Report by Bishop Panteleimon of Orekhovo-Zuevsky at the plenary session of the First Regional Conference on Church Social Ministry “New Era of Mercy”

Church social service has its own characteristics that distinguish it from what is called social service in our society, in educational institutions. I looked at social work textbooks for university students, where such people are trained. And I would like to talk about these features so as not to get lost, to preserve my identity. Now, at the entrance to the hall, I met young people with musical instruments and asked them: “Are you having a concert here?” They answered that no, there was a service here. They say we are Baptists. They also have a social ministry, the Baptists. Muslims probably have social service. They have stronger families and social service is not as in demand as in our country, where families are being destroyed. It is still necessary to talk about the features of our social service.

It is very important to understand why we are doing this, what is the goal? What should be the form of this activity? We must maintain our fidelity to Christ and remain faithful to Orthodox tradition. And therefore, our social service is something completely different, different from what is now being done in our state. And I would like to tell you about these four features.

1) The first feature of our service with you is that it is a service of love, with all the ensuing consequences. You cannot perform this service without love. You can do it without having feelings of love. It is difficult to have these feelings for a homeless person who is somehow not a little like you and me. It is difficult to have these feelings for a child who was born a deformity, it is difficult to have these feelings for people who have committed some terrible crime. But, of course, love is not just a feeling; love is a word that covers a lot of things that are important to you and me. We will talk about the eternal meaning of this word, which is known to you and me.

Love is GOD. And this service must have all the shades of love, must have all the depth of love, must necessarily have the joy of love. You must have the loyalty that is in love. It should have as its goal not just to take some actions, not just to implement some of our plans, not just to do what seems important to us. Love, which is GOD, the manifestation of love in the world - this is what church social service is. Love is when another person, no matter what he is, is a joy for us. The joy that he was for St. Seraphim of Sarov. He said to every person who came to him: “My joy, Christ is Risen!” He was not a hypocrite and did not deceive. It’s you and me, instead of being Orthodox, we try to look like one. And, therefore, in Orthodox life, of course, there is a lot of pharisaism and deceit; this, of course, was not the case among the saints. With the monk, everyone was a joy. And we need to learn to know and feel this joy. So that this is not just forced service, as sometimes nurses do in the hospital, who no longer have love left. They come to work, try to do something, but don’t have that love.

We must have an understanding that the person to whom you and I are addressed in our activities, that this person is the image of God. The image of our Lord Jesus Christ. Man bears the image of the one who incarnated on our earth, became our teacher, our Lord. And by serving this person, we serve Jesus Christ himself. It is we who must remember and seek this joy, joy which alone is the goal of human life.

Hedonism is, of course, a terrible philosophy. And modern society, which seeks pleasure, will come to a terrible end. But joy, of course, is the goal of human life. The Lord wants to give this joy, to teach this joy. And therefore, while performing this service, we must learn to rejoice at the people whom we help. Regardless of their appearance, regardless of the crimes they committed, regardless of their nationality, religion, whether they are familiar to us or not.

Joy must be present; one must seek this joy. This service will be a service of love. It seems to me that this is the most important thing, if this does not happen, if it goes away, if we forget about it, then this ministry will not be truly churchly. Then it will not help, but will prevent people from coming to church. Then our service will become a wall, an obstacle for a person, he will not see behind it the love that should be. Of course, if this service is love, then we must love each other too. We must learn this love. I think that Moscow should help all other regions, because in Moscow we live better than you, we have more money, more food, more clothes, more comfortable living conditions. Therefore we repent. We don’t help much, we don’t do much for you. Of course, we must share, even bandits share with each other, this is their law. Moreover, we Christians must do this! This love should bind us to you. And our meeting should not just be some kind of theoretical conference, some kind of tick on a report. Not just some kind of event, but should be a meeting where Christ is also present, where there is love.

2) Second feature. It is a little difficult and cannot be correctly understood by everyone.

When performing social service, unlike atheists and communists, we must remember that this world in which we live is doomed. We must remember that every person who is born into this world will die. We must remember that every person who comes into this world will suffer. We must remember that we will not be able to help everyone, we will not be able to completely eliminate the injustice that exists in the world. The world is coming to an end, love is drying up. Leaves.

Without this memory, without this knowledge, we can become complacent, dream about something, and then be disappointed that nothing works out for us. Nothing should work out in this world, don’t delude yourself. Don’t think that we have gathered together and now work will begin in all dioceses. Nothing will happen, don’t flatter yourself. Not because you are bad, not because there is no money or there are no people, but because the world in which we live, sin operates in it, evil operates. And in order to weaken this evil, you need to sacrifice yourself.

When the Lord came to earth, He did not establish any social institutions. He gathered with the apostles and helped those who came to Him. He himself did not refuse anyone, he himself healed the sick, he was love. Died on the cross. Those people nailed Him to the cross. We should not think that our society will share our ideas with us. I think that our activities are doomed to failure. We cannot defeat evil, we can die with Christ, we can sacrifice ourselves, we can have compassion and sympathize with people. And the most important thing is that we can help these people understand the mystery of suffering. It turns out to be a contradiction: on the one hand, we try to ensure that there is less suffering, and at the same time we must help them understand the mystery of suffering. I didn’t come up with this, Fr. told me about it. John Krestyankin, when we visited him with the director of our school, he said that the task of a nurse is to help the sick to love their illness.

Do not deprive him of sympathy and compassion, and if we are ready to have compassion ourselves, then our love and mercy will help people endure suffering. We cannot alleviate all the suffering on earth, but we can help people learn about the suffering of Christ. We can warm hearts with love, and then they will not be afraid of any suffering; this is the difference between church social service, which distinguishes it from, say, the social work of the state. From those programs that the state accepts. If we forget this, then we will either renounce God, thinking that heaven can be built here. Or we will abandon our business, we will carry it like a heavy burden, joylessly.

