Job- 1) ; 2) type of work activity; 3) activity as a source of income; 4) product of labor.
Love for God is achieved through love for one's neighbor. This applies not only to relatives, but to everyone with whom we come into contact, including at work. As you know, Christians do not work, Christians serve. Work is one of the forms of serving God.
What does it mean to do any work for Christ?
- Perceive any task as entrusted by God Himself.
- Avoid sinful deeds and activities, regardless of their worldly benefits.
- Pray before starting a task, during the process and after.
Can “secular” work be a form of service to God?
He does not exclude this kind of work from the area of those areas of labor activity that can be pleasing to God and useful for moral success, on the sole grounds that his work, formally, is of a secular nature.
It is known that he brought together the main God's commandments to two: about and love for (as for oneself) (). You can show love for God and your neighbor not only by serving in or at church, but also by working, performing seemingly purely secular duties. Isn’t it possible, for example, for a believing doctor, writer, poet, historian, artist, defender of the fatherland, ecologist to glorify God, show love for one’s neighbor, working in his place, working in a way that pleases God? Obviously it can. This can be called a form of serving God. Generally speaking, there are many such types of “secular” work.
Work in the Church
Many people who have converted to Orthodoxy begin to feel burdened by “secular” work. This is not surprising, since the aspirations of non-church society are ever further away from what is acceptable and valuable for Christians. The desire to serve the Church also pushes us to look for work “at the temple.” as an employer is the topic of the conversation we begin in this issue. There are many questions here. For example, there is a widespread belief that in Orthodox organizations the efficiency of work is lower than in secular ones. Is this so, and if so, why? Are “parallel” secular Orthodox structures - hospitals, schools, workshops, etc. - necessary and possible? How does work in the Church generally differ from “secular” work?
NS correspondent Vladimir Totsky learned the opinions of the rectors of several Moscow churches about this. “If I were the directors, I would advertise: I’m looking for believing employees.” The archpriest is a master of theology, associate professor at the Moscow Theological Academy and professor at the St. Tikhon’s Theological Institute, rector of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Trinity-Golenischev. The temple is engaged in publishing activities. The parish magazine “Cyprian's Source”, books and brochures of liturgical, everyday, and scientific content are published. There is a library at the temple. There is a Sunday school where, in addition to the Law of God, icon painting, singing, handicrafts are taught, and for teenagers - iconography, church architecture, the beginnings of journalism, and a children's parish newspaper is published. The parents' club meets every Sunday.
A feature of parish life was religious processions to local shrines, the installation of memorial crosses and prayer services at them. - Father Sergius, what difficulties does an Orthodox Christian have in a secular society? - The fact that an unbelieving environment surrounds us is our reality. And you don't have to be afraid of it. In early Christianity in the Roman Empire, Christians were surrounded by pagans. Believers gathered in the catacombs at night for worship, and worked during the day. We must be able to overcome these difficulties calmly. If they laugh at you, scold you, spit in your back - and this has happened - you have to be patient. These difficulties are quite bearable. It’s not like they’re arresting or imprisoning people like before. - Are there any large employers among church organizations? - Apparently, we have very few church employer organizations. We also do not have political movements associated with Orthodoxy. If there are patriots, they are not always Orthodox. No one from the government or the Duma said: “I am an Orthodox, believer.”
Maybe only one Podberezkin. Meanwhile, if I were an employer, I would do the same thing that one German youth did many years ago. He advertised in one newspaper: “I am looking for a girl of a Christian worldview to start a family.” And if I were the director, I would give similar announcements, they say, I am looking for believing employees... I would know that a believer will not deceive me, will not steal - he fears God. I know from my father that Vladyka held the position of treasurer in the Solovetsky camp, i.e. issued salaries to NKVD officers, because they didn't trust themselves. But they knew that the Russian bishop would not steal. What are the problems in church work? Money is tight? Yes. Temptations? Yes, since our passions are raging, here is the front line, the front, where demonic forces are constantly attacking, and we are not always able to fight them off. And at the same time, some miracle happens: there is no money, but the temple is being restored. They donate boards, bricks, and concrete. The temple has its own special exchange rate. If the master says, I will do this work in the world for so much, then for you it is three times cheaper.
Because for God. After all, even a building material, a simple brick, behaves in a special way in a temple, in a residential building, a commercial establishment, or, even worse, in an entertainment venue. Museum workers, for example, are surprised: ancient vestments embroidered with gold are worse preserved if they hang on a stand than those that are in use and in which they serve. - What is your opinion about combining secular work and work in the church? - There are few such parishioners. Now a person who has a job is so busy that he simply doesn’t have the strength to go anywhere else. Now in commercial structures they demand ten times more from an employee than in Soviet times. We need people, but we can barely make ends meet. - Who exactly? - A clerk, a person in charge of relations with public organizations, a watchman, cleaners... - What difficulties does the rector of a church, a confessor, or just a priest experience? - I teach at the Theological Academy and St. Tikhon's Institute. I work on the canonization commission of the Ryazan diocese, in the Orthodox Encyclopedia. There is no question of going on a visit or just walking down the street. A modern priest is like a soldier who sits in a branched trench and runs from one gun to another, replacing an entire platoon. But we need to give communion, confess the sick, meet with schoolchildren, restorers, builders, artists... Previously, the righteous saint John of Kronstadt worked in this way - now all our priests. But if we remember the dialectic of the reverend, we live in the most favorable time. The Diveyevo nuns lived in terrible poverty and one day complained to Father Seraphim. What did he answer them? I, he says, can turn all this clay into gold, but it will not be useful to you. It’s useful for you to make ends meet. And I will pray to God that it will be so. And it’s the same with us. We served without heating for two years. Water flowed down the walls. And when a person has a lot of something, he unwittingly becomes spiritually corrupted. “In the Orthodox environment, work is perceived as a blessing from God” Hieromonk Sergius (Rybko), rector of the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at the Lazarevskoye cemetery. The temple is engaged in publishing activities. There is a large bookstore and icon shop at the temple. The poor are given books to read. The store has a small section of lean food products. An icon-painting workshop has been created at the temple. There is a Sunday school for children with a library.
