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

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СКАЧАТЬ социальных наук и с отеческой любовью заботились обо всех наших нуждах. Нельзя также не упомянуть настоятеля храма Успения Пресвятой Богородицы в Александрове (Щапово) Никольского благочиния протоиерея Георгия Еварестова, который с такой любовью принял и разместил нас на территории своего храма, обеспечив нас всем необходимым на все время нашего пребывания в Никольском благочинии.

      Наконец, особую благодарность мы выражаем О.В. Трофимовой – нашему критику и редактору текстов, работающему с нами уже не первый год, а также всем студентам факультета социальных наук, принявшим участие в сборе интервью и в их расшифровке.

      Introduction

      The third issue of the volume “Parish of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia and abroad” of the Faculty of Social Sciences of St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University continues a series of publishing of interviews and analysis findings concerning parish life of the Church, which started in first two issues in 2011 and 2013. During these years certain research perspective, methodological foundation of parish study based on principles of non-intervention at more than accepting, but maximum revealing of point of view of events’ and processes’ participants, social actors themselves, consideration both social and personal measurement of church life have already been formed.

      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.

      The last section includes analysis findings, namely, academic papers concerned with the research of deanery and parish in the context of deanery. The paper of Candidate of Sociology M.A. Podlesnaya offers to consider the resources of theoretical approach of studying urban environment impact, developed by the representatives of Chicago School, in studying parishes’ problems and organizing church five and cooperation of parishes at the level of deanery. The paper of Candidate of Sociology I.S. Bidikhova represents results of analysis of this data survey of church and non-church part of population within the concerned deanery territories from the point of view of their evaluation of well-being, optimism, and activity of deanery’s parishes in the context of social space theory.

      Attachments include additional information of some churches of deaneries of Nikolsky and Kashirsky districts, and information about the churchmen who are the authors of the offered volume as well. We would like to express our gratitude to them, for their time and energy, in taking part in the research.

      Also we would like to thank the management of St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University for provided financial and moral support during the last five years, all project coordinators living and serving in the most diverse countries worldwide, but effectively supporting and meeting us at the time of our research mission.

      We would like to mention contribution of two rural dean archpriests into creation and prep aration of this volume – Alexander Вalgley and Vitaly Kotsenko, who have believed in our research, organized the “field”, accommodated study group together with students, assistants of the СКАЧАТЬ