Support a Conference on ROCOR History!

Indeed Christ is Risen! 

Many of us witnessed how, in advance of the reconciliation in 2007 between the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate, people would recite their versions of history to support either endorsement or rejection of the restoration of unity within the Russian Church. Evidence (both pro et contra union) was often cited outside of its historical context, and this situation demonstrated that - more than ever - our Russian Church Abroad is in need of professional study of its own history. Now that we are in full communion with the Church in Russia and, indeed, the rest of Orthodox Christendom, an understanding of our own history is not optional but essential for members of the Russian Church Abroad. The difference between professional and polemical attitudes toward history is that, in the first case, a researcher is required to understand positions of conflicting parties from their own perspectives, within the social and political context, while, in the second case, the position of the opponent is represented to the extent necessary to mock it.

For some years, the website Historical Studies of the Russian Church Abroad has been promoting within the community of the Russian Church Abroad the value of professional study of Church history. This year Deacon Andrei Psarev, editor of
the website and Professor of Russian Church History and Canon Law of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (Jordanville, NY) has organized a conference: Links between Times: Conclusions and Perspectives. On the Centennial of the Russian Church Abroad. The conference will be taking place in Belgrade on November 23-26, 2021. The Serbian organizing party is the Archive of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The conference organizers have received blessings for this event from the Holy
Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church and from the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion.
The call for papers, which ended on May 2, resulted in 18 confirmed papers. https://www.rocorstudies.org/2021/03/08/a-%d1%81onference-on-the-history-of-the-rocor-that-will-help-us-to-understand-the-main-stages-in-its-history/ Presenters are leading scholars of the history of the Russian Church Abroad and their papers will be covering pivotal themes from the time of the Civil War in Russia to the present day. An English translation of all the papers will be available during the conference. Attendance at conference lectures will be free for participants, both online and in real-time. It is an unprecedented academic event, not just for the Russian Church Abroad, but for the entire field of Russian Church history.

With the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, I invite you to donate here. Your contributions will be used to cover time spent by the organizer of this conference, airfares, out-of-pocket expenses for presenters, translators’ work, and any other conference expenses. Those who donate over $50.00 will receive memorabilia with conference imprints. There is no such thing as an insignificant donation! If you cannot spare $10 or $20,  please share this appeal via your social media outlet. 


                                                                                                               Deacon Andrei Psarev, Ph.D.

                                                                                                                                  Conference Organizer