3) The third feature - it seems to me that it is also very important and if we don’t remember it, nothing will work out for us. There are different ministries in the church. There is the ministry of a singer - a person has a good voice, he sings in the choir. This is a wonderful ministry. Because while you can close your eyes in church, you cannot close your ears. If the choir sings poorly, it is impossible to pray, you want to go to some other place. Therefore, this service is very important. There is a priest's ministry. This is our special service. Someone has the gift of words, he can speak wonderfully.

But there is a ministry common to all Christians. Today there was a Liturgy, at which, unfortunately, not all of you received communion. But Liturgy is a common matter. And the same ministry is the ministry of mercy; if all members of the church do not participate in this ministry, it will be incomplete. Not just social workers, not just sisters of mercy, not just deacons should participate in this ministry. Our task is to explain to everyone that this service, like the service of the Eucharist at the Liturgy, is common. Just as there is a main commandment about love for God, which we fulfill when we gather together at the Liturgy, so the commandment about love for people must be performed together. Together.

There were times when this could not be done together, when everyone had to do it alone, when in the camps they helped their fellow prisoners. There was such a saint Tatiana, who collected parcels for priests in prison, wrote letters, and consoled. She had such a wonderful ministry.

Now we can do this all together, as a whole church. Teach children to this service. We need to encourage the priests to do this; unfortunately, not everyone finds the time for this. Sisters of mercy, for example, ask: how to persuade the priest to come to the hospital. Beg, beg, insist, hint at the bishop, explain. If the priest comes, receive him with love and treat him; priests also need attention. Father is in a hurry, you need to explain to him what kind of person this is, for example: the person lying on the bed is a war veteran or a wonderful woman, etc. So that he sees the personality in this person. Help him.

Patriarch Kirill himself participates in this service. Last year, this year it was. And he devotes a lot of time to this. That is why there are so many social initiatives in our diocese.

You don’t need to think like this: here’s a social worker, let him do it. No, this is just a small part. all people, all parishioners need to be involved in this. There are different forms for this. We have this form - we gather people who are ready to donate part of their money. And we call those who donate a hundredth part, and with their help we now collect one and a half million a month. And people are ready to sacrifice, ready to participate in this. If a person cannot give money, cannot help himself, he can pray for us, for those in need whom we help. This is a matter for the whole church, and not just social workers or sisters of mercy.

) And cleanses every sin(Tov. 12, 9; Dan. 4, 24). Almsgiving is placed on a par with prayer, sacrifice and fasting(Tov. 12, 8; Isa. 58, 6-7).

The Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament speak of helping the poor(Job 29, 16; Lev. 25, 35; Deut. 15, 7-11, etc.); debt feed the hungry(Tob. 1, 17; Isa. 58, 7, etc.); give drink to the thirsty(Prov. 25, 21); clothe the naked(Tob. 1, 17; Isa. 58, 7); help the sick and crippled(Job 29, 15; 2 Mac. 8, 28); support the widow and orphan(Job 29, 12-13; 31, 16-17; Proverbs 31, 8, etc.); provide hospitality to the homeless and strangers (2 Kings 17:27-29; Isa. 58:7); take care of prisoners(Isa. 58:6; 61:1), etc. Pious people are prescribed give to the poor(Lev. 19, 9-10) or lend interest-free(Lev. 25, 35-37; Deut. 15, 7-11).

However, the concept of “neighbor”, in relation to whom good deeds should be carried out, was limited to the people of Israel (Deut. 15, 3, 7-11; Exod. 22, 25-27; Lev. 25, 35-37; Deut. 23, 20 ).

Mercy in the New Testament

“As I have loved you, let you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”(John 13:34-35) says the Lord.

Love for one's neighbor is a sacred calling and moral duty of a Christian (John 13:34), for at the Last Judgment God will ask everyone whether he has performed acts of mercy (see Matt. 25:40).

The social service of the Church cannot be restrained or limited by religious, national, state-political or social frameworks. The Church extends its love for humanity not only to its members, but also to those who do not belong to it (Luke 10:30-37).

V. Baksheev. Alms. 1918

The basis of merciful service is love, which, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, “ patient, merciful,<…>doesn't envy<…>does not become arrogant, is not proud, does not act outrageously, does not seek his own, is not irritated, does not think evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”(1 Cor. 13:4-7).

The most excellent part of love, in the words of St. Gregory the Theologian, is “love for the poor, pity and compassion.<…>For no service pleases God so much as charity.” ().

Abba Dorotheos wrote about the spiritual benefits of works of mercy, instructing the brethren that “The sick man does more good to him [the servant] than he does to the sick man”(Soul-beneficial teachings, teaching XIV “On the creation and completion of the spiritual house of virtues”).

Types of service

Everyone can take part in the organized social work of the Church. Currently, the following types of such participation are distinguished:

Social activities coordinator(assistant to the dean, assistant to the rector of the temple) - a clergyman or layman who is a full-time employee of a church institute who is involved in the coordination of diaconal activities, as well as the organization of social projects.
Church social worker(orphanage, shelter, almshouse, charity canteen, etc.), for which church social work is the main type of professional activity.
Sister of Mercy- a member of the sisterhood, that is, an association of women led by a confessor who wish to devote themselves to the service of mercy to one degree or another. A sister of mercy can carry out her ministry in her free time from her main job, or be on the staff of a church social or medical institution. (Men can also take part in sisterhood activities)
Volunteer (volunteer)- a person who, in his free time, takes personal part in social church activities free of charge. To perform volunteer work, a volunteer, as a rule, does not require special qualifications, with the exception of certain types of assistance, for the provision of which it is necessary to undergo special training.
Donor- a clergyman or layman who financially participates in the provision of church social services. Donations can be large or small, regular or one-time.
Member of the Board of Trustees at a social institution (church, state and others) - a person who provides assistance in the work of a social institution on the basis of assumed obligations, including through monitoring the living conditions of wards.

