pp. 9–37
A series of interviews timed to the conference “Contemporary Orthodox Ecclesiology: the Nature of the Church and Its Boundaries,” organised by St Philaret’s Christian Orthodox Institute, reflects the views on the relevant ecclesiological issues by representatives of various Orthodox churches and trends within the Russian Orthodox Church. The theologians, whose opinions are collected in this section, focus on multiple aspects of the existence of the Church and outline differently the possible models of its organisation and the permeability of its boundaries. The diversity of viewpoints indicates, on the one hand, the absence of the one Orthodox ecclesiology today. On the other hand, all these highlight the pressing issues related to how the Church identifies itself and its place in the secular world in the post-Constantine era.
Keywords: ecclesiology, boundaries of the Church, sobornost, church communication, parish, community.