Episcopal Press and News
Episcopal Team Observes Russian Church 'Worshiping on the Ashes of Atheism'
Episcopal News Service. February 21, 1992 [92040]
A team of six Episcopal communicators returned from an eight-day trip to Moscow with two very strong impressions -- the Russian Orthodox Church is overwhelmed but excited by the challenges it faces, but the sociopolitical turmoil is still very threatening.
The team, composed of diocesan and national communicators from across the United States, visited the Moscow area in February at the invitation of the Russian Church and as part of a series of exchanges established after the presiding bishop's official visit in 1989.
The largest national church in the world, with about 70 million members, the Russian Orthodox Church is "worshiping on the ashes of atheism," the team was told. In the last two years, thousands of churches have been returned, but many of them need extensive renovation -- at a time when Russian society is reeling from dramatic economic reforms implemented by President Boris Yeltsin in January.
Ending the long period of isolation, former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev recognized that the church was important in attempts to rebuild society -- much as Stalin decided he needed the church to rally the people during World War II.
Suzanne Massie, an author who teaches at Harvard's Center for Russian Studies, told the team during a briefing that "the church is the only institution with an unbroken link, and therefore the only source of identity for the Russians."
Massie, one of three Episcopal members of the joint coordinating committee formed to promote relations with the Russian Church, said that "Russians cannot exist without the church, without a spiritual life -- that is their glory." But they are now involved in a "poignant effort" to "search through the rubble of Soviet communism for their lost souls."
That search was painfully obvious during a week of interviews with church leaders. Archbishop Clement, deputy of the department for external relations and host of the visit, said that the Russian Church was beginning a "second mission" to the people of Russia. "Yet we can't make a country Christian in a day," he said. "There is a great need for new apostles."
The attempt to open thousands of churches at the same time has placed a tremendous strain on the resources of the church. Newly gilded onion domes and crosses rise on the landscape of cities across Russia as a signal of determination by the church to move back to the center of society.
One of the new difficulties in the "new era of apostolic service to the Russian people" is the attempt to build a new basis for compassion. "Russians have been taught that there is no need to love one's neighbor because that is the duty of the party," the archbishop observed. "They were told the party would love them -- but now there is no party. So we must rebuild the spirit of charity in the whole society, beginning with believers."
Clement, who spent eight years at the Russian Orthodox cathedral in New York City, extolled the warm and friendly relations between his church and the Episcopal Church. He said that the Episcopal Church "helped and protected us in a difficult time," standing by the Russian Church during the Communist era, when many others assumed that the church had been compromised by the state.
"The church was preserved here -- it did the best it could," Clement observed. He was critical of those who see Russia as a fertile missionary field and "come to fight against the Orthodox Church," whose competition will only lead to confrontation. "How can they preach against Orthodoxy -- how can that be love?" the archbishop asked. He said that these outsiders did not understand the "unique soul" of the Russian people and employed Western techniques that drew the curious more than the faithful.
When asked about aid from churches around the world, Clement said that the Russian Church did need help, especially in rebuilding churches and establishing social services for a society in a difficult transition. "Provide us with Christian help in the spirit of love," he pleaded.
The team visited the chaotic but energy-filled offices of the newly formed youth movement of the Russian Church. While listening to the exciting plans for addressing the overwhelming needs of Russian young people in a society that has lost its bearings, the team heard some moving stories of change. A young man who was part of a delegation last summer to the Diocese of Washington, for example, told about being raised in an atheist environment. After working in a church-sponsored youth camp to restore church buildings and monasteries, he said that "something began to change inside me."
When asked the inevitable question of how other churches could help, Father Sergei, who heads the youth movement, offered a somewhat surprising answer. "We need to know each other better before we know what we have to offer each other," he said. "At first, the most important gift was peace. But now we need a new work ethic in this society, so we need practical/technical help. We want to be partners, not beggars."
Among the more urgent ministries, Sergei said that he hoped his office could work with the thousands of youth who were being caught in the conversion of Russian society from military to peacetime occupations. He said that the Russian Revolution of 1917 was largely the result of a failure by society to address the needs of its youth.
After 70 years of severely limited activities, the church now faces a huge educational task. "In the past we had no opportunity to work directly with people. But now we are establishing Sunday schools, teaching religion in state schools, starting our own parochial schools, and trying to teach ethical and moral principles to a whole society," said John Economtcev, who heads the Russian Church's new department for Christian education.
In the last two years, over 6,000 churches and 50 monasteries have been returned to the Russian Church, presenting an immense challenge. Economtcev, whose department is directly involved in some of the restoration work, stressed the urgency of moving quickly "before further deterioration makes that impossible."
In one of the most openly critical remarks the team heard during its visit, Economtcev said that he had not been encouraged so far by his contacts with ecumenical partners. After many conversations with those who expressed eagerness to help, he was forced to conclude that most of them were "all talk, no action."
"It would be hard for you to even imagine what problems we have," said Vladimir Zarkhov of the department of charity and social service during an interview in an office still piled high with the boxes of the previous business tenant. In attempting to provide humanitarian assistance to those in deepest need, the department finds it must contend with the same old bureaucracy that has always made it difficult to get proper documents and permissions. He also deplored the tax bite of 28 percent that the state takes from all charitable contributions within the country.
The church already operates hospitals -- for example, St. Xenia's in St. Petersburg, which is supported by the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief (profile in next ENS). And the state is seeking cooperation with the church in many of the hospitals it operates.
On the last morning the team visited a soup kitchen sponsored by the American Protestant Church in Moscow. "We knew it was going to be a difficult winter, and we wanted to help," said the Rev. John Melin, a Lutheran who is part of a rotating chaplaincy supported by the National Council of Churches, including the Episcopal Church.
Beginning in December, the parish contracted with several local cafeterias to purchase well-balanced hot meals, and it provided volunteers to serve them. Concentrating specifically on pensioners who were the most vulnerable, the parish soon found itself serving 600 meals a day and fielding inquiries from other churches and organizations eager to sponsor their own soup kitchens.
"Some of these people tell us that it is their only meal of the day -- and they don't know if they would survive without it," Melin said. He said that the city government estimated that over 400,000 Muscovites are in desperate need. The government estimates that 80 percent of Russians are below the poverty line, but the figure is closer to 95 percent in Moscow.
While international politics has delayed any substantial food aid to the Russians, Melin said that this small program by the international faith community has been able to serve nourishing meals for less than 15 cents apiece. "Sometimes things are done better at the local level, with local resources," Melin added.
As news of the soup kitchens has spread through the media, the church is receiving gifts from all over the world -- including a $1,700 Christmas offering from Church of All Angels in Spearfish, South Dakota. According to the rector, Bunker Hill, a former member of the parish who is working in Moscow sent along the appeal letter, and the small congregation responded with "surprising enthusiasm and generosity."
Members of the Episcopal Church team of communicators included James Solheim, news director of the Episcopal Church; Frances Antonucci, Diocese of Washington; Dan Crossland, Diocese of Los Angeles; Michael Barwell, Diocese of Southern Ohio; Charles Long, Forward Movement Publications, Cincinnati, Ohio; and D. Scott Miller, Diocese of Olympia.
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