Recently, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II blessed Hierarch. Sergius for the construction of a new temple in Bibirevo. - What problems does someone who comes to work in a church face? - Not enough money - once. There are churches that are not poor, but sometimes they pay little. This is already the abbot’s fault. You can’t keep an employee in a black body, he also has a family, he has children. In general, people should live with dignity. I don’t think that God is pleased when people building or restoring live in poverty. And whoever pays decently, I know, he has workers, and the Lord sends funds. “Every worker is worthy of food,” says the Holy Scripture. If you pay enough, your employee will not look for work on the side, but will devote all his professionalism and energy to the temple. There are times when a person does not want to take a salary. I just force him, because he will work for free for the time being. And the money you pay a person is what he will earn for you. And there will never be a problem where to find a worker. - What professions are in demand in the temple? - Many. Publishing workers, programmers, accountants, economists. The economy of the temple must be modern. I believe that we ourselves must earn money. This is more correct than walking with an outstretched hand to non-church people. Whoever wants to help will bring what to ask from him. - What are the advantages of working in a church community? - A circle of like-minded people. A person works for God, for his neighbor, for the salvation of his soul. This all gives great comfort. Then the opportunity to constantly attend worship services. You need to choose a church to work in where the abbot does not send an employee to run back and forth during the service. For example, our meals are prepared in the evening. Then, constant nourishment and communication with a confessor, the opportunity to receive communion on a holiday, which does not always happen in secular work. - Father, one leader who considers himself Orthodox told me that in a commercial organization, a religious employee is a great luxury. It’s Easter, then it’s mid-sex… And he “corrupts” his colleagues with his reluctance to earn money for himself, and therefore for the company. - A person who works in a temple is less dependent on the world and its temptations. You can always find help and sympathy in the community. In the temple you serve God, and this is the main thing, since this is what a person was born for. They say that there are more temptations in the temple? It’s just that in the world something is not considered a temptation, but is considered to be ordinary life. And a person from the world comes to the temple and thinks that there are angels there...
There are, of course, problems with both the headman and the rector. We must be patient. After all, it was not without God’s providence that these people ended up in the temple. - Do you think there is a need for parallel secular Orthodox structures and organizations? - I think they are needed. Especially schools and kindergartens. Orthodox gymnasiums also have their own problems, but at least there they don’t rip your head off and don’t openly swear. In a modern school, a normal person can neither teach nor learn. It seems to me that Sunday schools should develop into Orthodox gymnasiums. It's different in hospitals. When a believer finds himself in a secular environment, they begin to “ride” him: they assign him the most difficult work, but pay him less, taking advantage of his irresponsibility. And he also cares for the patient in a different way, not just as a doctor. Because the salvation of his soul, and this is the main thing for him, depends on his attitude towards the patient. The monk said that the sick person and the one caring for him receive one reward. In the Orthodox environment, work is perceived as a blessing from God, as a joy, and not as a need to earn money. People who understand at least a little what Orthodoxy is, value believers, try to take them to work, appoint them as bosses: you can rely on them, they will not deceive, steal, or pull the blanket over themselves. And when there is a whole company of such workers, it is absolutely wonderful - one big family, a kind of monastery in the world. I know entrepreneurs who hire only believers. And I welcome the creation of Orthodox structures in any area. Back in 1989, an officer told me about an experiment in the army. They gathered Orthodox military personnel into one platoon. He immediately became the very first in all respects.
There was no hazing - this curse of the modern army. The first in studies, and in shooting, and in work. The stronger ones pulled the weaker ones up, taught them, cared for them. Any Orthodox person probably wants to either go to a monastery or work at a church. But this is not always possible. We need to develop production. Previously, Russia's monasteries provided 20 percent of the gross agricultural product. I think this is still possible. “A large parish needs people with both technical and humanitarian professions” Archpriest, rector of the Church of the Annunciation in Petrovsky Park, acting. Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies. At the Church of the Annunciation, a sisterhood has been operating in the name of St. for more than ten years. prpmts. Elizabeth, three years old - Orthodox orphanage "Pavlin". It has its own gymnasium and a book publishing house that produces spiritual and church-historical literature. The parish newspaper “Calendar” is published monthly. - Are Orthodox structures parallel to secular ones necessary and possible, in your opinion? - Undoubtedly. And what's wrong with that? It is easier and more convenient for a parishioner to go to an Orthodox doctor who practices on the territory of the temple. I know that there are even dental offices at churches. I myself have used it more than once. When I pay a doctor, I know that the money will go to his family, his children, but a small part will go to the temple, to repair the roof, fence, and will not be transferred to some offshore zone. Orthodox orphanages already exist. A maternity hospital is necessary because it is impossible to give birth and at the same time kill unborn children under the same roof, as happens in a state institution. - What is the difference between working in the world and in the temple? - I will only talk about my arrival. In my opinion, working in the world has less social protection. The worker there depends on the whim of the employer. The owner may go bankrupt and the business may close. But all these negative aspects of working in the world are compensated by the opportunity to earn more. Mostly like-minded people work in the temple, the spiritual atmosphere is more favorable. And the operating mode is gentle.
Plus the food is actually homemade. Salaries are paid without delays. - But not everyone can find work in their specialty at the temple... - Few parents prepare and educate their children to work in the temple. But in a large parish, such as ours, we need people from technical and humanitarian professions, and even the military. Sunday school needs experienced teachers. Publishing workers, journalists, sellers will always find work, because... Now almost every church publishes something. We publish a monthly newspaper with 50 pages. We publish books: lives, prayer books, just rare books... Good artists, icon painters, restorers are always welcome. The church needs builders, painters, plasterers, plumbers, cooks, and drivers (we have our own garage). We need musicians and singers. - There is an opinion that those working in the temple have many temptations. - There are enough temptations everywhere. Are there fewer temptations in the army? What about the police, what about the driver? Maybe in the temple every match is seen as a log. By contrast, so to speak. - Usually in the church structure it is not easy to take initiative, because... many questions revolve around the blessing of the abbot or the lack of funds in the church treasury. - It’s exactly the same in the world. And presidents depend on the adopted budget.
