Orthodox magazine for children "My joy" (Donetsk diocese). The principle of involving partners in the implementation of the project. The current state of Orthodox periodicals

Project passport

Project name	Literary-Orthodox lecture hall "To the origins of morality through Orthodox book»
	Rylova Ekaterina Leonidovna, head of the innovation and methodological department of the MBUK "Kirovo-Chepetsk RTSBS"
What problem does the project solve?	Problems of accessibility of Orthodox literature to readers of the Kirovo-Chepetsky district, informing the population on Orthodoxy issues.
Objective of the project	Orthodox education of the population of the Kirovo-Chepetsk region through the recommendation of the best examples of literature.
Organizer	Municipal Budgetary Institution of Culture "Kirovo-Chepetsk District Centralized Library System"
Target audience of the project (for whom it is intended)	The population of the Kirovo-Chepetsky district.
Main activities	1. The origins of human happiness (acquaintance with the concept of "Orthodox literature"). 2. With love and gratitude (female images in Orthodox literature). 3. The most important holiday of the year is Easter. 4. On the threshold of the temple (about the Velikoretsk procession). 5. A school where they teach to be kind (the image of a teenager in Orthodox literature). 6. My fortress (family in Orthodox literature). 7. Outpost (on Faith and Love in Orthodox Literature).
Implementation period	March - August 2011.
Outcome	1. Enlightenment of the population of the Kirovo-Chepetsk region through holding mass events with the showing of Orthodox films. 2. Conducting 7 lectures. 3. Acquisition of publications on Orthodox subjects for libraries. 4. Strengthening partnerships with the Missionary Educational Department of the Vyatka Diocese, the library of the Sunday School and representatives of the Church of All Saints in Kirovo-Chepetsk, the Charitable Foundation of Seraphim of Sarov. 5. Formation on the basis of libraries of a network of educational departments of Orthodox literature.

The project of the literary-Orthodox lecture hall "To the origins of morality through the Orthodox book"

Spiritual and moral education of the population of the Kirovo-Chepetsk district of the Kirov region still remains one of the main activities of the libraries of the MBUK Kirovo-Chepetsk RCBS. The urgent task of today is the formation of a single information space in the spiritual and moral direction, and, in this regard, the organization on the basis of the central regional library of a methodological center of information on this subject.

To solve this problem of Orthodox education, a project of a literary Orthodox lecture hall “To the origins of morality through an Orthodox book” was developed.

Objective of the project

Orthodox education of the population of the Kirovo-Chepetsk region through the recommendation of the best examples of literature.

Project objectives

Education of the population through video lectures in 7 libraries of the Kirovo-Chepetsky district;
Formation of thematic collections of spiritual and moral literature in order to model their own unique fund of Orthodox literature in rural branch libraries;
Consolidation of the resources of the Kirovo-Chepetsk Central District Library, the Kirov State Regional Scientific Library. A.I. Herzen, the Missionary and Educational Department of the Vyatka Diocese, representatives of the All Saints Church in Kirovo-Chepetsk, the Seraphim of Sarov Charitable Foundation for the implementation of the project;
Creating public outcry and attracting a large number of readers in the villages of the region to this project.

The reason for the significance of the project

The task of all libraries is to help revive the best national spiritual traditions in society. This can be done only by systematically recommending to the reader the best examples of spiritual and moral literature, educating the reader from a young age of artistic taste and reader culture. Until there is a unified concept of spiritual and moral education in the Kirov region, holding lectures is one of the possible ways Orthodox education of the population of the Kirovo-Chepetsk region.

When and by whom was the project implemented?

Project implementation period - March-September 2011.

The project "To the origins of morality through the Orthodox book" was implemented by the MBUK "Kirovo-Chepetsk RTSBS", the Kirov State Regional Scientific Library named after. A.I. Herzen, the Missionary Educational Department of the Vyatka Diocese, representatives of the All Saints Church in Kirovo-Chepetsk, the Seraphim of Sarov Charitable Foundation.

resource base

Administrative resource

A cooperation agreement was signed between the MUK "Kirovo-Chepetskaya RTSBS" and the parish of the All Saints Church.

financial resource

Equipment. Book and electronic products.

equipment identification	price, rub.	Quantity, pcs.	Total, rub.	Available, rub.	Required, rub.
Projector	24 925		24 925		24 925
Portable screen	5 075		5 075		5 075
Purchasing Literature			20 000	20 000
Purchasing films on electronic media			4 000	4 000
Total:			54 000	24 000	30 000

Name of cost item

Cost, rub.

Quantity per month, pcs.

Total, rub.

Available, rub.

Required, rub.

Xerox paper

White

color

Total:

440

Human Resource

Personnel resources of the Kirovo-Chepetsk Central District Library: E.L. Rylova - head of the department for the formation and use of a single fund (acquisition of literature and DVD films).
Human Resources of the Missionary Educational Department of the Vyatka Diocese: teacher of the Church in the name of the Holy Great Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia N.V. Demidov (speech at training seminars).
Personnel resources of the Church of All Saints in Kirovo-Chepetsk: Orthodox missionary - catechist L.A. Zoroina and archivist V.P. Plotnikova (local history Orthodox education among the population of the Kirovo-Chepetsk region).

material resource

For the implementation of the project were attracted:

Kirov State Regional Scientific Library. A.I. Herzen (acquisition of the Orthodox magazine "Foma", "Family and School", the weekly "Vyatka Diocesan Bulletin";
Donations to the fund of the MUK "Kirovo-Chepetsk RCBS" of the Orthodox missionary of the Church of All Saints in Kirovo-Chepetsk Zorina L.A., employees of the Missionary and Educational Department of the Vyatka diocese, readers of the Orthodox library "Blagovest" in Kirov. Priest Fr. John of the Holy Trinity Church c. Kstinino signed the Kstininsky library for the children's Orthodox magazine Svechechka.

Methodological resource

Repin I.V., an employee of the Missionary Educational Department of the Vyatka diocese provided a large methodological resource on Orthodox education: electronic presentations about Orthodox holidays, scripts for holidays, speeches at parent meetings, films about Orthodoxy, etc.; illustrative material: posters, calendars, promotional products of theological schools, lists of books recommended for reading by the ROC, etc.

Temporary resource

The staff of the Sunday school library provided Orthodox thematic collections of literature for temporary use.

The principle of involving partners in the implementation of the project

Taking into account the results of the study on the study of reader demand for literature of spiritual and moral content, incl. Orthodox literature, in various age groups, the Kirovo-Chepetsk Central Regional Library entered into an Agreement on cooperation with the local Orthodox religious organization of the parish of the Church of All Saints in the city of Kirovo-Chepetsk. As part of an agreement with the arrival of the Church of All Saints, employees of the Sunday School in Kirovo-Chepetsk formed a thematic selection of literature "The Orthodox Family" for the libraries of the Kirovo-Chepetsk RTSBS.

Within the framework of the joint project "Golden Shelf" from the Kirov Regional Scientific Universal Library named after I.I. A.I. Herzen, for the first time, the Orthodox magazine “Foma”, “Family and School”, “Vyatka Diocesan Bulletin” entered the RCBS.

Given the Orthodox competence of the specialists of the Messianic Education Department, their involvement has become important for speaking at the training library seminars.

The involvement of representatives of the Church of All Saints in the city of Kirovo-Chepetsk made it possible to conduct local history Orthodox education among the population in the libraries of the Kirovo-Chepetsk region not declared in the project.

Project progress

The lecture hall is designed to solve the problems of accessibility of Orthodox literature to the readers of the region, informing the population on Orthodoxy issues. These issues are especially acute in the villages of the region where there are no churches. During March - August 2011 in the rural libraries of the Kirovo-Chepetsk region, classes were held in an interesting and accessible form for various groups of readers. Each lesson was accompanied by films - winners of the International Orthodox Sretensky Film Festival. In parallel, meetings were held in the libraries with the Orthodox missionary of the Church of All Saints in the city of Kirovo-Chepetsk Zorina L.A., archivist V.P. Plotnikova. The purpose of these meetings was local history Orthodox education of the population of the Kirovo-Chepetsk region: the story and display of electronic presentations about churches, priests of the Kirovo-Chepetsk region.

As part of the project, thematic collections of spiritual and moral literature were sent to rural libraries in order to form their own unique fund of Orthodox literature in rural libraries. Information about the Serafim Sarovsky Charitable Foundation and the project of the Kirovo-Chepetsk Regional Library was posted on the website of the Government of the Kirov Region.

Work on the project "To the origins of morality through the Orthodox book" began in March 2011 in the Kirovo-Chepetsk Central District Hospital. At the seminar for rural librarians (22 employees), N.V. Demidov.

