“The Testimony of the Church is Always Timely”

— The conference title includes the phrase ‘sobornal Orthodox ecclesiology’. Does this indicate an attempt to pose a question and seek a model for such ecclesiology, or do you regard this concept as one on which there is already a consensus?”

— When we on the organizing committee were developing the conference theme and preparing its announcement, we were looking for a formulation that, on the one hand, would precisely designate the goal of the conference, and on the other hand would evoke a positive response and a desire among colleagues interested in Orthodox teaching about the Church to participate in the discussion. We were also looking for a title that would not repel anyone.  As is well known, there are different views on various types of ecclesiology, so we proposed the phrase “sobornal Orthodox ecclesiology” to avoid entering into disputes over terminology. Moreover, it is quite traditional, yet at the same time it designates the most important property of the Church, which is catholicity, the understanding of which is linked to the concept of sobornost developed in Russian theological thought of the 19th–20th centuries.  Thus, this title reflects both the traditional understanding of the Church and the urgency of contemporary ecclesiological questions.

To us, it seems that the current tasks of theological reflection on the contemporary life of the Church, and of theological education in the Russian Orthodox Church, demand intensive effort and the gathering of scholarly-theological forces. With this aim in mind, St. Philaret’s Institute (SFI) has for several years now been holding conferences devoted to problems of Orthodox ecclesiology. One of them was dedicated to the Eucharistic ecclesiology of Fr. Nicholas Afanasiev; another to the problem of Church unity in its various dimensions. This year we propose discussion of Orthodox teaching on the Church as interrelation of its three aspects: faith in the Church, knowledge and perception of the Church, and the ordering of church life.

— How do these aspects relate to one another? What is their significance for church life and for ecclesiological thought?

— First of all, we would like to clarify the distinction between these aspects and their relative priority in church consciousness. Often, when speaking of ecclesiology, people imply either a certain doctrine about the Church or a particular church order, while failing to mention faith in the Church. In other cases, faith in the Church is directly transferred to the contemporary church order, as if one follows from the other directly and without problems. Yet quite frequently, clergy and laity who are well-versed in the doctrine of the Church and actively participate in church life are filled with pessimism or even despondency and fail precisely to manifest faith in the Church.  Therefore, the first task of this conference is to help distinguish these three aspects of ecclesiology.

Furthermore, it is obvious to everyone that in our time the practice of church life does not always correspond to the doctrine of the Church or to our faith in It. At the same time, all members of the Church must be interested in ensuring that faith in the Church, our knowledge and perception of the Church, and the ordering of church life all draw closer together — and this is the second most important goal of our symposium.

Faith, knowledge and perception of the Church, and church life are often in problematic relationship. Exactly what these problems are, how acute they are today, and which possible paths to resolution can be proposed — we hope all this will become clearer from the papers presented at the conference and pursuant discussions.

— One of the problematic themes appears to be the ministry of the faithful. What kinds of ministries can describe the diversity of today’s church life? Does the hierarchy of church ministries outlined by the Apostle Paul remain unchanged in contemporary practice, or do modern church consciousness and the life of the Church beg certain adjustments?

— It was only in the 20th century that Orthodoxy began to speak openly of ministry as the fundamental content of church life. Fr. Nicholas Afanasiev reflected on this especially deeply. He maintained that the gift of the Spirit is given to the faithful for action in the Church, and without this action the gift remains unmanifested.  Therefore, according to his teaching, for all the faithful this action is expressed in the ministry of the royal priesthood of the People of God, which is realized in co-celebration in the Church’s sacraments, and above all in the Eucharist. But particular ministries – such as administration, leading the prayer, prophecy, teaching – are not given to all.

However, church life in the last century — both under Soviet persecutions and in the conditions of freedom in emigration — as well as study of the early Christian tradition, provide grounds for developing Fr. Nicholas's views. Fr Georgy Kochetkov has drawn attention to this by beginning to speak about the fact that the possibility and even necessity of personal ministry is open to every faithful member. But ministry in the Church must be found and acquired. This is not an easy task, since ministry in the Church doesn't just mean any activity within the Church.

In our secular era, it is no longer sufficient to speak only of the common ministry of the People of God as embodied in the sacramental life of the Church and in temple worship. At the same time, it is impossible — and probably unnecessary — to enumerate all possible types of ministry within contemporary church life, after the manner of the Apostle Paul's well-known words.

Of course, there is a hierarchy among Church ministries. Church history has developed in such a way that in ordinary church consciousness the idea of the fullness of ministry is associated with the ministry of the bishop, presbyter and deacon, i.e., the ministry of hierarchs — or with the monastic vocation. Thus, history has reflected the distinction between life “in the world” and life “not of this world.” Yet we must not forget that ministry is a spiritual gift given to all the faithful, including those living in the world who are not ordained as hierarchs. Here, the spiritual discernment of ministries is required, similar to that of the Apostle Paul. His discernment does not have a sacramental-hierarchical basis, which is why he placed prophecy and apostleship in the first place, and the gifts of tongues, healing, and administration in subsequent places. Discernment of this kind, which reveals the mystery of the Church’s unity, is possible and even necessary for us today, too. For this, everyone in the Church, and primarily of course its elders, must understand what is now most necessary for the Church in the first place, and what can be considered second or third priority. I believe that at present the priority ministries are catechetical and missionary, while the ministry of mercy (diakonia) for example — might already be considered second priority, even though this too is important, and the Church does much in terms of diakonia. It is fundamentally important for the Church not to confuse the order of these things, because otherwise her life begins to go astray, deviating from the route established for Her by God.