And there are plenty of opportunities to show initiative: issues of catechesis, Sunday school, restoration of the temple... We have created the world's largest Russian Orthodox library on the Internet. Open it, anyone who wants to read it. True, many initiatives need enthusiasts and cannot always be rewarded financially. - But the greatest value, probably, is a good worker, conscientious, capable of making decisions, and committed. You can find money for repairs, but a specialist... - There is a shortage of personnel everywhere. Even in government. But a specialist needs to pay a lot. My team is good, but if the parish had more funds, I would have assembled a stronger team. Not all parishioners are able to sacrifice their well-being and go to work in the temple.
Source: Magazine "Neskuchny Sad"
To church - to work?
In order to be able to go to church not just once a week, but every day, eat fast, talk with fellow believers “about spiritual things,” some newly converted Orthodox Christians are even ready to leave a well-paid job and become a church choirboy, reader, watchman, cleaner... But will the work bring does the temple benefit the soul? After all, the church has its own “temptations”.
In one of his books he talked about a peasant who loved to come to the temple and spend long hours in it. When asked what he was doing all this time, the peasant answered: I look at God, God looks at me, and we both feel good. For people raised in the faith from childhood, being in church - at a church service or simply for prayer - is an organic part of life, but, perhaps, only beginners experience delight from this, bordering on the gospel “it’s good for us to be here.” More than ten years have passed since I joined the church, but I still remember how I didn’t want to leave the church after the service, how I was drawn to go there every time I was nearby. I remember envy - in a good sense, if, of course, envy can be in a good sense - towards all the “workers”: choristers, candle makers, prosphora makers, even the church watchman. They don’t need to leave, they “belong” in this wonderful world, smelling of wax and incense, in its very core.
Surely every neophyte, even if only in theory, had this thought: I want it too. I want to work for God - and for this particular temple as well. By the way, church employees try not to call their work work. “We work for the Lord” - as if emphasizing that secular work is exclusively for the benefit of one’s pocket. It’s clear that a church salary (if there is one, of course) is just a modest material addition to spiritual joy, but the approach is still strange. Almost all work is done for other people, and everything we do for others conscientiously and with love, we do for the Lord. So I still dare to call church work work. “Work for the Lord with fear and rejoice in him with trembling” - these words of the psalm are not only about spiritual work, but also about the simplest physical work. As they say, be careful what you wish for - you may get it. I taught Sunday school for two years and sang in the choir for seven years, so I know parish life from the inside. And I can safely say: work in the temple, with the exception of some nuances, is practically no different from any other work. Moreover, if we take into account the spiritual specificity of this work, there is something in it that makes it not very useful for immature and weak souls.
And this is not just my opinion. It is a well-known fact that the archimandrite was not very willing to bless his worldly spiritual children for parish service. How does a person who has just touched it imagine the “inside” of the church world? Approximately like a certain branch of the Kingdom of God on earth. And this is not entirely an illusion; rather, the point is in the so-called invoking grace, familiar to every beginner. During this amazing time, without any effort, we notice all the good things and do not see the negative point-blank - the soul simply pushes it away from itself. And there would be no way to extend this period - but we so want to go deeper into the church environment, and we don’t even bother to think that being closer to the temple does not necessarily mean being closer to God. When reality does not correspond to what was expected, it is always unpleasant and offensive. No one expects unearthly joys from ordinary worldly work. It provides a means of livelihood, allows you to communicate with people, and if it also gives you pleasure, what more could you ask for? And even if something is wrong with your job, you can always change it, the world will not collapse because of it. The church is another matter. Using an anonymous statement known in the Orthodox RuNet, “the main task of a person who has seen church life from the inside is to make sure that people with a delicate spiritual organization do not find out about its content.” Is it really that bad? Of course no.
It’s just that everyone who wants to work in the church must be aware of how capable they are of fighting what the church ladies, pursing their lips, call “temptation.” As sad as it may be, that part of the Body of Christ, which is living people, is sick - because we are all sick, physically, mentally and spiritually. Even those glorified as saints during their lifetime were ordinary people with their own shortcomings, sins, and vices, with which they more or less successfully fought. So we bring our worldly troubles to church. Will a newcomer, plunged into the depths of the parish, be able to understand this, discard the superficial, unusual for real spiritual life - how we accept a loved one with all his shortcomings? Or will he say, striking a pose: “No, I don’t need such a church, would it be better to have “God-in-the-soul”? The first thing you encounter when you come to work in a church is that the parish resembles a giant communal apartment (especially if it is a small parish). In it, everyone knows everything about everyone. And what they don’t know, they will guess. At first, this is even pleasing, since the process of becoming “one of our own” is impossible without the accumulation of internal information. Dating, establishing relationships, conversations, more and more frank... And at some point you realize that it would be better for you not to know all this.
Even if there is no refectory in the church, you still can’t escape these conversations - they will catch up both in the vestibule and on the bench. Many believers who often visit the temple notice over time that reverence gradually disappears somewhere. It’s not that there is complete indifference or some kind of blasphemous and cynical thoughts (although such things happen), but there is no longer that spiritual heat and trembling that once covered at the first exclamation: “Blessed is the Kingdom...”. Routine prayer work, which only occasionally explodes with real living feelings. What then can we say about those who actually work in church every or almost every day and during the service - so that the service can be performed? Well, let's not touch the priest, but what about the rest? The singers sing, the readers read, the candle makers look after the candlesticks, the candle shop workers take notes. When should they pray? Especially singers often complain: what a prayer, if only I could hit the notes, so I’ll go to another church and pray there. It would be good if the priest explained that prayer is not only verbal, but also deed. Helping others to pray means you are praying yourself. And the opposite also happens. I’m singing here (reading, cleaning a candlestick), no laws are written for me. And during the service you can sit, chat, leaf through a magazine, go out for a smoke at the Six Psalms. In singing groups and communities, a very popular list of many items is “How to entertain yourself during the service” - such harmful advice in the spirit of Auster. This, they say, is our healthy professional cynicism, forgetting that professional cynicism, in principle, is never healthy - it is simply a psychological defense against overload.
