Приход Русской Православной Церкви в России и за рубежом. Материалы к изучению приходской жизни. Выпуск 3. Благочиния Подмосковья и Новой Москвы

As in first two issues, subheading of the volume in this case – “Deaneries of the Moscow Region and New Moscow” – implies this theme, although only about two thirds of the materials of the book find room within the framework of the stated subject. At the same time one third of the collection is materials of already traditional “foreign” direction. Subheading stated theme refers to a number of analytic categories and factors, related to administrative reforms, and territorial organization of church life, its geography, and a kind of “ecology” within urban and rural environment. However, as gathered materials – deep expert interviews and analysis findings are collected and prepared for publishing by sociologists, namely sociologists who suggest specific view of occurring processes in the Church, which formed a certain approach to their research, key points in these materials are highlighted in a certain way. The subject firstly suggests discerning the role of geographic, “ecologic” factors in church, parish live. A territory formerly being rural, and, as a result of administrative reform, “transferred” into a city, and not just a city, but a metropolitan city – what are the changes in the lives of priests, parishioners, ministers, everybody who helps at parish? What personal and social dimension has the reform of administrative and canonic forms of church administration got? In what way theological and ecclesiologic issues are seen in terms of personal, biographic stories?

The first part of the volume named as “Orthodox Parish in the Structure of Deanery: Territorial and Administrative Factors Impact” consists of interview of two rural dean districts in the Moscow Region and New Moscow. There are two different biographic stories, but the common vision of the essence of their ministerial mission and care work of deanery’s parishes.

The second part of the volume consists of priests’ interviews of these two deaneries, they are more “focused” on the range of parishioners’ problems, ministerial issues of parish formation, parish core group, trust, entering to parish community, etc. For our purpose this direction could be named “sociology in the service of practical pastor theology”, although sociology of Orthodoxy, possibly, has a space not only for being useful, but also for some theoretical resources, which are necessary for the correct understanding of those problems that are stated by parish priests.

The third part of the volume “Woman’s Role at Parish” gives a “voting right” for traditionally, as it seems in the Church, “silent” woman. Priests’ wives and helpmates see their parishes as big family, as a continuation of their own family, tell about parishes’ problems, what do they feel in everyday life through the kaleidoscopic prism of “cleaning, cooking, sewing, when it’s necessary, holiday script writing, church floristry, office management, etc.”; behind a personal female story there is a “theology of everyday life”, day-to-day Christian ministering and commitment and love.

In the fourth part “Orthodox Parish in Russia: View of Parishioners” is raised a question of universalism and local specifics relation, problem of general church programs and their adaptability to a certain parish, within local conditions, which can be very special. Working with youth, catechesis, teaching at Sunday-school – contribution made into parish’s activity by parishioners, which interviews are included in this part.

Interviews with priests of the Russian Orthodox Church parishes in Kuala Lumpur, Bayonne and suburb of New York City complete the fifth part of the volume “Orthodox Parish in Non-Orthodox and Poly-Confessional Environment”, and they are interesting not only due to geographical features of these parishes, but due to special, it would seem vital for “social theology parish”, emphasis that should not be missed in all social and non-liturgical activity of parish community. “The primary thing is spiritual, and then all the rest, including social ministering”, “of course, the main thing is Liturgy. Let there will be only two or three persons, God will be among them, and that’s the most important thing” – this attitude, a sort of manifesto, which sociology of Orthodoxy should take into account stating its approach of understanding church life.