To organize social activities, almshouses for the elderly and disabled, orphanages for orphans and children left without parental care, charity canteens, homeless shelters, social hotels for people injured in emergency situations or in other difficult circumstances, including single pregnant women, can be created women and single mothers, rehabilitation centers for adolescents in conflict with the law, rehabilitation centers for persons released from prison, rehabilitation centers for those suffering from drug or alcohol addiction, family support centers, medical institutions (hospitals, diagnostic centers, hospices and etc.) etc.

Social activities can be very different: support, strengthening and protection of families, assistance to the elderly, disabled people, people suffering from serious illnesses, homeless people, orphans and children without parental care, prisoners or those being released from prison, HIV-infected people, the poor , fire victims, migrants, families who have lost their breadwinner, people in other difficult circumstances, people suffering from drug or alcohol addiction, as well as other people in need of help.

It can be medical, rehabilitation, social, psychological, counseling, spiritual, as well as material, including financial support, collection and distribution of food, things and medicines.

In matters of mercy and charity, the Church can cooperate with authorities and local self-government, charitable and other public organizations and citizen associations, representatives of traditional religions and confessions, political parties, trade unions, and the business community.

However, such cooperation is fundamental impossible with representatives of pseudo-religious and occult groups, criminal, extremist or discredited organizations, as well as with those religious communities that seek to use social work together with Orthodox Christians for proselytizing purposes.

Church social activities cannot give rise to dependency. When performing acts of mercy, Orthodox Christians must exercise prudence. Those in need must not only be allocated material resources, but also help in finding the right path in life, in overcoming sinful addictions, as well as in establishing connections with relevant government services, because the social service of the Church should not replace the responsibility of the state in the social sphere.

The text of the report and presentation by the Chairman of the Synodal Department for Charity, Bishop Panteleimon, is about the main trends in the field of social service of the Church. The report was presented at a meeting of the Supreme Church Council

On May 11, a meeting of the Supreme Church Council was held in Moscow under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'. One of the issues that was discussed at the meeting was the topic of church charity. Chairman of the Synodal Department for Charity, Bishop Panteleimon of Orekhovo-Zuevsky, made a report “Church social and charitable activities. General overview and statistics for 2017.” We publish the text of the report and the presentation for it.

Your Holiness! Your Eminences and Graces, dear members of the Supreme Church Council!

In my report I would like to talk about the development of church charity in 2017.

First of all, I would like to thank you, Your Holiness, for the attention you pay to acts of mercy and charity. You show us all an example of serving your neighbors by visiting those in need at Easter and Christmas, as well as during your trips to the dioceses. It has already become a tradition that, at your request, the rectors of Moscow churches on holidays send funds that could have been spent on flowers to help those in need.

Following the example of His Holiness the Patriarch, many bishops also participate in social service: they visit those in need on holidays, go to hospitals, orphanages, boarding schools, and personally participate in works of mercy and charity. This is very important for the development of social service throughout the Church.

SOCIAL WORKERS AND SOCIAL PROJECTS. STATISTICS

I would like to present some general figures about the social ministry of the Church. Currently, according to our data, in Russian dioceses 8412 social workers, of them 1920 full-time and 6492 freelance.

Total church social projects - more than 4500(data for Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan).

Social departments exist in 188 Russian dioceses, absent - in 2 (Serov and Anadyr) Russian dioceses.

In 187 diocesan departments, leaders have been appointed (in 3 they have not been appointed: in the Anadyr, Serov and Vladikavkaz dioceses).

In addition to the charity departments themselves, some dioceses have created other socially oriented departments. In particular, there are departments for assistance to families and children in 18 dioceses. They are called differently. In the Novosibirsk diocese, for example, this structure is called the department for the spiritual care of disabled children and children without parental care.

Thirteen dioceses have departments for working with drug and alcohol addicts. In 12 dioceses there are departments for interaction with medical organizations. In 6 dioceses there are independent departments for helping drug addicts, in 6 dioceses there are independent departments for helping alcohol addicts, in 2 dioceses (Kazan and Penza) there are departments for working with people with disabilities. The Krasnoyarsk diocese has a department of Orthodox psychologists.

Thus, in 46 dioceses there are several social departments There are dioceses where a number of socially oriented departments exist simultaneously. In 15 dioceses, in addition to the main charity department, there are more than 2 social departments. Particularly notable are 4 dioceses, where there are 4 departments with a social orientation at once: these are the Penza, Kazan, Krasnoyarsk, and Novosibirsk dioceses. And the largest number of socially oriented departments in the Voronezh diocese is 5.

ABORTION PREVENTION

Your Holiness, in your report at the 2017 Council of Bishops you called help for pregnant women“the most important direction” of our work. There has been significant growth in this area in recent years. Every year, with the participation of the Church, an average of 6-7 new shelters for women appear in a difficult life situation. If in 2011 there was only one shelter for women in Ivanovo, then by 2016 their number reached 44. In 2017, 8 new shelters were created: in Yekaterinburg, Shakhty, Uglich, Nerchinsk, etc. You see them on the map. Thus, Today there are already 53 shelters opened with the participation of the Church.

The last two church women's shelters were opened in And. The ruling bishops took part in the opening of the shelters. The shelter appeared in Belgorod quite recently - in February of this year.

This year it is planned to create several more shelters, one of them should appear in Kaluga thanks to the victory of the Kaluga diocese in the “Orthodox Initiative” competition.

Representatives of the Church participate in anti-abortion psychological counseling for women. Our Synodal Department coordinates the “Save a Life” program, which today covers 75 cities (you can see them on the map), employs 141 specialists in 134 medical institutions. Thanks to the program, over 7,000 children were saved from abortion.