I wonder what you need to protect yourself from in the choir? From “the laws are not written to me” logically follows the disdainful attitude of temple employees towards “ordinary” parishioners. Or, as they are often called, to “the people.” Have you ever been yelled at by church cleaners for not drying your feet well? Were you kicked out of the temple for violating the dress code? What’s more, you should listen to how they respond to your singing “past the cash register” in the choir, when you diligently write: “...And the lives of the next century, amen.” And they also giggle at your willows and birches, at the scarves wrapped over your trousers, at any of your mistakes. “Oh, someone asked me this today... it’s just hilarious!” And when the singers run out in a line to be anointed, not all of them realize that they are being skipped in line not at all because they are the highest caste, but only because they now have to sing the next Irmos. It is impossible not to mention one more moment, a mystical one. This is especially true for the same choir, which is not for nothing called the church’s front line of struggle. It happens that a smart, sweet, calm person suddenly, for no reason at all, behaves as if he had been bitten by a fly, and then he himself cannot understand what came over him, why he lost his temper, became rude, and was offended by an innocent remark. Yes, yes, this is precisely the notorious “temptation” that we often cannot cope with. And you yourself sin, and you lead others into the temptation of condemnation: so that’s what you are, a scarlet flower! Sooner or later, relationship problems arise in any, even very friendly choir, and not only in the choir.
And finally, on the “indecent” topic - money. In terms of destroying illusions, it is perhaps the most effective. Truly, blessed is he who does not receive a salary in church and does not in any way encounter this side of church life. But this is practically impossible. Even in the poorest or, on the contrary, successful church from the point of view of redistribution of cash flows, there will always be dissatisfied and envious people, and even with long tongues. “Either he stole it, or it was stolen from him...” Some complain that the salary is small, others look with suspicion at their father’s new car or mother’s new coat. “I donated for repairs, there were no repairs, and there are no new things, but here they are.” Well, where are the advantages of working in the temple, why not a word about them? Yes, because it is obvious and can be described briefly. Once again I will return to the story told by Bishop Anthony. The temple is the house of God. I look at God, God looks at me, and we both feel good. It’s up to you and your confessor to decide whether to work in the church or not. God help you. Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, rector of the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana at Moscow University, comments: “For two reasons at once, I would not recommend that a newly converted Christian do this (get a job in a church - editor’s note) Firstly, because few of us come to A Church with such a measure of repentance, changing one’s personal life, such as, for example, the Venerable Mary of Egypt and other great saints. We are trying to get away from some gross sins, but we still don’t know how to do almost anything in the Church.
And the main thing in the Church is prayer and communion with God. For a person who is not yet rooted in this, who has no experience of prayer and communion with God, it is very easy to replace the main thing with something earthly, which he can do well. He may be a good computer professional, which will be useful in the temple. He can be a good organizer by nature and become an assistant during hikes and pilgrimage trips. He can be a good business executive; he will be hired as an assistant to the headman. And this secondary person can begin to perceive his activity as church life, as something that needs to be done first of all. And such an aberration will occur, a distortion of spiritual vision. This is the first reason why we should advise you to simply go to church for six months, a year, a year and a half, pray, get used to the rhythm of worship, fasting, and personal prayer rules. Learn repentance.
And then little by little, step by step, begin to cleave to some external forms of church activity. Second. The Church is in a sense a community of saints, but in a sense, as the monk said, it is a crowd of repentant sinners. And if a new church person too early, not being rooted in the main things in church life, sees the infirmities of church-going people, whom he often thinks from the outside as that very community of saints, including clergy, who may not turn out to be ideal at all, then for him this can be a temptation that is difficult to bear. Someday, a few years later, when everything will be perceived differently, this may not even become a problem. And here you can almost come to leaving the Church. Therefore, I would not advise getting involved in church work and external church activities too early. Let a person first feel at home in the Church, and then engage in external work.
Job- 1) ; 2) type of work activity; 3) activity as a source of income; 4) product of labor.
Love for God is achieved through love for one's neighbor. This applies not only to relatives, but to everyone with whom we come into contact, including at work. As you know, Christians do not work, Christians serve. Work is one of the forms of serving God.
What does it mean to do any work for Christ?
- Perceive any task as entrusted by God Himself.
- Avoid sinful deeds and activities, regardless of their worldly benefits.
- Pray before starting a task, during the process and after.
Can “secular” work be a form of service to God?
He does not exclude this kind of work from the area of those areas of labor activity that can be pleasing to God and useful for moral success, on the sole grounds that his work, formally, is of a secular nature.
It is known that he brought together the main God's commandments to two: about and love for (as for oneself) (). You can show love for God and your neighbor not only by serving in or at church, but also by working, performing seemingly purely secular duties. Isn’t it possible, for example, for a believing doctor, writer, poet, historian, artist, defender of the fatherland, ecologist to glorify God, show love for one’s neighbor, working in his place, working in a way that pleases God? Obviously it can. This can be called a form of serving God. Generally speaking, there are many such types of “secular” work.
Work in the Church
Many people who have converted to Orthodoxy begin to feel burdened by “secular” work. This is not surprising, since the aspirations of non-church society are ever further away from what is acceptable and valuable for Christians. The desire to serve the Church also pushes us to look for work “at the temple.” as an employer is the topic of the conversation we begin in this issue. There are many questions here. For example, there is a widespread belief that in Orthodox organizations the efficiency of work is lower than in secular ones. Is this so, and if so, why? Are “parallel” secular Orthodox structures - hospitals, schools, workshops, etc. - necessary and possible? How does work in the Church generally differ from “secular” work?
NS correspondent Vladimir Totsky learned the opinions of the rectors of several Moscow churches about this. “If I were the directors, I would advertise: I’m looking for believing employees.” The archpriest is a master of theology, associate professor at the Moscow Theological Academy and professor at the St. Tikhon’s Theological Institute, rector of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Trinity-Golenischev. The temple is engaged in publishing activities. The parish magazine “Cyprian's Source”, books and brochures of liturgical, everyday, and scientific content are published. There is a library at the temple. There is a Sunday school where, in addition to the Law of God, icon painting, singing, handicrafts are taught, and for teenagers - iconography, church architecture, the beginnings of journalism, and a children's parish newspaper is published. The parents' club meets every Sunday.