— We plan to devote the final round table to the problem of ecclesiodycy (justification of the Church in the face of evil and imperfection). The problem of the unwholeness and loss of faith in the Church is very acute today, both for those who view it from the outside and for those who consider themselves members of the church. How can faith in the Church be restored and replenished? Who does this depend upon primarily?

— Indeed, this is one of the most acute problems in contemporary church and social life, and consequently, it is one of the most challenging themes of our conference. We have formulated it as: “From Ecclesiology to Ecclesiodycy”. Even as we are debating how to attain a worthy level of self-consciousness in the Church and how to adequately order contemporary church life, the world is moving forward. Today we are confronted with the fact that the main difficulty in Christian witness is distrust of the Church. Few people still struggle against God, but negative statements and actions regarding the Church can be heard and seen very frequently. We might say that the discreditation of the Church is a large-scale and complex a global trend, developing not only toward Orthodoxy, but also toward Catholicism and even Protestantism. This is one of the features of the secular, post-Constantinian era. The world is by no means neutral toward the Church of Christ. This problem is also acute within Russia, which lived through the 20th century. Distrust of the Church, ecclesial life, tradition and culture, remain very great. A Moscow-wide Procession of the Cross took place not long ago. We can simply look at how the central mass media covered this event and what they were publishing as current news during those same days to understand contemporary attitudes toward the Church. The problem of justifying the Church has become problem number one for Christians and for church members, and therefore we can declare that the time to look at ecclesiodycy has arrived.

Today, those who are seeking the spiritual life stumble not so much over questions of knowing God or faith in Christ as the Son of God, but over the problem of faith in the Church. Often people are ready to trust God, but their trust in the Church is at such a low level that this hinders their spiritual life. In most cases, people do not feel the connection between faith in God and faith in the Church. Some are convinced that God dwells in heaven and in the human heart, while the Church is merely an institution that has usurped rights over spiritual life belonging to all people. They want nothing to do with the Church. The primary responsibility for this situation lies with church members. It isn't without reason that the Apostle said that because of our sins “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles” (Rom 2:24). People poorly understand what the Church is. Nor do they understand that the sins they associate with the Church, i.e., sins in the church, are not the sins of the Church, but sins against the Church. These problems will not resolve themselves; all this needs to be seriously discussed and acted upon in the Church if we hope to change the status quo.

Awareness of this necessity is coming, but with great delay and in reduced form. The Gospel displays the gathering of Christ’s disciples not simply as a circle of support for the Teacher, nor as simply a group of those who had mere solidarity with Him on certain life issues. The disciples received His word, faith, and life in such a way that they manifested a unity which became a powerful spiritual magnet for people. The Church as unity in mutual love bears witness to the enlightenment of every person by God. Sometimes, in the twists and turns of socio-political confrontations, it seems that the Church is participating in a tug-of-war among various forces operating in this world. But this is only a minor and by no means primary aspect of the Church’s life in the world. We hope that our conference will serve not only to deepen our knowledge and perception of the Church, but also to enlighten and strengthen our faith in the Church — which, God willing, will also influence our church life.

— And what significance does the problem of the weakening of faith in the Church have for people who are within its boundaries?

— First of all, it is regrettable that faith in God and in the Church do not find worthy and full embodiment in life. Christ appeared on earth and revealed God in His fullness — this is the main poignancy and the primary driving force behind all disputes about God throughout the ages. The question of the Church is no less acute, and therefore faith in the Church must find adequate embodiment. We just don’t see this in contemporary church life.

For some, the Church is associated with life sanctifying ritual, and that's why they come to church. The moment of sanctification is important, but it does not fundamentally change people’s lives. Others view the Church as the religious aspect of national history. We could go on and list other perceptions of the Church, about which Mother Maria (Skobtsova) so wonderfully wrote. But we are speaking of faith in the Church and of the embodiment of this faith. Christ said: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34–35). The Gospel affirms that we should first be recognized in our mutual love — Alexei Khomyakov wrote remarkably about this. From our faith to our life there should be half a step, yet sometimes we encounter situations where we believe in one way yet live according to different laws. But let us not forget that “every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand” (Matt 12:25).

— In the early 20th century, the question of the boundaries of the Church resounded with particular acuity. This was linked to the desire of Christians from different confessions to draw closer together. What do you believe to be the primary ecclesiological question in our day?

— We are speaking about it: to what extent does the Church manifest itself as a brotherhood of children of one Father? We have many Christian symbols — pectoral and nape crosses, temple rites and sacraments, and the churches themselves — but what are the interpersonal relationships and connections which manifest the members of the one Church? Do we live according to the word of the Gospel? Is Christ present in our midst, and do other people see this? This is the key and most difficult question in church life. Of course, such words may sound abstract: in a world full of contradictions, divisions, and enmity, talk of unity sounds like naive and childish babble. But it was precisely these words that came from the lips of Christ. And if we look closely at the 1st century, when Christianity first appeared as a spiritual movement in history, we will see turmoil, divisions, and enmity there as well. Christ came to save the world, therefore the witness of the Church is always timely if it reveals, in word and life, the fullness of Gospel truth about God and man.

In preparing the conference, we tried to identify the most acute and relevant questions for contemporary church life. Our meeting itself will show which solutions will be proposed and in what aspects these problems will be presented. We hope that representatives of different theological schools and parishes will participate, as well as our Orthodox brothers from abroad, and even representatives of the Catholic and Protestant churches. Thus, we expect a serious and multifaceted conversation which, I hope, will bear good fruit for academic Theology and theological education, as well as for the entire life of the Church.