In her speech, Nadezhda Vasilievna highlighted actual problems spiritual and moral education and upbringing in the work of a modern rural library. At the seminar, Nadezhda Vasilievna presented presentation lessons for use at parent-teacher meetings, class hours. Every word, every frame of the presentation found a warm response from the audience.

From March 21 to April 1, 2011 at the Vyatka State University for the Humanities, with the participation of the clergy of the Vyatka diocese, regular courses were held for future teachers of the subject "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture". They were attended by the librarian of the Prosnitskaya branch library E.L. Kochurova. According to her, her speech at the regional seminar N.V. Demidova.

The innovation and methodological department of the Central District Hospital has developed a methodology for conducting the lesson “The Beauty of Old Vyatka” with elements of heuristic activity for a series of activities for children under the general name “School where they teach to be kind”.

Thanks to publishing products, libraries help readers navigate this information flow:

Information digests "Spring Orthodox holidays", "Summer Orthodox holidays", "Autumn Orthodox holidays", "Winter Orthodox holidays";
Poster information about the appointment of Archbishop Mark as Vladyka of the Vyatka and Sloboda diocese;
"Holy Protectors of Russia: Information Digest";
"Day of Slavic writing and culture" - guidelines;
"Family is joy: July 8 is the Day of Love, Family and Fidelity" - booklet;
A set of bookmarks for books dedicated to Orthodox literature;
In each issue of the newspaper "Chitalka" children wrote about the temples of their village;
An advertisement for the Vyatka Theological School was distributed through the libraries of the Kirovo-Chepetsky District.

The Central District Hospital and the library of the Sunday School of the All Saints Church were formed and sent to the rural libraries of the district of the topic selection of Orthodox literature: “Bright Faces Ancient Russia"(Prosnitsa Library), "Orthodox Shrines" (Pasegovskaya, Karinsky, Polomskaya libraries), "Family - a small church" and "Your Orthodox home" (Fateevskaya, Filippovskaya libraries).

As part of the project "To the origins of morality through an Orthodox book" of the Kirovo-Chepetsk RTSBS, agreements were concluded with the Orthodox publishing houses "Satis" and the Danilovsky Monastery for the purchase of literature and DVD films. Thus, the library system received 289 copies. books and 33 electronic editions of Orthodox subjects.

Activities for 7 libraries announced in the project:

In the framework of the project, the Kstininsky Library hosted the event “With love and gratitude”. Books were presented that told about the distinctive role of women in the Orthodox family, about the power of motherly prayer, about nuns, about the wives of Orthodox priests. In with. Kstinino has a temple, so here we can talk about a fairly stable interest in this topic on the part of the parishioners.
In the Philippovskaya Library - "Outpost: on Faith and Love in Orthodox Literature". Since the event was attended not only by adults, but also by teenagers, books were presented that may be of interest to young people: Voznesenskaya Yu. “My Posthumous Adventures”, Starikova E. “What Parents Don’t Know”, Kozlov M. “Children’s Catechism”, Zorin K. "What is hidden from the young." The film so impressed the audience, most of whom were teenagers, that after a while a young reader of the Philippovskaya Library wrote a review about the film to the regional library newspaper Reader.
A lesson with elements of heuristic activity “School where they teach to be kind. Activities with children. The children were presented with a book by N.V. Demidova "Old Vyatka", then they were given coloring books based on this book and were asked to illustrate it using their favorite colors. For adults - "The origins of human happiness (acquaintance with the concept of "Orthodox literature")" low level education of the population in this subject, librarian Porubova T.N. offered readers information digests "Autumn Orthodox holidays", "Winter Orthodox holidays", "Spring Orthodox holidays", "Summer Orthodox holidays", compiled by the innovation and methodological department of the regional library.
For readers of the Prosnitsa Children's Library, a methodologist for working with children from the Kirovo-Chepetsk Regional Library conducted a lesson with elements of heuristic activity “A school where they teach to be kind. Lesson with children” The children were presented with the book by N.V. Demidova "Old Vyatka", then they were given coloring books based on this book and were asked to illustrate it using their favorite colors. The children were shown the cartoon "Basil the Blessed".
Very relevant, timely, according to readers, was the event "On the Threshold of the Temple" in the Klyuchevskaya Library. There is no temple in Klyuchi village, but thanks to the active position of rural librarians Ulanova V.M., Gorkovchuk I.A., the population of the village annually goes on excursions to the Orthodox churches of the region. Among the readers of the Klyuchevskaya Library there is a great demand for Orthodox literature. After the event, a queue was created for the book "Temple Behavior". Books by Yu. Voznesenskaya “Yuliana. Or dangerous games”, “Yuliana, or the game of kidnapping” were taken by parents for their teenage children. Of great interest were the books of Osipov A.I. "Love, marriage, family: conversation with adults", "Raising a child in Russian traditions". The event was attended by the head teacher of the Klyuchevskaya school, who proposed to draw up a schedule of such video lectures for students for the academic year (2011-2012).
In the Polomsky library-regional museum of the family, a lesson was held for readers "The most important holiday of the year - Easter". After the event, the readers came up and thanked for the books, for the shown film. Head kindergarten With. Paul, who was present at the event, invited her to join her team in September with a similar event. The most surprising was the confession of one of the readers, who had never gone to church, there was no need in him, according to him, such a need: “We must go to church!”, “We must take the Bible and read it!” (There is no church in the village of Pol.)
The Karin Library hosted a meeting with readers dedicated to the theme of the family in Orthodoxy “My fortress: the family in Orthodox literature”. The meeting was attended not only by adults, but also by young people. The books of Sukhinina N. "White Crow", "Practical Encyclopedia of the Orthodox Christian" aroused great interest among adults. Young people were interested in the books of Avdeenko E. "How to get married properly", Torika A. "Dimon", "Once again about love", Voznesenskaya "Lancelot's Pilgrimage", and "The Way of Cassandra". The conversation covered issues of the correct choice of the future spouse, the role of men and women in the family (in the past and present), in the upbringing of children.

Within the framework of the project “To the origins of morality through an Orthodox book”, the readers were shown films-winners of the International Orthodox Festival “Meeting”: “Forpost”, “What people live for”, “Crystal Boy”, m / f for children “About St. Basil the Blessed”, "Smart granddaughter"

Work in this direction was carried out not only in the libraries declared in the project. Rural librarians asked to speak in libraries not included in the project. Thus, evenings of sacred music, hours of Orthodoxy, meetings with priests of the temples of the All Saints Deanery were held in the libraries.

In total, 1028 people took part in various Orthodox events organized and conducted by the libraries of the district and employees of the All Saints Church in Kirovo-Chepetsk. Orthodox films and literature aroused great interest among the inhabitants of the Kirovo-Chepetsk region. Taking into account the peculiarity of Orthodox literature - the desire to re-read, analyze, compare - great joy was given to the inhabitants by the fact that Orthodox literature remains in rural libraries. After each performance, people came up, thanked, asked to come back.

From teachers of kindergartens and schools of the district, proposals were received to go with similar classes to pedagogical teams, to class hours for students.

Teachers of the city of Kirovo-Chepetsk became interested in Orthodox events for children “A school where they teach to be kind”. So for the sports school for children and youth of the Olympic reserve, for the city club "Chaika" events were held that were highly appreciated by teachers and children. The peculiarity of this audience is that many of these children are included in the so-called. "Special Attention Group" These are children from large families, from families conditioned by pedagogical neglect, inattention to their upbringing.

The project “To the origins of morality through an Orthodox book” showed that readers are interested not only in Orthodox fiction. They are interested in practical information: how to pray, take communion, light candles and much more. Now readers of the six libraries declared in the project can find on the shelves the books “How to Pray Properly?”, “How to Prepare for Confession and Communion”, “How to Get Married Properly”, “How to Pray and Behave in Church”, “Children’s Catechism . 200 Children's Questions and Non-Children's Answers About Faith, Church, and Christian Life", "1380 useful tips priests to their parishioners”, “First steps in Orthodox church”, “Practical Encyclopedia of the Orthodox Christian”, etc. Many readers admit that they do not attend churches or do not do it as often as they would like because they are not sure of the correctness of their behavior in the temple. Such literature will help many to acquire the necessary knowledge, instill confidence that their behavior in the temple will be correct. Among the acquired literature, there are many books that librarians and teachers can use to conduct various conversations, both with children and with parents.