A feature of parish life was religious processions to local shrines, the installation of memorial crosses and prayer services at them. - Father Sergius, what difficulties does an Orthodox Christian have in a secular society? - The fact that an unbelieving environment surrounds us is our reality. And you don't have to be afraid of it. In early Christianity in the Roman Empire, Christians were surrounded by pagans. Believers gathered in the catacombs at night for worship, and worked during the day. We must be able to overcome these difficulties calmly. If they laugh at you, scold you, spit in your back - and this has happened - you have to be patient. These difficulties are quite bearable. It’s not like they’re arresting or imprisoning people like before. - Are there any large employers among church organizations? - Apparently, we have very few church employer organizations. We also do not have political movements associated with Orthodoxy. If there are patriots, they are not always Orthodox. No one from the government or the Duma said: “I am an Orthodox, believer.”
Maybe only one Podberezkin. Meanwhile, if I were an employer, I would do the same thing that one German youth did many years ago. He advertised in one newspaper: “I am looking for a girl of a Christian worldview to start a family.” And if I were the director, I would give similar announcements, they say, I am looking for believing employees... I would know that a believer will not deceive me, will not steal - he fears God. I know from my father that Vladyka held the position of treasurer in the Solovetsky camp, i.e. issued salaries to NKVD officers, because they didn't trust themselves. But they knew that the Russian bishop would not steal. What are the problems in church work? Money is tight? Yes. Temptations? Yes, since our passions are raging, here is the front line, the front, where demonic forces are constantly attacking, and we are not always able to fight them off. And at the same time, some miracle happens: there is no money, but the temple is being restored. They donate boards, bricks, and concrete. The temple has its own special exchange rate. If the master says, I will do this work in the world for so much, then for you it is three times cheaper.
Because for God. After all, even a building material, a simple brick, behaves in a special way in a temple, in a residential building, a commercial establishment, or, even worse, in an entertainment venue. Museum workers, for example, are surprised: ancient vestments embroidered with gold are worse preserved if they hang on a stand than those that are in use and in which they serve. - What is your opinion about combining secular work and work in the church? - There are few such parishioners. Now a person who has a job is so busy that he simply doesn’t have the strength to go anywhere else. Now in commercial structures they demand ten times more from an employee than in Soviet times. We need people, but we can barely make ends meet. - Who exactly? - A clerk, a person in charge of relations with public organizations, a watchman, cleaners... - What difficulties does the rector of a church, a confessor, or just a priest experience? - I teach at the Theological Academy and St. Tikhon's Institute. I work on the canonization commission of the Ryazan diocese, in the Orthodox Encyclopedia. There is no question of going on a visit or just walking down the street. A modern priest is like a soldier who sits in a branched trench and runs from one gun to another, replacing an entire platoon. But we need to give communion, confess the sick, meet with schoolchildren, restorers, builders, artists... Previously, the righteous saint John of Kronstadt worked in this way - now all our priests. But if we remember the dialectic of the reverend, we live in the most favorable time. The Diveyevo nuns lived in terrible poverty and one day complained to Father Seraphim. What did he answer them? I, he says, can turn all this clay into gold, but it will not be useful to you. It’s useful for you to make ends meet. And I will pray to God that it will be so. And it’s the same with us. We served without heating for two years. Water flowed down the walls. And when a person has a lot of something, he unwittingly becomes spiritually corrupted. “In the Orthodox environment, work is perceived as a blessing from God” Hieromonk Sergius (Rybko), rector of the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit at the Lazarevskoye cemetery. The temple is engaged in publishing activities. There is a large bookstore and icon shop at the temple. The poor are given books to read. The store has a small section of lean food products. An icon-painting workshop has been created at the temple. There is a Sunday school for children with a library.
Recently, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II blessed Hierarch. Sergius for the construction of a new temple in Bibirevo. - What problems does someone who comes to work in a church face? - Not enough money - once. There are churches that are not poor, but sometimes they pay little. This is already the abbot’s fault. You can’t keep an employee in a black body, he also has a family, he has children. In general, people should live with dignity. I don’t think that God is pleased when people building or restoring live in poverty. And whoever pays decently, I know, he has workers, and the Lord sends funds. “Every worker is worthy of food,” says the Holy Scripture. If you pay enough, your employee will not look for work on the side, but will devote all his professionalism and energy to the temple. There are times when a person does not want to take a salary. I just force him, because he will work for free for the time being. And the money you pay a person is what he will earn for you. And there will never be a problem where to find a worker. - What professions are in demand in the temple? - Many. Publishing workers, programmers, accountants, economists. The economy of the temple must be modern. I believe that we ourselves must earn money. This is more correct than walking with an outstretched hand to non-church people. Whoever wants to help will bring what to ask from him. - What are the advantages of working in a church community? - A circle of like-minded people. A person works for God, for his neighbor, for the salvation of his soul. This all gives great comfort. Then the opportunity to constantly attend worship services. You need to choose a church to work in where the abbot does not send an employee to run back and forth during the service. For example, our meals are prepared in the evening. Then, constant nourishment and communication with a confessor, the opportunity to receive communion on a holiday, which does not always happen in secular work. - Father, one leader who considers himself Orthodox told me that in a commercial organization, a religious employee is a great luxury. It’s Easter, then it’s mid-sex… And he “corrupts” his colleagues with his reluctance to earn money for himself, and therefore for the company. - A person who works in a temple is less dependent on the world and its temptations. You can always find help and sympathy in the community. In the temple you serve God, and this is the main thing, since this is what a person was born for. They say that there are more temptations in the temple? It’s just that in the world something is not considered a temptation, but is considered to be ordinary life. And a person from the world comes to the temple and thinks that there are angels there...
