What does it mean to be a Christian in everyday life?
Conference programme and texts of talks delivered in English will be published in Programme and Proceedings
Programme and proceedings
The 7th International Conference Dedicated to Metropolitan Anthony’s Legacy
What does it mean to be a Christian in everyday life?
Programme
Friday, 13 September
9.00 – 9.30 Registration
9.30 – 10.00 Prayer
Words of welcome
10.00 – 13.30 Talks
Protodeacon Peter Scorer (Exeter, UK): Metropolitan Anthony in everyday life
Elizabeth Theokritoff (Cambridge, UK): The world of God’s creatures
Archpriest Dimitry Sizonenko (Saint Petersburg, Russia): The notion of time in Metropolitan Anthony’s theology
Maya Kucherskaya (Moscow, Russia): The concept of ‘practical Christianity’ in the prose of N. Leskov (with reference to the ‘Family in Decline’ novel-chronicle)
13.30 – 13.45 Video
13.45 – 14.45 Lunch
14.45 – 17.45 Talks
Archpriest Christopher Hill (Moscow, Russia): Aspects of the Christian Life in the Realm of the Personal as Reflected in Twentieth-Century Russian Literature
Natalia Inina (Moscow, Russia): Between desire and reality: the psychology of everyday life
Archpriest Alexius Uminsky (Moscow, Russia): Prayer as a Christian’s everyday practice
Tutta Larsen (Moscow, Russia) and Protodeacon Peter Scorer (Exeter, UK): Dialogue
17.45 – 19.15 Round table: How to connect with God in everyday life
Lyudmila Zotova (Saint Petersburg, Russia), Archpriest Vladimir Arkhipov (Novaya Derevnya, Russia), Hieromonk Giovanni (Guaita) (Moscow, Russia), Tatiana Kasatkina (Moscow, Russia), Konstantin Matsan (Moscow, Russia)
19.15 – 19.30 Video
19.30 Prayer
Saturday, 14 September
9.45 Prayer
10.00 – 11.30 Talks
Tatyana Semchishina (Moscow, Russia): Between despair and hope: vocation and the reality of everyday life
Konstantin Matsan (Moscow, Russia): ‘Superficiality as the primary sin’ (in the context of Metropolitan Anthony’s talks)
11.30 – 11.45 Video
12.00 – 13.30 Discussion groups
13.30 – 15.00 Lunch
15.00 – 18.00 Talks and book presentation
Lynn Other (Stourbridge, UK): Sharing faith through listening and presence in workplaces and schools
Yekaterina Savina (Moscow, Russia): Mindfulness of God’s presence in my life
Presentation of Metropolitan Anthony’s book Chaos. Law. Freedom. Talks on meanings
Natalya Bolshakova-Minchenko (Riga, Latvia): Various aspects of the views on the phenomenon of chaos. Metropolitan Anthony (1914 – 2003) and Archpriest Alexander Men (1935 – 1990)
18.00 – 18.15 Video
18.15 Prayer
Reviews and reports
Exhibitions
Photographs
«It is not enough to make of the world a liveable place, our vocation is to make of it the place where God can dwell»
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
Venue: Alexander Solzhenitzyn House for Russians Abroad,
2, Nizhnaya Radischevskaya, Moscow
Tel, WhatsApp: +7 965 1306326
Languages: English, Russian
The aim of the conference is to consider how our belief in the Incarnate God, who came down to earth, lived among people, was crucified and rose from the dead affects our everyday life, our family life, our choice of profession, our attitude to education, to society, to culture, to time, to the world around us, to illness and to death.
At our conferences we try to share our own experience but also to relate it to the legacy of metropolitan Anthony. There are many who witness that meeting him, one could feel his otherness and centeredness on Christ even in small everyday things. However his understanding of what makes a Christian is unusual in some aspects. He points out that our major sin is superficiality, he speaks about depth, attentiveness, responsibility, creativity, active life (as contrasted to re-active or to being acted upon), of creative chaos, belief in people (including oneself). He talks about human wisdom based on previous experience and about God’s wisdom which is eschatological, about our actions which are defined by the object instead of being centered on the person who is acting. How much do his views and thinking correspond to our experience and understanding? How can we benefit from the legacy of this man of prayer?
At the conference talks were given by priests, theologians, psychologists, journalists, writers, doctors, scientists, teachers and other speakers.
On Friday, September 13th a journalist of St Petersburg Radio “Grad Petrov” L. Zotova lead a discussion “How to establish my relationship with God in everyday life?”
Popular discussion workshops took place September, 14th. Special workshops for young people 7-9 and 10-14 years of age were organized.
On Sunday, September 15th, three round tables on the concept of ministry took place:
“Man is a priest of all creation? Serving the created world”
According to Metropolitan Anthony every human being is called to be a priest of creation. How is it possible? Are we fulfilling our vocation? Are we at least trying to do something in this direction?
“Profession as a ministry. Ministry as a profession”
A large proportion of our everyday life is dedicated to work. Some people consider their job as a calling, some – as a form of creative activity and self-expression, some – as a burden. How is our professional life related to our Christian calling.
“The Church and the vocation of a Christian. Voluntary work”
The theme of the round table is what it means for us, Christians of the XXI century, to belong to a Church, what it means for us to be involved in a voluntary activity. What inspires us? And the opposite situation – why aren’t we involved in voluntary work?
Registration