So, for children of primary school age, the Prosnitsa Children's Library held a lesson "The Wisdom of a Russian Fairy Tale." After answering the questions of the fairy tale quiz, the children colored fragments of various folk tales. A paper sheet was prepared for the lesson, on which the name of the event was placed. Beams radiated from it in different directions. Each beam was signed: “kindness”, “mutual assistance”, “love”, “beauty”, “ridicule stupidity”, “care of the elders over the younger”, etc. When talking with children, they placed colored leaves next to specific rays. The result was the conclusion that in a huge number of Russian folk tales All of the above categories are included. And all these categories are concentrated in the Russian folk tale.

In rural libraries, kindergartens and schools were held:

Cognitive and creative hour "Easter Souvenir", where children under the guidance of a librarian made Easter baskets (Kstinin Library),
"The brightest holiday" (Fateev Library-Museum) - various crafts were presented at the exhibition of children's creative works, children watched the presentation about Easter with pleasure.

The event dedicated to the 66th anniversary of the Victory in the Veteran clubs aroused great interest. The event was based on stories from the collection Miracles on the Roads of War. The collection "Miracles on the Roads of War" - short stories about the miraculous manifestations of the power of God. Such stories are based on specific facts, testified by eyewitnesses in the handwritten memoirs of war veterans and their relatives, in oral stories recorded by the compilers of the collection, as well as evidence from other sources. Miracles of God took place on the fronts and roads of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

“Acquaintance with facts of this kind,” notes Archimandrite Veniamin (Milov), “has a deep religious and educational significance. He comforts the reader with the faith of the common, pours into his soul a whole stream of new holy experiences and sanctifies truly living water verbal fertile energy.

Readers expressed their opinion on the books and gave examples from their own lives and cases from the lives of other people. They wished to hold such events more often and invite clergy to them. By the bright holiday of Easter in the club "Veteran" a lesson "The Feast of Spring and Kindness" was held

Project results

The project "To the origins of morality through an Orthodox book" was successful.

The goal of the project - Orthodox education of the inhabitants of the Kirovo-Chepetsk region - was achieved.

All the tasks set have been solved: the problems of accessibility of Orthodox literature to the readers of the district, informing the population on Orthodoxy issues. A public outcry was created and attracted a large number of readers in the villages of the district in this project.

The project "To the origins of morality through the Orthodox book" mobilized the work of the Central Regional Library in this direction and allowed to launch a mechanism for the timely response of library resources to changes. (Creating thematic collections of Orthodox literature, publishing products on Orthodox topics, developing a methodology for holding events for children).

Concrete results have been obtained that allow us to speak about the relevance of the project “To the origins of morality through an Orthodox book”: 7 lectures were held for 258 people. In addition, using the equipment purchased under the project, an additional 8 events of Orthodox themes for children (158 people) were held. 289 copies were purchased for libraries. books, 33 Orthodox films. Received as a gift from Orthodox missionaries and the Orthodox library "Blagovest" in Kirov 47 books and 40 brochures. Kstinin library priest Fr. John of the Holy Trinity Church c. Kstinino signed for the children's Orthodox magazine Svechechka. Close cooperation has been established with the missionaries of the Church of All Saints in Kirovo-Chepetsk, with the Orthodox publishing house "Satis", with the library of the Sunday School of the Church of All Saints, continued cooperation with the staff of the Messianic Education Department. As part of the project, consultations for rural librarians were constantly held. Positive feedback, exhibitions, seminars, events - all this allows us to conclude that the project "To the origins of morality through the Orthodox book" is effective, its sustainability and prospects.

The need for such meetings among the population of the region turned out to be very high. The project showed a growing interest in Orthodox literature not only among the elderly, but also among people aged 30-45, teenagers. People share their impressions about books, films with each other, with librarians, because Everyone has problems that Orthodox literature raises. This is the upbringing of children, family relationships, problems of mutual understanding in society. And such video lectures can help in finding ways to solve these problems.

Such a form as a video lecture helps to promote the best examples of Orthodox literature to the reader's environment. The showing of Orthodox films and discussions about Orthodox books significantly increased the distribution of Orthodox literature. One of the working moments in the implementation of the project, which has become unexpected for us, is the activation of interest in such a topic in those settlements where there is no temple (the village of Klyuchi, the village of Filippovo, the village of Pol, the village of Chuvash, the village of Markovtsy). The number of wishes for new meetings, requests for Orthodox literature in these settlements were very high. The project "To the origins of morality through the Orthodox book" showed that the Orthodox reader of the Kirovo-Chepetsk region needs its own library fund, and for its functioning, it is necessary to develop a methodology for the work of rural libraries on Orthodox education. And one of the logical links of this was the creation of a model of the fund of the Orthodox department in the libraries of the region during the implementation of the next project - the network of "Educational departments of Orthodox culture".

1. Introduction

With the blessing of His Holiness, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, for the first time in the history of our Church, this anniversary year we are holding an Orthodox Press Congress.

The founders of the Congress are the Publishing Council of the Moscow Patriarchate, other Synodal Departments, the Ministry of Press of the Russian Federation, the Union of Journalists of the Russian Federation, Moscow State University, the Orthodox Society "Radonezh" and a number of other organizations. As of today, about 450 people from ten countries and 71 dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church, most of all from Russia (about 380 people from 52 dioceses), then from Ukraine (from 12 different dioceses), Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Latvia, Estonia and from the Berlin diocese. Among the participants are representatives of the diocesan media, secular media writing on church topics, Orthodox journalists from the Local Orthodox Churches.

The goals and objectives of the Congress are:
- consolidation of the efforts of Orthodox journalists in the matter of Orthodox education and familiarization of the general public with the position of the Church on the main issues of social and political life;
- work to improve the qualifications of Orthodox journalists;
- strengthening the cooperation of the Church with secular journalists writing on church topics;
- creation of the "Union of Orthodox Journalists of Russia" and the formation of its regional branches.

We intend to consider at the Congress such aspects of journalism as freedom of speech and information in the modern world, the independence and responsibility of the press, issues of journalistic ethics from an Orthodox point of view.

Our congress is taking place in the jubilee year, on the threshold of the third millennium from the Nativity of Christ, so we inevitably have to not only talk about current problems, but at the same time keep in mind a broader perspective, sum up the results of a wider period of time. The last 10 years in the life of the Church turned out to be very important for the revival of all aspects of church life, including Orthodox journalism.

A few words should be said to clarify the main topic of the Congress. Two thousand years ago, the greatest event in the history of mankind took place: the appearance in the flesh of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This event radically changed the world: as it became Christianized, people became more and more clearly aware that a person, being the image and likeness of God, is free: he has the inherent right to life, the right to freedom of opinion, and finally, freedom of speech in defending his convictions.

No matter what they say about the reforms of the last decade in our country, no one denies one thing: our society has gained freedom of speech. The only question is how we use this freedom.

The outgoing century was tragic for our long-suffering Fatherland. The world has witnessed confrontation, intolerance, anger in society, which led to civil war, bloodshed, the death of millions of people.

But even today, do we not feel that the spirit of division is beginning to take possession of our souls? After gaining the freedom to profess and preach any belief, a period of violent clashes immediately began. And again, people oppose "their own" to "alien", again "their" power, "their" ideas - they consider them more valuable than "foreign" ones, and not only ideas, but also lives! So, 1917 is not a random page in the history of Russia!

The strength of the impact of funds mass media is huge, but, like any power, it can be both harmful to the people and beneficent.

Recently, many archpastors, clergymen and believers of the Russian Orthodox Church have increasingly expressed concern that the state remains indifferent to the propaganda of violence, interethnic, interfaith, social and other enmity, moral licentiousness, debauchery, as well as other phenomena that contradict both Christian and and natural, universal morality, through printed and audiovisual products, radio and television. As a rule, the press perceives such judgments as an encroachment on the freedom of the press. But after all, the activities of modern media can be seen as an attack on a person's freedom to live morally, since the imposition of a cult of immorality limits the freedom of human choice just as much as cruel censorship.

Therefore, recognizing ourselves as citizens of a great country, heirs of a great Orthodox culture, we can and must resist the vulgarity, cynicism, lack of spirituality of modern life, no matter who we are, whatever we do, wherever we work: in a newspaper, in a magazine, on the radio , on TV. Not to let the human soul get bogged down in everyday worries, to remind it of its primordial vocation to reach divine heights is an important part of journalistic service to society.

And first of all, it is the Orthodox press that must be moral and responsible, free and independent.

