Moscow adopts experience of Ufa priests

Moscow Eparchy adopts the know-how, worked up by the priests in Ufa. The theological eparchial training courses, called to train secular employees for missioner, social and pedagogical work under the local parishes, were opened in Ufa in October.

“This initiative has no analogues in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church” – the head of the courses, the consultant of the Archbishop of Ufa and Sterlitamac Nikon abbot Ignaty Klimov said at today’s press-conference in the news-agency “Bashinform” – “And now similar courses will start working in Moscow and Moscow region”.

“From the very beginning it was decided the level of education at the courses will be very high” – the abbot said – “But unfortunately not all listeners have enough basic qualification to master the disciplines, offered at the courses. We mainly accept people with higher education, who willingly decided to devote their lives to working in and under the churches and the list of our pedagogues includes the candidates of theological and secular sciences”.

The main aim of the theological courses is not the training of the future priests but the secular employees under the parishes, ready to be busy with the missioner and social work.

“We started to train such employees in order to cover the shortage of the specialists the Church faces now” – the employee of the Ufa Eparchy’s Mission Center Vadim Rosenfeld explained – “Every graduate will have a chance to make his own choice in what parish to start working”.

The full training courses are meant for two years. At present time the courses haven’t yet the status of an educational institution but according to M-r Rosenfeld this problem is solved now.