seems to me that in countries where monarchs do not belong to the Orthodox Church, it would still be better to pray “for the authorities and the army” during divine services.

  You had to talk with priests from Russia and Ukraine. Do you think life in the West had an impact on them?

  Each priest in the West has his own destiny. Some serve as diplomats: for several years in one country, then in another... So, I recently learned that Abbot Arseny (Sokolov) - a very sincere and prayerful rector of the church in Lisbon - was transferred from Portugal to Lebanon. Of course, when regularly transferring from country to country, it is difficult to adopt the local way of thinking. On the other hand, there are priests who emigrated on their own initiative (sometimes they were not even priests at the time of resettlement and were ordained in the country of emigration). Probably, such priests are better integrated into the local environment, but I do not think that in their way of thinking and value system they completely become “local”.

  When you talk about Orthodoxy and the West, you understand that these are, first of all, two almost opposite value systems. Can an Orthodox missionary today be heard and understood in the West?

  Here it is necessary to take into account that Western countries are very heterogeneous, including in terms of value guidelines. There are states in which same-sex “marriage”, euthanasia, and so on are legalized. In other European countries, society is conservative, and laws are oriented towards Christian morality. For example, Ireland, Poland and Malta have banned abortion. Agree, in this regard, Malta or Poland are more Christian than Russia or Belarus. Therefore, in conservative European countries, Orthodoxy may well be heard and understood.

  But we should not forget that not all citizens share the liberal views of their elites and welcome anti-Christian legislation. Such people will come to Orthodoxy precisely because our Church does not yield to the spirit of this world and does not try to reform its social concept in order to “comply” with the next ultra-liberal law adopted by the parliament of Holland or Sweden.

  I meant something slightly different. Here's a recent example: I recently had to speak with a family who lives in the UK. They themselves are not Orthodox and go to the Presbyterian Church. And Orthodoxy is not accepted various reasons. One of them is that Orthodoxy, as a woman from this family told me, is a religion that makes you neglect earthly things. And in the conditions in which England now finds itself, this is a step towards becoming a renegade, separating from the “system”.

  In my opinion, these words can be safely attributed to anyone modern society: British, Russian or Belarusian. We all live in a consumer society, in conditions where ridicule of chastity and non-covetousness is not uncommon. Be Orthodox Christian It’s not easy everywhere, not just in England. As a person who has lived in Britain for a total of more than four years, I will say more: the value system that has existed for centuries in “Foggy Albion” has been destroyed. Many people have become indifferent to everything, others are in search.

  However, there are also encouraging examples. Let's say I know a person who has been a member of the Anglican Church for almost his entire adult life. At the age of 57 he converted to Orthodoxy. I was surprised by the zeal (in the good sense of the word) with which he began to strive to observe the rules of the Orthodox Church, including in terms of observing fasts. Imagine: a person had never fasted in his life, but, having become Orthodox, he did not begin to look for reasons to relax his fast, but, as he should, refused meat, dairy and fish products. Even on business trips, he tried to observe fasting. This means that there are Englishmen who are ready to “neglect earthly things” in order to become not nominal, but real Orthodox. Of course, observing fasts is only one side of our faith, but, as practice shows, for some reason it causes many difficulties among believers.

  In your book, you mentioned tea parties that are customary after services in Orthodox parishes. What do they talk about over tea?

  About different things... It all depends on the parish. Sometimes during tea drinking the priest talks about spiritual topics. But the usual practice is private conversations between parishioners. People drink tea, eat, exchange news, get to know each other. Conversations over tea - good opportunity get to know your brothers and sisters, especially newcomers. For newcomers, in turn, this is an excellent opportunity not to be left without care and attention.

  - Do the abbots of the churches with whom you spoke feel like missionaries?

  I believe that not all rectors of Orthodox parishes in the West consider themselves missionaries. For some, caring for the spiritual needs of emigrants is more important. Or mission in the narrower sense of the word - among compatriots. I don't think this is the right approach. For example, the same Catholics (Uniates) do not disdain an active mission in Ukraine, a traditionally Orthodox country. In the context of the decline of Catholicism and Protestantism, the need for an active Orthodox mission in Europe is obvious. Catholics and Protestants must see a healthy alternative to the secularization of religions, not in the magical teachings of the East, but in the Holy Orthodox Church. But for this, Orthodox Christians in the West need not be embarrassed to talk about the deep differences between Orthodox and non-Orthodox and not allow such unnatural things as joint “ecumenical” services and prayers.

  Have you seen a lot of literature in Western European parishes? What kind of books are these? What languages ​​are they in?