Church humanitarian aid centers are also being actively created throughout the country. In 2017, the Synodal Department for Charity held a competition to distribute funds collected with the blessing of His Holiness across all Russian churches for Children's Day in 2016. Then 39 million rubles were collected to help women in crisis. It was decided to use these funds to open new humanitarian aid centers in the dioceses.

In 2017 alone, 66 new church humanitarian aid centers were opened. Thanks to our competition, 101 new humanitarian aid centers were created. Centers continue to open and Today There are already 167 church humanitarian aid centers operating in Russia.

The opening of these centers will intensify all social activities, especially in small dioceses. This positive experience could be built on.

HELP FOR DEPENDENT PEOPLE. DAY OF SOBRIETY

One of the key areas of our ministry is helping people addicted to alcohol and drugs. Every year in Russia from 5 to 10 new church rehabilitation centers and other assistance structures appear.

According to our monitoring in 2017, in Russia in 2017 there were: 75 rehabilitation centers, 12 adaptation apartments, 12 outpatient programs, 40 counseling centers, 7 preparatory motivational centers, as well as 77 support groups for addicts and more than 300 societies, fraternities and sobriety groups .

In 2014, by decision of the Holy Synod in Russia, it was restored Sobriety Day. And we see that the topic of a sober and healthy lifestyle is becoming more and more popular every year. If in 2015 there were 1,370 media reports about Temperance Day, then the following year there were 3,976, and in 2017, 4,877 media reports.

Also noticeable growing interest among Internet users in the concept of sobriety. In September 2014, about 30 thousand requests with the word “sobriety” were recorded in Yandex, in September 2015 - 55 thousand, in September 2016 - 74 thousand, in September 2017 - over 104 thousand. Moreover, in other months, the average frequency of queries with the word sobriety in Yandex is 13-15 thousand per month. Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank the Church and Public Council for Protection from the Threat of Alcohol and the Synodal Department for Relations between the Church and Society and the Media for their work in this direction.

HELP FOR THE HOMELESS

The church is actively involved in helping the homeless. They work in Russia 95 homeless shelters, 76 large charity canteens, 10 mercy buses(mobile aid stations). The location of these projects can be seen on the map.

One of the most serious problems of homeless people is the lack of access to outpatient medical care. First aid stations for the homeless currently operate only in Moscow and St. Petersburg. We are now working together with the Ministry of Health on a joint plan to open first aid stations for the homeless in three more pilot regions: in the Khabarovsk Territory, Chuvashia and the Irkutsk Region.

In 2017 in the Khabarovsk diocese was opened for the homeless, it is housed in three heated railway cars, with electricity, sewerage and water supply. In addition to overnight accommodation, the homeless are provided with hot meals, warm clothing, the opportunity to undergo sanitary treatment and undergo fluorography.

HELP FOR DISABLED PEOPLE

An important area of our ministry is helping people with disabilities. Currently working over 400 church projects to help people with disabilities. Work with deaf people is carried out in 63 parishes.

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, we are organizing training courses clergy and church volunteers sign language and church vocabulary. In 2017, 4 such courses were organized in different regions (in Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don and Moscow), our Department also issued Orthodox vocabulary of Russian sign language is the first attempt to generalize the experience of translation into Russian sign language of different Orthodox communities of the deaf.

Helping deaf-blind people takes a special place in our ministry. Today, in 12 churches in 10 regions, deaf-blind people are parishioners of the churches. In 2017, our Department conducted on training Orthodox volunteers to communicate with deaf-blind people.

Last year, His Holiness the Patriarch consecrated in Sergiev Posad the construction site of a social rehabilitation center for post-boarding support for young deaf-blind people with disabilities. This is a joint project of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra and the Sergiev Posad orphanage.

Also at the end of 2017, the lower church in the Sergiev Posad boarding house for the deaf-blind for children and young disabled people was consecrated. The consecration was performed by Archbishop Feognost of Sergiev Posad. The entire church in this orphanage is adapted for children with special needs.

An important topic is the creation accessible environment in churches. Unfortunately, not all of our churches today are accessible to people with limited mobility. We thank you, Your Holiness, for drawing attention to this issue at the Church-wide Congress on Social Ministry in 2017.

With the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch, we, together with the Expert Council on Church Art, Architecture and Restoration, have prepared methodological recommendations for ensuring an accessible environment in churches. These recommendations were sent by the Office of the Moscow Patriarchate to all Russian dioceses.

Last year our Department published a special Toolkit, we are training representatives of dioceses.

WE HELP WHERE NO ONE CAN HELP

Church ones are in great demand assisted living projects for disabled people. In Kineshma these projects have already become a reality.

In 2017, in Penza, with the support of the Church, one of the best non-state projects of assisted living was opened - a boarding house for young disabled people with severe disabilities. Here people with disabilities lead an active life: they undergo rehabilitation, study and, if possible, work. This project is an alternative to a psychoneurological boarding school, where most people do not develop, but simply lie in beds. The Penza diocese allocated land for the construction of the center; it is located next to the temple.

Federal Minister of Labor and Social Protection Maxim Topilin noted at the opening of the center that from the point of view of design, convenience and comfort for people “Veronica’s House” is currently the best such project in Russia.

In some dioceses (Alatyr, Samara, Yoshkar-Olinsk, Moscow, Pyatigorsk) began to appear rehabilitation and development centers for disabled children. In these centers, the Church often provides assistance that no one - neither the state nor society - can yet provide to people with disabilities.

For example, for disabled children (Chuvashia) is located in a city with a population of 35 thousand people. There is no such center either in the city itself or within a radius of 200 kilometers from it. The Alatyr center is attended by 55 disabled children from 40 families.