2. The state of Orthodox periodicals before the revolution

The question arises: is not what has been said a mere declaration, are free and independent Orthodox media possible in reality? I must say that on the eve of this congress, a series of publications took place in the secular media aimed at casting doubt on this possibility. The newspaper "NG-Religions" did its best here, devoting a whole selection of materials to the forthcoming Congress; except for an interview with a member of the Organizing Committee of the Congress, priest Vladimir Vigilyansky, apparently placed "for objectivity", everything else is sustained in a sharply critical tone, as the very titles of the articles indicate: "Strangulated word", "Closed nature of activity", "Deal with everyone" , "Is church journalism possible?" Of course, it is impossible if one understands the freedom of journalism in the way that is convenient for most secular journalists today. But today we have already heard the answer to such questions in the Word of His Holiness the Patriarch, who reminded us of the Orthodox understanding of freedom. Another answer to the same question is given by church life itself - both present (the existence of many Orthodox periodicals) and past, our church history, to which we must constantly refer, comparing our actions with church tradition. Therefore, I think it appropriate to give a short historical background on the state of Orthodox periodicals before the revolution.

Its beginning dates back to the first quarter of the 19th century, when the reforms of the Theological and Educational Institutions gave a new impetus to the development of our Theological Academies. In 1821, the St. Petersburg Theological Academy was the first to publish the magazine "Christian Reading". But it was a scientific, theological journal, and the first popular, public publication was the Sunday Reading weekly, which began to appear in 1837. It contained articles of an instructive nature; it was published by the Kiev Theological Academy. The first seminary periodical was the Riga journal School of Piety (1857). Thus, we see that the beginning of Orthodox periodicals is closely connected with our Theological School. It should be noted that before the revolution, our four academies published 19 periodicals, the Theological Seminaries also published about a dozen journals, of which the most famous is the Kharkov theological and philosophical journal "Faith and Reason", founded in 1884 by Archbishop Ambrose (Klyucharev).

In the second half of the 19th century, in addition to academic journals, many other spiritual journals appeared, which can be called theological journalism. Along with theological articles, they published sermons, reviews of current events in the Orthodox Churches and the non-Orthodox world, criticism and bibliography of current book and magazine publications, essays on remarkable church figures, biographies of ascetics of piety, stories from church life and spiritual poetry. Of the most famous journals of this kind, we note the St. Petersburg "Wanderer" by Archpriest Vasily Grechulevich (in the appendix to it the "Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia" was published in 1900-1911), the Kiev acutely polemical "Home Conversation for People's Reading" by Askochensky, the Moscow "Soulful Reading" and a lot others. All these theological and journalistic publications of the 1860s and 1870s were characterized by a bold discussion of ecclesiastical and ecclesiastical social issues.

Speaking about official publications, it should be noted that before the revolution, each diocese had its own printed organ - Diocesan Gazette. The initiative to found them belongs to the famous hierarch of the 19th century, the outstanding preacher Archbishop Innokenty (Borisov) of Kherson, who developed their concept in 1853. Its main element was the division of the magazine into two parts: official and unofficial. The official part was intended for decrees and orders of the Holy Synod, news of the highest state power, especially for a given diocese, for the orders of the diocesan authorities, for messages about movements and vacancies, for extracts from the annual reports of various diocesan institutions. In the unofficial part, excerpts from the works of the holy fathers, sermons, edifying articles, local historical, biographical, local history and bibliographic materials were printed.

However, only six years later this concept was presented to the Holy Synod for approval by Vladyka Innokenty's successor in the cathedra, Archbishop Dimitry (Muretov). The synod not only approved it in 1859, but also sent out the proposed publication program to all diocesan bishops. The following year, according to this program, diocesan bulletins began to appear in Yaroslavl and Kherson, and 10 years later they were already being published in most dioceses. It is interesting to note that the remote dioceses acquired their own magazines before the metropolitan ones.

Even later, central organs of the Russian Orthodox Church appeared, that is, published by the Synod or some Synodal department, - in 1875 the Church Bulletin began to appear, and in 1888 - Church Gazette.

Toward the beginning of the 20th century, the number of publications increased, in which the main place was occupied by publicly available religious and moral articles for edifying reading, such as "The Russian Pilgrim", "Sunday", "The Pilot", "Christian's Rest". Of the popular edifying pre-revolutionary journals, 30 were published by Orthodox monasteries. In particular, "Trinity Leaflets" published by the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra enjoyed great popularity. There were also special church magazines devoted to apologetics, public education, the fight against schisms and sects, naval clergy, bibliography of theological and church-historical literature. As for parish periodicals, before the revolution there were few of them, only about a dozen.

3. Church journalism in the Soviet era

However, all these Orthodox periodicals (about four hundred titles) ceased to exist already during the first five years of Soviet power - just like the publications, mainly renovationist, that arose after 1917. True, émigré Orthodox publications still remained, for example, Vestnik RSHD, Pravoslavnaya Mysl and others, but in the former USSR they were practically inaccessible to the average reader, being the property of special depositories.

For many decades, the only periodical publication of the Russian Orthodox Church was the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchy. We also had some other periodicals that were published abroad and were designed for a Western audience, for example, "Bulletin of the Western European Exarchate" in France (in Russian and French), "Voice of Orthodoxy" in German.

As for our oldest magazine, ZhMP, which will celebrate its 70th anniversary next year (it began to appear in 1931, was closed in 1935 and resumed again during the Great Patriotic War, in September 1943), then , despite the well-known limitations of the era of totalitarianism, the magazine still played a very important role in the life of the Church. Of course, in terms of its level it was incomparable with pre-revolutionary publications - not in terms of volume (suffice it to recall that in the 30s it had 8-10 pages, in the 40s - 40-60, and only since 1954 - the current 80 ), neither in terms of circulation (it was almost impossible for an ordinary believer to get it), nor in terms of content. And yet it was that small flame that the hostile winds of the era could not extinguish. All the few theological, literary church forces at that time were drawn to him, around him gathered. Worked in the Journal at various times, outstanding Russian theologians, liturgists, church historians, and Slavic scholars collaborated with it. This tradition continues today. Its editors carefully preserve and promote church traditions, maintaining the high culture of Orthodox journalism.

During all these years, the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate has been the voice of the Russian Orthodox Church, carrying the word of the gospel to the believers in Russia, an invaluable source of information about the events of church life. He made a significant contribution to the training of future Orthodox pastors, to the Christian upbringing and enlightenment of church people, to the preservation of the purity of our faith.

During the entire period of its existence, the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, in fact, was a chronicle of the labors and days of the Russian Orthodox Church. Patriarchal messages, greetings, statements and decrees, the Resolutions of the Holy Synod, Acts of Councils and Bishops' meetings, official reports on important events in church life were regularly published on its pages. Materials were also published on the naming and consecrations of newly appointed bishops - from these publications one can trace the path of service to the Holy Church of each hierarch. Since the basis of the spiritual life of the Church is worship, the Journal has always contained messages about the services of the Primate of our Church. The Journal of Parish Life paid much attention to monasteries and theological schools, constantly told readers about the life of other Local Orthodox Churches, and paid great attention to the development of fraternal inter-Orthodox relations.

Over the past decades, the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate has published many hundreds of sermons on Orthodox holidays, doctrinal and moral topics; hundreds of articles devoted to the interpretation of Holy Scripture, Orthodox dogma, moral and pastoral theology, liturgics, canons, church history, patristics, hagiology, church art. Services, akathists, prayers to saints were published; some liturgical texts were printed for the first time from handwritten monuments.

Recently, the volume and proportion of articles devoted to understanding the historical past of our Church, the ways of reviving the Orthodox Fatherland, and other church and social problems from Orthodox positions have begun to increase. The journal began to regularly publish materials about the martyrs, confessors and ascetics of piety of the 20th century, to acquaint readers with the religious views of figures of Russian culture, with the theological heritage of the Russian emigration. The Journal reflects all spheres of modern church life, including the problems of spiritual education, pastoral care, social service of the Church, its interaction with the Armed Forces, and missionary work. On the pages of the Journal one can read both about the primatial trips of His Holiness the Patriarch and about the labors and concerns of a small church community. It publishes articles on all sections of theology, sermons, church history works, bibliographic reviews. Materials from the richest heritage of representatives of Russian theological and religious-philosophical thought of the XX century are devoted to the section of the Journal "Our Publications".

In the new conditions, when the resurgent Russia, not only with ever-increasing interest, but also with hope, turns its eyes towards the Church, when church life arouses ever greater interest in society, there is a growing desire to understand it, to understand its features, in order to then join it. , a periodical organ is especially needed, promptly and in full informing about everything that happens in the vast church organism. Such an organ is the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchy.

It should be noted that in the current conditions of the still unaccustomed lack of censorship and, as a result, the excessive "emancipation" of other authors, when a mass of various religious publications appeared, the role of a periodical publishing official documents of the Church, covering the activities of its Primate - His Holiness Patriarch Alexy, acquainting the reader with the official point of view of the Russian Orthodox Church, as never before, is great.

