Saint Philaret’s Institute Celebrates Its Saint’s Day and 2024 Commencement
“I am very glad for the new trends in the church and that the church is beginning more often to remember its duty to unite God’s people. Both its scattered and those amongst the people who formerly believed that it was enough to simply come to a church, pray about something and then leave,” said Fr. Georgy Kochetkov, Founder and First Rector of St. Philaret’s Institute, doctoral candidate in Theology, in welcoming the assembled guests to this festive evening.
“People are beginning to come together. This is very palpably felt not only in many of the various dioceses of our country, but also in our seminaries. People are asking many interesting questions. These are questions about liturgical renewal, the language of church worship, spiritual education, the renewal of sobornost and deep integral personhood within the church, historical responsibility, and questions about life in community and brotherhood within the church. People are able, can, and want to live together and be closer to each other, so as to preserve their closeness to God. And our Institute is also trying to do its bit here,” said Fr. Georgy.
With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and on behalf of the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archpriest Alexander Troitsky, who is Deputy Chairman of the Educational Committee and Director of the Synodal Library of the Russian Orthodox Church delivered congratulations to St. Philaret's Institute.
“I want to wish you every diverse success, so that everyone – and not only those associated with the Institute who have observed its work for many years – would look at you with admiration and take you as an example,” said Fr Alexander.
Congratulations from the Rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Bishop Silouan of Peterhof, were conveyed to the Institute by Senior Lecturer and Assistant to the Head of the Faculty for Biblical Studies, Fr Dionisij Kharin.
"This day is a significant event for each of you and for our entire Church, because your educational institution is one of the flagships of theological scholarship in Russia. Your zealous studies and desire for spiritual development and service to God and neighbour deserve deep respect and gratitude. Teachers who put their whole soul and strength into the formation and education of future church scholars, and students who accept knowledge with a sincere desire to serve the Church - you all are an integral part of this great affair," noted Bishop Siluan of Peterhof in his congratulations.
Igor Zaytsev, PhD candidate and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Studies, Coordinator of Theological Programs delivered congratulations on behalf of the F.M. Dostoevsky Russian Christian Academy of the Humanities, in St. Petersburg.
Members of the Association of Graduates and Students also presented their traditional congratulations.
At present there are 491 students studying at St. Philaret’s Institute, encompassing the three primary faculties and nine additional professional training programmes. The Theology Faculty has 201 students, the History Faculty 40 students, and the Faculty of Religious Studies 34 students, reported Vice Rector for Development Marina Naumova, in speaking of the Institute’s academic and educational accomplishments over the course of this year just past.
Our History Faculty marked its 5th year this year, and this past summer received state accreditation for its master’s degree programme entitled “The History of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th Century.”
As is traditional, students of the Religious Studies Faculty went on academic tourism trips, visiting St. Petersburg and Kazan this year, where they met with representatives of spiritual and secular schools and institutes, as well as with religious communities.
The Department of Social Work unrolled an updated version of its professional preparatory programme for social work coordinators which is now called “Social Work with Cases: Innovative Models and Methods”. They also developed a continuing education programme called “Introduction to Case Work”.
With the support of the Timchenko Fund, 15 students and graduates of the Social Work Department were able to complete internships at “Smithy Lobov’s Mercy House” and at the “Transfiguration Centre”, both in the Yaroslav region.
At present, there are 134 students at the SFI’s Theological College. In addition to our “Foundations of Orthodox Theology” programme, which has been running for many years, our programme “Fundamentals of the Language of Visual Art” was particularly popular.
The keynote speech of the evening “Search for theological approach to perception, study and teaching of church art” was given by SFI Rector Alexander Mikhailovich Kopirovsky, who is also a member of the Association of Art Critics and a PhD candidate (Pedagogy).