EMERGENCY HELP

In recent years, the Church has managed to debug. Priests and sisters of mercy are ready to go to the scene of the incident as soon as possible to help people.

In 2017, Church officials responded to 30 major emergencies.

After in the Black Sea (December 25, 2016) of a Russian plane flying to Syria, priests from the Synodal Department were on duty at the morgue and in the hotel, comforting the relatives of those killed in the plane crash.

In connection with August 2017 in the Primorsky Territory, our Department sent 100,000 rubles. for operational assistance, these funds were used to purchase food and water for the victims, and the Vladivostok diocese also purchased gas stoves, cylinders, bedding, and clothing with its own funds.

After in the St. Petersburg metro(April 3, 2017) clergy of the St. Petersburg diocese visited the victims in hospitals and provided them with spiritual and psychological support.

They actively helped in the Rostov diocese after in Rostov-on-Don in August 2017. Metropolitan Mercury personally delivered basic necessities and clothing to the diocesan humanitarian aid center. During the week, the parishes of the diocese collected things for the victims. Priests were on duty on the school grounds where the victims were accommodated.

DISTANCE LEARNING

Our Synodal Department pays special attention to training representatives of dioceses in church social service.

In 2017 it was started in November 2016. six-month coursedistance learning for parish social workers. As a result of the course, participants launched social projects based on 306 parishes and socially-oriented NGOs in 109 dioceses (11 of them foreign), and involved more than 1,950 volunteers in social activities (more than half of them were young people). During the course, the number of students helped by training participants increased by more than 15,000 people.

On the map you can see the social projects that emerged thanks to our distance learning courses in 2017. Among the participants in the 2016-2017 six-month course were representatives of 11 foreign dioceses.

In addition, in November 2017 we started new six-month distance learning course for parish social workers. In April 2018 it came to an end. The training was successfully completed by 255 people from 95 dioceses. Among the course participants were representatives of 11 foreign dioceses.

Also, in pursuance of the instructions of the Supreme Church Council, last year we held 2-month distance learning for managers and employees of social departments of dioceses. The course was successfully completed by 82 representatives from 52 dioceses.

In addition, in 2017 we held dedicated to the organization of family placement centers and work with orphans. This course was attended by 249 people from 71 dioceses.

PERSONAL COURSES AND CONFERENCES

In addition to distance learning, our Department organizes In-person training courses and conferences. In 2017, a whole series of such events were held:

First of all, under the chairmanship of His Holiness the Patriarch, it was held, in which over 2 thousand people took part: leaders of church social projects, heads of diocesan departments of social orientation, sisters of mercy, social workers, volunteers, students of PSTGU, RGSU, St. Demetrius School of Sisters of Mercy . Delegates to the congress came from 175 dioceses, including 22 from abroad. For the first time, within the framework of a church-wide congress, in addition to thematic sections in various areas of social work, separate sections were held in federal districts.

According to tradition, in 2017 it was held, in which 241 employees of social departments of 21 dioceses of the Northwestern Federal District took part;

We spent in Moscow 17 shifts full-time advanced training courses for lay people(61 people) who are engaged in social service, from 35 dioceses;

took place in Moscow 6 full-time shifts, with visits to the main church charitable institutions of the capital, for 59 clergy responsible for social work from 50 dioceses.

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, in 2017 we opened a new regional training center in, where for the first time 5-day in-person training took place for 18 managers and employees of social departments from 13 dioceses of the Urals and Siberia.

In 2018 it is planned opening of the second regional training center in Rostov-on-Don.

ASSISTANCE TO THE DIOCESES OF KAZASKHATAN AND CENTRAL ASIA

In February 2018 in Yekaterinburg we held, in which, in addition to representatives of the dioceses of the Ural Federal District, took part representatives of social departments of the dioceses of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. 21 representatives of 13 dioceses came to the training, including 16 people from 9 dioceses of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

We paid for tickets, accommodation, and food for these dioceses. The completed training gave new impetus to the development of social service in Central Asia.

During the conversation, it became clear that employees of the social departments of the dioceses of Kazakhstan and Central Asia are forced to work in more difficult conditions than their colleagues in Russia.

For example, in Tajikistan the problem is acute funding and staff shortages. The outflow of the Russian population continues. A large percentage of people live below the poverty line. It's acute the problem of education of Russian children.

In 2018, we also collected over 500 thousand rubles for the Dushanbe diocese to help the poorest people. Our employee, sister of mercy Polina Yufereva visited the Dushanbe diocese. Part of the funds were spent on purchasing food packages for patients in a mental health hospital and a psychiatric hospital, part on the renovation of a building on the territory of the church, in which they are going to open a boarding house for children from low-income families, and the rest of the funds were sent to help the wards of the social department of the diocese. In the photo you see how the diocese distributes the collected money to lonely Russian grandmothers who live in very difficult conditions. Our Department plans to continue to provide support to those in need in Tajikistan.

METHODS. WORK WITH DIOCESES

The Synodal Department for Charity publishes books and methodologies in various areas of social work . Since 2010, we have published 37 of these . In 2017, 7 methodological manuals were published and prepared for printing - on, how to, and others.