With the beginning of perestroika in 1989, one of the first church newspapers, the Moscow Church Bulletin, appeared in the Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate. The history of its formation is replete with many twists and turns: it was also published on coated paper in a very small edition, it came in 2-3 copies per diocese, so some bishops hung it in the church as a wall newspaper. It came out for some time and as an appendix to "Evening Moscow" with a circulation of over 300 thousand copies. At present, it is published twice a month, and the newspaper publishes a quarterly supplement, "Overview of Orthodox Publications," which contains reviews and annotations of emerging church literature.

4. The current state of Orthodox periodicals

Describing the situation as a whole, it can be noted that over the past decade the Church has not only restored its periodical press in its traditional forms (magazine and newspaper), but is also actively mastering new forms of such activity. Their appearance is due to modern technological progress, the achievements of which are by no means always bad in themselves - it is only important to use them for good purposes. Thus, the Publishing Department of the Moscow Diocese has not only revived the Moscow Diocesan Gazette, but also publishes a video supplement to them (two issues have been published so far).

Nowadays, almost all dioceses have their own church media. Of course, they differ greatly in volume, frequency and, of course, quality, which, unfortunately, often remains low. There are many reasons for this, including economic ones: the lack of funds to attract bright and highly qualified journalists.

In Moscow alone, about 30 different Orthodox periodicals are published. Some newspapers, such as "Radonezh", are already well known not only in Moscow, but also far beyond its borders. This newspaper is characterized by high professionalism, competent construction of materials, the level of many articles in it is high, the newspaper is easy to read. Of the Moscow newspapers, one should also note the well-known parish newspaper Pravoslavnaya Moskva, whose publishing team is successfully working in the field of Orthodox journalism, sowing the reasonable, the good, the eternal. It can be said that such newspapers as Moskovsky Tserkovy Vestnik, Pravoslavnaya Moskva or Radonezh have their own identity, in some ways they have managed to advance further than others, some are more professional, some are more ecclesiastical.

The activity of Orthodox youth brings to life Orthodox youth publications - first of all, here we should mention the student newspaper of Moscow University "Tatyanin's Day", the magazine of students of the Moscow Theological Academy "Vstrecha", the magazine for doubters "Foma". Unfortunately, there is still a small number of Orthodox children's magazines for which there is a very great need; First of all, it should be noted the magazines "Pchelka", "Kupel", " God's world", "Sunday School".

A special kind of periodicals is the Orthodox church calendar, published once a year. As you know, now many organizations, both church and private, are striving to publish calendars, since they are invariably in demand among the population. And this is to be welcomed. But it is one thing when it comes to popular publications that contribute, so to speak, to the gradual “churching” of the ordinary secular calendar, and quite another thing is the publication of the Patriarchal Church Calendar. The latter has its own special tasks: intended mainly for the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church, it serves to streamline worship, to achieve the liturgical unity of the Church. It is one thing to have a secular calendar (indicating holidays in it does not yet make it a church calendar), and quite another thing to have a calendar with liturgical instructions and readings: the problems that arise when compiling the latter are such that in a number of cases even experienced employees of the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate have to apply for clarification to the Liturgical Commission at the Holy Synod, and sometimes personally to His Holiness the Patriarch. It is unacceptable that in the calendars of different dioceses these problems were solved in different ways (as sometimes happened in pre-revolutionary Russia). It is all the more unacceptable for individuals to interfere in the solution of calendar problems.

The most common type of publishing activity in the dioceses is the publication of the diocesan newspaper. It can be multi-page or just a piece of paper, but one way or another it carries information about the life of the diocese. Moreover, in a number of cases, not one, but several newspapers are published in the diocese at the same time (and I do not mean the Moscow and St. Petersburg eparchies, where the situation with publishing and journalistic activities is special).

The number of dioceses in which Orthodox magazines are published is much smaller. This is understandable: publishing, say, a monthly magazine is much more labor-intensive than a monthly newspaper (which, by the way, is often published as a supplement to some secular newspaper and uses the appropriate resources). The practice of reviving Orthodox publications that appeared before the revolution under the new conditions deserves every support (for example, the oldest Orthodox magazine, Christian Reading, was revived at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, etc.).

It is important to note that in a number of dioceses church periodicals are published not only in Russian, but also in the language of the peoples living there (for example, in the Komi language in the Syktyvkar diocese, in the Altai language in the Barnaul diocese, etc.).

As an example of a diocesan newspaper, we can cite the weekly "Word of Life", which has been published in the Tashkent diocese for many years. This publication adequately fulfills the important task of spiritual nourishment of the Orthodox Central Asian flock, and one of the reasons for its success lies in the great attention paid to publishing by Archbishop Vladimir of Tashkent and Central Asia. For all his busyness, he by no means limited himself to the archpastoral parting words to the new periodical, but, in fact, he became its most active author: almost every issue of the newspaper contains his word, sermon, message. An important place in the newspaper is given to Christian pedagogy, the thoughts of the holy fathers on the upbringing of children, excerpts from the works of Ushinsky and Aksakov, essays on the Tashkent theological school, and Sunday schools in various parishes are printed. From the very first issue, the newspaper covers the topic of the history of the diocese; Thus, an essay on the history of the creation of the monthly journal "Turkestan Diocesan Gazette" was printed - in fact, the predecessor of the current newspaper: a number of publications were devoted to the initial preaching of the Apostle Thomas in Central Asia, articles were published about prominent Central Asian hierarchs, as well as materials related to the name of the student and a follower of the last Optina elder Nectarius, confessor of the Central Asian diocese in the 50s-60s of our century, Archimandrite Boris (Kholcheva; †1971). The specificity of the Central Asian diocese is in its location among the Muslim world; therefore, a number of the newspaper's materials are aimed at improving mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims, dispelling the atmosphere of omissions and suspicion. The publication of this newspaper, which can be considered an exemplary diocesan publication, has been going on for nine years.

5. New types of media

a) radio, television

Both in the capital and in the regions, the Church is actively mastering radio broadcasting. In Moscow, the many years of activity of the radio channel "Radonezh", the program "Logos" of the Department of Religious Education and Catechism, the program "I Believe" on radio "Rossiya" and others should be noted. There are certain achievements in the field of film development (it should be emphasized great importance annually held by the Union of Cinematographers of the film festival "Golden Knight") and television, where the annual festival-seminar of Orthodox television plays the same role, the founders of which are the Publishing Council of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Orthodox Society "Radonezh" and the Institute for Advanced Studies of Television and Radio Broadcasting Workers. Over the past years, many interesting programs have been created on television, such as "Orthodox Monthly Book", "Orthodox", "Canon" and, of course, the author's program of the Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad "The Word of the Shepherd". Unfortunately, not all of them survived to this day. Of great importance in the development of the Orthodox presence on television is the activity of the Information Agency of the Russian Orthodox Church, which covers the most important events of church life (previously this was done by the PITA agency), as well as such television programs as "Russian House" and some others.

The main wish for these forms of media is greater interaction with the Hierarchy. Cases are inadmissible when speakers at radio stations or on television sometimes put their opinions above canonical norms - this causes temptation among believers.

b) Internet

Two words should also be said about the beginning of the development of a new type of publications by church organizations - electronic media. I mean the worldwide computer network Internet, which has already become a familiar means of obtaining information in Western countries and is now becoming widespread in Russia as well. With the help of this network, each of its users can receive information from anywhere in the world. A number of church structures, both in the center and in the dioceses, are now making efforts to install computer equipment to provide Internet access. This will allow the Church to use another channel of influence on the minds of our contemporaries, through which the most enlightened part of the youth audience, as well as the Russian-speaking population abroad, where, due to the high cost of shipping, our periodicals practically do not reach, will be able to access the treasury of Orthodoxy.

Currently, there are already dozens of Orthodox servers in Russian. Both Synodal institutions and individual dioceses, churches and monasteries go online, schools. One of the largest is the "Orthodoxy in Russia" server, created with the assistance of the "Russian Cultural Initiative" foundation; on its pages are placed, in particular, such newspapers as Radonezh and Pravoslavnaya Moskva. Such a server was created by the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate, it hosts all the official publications that we publish, including the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate, the newspaper Moscow Church Bulletin, the Orthodox Church Calendar, the Chronicle of the Patriarchal Service, and much more.

6. Orthodox themes in the secular media

In connection with the increasing social significance of the Russian Orthodox Church in our country in last years and in the secular media, the direction of journalism is intensively developing, connected with the coverage of church life. First similar information took place in the media through departments of culture, now in many secular magazines and newspapers there are special columnists writing on church topics, and in some media there are special headings, departments, pages, tabs and appendices entirely devoted to church life.