  There is a lot of literature. In Russian and in the languages ​​of those countries in which Orthodox parishes are located. We are talking about translations of the works of the Church Fathers and more modern theologians. Finally, Western theologians of our time write in national languages. Let's say one of famous books about Orthodoxy - “The Orthodox Church” - written by Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) on English language. After all, Bishop Callistus is an Englishman and lives in Oxford.

  - Are you planning new books on the topic of the Church in Western Europe?

  Yes, there are such plans. I have already collected material about Orthodoxy in Great Britain, Iceland, Estonia, Lithuania and Italy. Eat new information about France and Belgium. If I find a publishing house that agrees to finance my new book, it may be published early next year.

  Christianity, as a religion, arose in the 1st century after the birth of Christ, initially, mainly among Jews in Palestine, then spread beyond its geographical and ethnic boundaries to pagan peoples (non-Jews) and beyond a short time, despite the persecution that arose, became a real spiritual and moral counterbalance to the immorality of pagan beliefs and the soullessness of Greco-Roman philosophy and spread throughout the Roman Empire not only as a teaching, but as a spiritual awakening to a full life. People of different social and class backgrounds became followers - disciples of Christ - fishermen and Jewish priests, scientists and warriors, Roman patricians and slaves.

  In 325 A.D. Emperor Constantine proclaimed Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire. This contributed to the spread Christian faith, but at the same time entailed a number of difficulties, which partially served to divide the church into Western and Eastern tradition in 1045

  The adoption of Christianity in Rus' occurred in 988 before the division of the Church into Eastern and Western traditions. Initially, since Christianity was a completely new phenomenon, the Greek cult was adopted, including forms of architecture and liturgy, and theology with its mysticism. However, already in 1051 under Yaroslav the Wise, who, along with many Kyiv princes encouraged church building and the work of education in churches with all his might, and a reverent attitude to the study of the Scriptures, the first Russian Metropolitan Hilarion in his “Sermon on Law and Grace,” directed against the Old Testament thinking of the Byzantine church and against Byzantinism in general, wrote: “Faith is from God, and not from the Greeks! This phrase emphasizes the original character of Russian Christianity and can be applied to the entire period of the history of the Russian church. Russia is unique in that it received an accessible translation of the Holy Scriptures several centuries earlier than other European countries. This translation of the Bible came along with missionaries long before the first translation of the Bible, which led Europe to the Reformation and the emergence of Protestantism as such. Thus, the sprouts of the evangelical reformation, the beginning of which in the Western Church is considered to be in 1517, appeared in Russia in the 1370s in Novgorod in the “Strigolniki” movement almost two centuries earlier.

  Novgorod became a free city in 1136, separating from Kyiv. And it was here, in the 1370s, that the first spiritual movement of the evangelical direction arose, which began among the lower, but highly educated clergy, as a sign of protest against the “placement of shepherds for money.” Pskov deacons Nikita and Karp rejected the church hierarchy for this sin: if a priest bought his position with money, then what is the point in all the sacraments performed? Nikita and Karp found like-minded people in Pskov and Novgorod; they called for a review of all the institutions of the Orthodox Church from the point of view of the Gospel and a return to early Christianity. They argued that the right to preach belongs to those Christians who have a gift from God and are moral and non-covetous people. And such preachers appeared: they preached in both cities “at the crossroads and wide places of the city,” i.e. at intersections and squares, under open air. They also had “book teaching,” i.e. their theological works and among them there were many “bookish” people, i.e. educated, well versed in the Scriptures. They probably organized their own communities, because there are references that when persecution began, they gathered in the forests. These people were nicknamed “Strigolniks”, and under this name they went down in history. One can make various guesses about the meaning of such a nickname, but one thing is clear - their ideas will continue to pass from generation to generation until the 20th century and will have an impact on modern evangelical Christians.

  Faith in Christ prompted many Russian people to philanthropic acts of goodness, enlightenment and high moral life. In 1076 the so-called “The Selectman of John,” a work that opposes asceticism and advocates good deeds, arguing that faith obliges us to serve people and not leave them (3 p. 20). So in 1547-1554, Matvey Bashkin released his serfs and spoke out against servitude as a phenomenon contrary to the teachings of Christ (3 p. 39). In Orthodoxy, Nil Sorsky and non-covetous people were a spiritual movement of God-seekers and admirers of the Gospel. The Council of 1504 revealed contradictions among the higher clergy regarding the authority of the Bible and Church Tradition. Increased intolerance official church to dissent drowned in blood many thousands of Russian God-seekers, dissatisfied with the dictated rules and regulations on how and what to believe. Despite this, Ivan Fedorov was the first in Russia to publish “The Apostle” (the book of the Acts of the Apostles) in 1564, which became the beginning of book spiritual enlightenment and book printing in general.