We carry out targeted work with dioceses:

- We have assigned a coordinator to each federal district from the Synodal Department. Its main task is to help newly formed dioceses and dioceses that are experiencing difficulties in developing social ministry;

We developed and sent out a memo for heads of social departments - how to develop social service in the diocese from scratch;

- Our coordinators are constantly in touch with the heads of social departments of the dioceses of their district, help them, advise them on opening new projects, organizing charity events, raising funds, filing applications for grants, inviting them to study, and when the diocese itself does not have money for training, we We finance full-time education at our expense;

Based on the results of work for the year, it can be noted that there is a noticeable intensification of social activities in small dioceses. More and more dioceses and parishes are participating in grant competitions. For example, in 2017, 152 church social projects became winners of the Presidential Grants competition. In total, they received 421 million 672 thousand 231 rubles. If we summarize these data with the results of the “Orthodox Initiative” competition, then in total we managed to attract 447 million for the development of church social projects;

With our support, 5 dioceses joined the stock: thanks to the campaign, single pensioners were able to receive free firewood to heat their homes;

Our Department, together with the Rus food fund, helps provide food to those in need in the dioceses. For 2017 in 23 regions it was transmitted almost 2 thousand tons (1,983 tons) products;

This year we are holding a series of on-site practical seminars with the participation of key employees of the Synodal Department in various areas. Most of these seminars are held in newly formed or hard-to-reach dioceses - we have already held one, and there is a seminar coming up in the Abakan diocese. We will also hold a separate seminar in the Far East (in Khabarovsk) and an interregional conference for the entire Volga region in Ufa.

DIFFICULTIES

Despite the growing competence of dioceses in matters of social service and the emergence of new social projects, some difficulties still remain:

Regular coordination councils of heads of diocesan departments are not held everywhere. According to our data, such meetings are held in 118 Russian dioceses. Thus, in 72 dioceses such meetings do not take place;

The social departments of dioceses within the same metropolis do not always actively interact with each other;

Some diocesan websites do not have a section dedicated to social service. Sometimes there is not even information about departments, their heads and their activities;

Lack of funds and lack of people who are involved in raising funds for the social activities of the diocese.

As a solution to these problems, it is proposed to recommend to dioceses:

Conduct extended coordination councils several times a year with the participation of the heads of diocesan departments, similar to meetings of the Supreme Church Council;

Conduct regular meetings of the heads of all social departments of the dioceses included in the metropolis;

Create and constantly maintain a section on social service on the diocese website;

The heads of diocesan social departments should participate in face-to-face and distance learning courses of the Synodal Department for Charity, and also seek help on all issues from the coordinators of their federal district in our Department.

ATTRACTING FUNDS FOR SOCIAL WORK

We also plan launch a project to develop a system for raising funds for social activities in dioceses. We have a benefactor who is ready to finance this project.

As part of the project, the Synodal Department provides methodological support for the work of fundraisers in two selected dioceses; the benefactor we attract pays 75% of the expenses for the work of diocesan fundraisers during the first 6 months, the remaining 25% is paid by the diocese itself. In 6 months, local fundraisers, with the support of the Synodal Department, must master all the basic skills of raising funds, and the diocese will be able to continue to finance their work independently. After 6 months, funding from Moscow begins to flow to the other two dioceses. And thus, we will gradually expand the circle of dioceses where competent, highly qualified professionals will work.

Suffering is a terrible reality of the world in which we live, a reality that, in its convincingness, perhaps surpasses all other realities of this world. We know the root cause of suffering - it is sin. Suffering is allowed by God as a consequence of sin. At the same time, the Lord does not want creatures created for joy, for communication with Him, to suffer. The Lord commands His disciples to have compassion, mercy, regret, and love for all those who are in suffering. The Gospel shows us many such examples. The Lord Himself never remained indifferent to the requests that unfortunate people turned to Him with, and He commanded His disciples to love the people living next to them and to help them in their needs.

Compassion for someone else's grief, someone else's misfortune is the work of every Christian. But, in addition, the Church has always had a special ministry, there were people who were involved in organizing this ministry. When in the first Christian community people from Hellenistic countries began to grumble that their widows were being neglected in the distribution of needs (Acts 6:1-7), then seven deacons were chosen to “take care of the tables.” It was a special social service, as we would say now.

This ministry continued in the Church in the future. This was done not only by men, not only by deacons, but also by women - deaconesses, who were specially appointed and ordained for this purpose. They helped the priest in performing religious services and, in addition, were engaged in social service.

Unfortunately, in the twentieth century in Russia this work of mercy, which has always been inherent in the Orthodox Church, was interrupted, and not for internal reasons, but as a result of severe external persecution. But for more than 15 years now the Church has been free and has the opportunity to resume its social ministry.

Before talking about modern forms of social service in the Church, it should be said that you and I must first of all awaken and strengthen in all members of the Church the desire to serve their neighbor. It is necessary not only to take care of the organization of this service, but also to try to awaken feelings of compassion and pity in people. It does not appear easily, especially in young people. Using the example of our school, we see that 14-15 year old girls are not always easily disposed to compassion. They themselves may have never suffered, have not experienced difficult life situations, and cannot always respond to the suffering of others. It also happens the other way around: the terrible trials endured by our orphans harden their hearts and prevent them from becoming what we would like them to be.

It happens that a person, having begun serving his neighbor out of good, good intentions, subsequently loses this feeling of love and compassion - either because he does it incorrectly or not entirely correctly, or because he is overly involved in it, takes on a cross beyond his strength. A good, kind beginning turns out to have a bad end - a person turns into an ordinary administrator, organizer. When this service becomes just work for which money is paid, the initial impulse of love and pity in a person is lost and dries up.

All our work should stem from the desire to serve our neighbor, from the desire to be compassionate and merciful. Unfortunately, it sometimes happens that nurses who have graduated from college and worked in the hospital for several years lose their original aspiration with which they came to us. You will come to their department and ask: “How are you doing here?” And you hear in response: “Thank God, we are resting today, not a single sick person was brought in.” This is what sisters who work for money usually say: you want to do less and earn more. If this is what a sister says, who came here to serve the salvation of her soul, in order to soften her soul with this service, then it becomes very, very bitter.

We must always be attentive to ourselves and take care of ourselves so as not to lose the goal for which we started this business. This, it seems to me, is the most important thing.