Examples include the "Lampada" column in the "Trud" newspaper, the "Blagovest" column in the "Rabotnitsa" magazine, and many others.

But there are also publications that have long since exposed themselves as open enemies of Orthodoxy. Their goal is clear: to inflict maximum damage on the Church, to tear the Orthodox people away from it. Even the global celebration - the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ - some of these publications used to publish blasphemous articles on their pages.

What are the reasons for the unfriendly attitude of many secular media towards the Church, to put it mildly? There are, of course, conscious enemies who, as before, imitating Yemelyan Yaroslavsky, look at the Church as a hotbed of alien ideas. Such people are extremely worried about the great and ever-increasing authority of the Church in society. However, most often, I think, this is a reaction to the ideological dictates of the recent past, a kind of complex. They see in the Church not an opportunity for the renewal of life, but a threat of the spread of a new ideology associated with certain self-limitations, while they would like to live without any ideology, absolutely "free". But it is not for nothing that they say: a holy place is never empty, and, rejecting the good yoke of Christ, they doom themselves to a much worse slavery to various idols. For freedom without the restraining principles of Christianity is self-will and arbitrariness. And the fruits of such freedom are disastrous for man, dooming our civilization to extinction.

7. So-Called Independent Orthodox Media

Recently there have appeared such supposedly "Orthodox" publications that proudly call themselves "independent". Let us ask ourselves: from whom are they independent? When such headings or subheadings appear in the secular media, this must be understood, of course, not as an indication of true independence, since we know that the periodical press is very dependent on its economic masters, sponsors, etc., but as an indication on the absence of censorship from the authorities, as opposed to all kinds of official print media published on budgetary funds. When a publication that calls itself Orthodox, at the same time calls itself "independent", it either uncritically uses a cliche suitable only for secular media, or it really wants to be independent of the authorities - from church authorities, from the Hierarchy. But is it possible?

The Church is built on a hierarchical principle and there are not and cannot be any structures and associations independent of the Hierarchy. There has already been a period in our church history when, after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1917, meetings were held in many dioceses to remove objectionable bishops and elect new ones. We all remember what a wave of renovationism, betrayal, break with Orthodox Tradition ended this period. "Without a bishop there is no Church" - this fundamental principle, first clearly formulated by the Hieromartyr Irenaeus of Lyon, is true in all its force today. Therefore, in my opinion, a newspaper cannot be considered Orthodox if its publication has not been given the blessing of His Holiness the Patriarch or the ruling bishop.

In this matter, the current situation to some extent resembles that which took place with respect to the Orthodox brotherhoods, which were created in dozens at the beginning of perestroika. Some of them engaged in political and other activities that not only did not benefit the Church, but also directly harmed it. The Council of Bishops in 1994 even had to make a special decision to re-register the Statutes of Orthodox brotherhoods, supplementing them with a clause stating that they are created only with the consent of the rector of the parish and with the blessing of the diocesan bishop, so that they are under the responsible guardianship of the rectors.

It is obvious that we will have to return to the same topic more than once, since such "independent" media are waging an open struggle against the Mother Church. The reasons for this are varied. Allegedly worrying about church problems that cannot be resolved, in fact, such newspapers only bring new disorganizations into the church organism, work to weaken the Church. Behind the articles published in them one cannot fail to see far-reaching plans aimed at splitting the Church and, above all, at belittling its role in the cause of the national-state revival of Russia. In this, such "zealots of Orthodoxy" merge with the most rabid enemies of the Church.

In their publications, they sling mud at prominent church figures of the past and current hierarchs. Meanwhile, not only ordinary believers, but also priests and even bishops continue to take part in such newspapers - whether indirectly (by subscribing, reading) or directly (by articles, giving interviews, etc.). The question is: is this allowed canonically? Of course, this is a rhetorical question - for a truly Orthodox consciousness it should be clear: such publications destroy church unity.

Speaking of the Orthodox media, it should be noted that only those publications that are established by the official structures of the Russian Orthodox Church - directly by the Patriarchate, Synodal institutions, monasteries, parishes - can be called ecclesiastical in the full sense. Of course, there are many publications that are not in the strict sense of the church, but turn to the Hierarchy for the blessing of their activities. Most of these media are run by church-going laity, and we support them. At the same time, one cannot ignore that legally they are private enterprises that are not responsible to the Church for the content of their publications. This is fraught with a number of dangers, since under certain circumstances the editorial policy of such structures can be and is influenced by factors and forces alien to the Church. Therefore, it seems especially important that the founders of religious media include official structures of the Church, which would have the opportunity not only to formally bless, but also to actually direct the line pursued by this or that publication into the church channel.

I note that from the point of view of the non-church consciousness, what I am talking about now simply looks like a struggle between the Church and independent church media and secular journalists covering church issues. We are not afraid of such an interpretation, since the Church is by no means a parliament where pluralism of opinions and factional struggle reign. But when such judgments are accompanied by fictitious reports, like the one that recently appeared on the pages of Russkaya Mysl, that the Publishing Council allegedly sent out to all Diocesan administrations a "black list" of mass media, from whose meetings with journalists the clergy are advised to refrain, we must directly declare that this is slander.

In essence, this should not be surprising: you know very well that the world has been in a state of war with it since the emergence of Christianity; but in war, as in war, they do not disdain any means. But this general consideration at the present moment in relation to Orthodoxy in Russia also has a purely political component: Orthodoxy is the last bond of Russia, and therefore for many in the West it is the main target. At the same time, attacks on the Church of Christ are carried out both from outside and from within. And the enemy within the Church, who puts on the mask of a zealot for the purity of Orthodoxy, is more dangerous than an external enemy, for it is more difficult to recognize him. His favorite trick is slandering the Hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church, using unclean methods of lies, distortion of facts, their biased interpretation. In the name of what are these people zealous? The answer is simple: the authors and leaders of such newspapers either themselves want a split in the Church, or simply fulfill someone else's order.

8. General problems of Orthodox journalism

a) Addressee, language, subject

The first question that arises in relation to Orthodox periodicals is their addressee. Are they internal church publications, designed for already churched readers, or should the main tasks that they set themselves be missionary, that is, should they be addressed primarily to those who are only on the threshold of the temple? The choice of language, the choice of topics, and the volume of the necessary commentary depend on the solution of this main issue.

In my opinion, both are necessary: there should be publications designed for a prepared reader who is well acquainted with church life, theology, and history; and there should be editions for beginners. But considering that the ministry of the Church is now taking place in the conditions of a significant de-churching of a society that has departed far from its spiritual foundations and, so to speak, does not remember its kinship, I believe that the missionary bias in the Orthodox media should be predominant. In accordance with this, the language of newspapers and magazines should be understandable to most people. But there is also a danger here that I would like to point out. Whatever missionary goals journalists set for themselves, yet not every language is suitable for articles and notes that deal with lofty, holy things. A commendable desire to expand the readership, to get in touch with one or another social group to keep in it Christian preaching must also have its limits. It is unthinkable, for example, when carrying the Good News to those in bondage, to express it, "applying" to the mentality of criminals, in their language; it is clear that such a journalist will lose himself and will not find readers. The same can be said about the use - in an effort to capture young hearts - the jargon of youth parties.

Now about the subject. There is such a type of publication as a newsletter. The intensity of church life is very high now, and filling newspaper pages with news (with the Internet, this is very easy to do) is the easiest thing an editor can do. But for most newspapers and magazines, information about the events of church life is too little for the publication to be truly interesting to readers. It is also not enough to simply reprint passages from patristic writings. The good news of the Lord Jesus Christ is addressed to every person, but each generation of people perceives it in its own way, because it is in a new historical situation. And the main thing that may interest the reader is how the eternal truths of Christianity are refracted in the minds of his contemporary. Therefore, I believe that the main place in the Orthodox media should be occupied by the speeches of modern clergymen, believing scientists and cultural figures, Orthodox publicists.

Today, many preachers speak the language drawn from the books of the last century, do not seek to revive their knowledge, to convey it to modern man. Such preaching is not effective, and the deepest truths of the gospel and the life of the church must be spoken of in clear, modern language.

I would like to note one more point related to the language of the press. It is very characteristic of modern ideologized consciousness that the understanding of this or that publication in the old sense, i.e. following the author's arguments and similar work of thought are often replaced by the identification of "one's own" or "someone else's" by a few conventional signs, which can be found in the material at its most cursory viewing. At the same time, reading texts and listening to speeches turn into a search for a few key words like "patriot", "democrat", "nationalist", "ecumenist". I urge Orthodox journalists to make less use of such clichés, which inevitably vulgarize thought and do not contribute to unity in society.