  The schism in the Russian church since 1666 became the time of the beginning of a nationwide movement towards atheism on the one hand, and a movement from mass religiosity to individual faith on the other, which was a continuation of the development of forms of evangelical Christianity. This movement continued until the revolution of 1905 and, intertwined with the parallel developing movement of representatives of Western Protestant Christians (Lutherans, Calvinists), formed a unique and original phenomenon - Russian Evangelical Reformed Christianity. From those distant days to the present day, the Lord God has been producing in the Russian people a spirit of God-seeking, and the people find satisfaction in their spiritual searches both within the “official” church, and in “talks” and “concords”, communities and house churches, calling themselves “God’s people" and Christians (XVII century), Doukhobors, Molokans, Stundists, Baptists, Evangelical Christians, Pentecostals, Charismatic Christians.

  A natural process in the history of Christianity in Russia was the unification of believers of a certain confession into spiritual unions and associations. Such was, for example, the All-Russian Union of Evangelical Christians, organized in 1908, whose president for 22 years was I. S. Prokhanov, who at one time received ordination from the Moravian Brothers - followers of the ministry of Cyril and Methodius, who were the creators of Slavic writing, who made the first Slavic translation of the Bible in 864.

  The revolution of 1917 reconciled the Christian denominations that existed in Russia, treating believers of all confessions who had suffered persecution and repression for their faith with equal severity. In 1944, the unification of Evangelical Christians, Baptists and Christians of the Evangelical faith (Pentecostals) took place in ALL-B.

  After 1985, a new opportunity arose for the joint spiritual work of Russian Christians. It was embodied in joint projects of churches of various denominations for evangelization, educational activities and humanitarian assistance. As a result of this, new churches arose, interdenominational spiritual educational establishments, Christian media began to operate, such as radio, television programs, periodicals, media electronic information, and secondary schools, kindergartens and even theater troupes. An organic link in the movement on an all-Russian scale was the founding in 1992 of the Association of Christian Churches “Union of Christians”. Its registration with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in 1995 legally secured the union of Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal and other churches that became part of the Association for the joint implementation of the great commission of serving God and people.

  It is noteworthy that the seemingly sad side of the persecution of Russian Christians - emigration - ultimately served for the benefit of believers in Russia. Many of the Christians who were forced to leave their homeland did not forget about it and did not keep evil heart, although she treated them like a “stepmother” and were the first to respond when the doors to Russia were open. Together with Bibles and humanitarian aid, Russian Christianity received the opportunity to unite with fellow believers abroad, restore spiritual relationships, and become familiar with new ideas in Christian theology and the spiritual experience of Christians around the world. With this, innovations came to Russia both in theological terminology and in the forms of worship and church structure. These new things found acceptance both in existing communities and in newly born ones. Foreign missionaries, both from the West and the East, have a certain influence on the development of the Russian Church.

  One of the most important tasks is to determine, among a huge range of theological views, the confession of faith and the purpose of the communities included in it, as a concept of modern living christian church, as well as the formulation in modern language of the views of the Russian Reformed Church on the problems of our time such as: the absence or corruption of moral and spiritual foundations; consumer attitude of the individual to society; destruction of the integrity and value of the family; irresponsible attitude towards the environment; devaluation of human life through condoning abortion and euthanasia; etc.

  Created with the aim of disseminating the teachings of Jesus Christ and assisting the associations that are part of the Association of Christian Evangelical Churches “Union of Christians” in exercising the right to freedom of religion.

  To achieve its goal, the Association of Christian Evangelical Churches “Union of Christians” sets the following tasks: preservation and development of Christianity; providing organizational, informational, advisory, legal and other necessary assistance to associations that are members of the Association. The final document of the Vienna meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in March 1999 noted that the degree of freedom of conscience is one of the most important criteria for the democratization of a country. In this regard, the Association actively participates in the activities of the OSCE, representing Russian Christian organizations as an accredited non-governmental organization. The President of the Association is one of the founders and leaders of the North-West Branch of the Russian Branch of the International Association of Religious Freedoms (MARS). As part of this activity, ACEC cooperates with many international human rights organizations. In addition, the Association attaches great importance to the development and strengthening of good relationships with other religious associations Christian; serving in works of mercy and charity.

  The Association is an independent, self-governing and self-financing association consisting of independent, self-governing and self-financing organizations sharing a common confession of faith, the actions of which are coordinated by the Association Council under the leadership of the President.