There are, of course, problems with both the headman and the rector. We must be patient. After all, it was not without God’s providence that these people ended up in the temple. - Do you think there is a need for parallel secular Orthodox structures and organizations? - I think they are needed. Especially schools and kindergartens. Orthodox gymnasiums also have their own problems, but at least there they don’t rip your head off and don’t openly swear. In a modern school, a normal person can neither teach nor learn. It seems to me that Sunday schools should develop into Orthodox gymnasiums. It's different in hospitals. When a believer finds himself in a secular environment, they begin to “ride” him: they assign him the most difficult work, but pay him less, taking advantage of his irresponsibility. And he also cares for the patient in a different way, not just as a doctor. Because the salvation of his soul, and this is the main thing for him, depends on his attitude towards the patient. The monk said that the sick person and the one caring for him receive one reward. In the Orthodox environment, work is perceived as a blessing from God, as a joy, and not as a need to earn money. People who understand at least a little what Orthodoxy is, value believers, try to take them to work, appoint them as bosses: you can rely on them, they will not deceive, steal, or pull the blanket over themselves. And when there is a whole company of such workers, it is absolutely wonderful - one big family, a kind of monastery in the world. I know entrepreneurs who hire only believers. And I welcome the creation of Orthodox structures in any area. Back in 1989, an officer told me about an experiment in the army. They gathered Orthodox military personnel into one platoon. He immediately became the very first in all respects.
There was no hazing - this curse of the modern army. The first in studies, and in shooting, and in work. The stronger ones pulled the weaker ones up, taught them, cared for them. Any Orthodox person probably wants to either go to a monastery or work at a church. But this is not always possible. We need to develop production. Previously, Russia's monasteries provided 20 percent of the gross agricultural product. I think this is still possible. “A large parish needs people with both technical and humanitarian professions” Archpriest, rector of the Church of the Annunciation in Petrovsky Park, acting. Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for Cooperation with the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies. At the Church of the Annunciation, a sisterhood has been operating in the name of St. for more than ten years. prpmts. Elizabeth, three years old - Orthodox orphanage "Pavlin". It has its own gymnasium and a book publishing house that produces spiritual and church-historical literature. The parish newspaper “Calendar” is published monthly. - Are Orthodox structures parallel to secular ones necessary and possible, in your opinion? - Undoubtedly. And what's wrong with that? It is easier and more convenient for a parishioner to go to an Orthodox doctor who practices on the territory of the temple. I know that there are even dental offices at churches. I myself have used it more than once. When I pay a doctor, I know that the money will go to his family, his children, but a small part will go to the temple, to repair the roof, fence, and will not be transferred to some offshore zone. Orthodox orphanages already exist. A maternity hospital is necessary because it is impossible to give birth and at the same time kill unborn children under the same roof, as happens in a state institution. - What is the difference between working in the world and in the temple? - I will only talk about my arrival. In my opinion, working in the world has less social protection. The worker there depends on the whim of the employer. The owner may go bankrupt and the business may close. But all these negative aspects of working in the world are compensated by the opportunity to earn more. Mostly like-minded people work in the temple, the spiritual atmosphere is more favorable. And the operating mode is gentle.
Plus the food is actually homemade. Salaries are paid without delays. - But not everyone can find work in their specialty at the temple... - Few parents prepare and educate their children to work in the temple. But in a large parish, such as ours, we need people from technical and humanitarian professions, and even the military. Sunday school needs experienced teachers. Publishing workers, journalists, sellers will always find work, because... Now almost every church publishes something. We publish a monthly newspaper with 50 pages. We publish books: lives, prayer books, just rare books... Good artists, icon painters, restorers are always welcome. The church needs builders, painters, plasterers, plumbers, cooks, and drivers (we have our own garage). We need musicians and singers. - There is an opinion that those working in the temple have many temptations. - There are enough temptations everywhere. Are there fewer temptations in the army? What about the police, what about the driver? Maybe in the temple every match is seen as a log. By contrast, so to speak. - Usually in the church structure it is not easy to take initiative, because... many questions revolve around the blessing of the abbot or the lack of funds in the church treasury. - It’s exactly the same in the world. And presidents depend on the adopted budget.
And there are plenty of opportunities to show initiative: issues of catechesis, Sunday school, restoration of the temple... We have created the world's largest Russian Orthodox library on the Internet. Open it, anyone who wants to read it. True, many initiatives need enthusiasts and cannot always be rewarded financially. - But the greatest value, probably, is a good worker, conscientious, capable of making decisions, and committed. You can find money for repairs, but a specialist... - There is a shortage of personnel everywhere. Even in government. But a specialist needs to pay a lot. My team is good, but if the parish had more funds, I would have assembled a stronger team. Not all parishioners are able to sacrifice their well-being and go to work in the temple.
Source: Magazine "Neskuchny Sad"
To church - to work?
In order to be able to go to church not just once a week, but every day, eat fast, talk with fellow believers “about spiritual things,” some newly converted Orthodox Christians are even ready to leave a well-paid job and become a church choirboy, reader, watchman, cleaner... But will the work bring does the temple benefit the soul? After all, the church has its own “temptations”.
In one of his books he talked about a peasant who loved to come to the temple and spend long hours in it. When asked what he was doing all this time, the peasant answered: I look at God, God looks at me, and we both feel good. For people raised in the faith from childhood, being in church - at a church service or simply for prayer - is an organic part of life, but, perhaps, only beginners experience delight from this, bordering on the gospel “it’s good for us to be here.” More than ten years have passed since I joined the church, but I still remember how I didn’t want to leave the church after the service, how I was drawn to go there every time I was nearby. I remember envy - in a good sense, if, of course, envy can be in a good sense - towards all the “workers”: choristers, candle makers, prosphora makers, even the church watchman. They don’t need to leave, they “belong” in this wonderful world, smelling of wax and incense, in its very core.
Surely every neophyte, even if only in theory, had this thought: I want it too. I want to work for God - and for this particular temple as well. By the way, church employees try not to call their work work. “We work for the Lord” - as if emphasizing that secular work is exclusively for the benefit of one’s pocket. It’s clear that a church salary (if there is one, of course) is just a modest material addition to spiritual joy, but the approach is still strange. Almost all work is done for other people, and everything we do for others conscientiously and with love, we do for the Lord. So I still dare to call church work work. “Work for the Lord with fear and rejoice in him with trembling” - these words of the psalm are not only about spiritual work, but also about the simplest physical work. As they say, be careful what you wish for - you may get it. I taught Sunday school for two years and sang in the choir for seven years, so I know parish life from the inside. And I can safely say: work in the temple, with the exception of some nuances, is practically no different from any other work. Moreover, if we take into account the spiritual specificity of this work, there is something in it that makes it not very useful for immature and weak souls.