Now we will talk about the organization of social service, about things that are important, of course, in a practical sense. But you still need to remember that if there is mercy, if there is love, then the Holy Spirit himself will organize, will guide, and the Lord will arrange and help. If we create some kind of organization similar to a state one, organize the work, maybe do it better than what is done now in the country, but forget about the goal, then instead of serving love, an inanimate structure will form.

How can you strengthen yourself and stay on this path, how can you remain faithful to the call that each of us heard in our souls? It seems to me that for this it is necessary to remember God, have the image of Christ before your eyes, participate in church sacraments, read the Gospel, the Holy Fathers, pray and be attentive to what is happening in the soul. If some bad feelings appear there, if the heart begins to harden, harden, or indifference appears, we must repent of this and ask God to soften the hardening heart with His grace.

A task done incorrectly does not help to acquire grace - the gift of the Holy Spirit; on the contrary, it happens that what was is lost. Fatigue and excessive work destroy the spiritual structure, a person leaves the Church and begins to be proud and vain of his service, flaunting it, forgetting that the Lord commanded all alms to be done in secret. The result is sometimes scary and sad. We must try with all our might to preserve that small flame of love and compassion that burns in the heart.

If we talk about the organization of social service, then this work can be divided into the following forms. The first is the ministry that the Church performs within itself as a church community. This is help to those people who work in the community: the sick, the elderly, lonely, single-parent and large families within the church community itself. This should never be forgotten. Very often our social activity turns outward, and at the same time there are people in the parishes who need help. We even have sisters who, being overzealous, forget their children, husbands, and parents. They forget them, starting to care for others, visiting hospitals, and their own children remain orphans, husbands become widowers with living wives, mothers and fathers find themselves deprived of filial and filial affection and consolation.

Work within the church community must be organized. Within every community, someone must do this specifically. Of course, the priest must lead this work, but he cannot devote himself entirely to this service; he has other responsibilities. The diaconal ministry has also changed somewhat. Now the deacon helps the priest during services in the church. In addition to the priest and deacon, there must be some other people who can and should know the needs of the parishioners and help them. We must be very attentive to each other, because this is a manifestation of our love, to which the Lord calls us. And it even happens that some other structures in our society show more mercy to their members than Orthodox Christians do to each other. While visiting hospitals, you have probably seen how his comrades take care of some shot member of a mafia group. Friends from the gang come in huge numbers, they give doctors and nurses expensive gifts, they ask what medicines and food they need... And when someone from our communities, our parishes ends up in the hospital, we don’t always know about it. It seems to me that our first task is to work within the parish. We must be caring, attentive to each other, and teach this to our parishioners and members of our sisterhoods.

The next important form of work is outward-facing social service—participation in the work of government agencies and the creation of our own to help all those in need. This work is also very difficult. If we organize some kind of structure into which non-believers and non-church people also fall, then there is a danger, on the one hand, of imposing our views on them, and on the other, of complete inattention to their spiritual needs.

In our hospital there are departments where the majority of patients are severe. Our sisters of mercy, working in a public hospital, cannot always overcome the prevailing stereotypes and ask even a dying person whether he believes in God, whether it is necessary to call a priest to him for parting words. It seems to me that when doing social work in a hospital, we must think not only about medical care, but also about the souls of people. Here you need to find a middle ground. An Orthodox sister must not allow people under our care to leave this world without confession and communion. Moreover, one must be able to make sure that any illness (after all, illness is a visit from God) is not only healed, but also serves as a reason for a person to remember his sins and turn to God. Of course, this must be done tactfully, under the guidance of a priest.

There is another difficulty - interaction with different government agencies. It's not always easy. You have to balance between two extremes: either completely dissolve in the state structure and become like the people who work in it, or oppose yourself to this structure and ultimately be rejected by it. If we are not united in some way with the people who work with us, then they will not accept us and will remain dissatisfied with our work. Conflicts with them, constant confrontation, are, of course, unacceptable.

External social work can take many forms. This includes the creation of your own structures - shelters, almshouses, and cooperation with government bodies, and the organization of some of your own institutions within them - there can be a lot of options here. In our community, we created a school of nurses with the help of the state, Orthodox people work in it, and our director is Orthodox. There are now shelters - orphanages, where the directors are priests. There, too, various difficulties arise, but these houses have state funding, and children, upon reaching adulthood, are provided with housing with the help of the state.

Who can we help in modern society, and who needs our help most? The field for activity is quite wide, because now state social work is practically unorganized. Socialism ended, a transition to some other type of society took place. Those forms of caring for people that we were proud of under socialism have been destroyed. That time has passed. In our time, the Church has been given a huge field for social activity.

In the church in the name of the holy noble prince Demetrius, as in many churches in Moscow, we help those people who turn to us for help. For this, we have a special nurse on duty who takes care of all the needs and requests of everyone who comes. Requests can be very different: someone needs money for travel or clothes, someone needs to be placed in a hospital, others have some other questions. It would be very good if there were such services at every church.

Mostly homeless people come to the temple for food. There are few among them who truly need help. They simply don't want to work and lead incredibly difficult lives. If you only feed them, that is, encourage the lifestyle that they lead, it will be destructive for them. We need to help them get out of this situation. They need homes of industriousness, where they should be helped to settle.

The church is distributing humanitarian aid. True, now its flow has decreased significantly. Our first experience of distributing humanitarian aid was unsuccessful - with crowding in line and mutual insults. Now we provide assistance to certain categories of people in need: for example, all parishioners, and if in a hospital, then to all departments.

I have already spoken about the need to help large families, the sick and the elderly within the parish itself. Orthodox Christians, unlike non-believers, often have large families, but they do not always cope with raising children. Men in the 20th century, unfortunately, became less courageous and less active, which weakens families, especially large families. Therefore, helping such families should be our task. Unmarried young girls can do this help. In large families, they will gain experience in caring for children.

