Table of Contents

Issue 4 (56) of the “The Quarterly Journal of Saint Philaret’s Institute” is devoted to the topic of lay ministry, which the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, by its decision of May 30, 2024, proposed for development by the Inter-Council Presence.

The Ecclesiology section begins with an article by D. S. Gasak, devoted to the analysis of the experience of lay ministry in the Russian Orthodox Church in the 20^th – 21^st centuries, which is based on the typology of ministries proposed by Archpriest Nikolai Afanasyev. The article by V. V. Alexandrov examines an aspect of the idea of Christians’ royal priesthood in the light of early Christian sources, namely, ordination to priestly ministry in the sacrament of baptism. The article by Archpriest Vasile Mihoc published in English examines the theological foundations of the universal priesthood of the faithful. V. A. Yachmenik’s article is devoted to the theological understanding of the concept of charisma in Afanasyev’s Eucharistic ecclesiology and touches upon the problems of charismatic and institutional approaches in describing church services.

The History of the Russian Orthodox Church section features an article by Priest Evgeny Ageev, devoted to the participation of laity in the bodies of the Supreme Church Administration of the Orthodox Russian Church from 1918 to 1920.

The Publication of Sources section contains: the ceremonial speech delivered at Kazan University in 1866 by Associate Professor (later Professor) A. S. Pavlov, titled “On the Participation of the Laity in the Affairs of the Church, from the Perspective of Orthodox Canon Law” (publication prepared by M. A. Naumova); the converse of Mitr. Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky) with the Council of the Brotherhood of Saints Peter, Alexy, Jonah and Philip of Moscow (the publication was prepared by G. M. Zapalsky and N. D. Ignatovich); Petitions of the laity of Pskov, written in early 1945, for the opening of the Holy Trinity Cathedral (publication prepared by K. P. Obozny).

The Overviews, Abstracts and Critical Reviews section presents: the overview “The problem of lay ministry in the assessments of experts and parishioners of St. Petersburg churches”, prepared by E. E. Malkova and O. B. Solodovnikova based on the results obtained during expert interviews and surveys of parishioners; review by Hegumen Siluan (Tumanov) of the book “The Lenten Triodion: Selected Chants in Russian and Church Slavonic” (Moscow: SFI, 2025); review by Archpriest Oleg Mumrikov on the book by P. V. Volkov “Archaeology of the Beginning: Did We All Come from Apes?” (St. Petersburg: RCHA, 2025); K. V. Aleksin’s review of the book by A. V. Druzhinin, “The Training of a Pastor in the Russian Theological School: 1808–1869 : Discussion, Reflection and Practice” (Moscow: (STOUH), 2025); A.V. Tikhomirov’s review of D. MacCulloch’s book “The Reformation. The Complete History of Protestantism” (Moscow: Eksmo, 2024).