Another example is provided by people who talk a lot about the need to translate the liturgy into Russian for its better understanding (I will note in parentheses - an extremely delicate matter that requires many years of work), but in fact they limit themselves to the fact that instead of "packs and packs" they say "again and again", instead of "let's listen" - "listen" and instead of "stomach" - "life", which adds absolutely nothing to the understanding of the liturgical text. Here these modified words, an example of bad taste, also have the functional meaning of a password, identification mark, which should demonstrate progressiveness to all surrounding conservatives.

The most important topic for the Orthodox media is the fight against the dominance of information that corrupts our society in the secular media. The church press should participate in the development of mechanisms to protect against the corrupting influence on the media of freedom, which is not restrained by either Christian morality or a sense of responsibility.

I would also like to wish Orthodox journalists that the opinions of the older generation of clergy who endured the heavy cross of standing in the faith during the years of the theomachic regime are better reflected in the church press. There are not so many such people now, and we must hurry to talk with them, interview them, learn from their spiritual experience. Comparing their views and thoughts on key church issues with the opinion of younger people, Orthodox journalists, would, I think, be extremely useful.

b) Controversy in the Orthodox media

Another question: is it necessary to cover in the Orthodox media the disorganizations and conflicts that take place in the church environment, or, speaking in a professional language, what should be the ratio between positive and negative in general? You know that not all is well in our church life. The Church is a living organism, and it would be strange if some of its members did not get sick from time to time, especially in the conditions of such rapid changes that we have been experiencing in recent years. Yes, we now live in an open society, and the Church has no secrets from both its members and society as a whole. But in covering these conflicts, wise judgment must be exercised. There are no forbidden topics for Orthodox publicists. It is only important to remember the words of the Apostle Paul: "Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is useful ... not everything edifies" (1 Cor. 10, 23). The task of church journalists is creation, not destruction. Therefore, criticism in the church press should be sharp, but not murderous, but benevolent.

It is important not to give in to emotions, to show spiritual sobriety. It is far from always useful to criticize publicly noticed shortcomings, knowing that this will first of all cause the cries of newspaper scoffers in the secular press. Sometimes it is more useful to apply directly to the Hierarchy with a request for action. The point is not so much to denounce this or that sin, shortcoming; it is important to correct it, and in such situations, the church press should, without succumbing to provocations, help not to inflate, but to heal such conflicts, their final disappearance from our church life.

We live in difficult times, we still do not have the strength and means for many things, and we must keep this in mind and try to understand the actions of the Hierarchy, instead of ardently blaming him for certain sins.

Being carried away by criticism is also spiritually unsafe. It's not just about the danger of violating the Lord's commandment "do not judge." The polemical attitude gives rise in the publicist to a special lightness, the habit of solving sometimes difficult, dogmatically difficult problems - off the shoulder, with extraordinary speed. The consequence of all this is the loss of a sense of reverence for the saint, the loss of piety, that is, the traditional Orthodox frame of mind.

Particularly unattractive is the desire of some publicists writing on ecclesiastical topics to appeal to secular public opinion in their polemics with the Hierarchy. Of course, there are no direct provisions in the holy canons forbidding such an appeal, but I think that it can be considered in exactly the same way as an appeal to civil authority in church matters, which is expressly prohibited by the canons. I also note that in the same canons it is said that before considering a complaint from a cleric or layman against a bishop or clergyman, one should study the question of the complainant himself: what is public opinion about him and whether his motives are pure.

Many problems are caused by insufficient contact between Orthodox journalists and the Hierarchy. It is clear that for technical reasons this contact is not always easy to make, but everyone must remember that we are doing a common thing and therefore we must strive to understand each other.

c) The ethics of an Orthodox journalist

An Orthodox journalist must take the issues of journalistic ethics very seriously. It is important that the Orthodox press does not adopt the unscrupulous methods of some secular publications, that it, without evading acute problems, at the same time does not engage in slander, does not sow discord between believers and pastors, between faith and culture, between Church and state. It should be remembered that the words of the Lord are applicable to journalism, as to no other sphere of human activity: "for every idle word that people say, they will give an answer on the day of judgment: for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matthew 12:36-37).

An Orthodox journalist must constantly remember the commandment of love for one's neighbor, of responsibility for every word spoken, and show respect for the author or interlocutor. If he makes any changes to the words spoken or written by him (whether it be a literary adaptation or an abbreviation), then it is imperative to acquaint the author with them before publishing or broadcasting them. Before publishing, be sure to show the text to the person with whom you had a conversation.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for editors of Orthodox newspapers to reprint materials from other Orthodox publications, not only without proper permission, but also without any references. The point here, of course, is not copyright, and many authors take this practice quite calmly, believing that if their publications benefit people, then thank God; but we are talking about a certain culture of relations, of which Orthodox journalists should act as an example.

d) The problem of censorship

We live today in a society that is still experiencing the euphoria of freedom. And this prevailing mindset influences us in a certain way, and therefore it seems embarrassing for us to talk about the need to restore church censorship. Meanwhile, there is a need for it. The lack of even basic theological training among many authors writing on church topics leads to significant distortions of the Orthodox dogma in their works.

As a result, "spiritual" literature appears, on the pages of which one can find blatant heresy, arguments about corruption and the evil eye, and a lot of unverified rumors are placed. But many truly wonderful events took place in the past century, but they are literally drowning in this sea of legends and myths. Therefore, I believe that the problem of church censorship is not removed from the agenda today.

At present, a certain replacement for the institution of spiritual censorship is the placement of vultures on the corresponding publications: "printed with the blessing" - of His Holiness the Patriarch, the ruling bishop - or "printed by decision of the Publishing Council." In my opinion, all spiritual literature sold in temples should be marked with a corresponding examination and the name of the censor should be indicated.

I must note that through the efforts of modern media, the idea of the unacceptability of censorship as such is being introduced into the church consciousness. But censorship for us is not an attack on freedom, but a way to preserve our church wealth, accumulated over thousands of years. Restrictions on the way authors express themselves can upset pluralists of all kinds; but in matters of salvation, that is, life and death, the Church has other priorities.

As for periodicals, in my opinion, only church media proper (diocesan, parish) can have the stamp "printed with blessing" on the first page. When we see a similar stamp on a secular Orthodox publication, this raises questions: does anyone authorized by the Hierarchy review these publications? Indeed, otherwise the publisher is given a blank form with a signature, a kind of carte blanche, and sooner or later problems may arise.

The practice of placing a "blessing" of the late Metropolitan John of St. Petersburg and Ladoga on the title page of an Orthodox "independent" newspaper testifies to the fact that in this case one can reach complete absurdity. Meanwhile, more and more new authors appear in it, whom the late Vladyka did not even know, and the tone of the newspaper has changed significantly in recent years.

The advent of the Internet has essentially made it possible for everyone to have their own media. At the same time, from the user's point of view, purely externally, personal sites are indistinguishable from those created by well-known press organs. Moreover, the publication of traditional media requires a license from the Ministry of Press of the Russian Federation, and no permission is required to create an electronic newspaper. It is clear that under these conditions the problem of the Church's blessing of such publications will become especially acute, and we will face this in the near future.

e) The need for state support for Orthodox media

Following its sacred duty - to promote the spiritual and moral improvement of society, the Russian Orthodox Church is making significant efforts to publish spiritual literature and Orthodox periodicals, which are in dire need of many of our compatriots who have lost their spiritual orientation. This task is very difficult in conditions when considerable resources are allocated for various anti-church campaigns. But even for those secular media that do not directly oppose the Church, a desire for "spiritual exoticism" is characteristic - theosophy, magic, occultism, Eastern religions and similar materials that are dubious from the point of view of the Church.

Unfortunately, the activity of the Orthodox media against this background is not sufficiently noticeable. The main reason for this is economic, arising from the general difficulties of our state. The Moscow Patriarchate invests all its main funds in the restoration of churches destroyed by the state - this is not only its sacred duty, but also the duty of the whole society; there are practically no funds for large-scale journalistic projects.

The Church especially lacks at present its central newspaper, in which it could, without directly interfering in politics in any way, evaluate certain phenomena in society from spiritual and moral positions, so to speak, "from the point of view of eternity." This line, strictly maintained in the newspaper, would help bring the various opposing forces closer together, soften the bitterness of the political struggle, and unite society as a whole. It seems to us that such a position and the general church newspaper that expresses it deserve state support, despite the fact that the Church in our country is separated from the state. Spirituality and morality are something without which a nation cannot be healthy.

It seems that the creation of a church-wide Orthodox newspaper is a truly state matter, and therefore we have the right to count on state support, which is provided to many secular "independent" media. A detailed plan for such a publication exists and will be submitted by us to the Press and Information Committee of the Russian Federation.