Specific problems arise in hospitals, for example, when organizing the work of volunteer assistants. We need to be very careful to ensure that people who could harm the sick and discredit the Church do not end up in hospitals. For example, in England such people are selected very carefully. They definitely talk to them and find out the reason why they decided to help the sick. If the reason is personal grief, then they are not always allowed to participate in this service. Work with assistants should be carried out very seriously. If we want the staff of volunteer assistants to increase rather than decrease, then we must work with these people. They need to be taught, organized, given psychological assistance if necessary, and encouraged if possible.

In addition, in hospitals we have sisters who help the priest in performing the rituals. The work is also very difficult, because patients are often consumerist and do not take the sacraments seriously. Being healthy, they did not find time to visit the temple. Here, in the hospital, the priest himself comes to them with an offer to confess and receive communion. The patient asks: “How much does it cost?” - “Not at all.” - “Very good, I’ll confess, take communion, it won’t do any harm, maybe it will help.” For them, a priest is something like a psychic, a healer. Such an attitude towards the sacrament and its performer, of course, cannot be encouraged. Therefore, as a rule, we confess to everyone who wants to, and give communion only to those who are seriously ill; if a person is going to be discharged from the hospital in a day or two, and if he has never received communion before, then after confessing, we definitely try to send him to church. What comes easily is of little value. It is necessary for a person to treat the sacrament with reverence.

The work of the required sisters is special; for it it is necessary to select sociable people who can talk about the faith, about the Church, about the sacraments.

A very important aspect of the Church’s activities is working with homeless children - there are a lot of them now. These children are very difficult. They tend to have perverted ideas about the purpose and meaning of life. In modern boarding schools there is no concept of raising such children - the old system of moral values has been destroyed, a new one has not been created. We must give orphans an understanding that they also have a Heavenly Father who can make up for their orphanhood.

An important and specific form of social service is home patronage. The health visitor most often works with the patient one on one. This work must be carefully monitored, the sisters must be taught special skills, and have regular classes and conversations with them.

A separate conversation concerns drug addicts and alcoholics. I don’t even know which part of them can be returned to normal life. This task faces the Church, but has not yet been properly resolved. Relieving physical dependence on alcohol and drugs is not so difficult. But psychological dependence is much stronger, it is very difficult to overcome it. It seems to me that the Church could help these people by organizing for them some kind of parishes, communities that would tear them out of their previous circle of contacts.

Working with prisoners is also a form of social activity of the Church. This work probably needs special mention. Many parishes now correspond with prisoners, sending them books and parcels. Unfortunately, this work is not coordinated.

In my short article I listed the main forms of social service of the Church. It only remains to emphasize that in our time, in the absence of an established social security system in our country, the social work of the Church is very important. It is not only help to the state, but also a preaching of Christian love. Preaching is not verbal - today everyone knows how to speak good words, and they no longer believe them. By helping those in need, we show our faith through our works (James 2:18), which is the best sermon. Many people whom we help ultimately say that in the faces of our sisters they saw the image of completely different people, a completely different life, they realized that in our cruel, unspiritual world it is possible to live completely differently. Many of these people become members of the Church.

The last thing I want to talk about is the purpose of all our work. As you know, the purpose of all service in the Church, all good deeds, is to acquire the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is very important that, while engaging in numerous works of Christian charity, we do not forget that the most important thing for us is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. It is important that this work makes us better, teaches us love, strengthens faith.

According to Abba Dorotheus, the one who does this in order to soften his heart and acquire mercy wisely helps the sick. Not for rewards, not for profit, not for money and not for fame, not in order to create heaven on earth - you yourself know that, no matter how hard we try, we will not be able to wipe away the tears of all those who suffer in this life. Our task is to acquire the grace-filled gifts of the Spirit, to make our heart different, to fill it with Christian love for all those who surround us. And the more this love is in us, the more the grace of God will promote our work.

We thank the editors of the magazines “Church and Time” and “Neskuchny Sad”

for assistance in preparing materials.

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Report by Bishop Panteleimon of Orekhovo-Zuevsky at the plenary session of the First Regional Conference on Church Social Ministry “New Era of Mercy”

2) Second feature. It is a little difficult and cannot be correctly understood by everyone.

When performing social service, unlike atheists and communists, we must remember that this world in which we live is doomed. We must remember that every person who is born into this world will die.

When the Lord came to earth, He did not establish any social institutions. He gathered with the apostles and helped those who came to Him.

He himself did not refuse anyone, he himself healed the sick, he was love. Died on the cross. Those people nailed Him to the cross. We should not think that our society will share our ideas with us. I think that our activities are doomed to failure. We cannot defeat evil, we can die with Christ, we can sacrifice ourselves, we can have compassion and sympathize with people. And the most important thing is that we can help these people understand the mystery of suffering. It turns out to be a contradiction: on the one hand, we try to ensure that there is less suffering, and at the same time we must help them understand the mystery of suffering. I didn’t come up with this, Fr. told me about it. John Krestyankin, when we visited him with the director of our school, he said that the task of a nurse is to help the sick to love their illness.

Patriarch Kirill himself participates in this service. Last year on Easter he visited the homeless, in this - was in disabled children. And he devotes a lot of time to this. That is why there are so many social initiatives in our diocese.

You don’t need to think like this: here’s a social worker, let him do it. No, this is just a small part. all people, all parishioners need to be involved in this. There are different forms for this. We have this form - we gather people who are ready to donate part of their money. And those who donate a hundredth part, we call Friends of mercy and with their help we are now collecting one and a half million a month. And people are ready to sacrifice, ready to participate in this. If a person cannot give money, cannot help himself, he can pray for us, for those in need whom we help. This is a matter for the whole church, and not just social workers or sisters of mercy.

Charity as part of the social ministry of the church. Social ministry of the church. Categories of laity - participants in church social activities

Mercy in the New Testament

Types of service

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