And this is not just my opinion. It is a well-known fact that the archimandrite was not very willing to bless his worldly spiritual children for parish service. How does a person who has just touched it imagine the “inside” of the church world? Approximately like a certain branch of the Kingdom of God on earth. And this is not entirely an illusion; rather, the point is in the so-called invoking grace, familiar to every beginner. During this amazing time, without any effort, we notice all the good things and do not see the negative point-blank - the soul simply pushes it away from itself. And there would be no way to extend this period - but we so want to go deeper into the church environment, and we don’t even bother to think that being closer to the temple does not necessarily mean being closer to God. When reality does not correspond to what was expected, it is always unpleasant and offensive. No one expects unearthly joys from ordinary worldly work. It provides a means of livelihood, allows you to communicate with people, and if it also gives you pleasure, what more could you ask for? And even if something is wrong with your job, you can always change it, the world will not collapse because of it. The church is another matter. Using an anonymous statement known in the Orthodox RuNet, “the main task of a person who has seen church life from the inside is to make sure that people with a delicate spiritual organization do not find out about its content.” Is it really that bad? Of course no.
It’s just that everyone who wants to work in the church must be aware of how capable they are of fighting what the church ladies, pursing their lips, call “temptation.” As sad as it may be, that part of the Body of Christ, which is living people, is sick - because we are all sick, physically, mentally and spiritually. Even those glorified as saints during their lifetime were ordinary people with their own shortcomings, sins, and vices, with which they more or less successfully fought. So we bring our worldly troubles to church. Will a newcomer, plunged into the depths of the parish, be able to understand this, discard the superficial, unusual for real spiritual life - how we accept a loved one with all his shortcomings? Or will he say, striking a pose: “No, I don’t need such a church, would it be better to have “God-in-the-soul”? The first thing you encounter when you come to work in a church is that the parish resembles a giant communal apartment (especially if it is a small parish). In it, everyone knows everything about everyone. And what they don’t know, they will guess. At first, this is even pleasing, since the process of becoming “one of our own” is impossible without the accumulation of internal information. Dating, establishing relationships, conversations, more and more frank... And at some point you realize that it would be better for you not to know all this.
Even if there is no refectory in the church, you still can’t escape these conversations - they will catch up both in the vestibule and on the bench. Many believers who often visit the temple notice over time that reverence gradually disappears somewhere. It’s not that there is complete indifference or some kind of blasphemous and cynical thoughts (although such things happen), but there is no longer that spiritual heat and trembling that once covered at the first exclamation: “Blessed is the Kingdom...”. Routine prayer work, which only occasionally explodes with real living feelings. What then can we say about those who actually work in church every or almost every day and during the service - so that the service can be performed? Well, let's not touch the priest, but what about the rest? The singers sing, the readers read, the candle makers look after the candlesticks, the candle shop workers take notes. When should they pray? Especially singers often complain: what a prayer, if only I could hit the notes, so I’ll go to another church and pray there. It would be good if the priest explained that prayer is not only verbal, but also deed. Helping others to pray means you are praying yourself. And the opposite also happens. I’m singing here (reading, cleaning a candlestick), no laws are written for me. And during the service you can sit, chat, leaf through a magazine, go out for a smoke at the Six Psalms. In singing groups and communities, a very popular list of many items is “How to entertain yourself during the service” - such harmful advice in the spirit of Auster. This, they say, is our healthy professional cynicism, forgetting that professional cynicism, in principle, is never healthy - it is simply a psychological defense against overload.
I wonder what you need to protect yourself from in the choir? From “the laws are not written to me” logically follows the disdainful attitude of temple employees towards “ordinary” parishioners. Or, as they are often called, to “the people.” Have you ever been yelled at by church cleaners for not drying your feet well? Were you kicked out of the temple for violating the dress code? What’s more, you should listen to how they respond to your singing “past the cash register” in the choir, when you diligently write: “...And the lives of the next century, amen.” And they also giggle at your willows and birches, at the scarves wrapped over your trousers, at any of your mistakes. “Oh, someone asked me this today... it’s just hilarious!” And when the singers run out in a line to be anointed, not all of them realize that they are being skipped in line not at all because they are the highest caste, but only because they now have to sing the next Irmos. It is impossible not to mention one more moment, a mystical one. This is especially true for the same choir, which is not for nothing called the church’s front line of struggle. It happens that a smart, sweet, calm person suddenly, for no reason at all, behaves as if he had been bitten by a fly, and then he himself cannot understand what came over him, why he lost his temper, became rude, and was offended by an innocent remark. Yes, yes, this is precisely the notorious “temptation” that we often cannot cope with. And you yourself sin, and you lead others into the temptation of condemnation: so that’s what you are, a scarlet flower! Sooner or later, relationship problems arise in any, even very friendly choir, and not only in the choir.
And finally, on the “indecent” topic - money. In terms of destroying illusions, it is perhaps the most effective. Truly, blessed is he who does not receive a salary in church and does not in any way encounter this side of church life. But this is practically impossible. Even in the poorest or, on the contrary, successful church from the point of view of redistribution of cash flows, there will always be dissatisfied and envious people, and even with long tongues. “Either he stole it, or it was stolen from him...” Some complain that the salary is small, others look with suspicion at their father’s new car or mother’s new coat. “I donated for repairs, there were no repairs, and there are no new things, but here they are.” Well, where are the advantages of working in the temple, why not a word about them? Yes, because it is obvious and can be described briefly. Once again I will return to the story told by Bishop Anthony. The temple is the house of God. I look at God, God looks at me, and we both feel good. It’s up to you and your confessor to decide whether to work in the church or not. God help you. Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, rector of the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana at Moscow University, comments: “For two reasons at once, I would not recommend that a newly converted Christian do this (get a job in a church - editor’s note) Firstly, because few of us come to A Church with such a measure of repentance, changing one’s personal life, such as, for example, the Venerable Mary of Egypt and other great saints. We are trying to get away from some gross sins, but we still don’t know how to do almost anything in the Church.
