Estonian Orthodox Church holds a council

On 3 June 2008, the Day of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God and Commemoration Day of Sts Constantine and Helen Equal-to-the-Apostles, the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate held her regular council, at the Pukhtitsy Convent of the Dormition.

Traditionally, the council’s sessions were preceded by the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. It was led by Metropolitan Kornily of Tallinn and All Estonia. Almost all the clergy of the Estonian Orthodox Church concelebrated and many lay people, who were delegated from parishes, communicated.

In accordance with the EOC/MP statute, the council was chaired by Metropolitan Kornily, with Archpriest Boris Merlin and Rev. Aleksiy Kolosov co-chairing.

Metropolitan Kornily made a key report presenting an extended overview of the life of the Estonian Orthodox Church in the pre-council period and pointing to certain pastoral and administrative problems facing the Church. He said that church problems should be resolved in the spirit of peace and conciliarity in an open discussion, without clandestine actions or offences and intrigues. Everything in our church life should have the liturgical basis, and it is inadmissible to ignore common conciliar worship services conducted by the primate of the Church, he said. A parish should be a united solid family in which everything is decided by agreement rather than the unilateral wish of its rector. There was also a certain criticism of the supernumerary clergy who have a secular job or a business of their own. The archpastor urged them not to rely too much on their secular income since it leads to negligence in the service of God.

According to the website of the Estonian Orthodox Church, there was also a special mention of positive examples in the work of rectors and parish activists who helped to provide necessary facilities in churches and to look after graves of the deceased clergy. Attention was also given to the need to make timely contributions for the support of the Church Administration. The report was unanimously approved.

The council members heard a report of the Church Administration’s lawyer Sergey Churkin, who spoke about the transfer of church buildings and possible amendments to the statute of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. He also pointed to the importance of a legally correct definition of donations.

The Church Administration’s accountant Tatyana Miroshnikova made a report about the figures and structure of the administrative expenses.

The Church Administration’s secretary, Rev. Andrey Kolosov, answered questions from the council members. Deacon Yevgeny Startsev, EOC/MP representative in the commission distributing given by the state for restoring religious facilities of historical and architectural value, informed the council of the application procedure for participating in these programs and the results achieved in this area. He pointed to both positive examples of this cooperation and insufficient efforts of rectors in making such applications.

The council also discussed problems involved in religious education. Archpriest Igor Prekup, head of the department for religious education and catechism, informed the council about the situation in this area and the progress made in implementing the decisions taken by the previous council, especially in developing and launching the department’s website and in the work of the group responsible for developing the principles and methods of catechization. The catechism commission members made some specific proposal for this work.

The council took a vote on the results of the session and concluded its work with a common prayer and repast.

DECR Communication Service