And the main thing in the Church is prayer and communion with God. For a person who is not yet rooted in this, who has no experience of prayer and communion with God, it is very easy to replace the main thing with something earthly, which he can do well. He may be a good computer professional, which will be useful in the temple. He can be a good organizer by nature and become an assistant during hikes and pilgrimage trips. He can be a good business executive; he will be hired as an assistant to the headman. And this secondary person can begin to perceive his activity as church life, as something that needs to be done first of all. And such an aberration will occur, a distortion of spiritual vision. This is the first reason why we should advise you to simply go to church for six months, a year, a year and a half, pray, get used to the rhythm of worship, fasting, and personal prayer rules. Learn repentance.
And then little by little, step by step, begin to cleave to some external forms of church activity. Second. The Church is in a sense a community of saints, but in a sense, as the monk said, it is a crowd of repentant sinners. And if a new church person too early, not being rooted in the main things in church life, sees the infirmities of church-going people, whom he often thinks from the outside as that very community of saints, including clergy, who may not turn out to be ideal at all, then for him this can be a temptation that is difficult to bear. Someday, a few years later, when everything will be perceived differently, this may not even become a problem. And here you can almost come to leaving the Church. Therefore, I would not advise getting involved in church work and external church activities too early. Let a person first feel at home in the Church, and then engage in external work.
"Brothers and sisters! For the third month I have been reading advertisements, sending out resumes, going to interviews - everything is useless. I am modest, hardworking, pedantic, and most importantly, a believer. What should I do? Modern office life is not compatible with saving the soul.”
“Dear forum members! My heart aches for the children. They were happy with their marital situation, but they were in trouble with their jobs. Wherever we go, there is deadening cynicism. Even in government institutions - libraries, schools, hospitals - everyone is angry and always dissatisfied. What should I do?
“Brothers in Christ! Help an elderly man who openly professes his faith find a job. Nowhere does this happen for more than six months. Experienced driver."
These are quotes from Orthodox forums. I read and think: I wouldn’t take those either. They paralyze my entire work process.
“Blessed is the man who does not follow the counsel of the wicked” - many “Orthodox unemployed” arm themselves with the first line of the Psalter, like a football fan with a branded scarf. Here a colleague at the next table tells vulgar jokes, there the boss is an ethnic Muslim, here it’s basically a banking structure, they deceive people, but I can’t.
With each dismissal, there is more and more “deadly cynicism” around, and pride knocks on the heart more and more insistently. In the end, the applicant for spiritually certified vacancies responds to advertisements in the Orthodox media - but this is not all, thank God! Colleagues at work, despite their headscarves and beards, are still goats in sheep's clothing: mother is always grumbling and sees every penny in someone else's salary; Father, although a kind person, does not leave social networks; the choir director has just returned from Egypt, all inclusive; and there is no place to put marks on the choir members themselves.
So I called the rector I just knew and asked about his personnel policy, and he dumbfounded me with my own words:
You know, I hire Orthodox Christians very carefully. Sometimes a passive atheist is better than an active believer. Here recently I came across such a barbudos - we barely parted.
What do you tell your spiritual children when they ask about employment?
I advise you not to work in the porn industry, at a distillery, not to sell dietary supplements, and to carefully choose your application in the banking sector, marketing, journalism, and law enforcement agencies. But the most important thing is to under no circumstances look for “a job for the Orthodox.”
There is no such thing as godly work. Life can be godly. And you can live it in any workplace, except the obviously world-eating one. I know Orthodox prison guards who deliberately went to work in a colony “because we are needed there more.” I know journalists who, even at risk of professional burnout, remain believers. I even know one marketer whose faith not only does not hinder him from working in this profession, but, on the contrary, helps him.
Christ didn’t forbid traders from shouting: “Ripe cherries! Ripe cherry!" - if the cherries they sell are really ripe, says the Orthodox marketer.
What if the cherry is ripe, but not sweet?
I only go to work where it is ripe and sweet. Promoting a truly high-quality product is a professional pleasure, believe me.
Yes, I believe, I believe. In general, I believe that all kinds of moral and ethical burdens only accelerate career growth - unless, of course, you engage in “spiritual harassment” towards your colleagues. First, having to bear the additional costs of faith is a great reason to do better. In order for others to put up with the fact that you are not quite like everyone else, you need to become indispensable. Then you can ask your boss for a day off for a great holiday - he won’t refuse. And even with your office neighbors you can agree not to utter more than three swear words per minute - they will understand and forgive.
Secondly, it is only in post-Soviet films that adventurers and cynics achieve everything, and people with guidelines are mattresses and mumblers. In fact, in a stable society, only those who have character have brilliant and secure careers, and to have character, you need to have values. A person for whom there are “dos” and “don’ts” has a much better chance of succeeding than a predator ready for anything, armed only with his own meanness. Especially if these “dos” and “don’ts” are so strong that they are not noticeable to others.
For some reason, the “Orthodox unemployed” are very afraid of the economy. Mechanisms for making a profit seem sinful to them in themselves. This is a completely irrational fear that is high time to get rid of. Business is just another opportunity to take action. Money is the same language as the one with which I am writing this text now. He can also destroy, but he can also create. Re-read the Gospel - is Christ afraid of the economy? Almost all the parables - about the talents, about the winegrower, about the unfaithful steward - operate with the difficult economic realities of that time. It is as if today the Savior taught us using the words “dividends”, “venture investments”, “volatility”.
It is not the place that stains a person, but the person who soils the place. It is not much more difficult to destroy a soul in a monastery than behind the counter of a jewelry store. Meaningful work aimed at positively transforming reality is the entire criterion when selecting a job for any normal person. The only advantage of an Orthodox Christian is that, due to underdeveloped ambition, he seems to be obliged to see great meaning even in the most ordinary work.
In short, as modern youth say, don’t blow your mind. Ninety percent of vacancies on the labor market will definitely suit you. And if you think otherwise, perhaps it’s just time to go to confession.