9. Management of Orthodox periodicals

Given the great importance of the media in the modern world, I would like to draw the attention of the Most Reverend Archpastors to the need to pay the most serious attention to those Orthodox media that are published in the dioceses they manage. Moreover, we are talking not only about the need to provide them with all possible support, including material, but also about the care of the relevant publications, about their spiritual guidance. Then the current conflicts between the press and church structures will not arise.

The Publishing Council of the Moscow Patriarchate is called upon to carry out general management of Orthodox publishing activities, including church media. The hierarchy of our Church attaches great importance to its activities, as evidenced by the fact that in the autumn of last year, by the Decision of the Holy Synod, it was given the status of a Synodal department. But so far, the main activity of the Council is not connected with periodicals, but with book publishing - it reviews manuscripts voluntarily sent by publishers with a request to bless their publication. In most cases, submitted manuscripts are subject to benevolent criticism and, with corrections and comments, are recommended for publication, but there are still those for which the Council cannot give the requested blessing due to serious defects, if not the non-Orthodox nature of the work.

The Publishing Council is ready to extend the already accumulated experience of such reviewing to the periodical press, but there are not yet the necessary conditions for this. I must note with regret that we still do not receive all the newspapers and magazines that are published in the dioceses. It may be necessary to organize an all-church competition of Orthodox media, within the framework of which it will be possible to compare various periodicals with each other and give them an Orthodox assessment.

10. The need to publish a church-wide newspaper and create a press center under His Holiness the Patriarch

Glancing over the activities of the Orthodox media, one cannot get rid of the feeling that forces are being dispersed. Many different periodicals are published, while one really large, solid, influential publication is clearly missing. In addition, most of our periodicals, in fact, are internal to the Church, their subject matter and language are not always understood by a wide audience, therefore, they cannot fulfill a missionary function. In other words, there is clearly a need to create a mass all-Russian weekly Orthodox newspaper that would write not only about internal church life, but also about the world from the point of view of the Church and the Orthodox worldview.

When discussing the concept of a Russian Orthodox socio-political cultural and educational newspaper, first of all, we must determine several important positions: its addressee, principles for selecting information, sources of information, material base, and the like.

As for the addressee, in our opinion, such a newspaper is needed by the widest range of readers, all those people in Russia who profess to be Orthodox and sympathize with the Church, but are not churched (according to some estimates, such are 60% of the entire population of the country). Considering that people are tired of newspaper lies and slander, the political bias of Russian publications, propaganda of debauchery, witchcraft and violence in them, worship of material values and base "mass culture", then the presence of an Orthodox public newspaper covering all topics from the point of view of Christian values , will attract a huge number of readers to it.

The main task of such a newspaper is to consider the urgent problems of modern life from the point of view of the Church in order to influence public opinion and political institutions. Of course, in addition to its utilitarian purpose - to be a source of information - an Orthodox newspaper must be a witness to the Truth: to carry this Truth, to affirm and defend it.

Of course, the reader has no right to expect impartiality from such a newspaper, the selection of information is already a certain bias. But if for the non-Christian consciousness quite earthly notions of truth serve as the criterion of objectivity, then for Christians such a criterion can only be the One Who Himself is "the Way and the Truth and the Life". St. John Chrysostom gave an important approach to the Christian idea of “objectivity” for us: “We pray or fast,” he wrote, “we accuse or forgive, we keep silent or talk or do something else: we will do everything for the glory of God.”

The question of the material base of the publication is very serious. Now control over information is power, so I am sure that many political forces will want to support it with finances. However, financing in the modern sense is always "ideological" control, so direct control by the Church is extremely important here. Perhaps such a newspaper could become an organ of the "Union of Orthodox Journalists", which we propose to create at this Congress. In any case, the activities of the sponsors of the newspaper should not be contrary to Christian precepts.

As for sources of information, the Church today has practically no information service of its own, except for the Information Agency of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is mainly focused on television. Such a service needs to be created, and the sooner the better. Its basis could be the "press service" under His Holiness the Patriarch. Of course, to some extent, church information passes through ITAR-TASS and other agencies, but one should use the existing secular agencies with caution - many of them are associated with political parties and certain ideological structures. The task of creating a church-wide Orthodox information agency is now quite real, because it is not so difficult to find believing correspondents at diocesan administrations and large city churches throughout Russia and abroad.

The newspaper about which in question, should be done not just by Orthodox, but by all means church journalists. There are such journalists in Moscow. An Orthodox newspaper must necessarily become a center uniting the church intelligentsia.

Of course, it would be ideal if such a newspaper were daily, but in this moment this is hardly achievable. However, for the first two or three years, we are quite capable of publishing a weekly newspaper. This simplifies the work in terms of prompt response to events and facts, but also obliges to be analytical, excludes the "right to make a mistake" and any unreliability.

As for the distribution of such a newspaper, the Church has a unique communication system: Diocesan administrations, deanery districts, churches - on the one hand; and shops, kiosks, stalls selling church utensils and church literature - on the other. Only they, in addition to subscriptions, can ensure the distribution of at least one hundred thousand copies of the newspaper.

The newspaper should not only avoid "difficult" topics, but, on the contrary, seek them out, talk about them with the reader, presenting the Christian understanding of these problems. Of course, church life will be a priority topic for it: the newspaper should inform about the events and problems of the Russian Orthodox Church and give them a proper assessment, as well as resist anti-church actions and anti-Christian publications in the secular press. Priority topics also include social problems: disadvantaged people (refugees, the disabled, orphans, pensioners, the sick, etc.), people who are captured by passions and reject God (alcoholics, drug addicts, criminals, players, etc.) , the problems are not in general "human rights", but the rights of specific people. The newspaper should stand on the positions of principled non-partisanship, protection of national and state interests, openness to all who contribute (regardless of party membership and religious affiliation) to stability, who are looking for ways of understanding, unity and peace in society.

11. Issues of training journalistic personnel

In connection with the intensive development of Orthodox journalism in recent years, the issue of training journalistic personnel has become very topical. The publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchy pays great attention to this problem. Five years ago, the Institute of Church Journalism was created under him, two years ago it was transformed into the faculty of the Russian Orthodox University named after John the Theologian, which will already have the 3rd enrollment this year. Now future church journalists receive more thorough training in theological disciplines, study ancient and new languages. Many students today are full-time employees of various church publishing houses. As an educational practice, they publish their student newspaper "University Bulletin", where everything - from writing articles to computer layout - is done by themselves. The second issue of this newspaper is currently being prepared.

There are many requests from dioceses to open a correspondence department at the faculty, this issue is currently being studied.

12. Creation of the "Union of Orthodox Journalists of Russia"

The facts cited in the report testify to the fact that in the field of mass media the Church and society have been taking ever new steps towards each other in recent years. Meanwhile, the activities of the Union of Journalists of Russia proceed as if this new phenomenon in the life of the country, the new direction of journalists' activity, simply does not exist. Church journalists are not invited to join the Union, we are not sent invitations to various events held under the auspices of the Union - "round tables", professional competitions, etc. Among the many negative consequences of this situation, one can point out the extremely low level of publications on church issues in secular periodicals.

It seems that the conditions are ripe and the time has come to correct this situation. A year ago, the participants of the "round table": "Publishing Activities of the Russian Orthodox Church", held as part of the VII Christmas Educational Readings, discussing the state of church periodicals in our country, expressed the opinion that one of the significant shortcomings in this area is the disunity of figures of church funds mass media. As a measure to improve coordination and interaction between church journalists, a proposal was made to create a Union (or Brotherhood) of Orthodox Journalists. This proposal found unanimous support among the audience and it was decided to turn to the Hierarchy with a request to bless the creation of such an association. Having received such a blessing, we propose to discuss in our Congress the question of the establishment of such a Union.

In our opinion, the "Union of Orthodox Journalists of Russia" should be a creative public association established to assist the Russian Orthodox Church in educating society, promoting Orthodox spiritual, moral and cultural values, increasing professionalism, skill and mutual support of its members. In carrying out its activities, the Union will observe the canonical rules, doctrinal, theological and other traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church. Its members will be Orthodox professional creative workers of diocesan publishing houses, editorial offices of newspapers and magazines, editorial offices of radio, television and Internet channels, news agencies, as well as individual journalists and entire public associations who share the goals and objectives of the Union and promote its activities.

There is a certain fear among secular journalists that the creation of the "Union of Orthodox Journalists of Russia" will lead to the division of people who have a common profession of a journalist along religious lines. But we consider our future organization not in opposition to the existing All-Russian Union of Journalists, but as a division of it.

On the other hand, it is important not to repeat the mistakes that were made during the registration of the Union of Orthodox Brotherhoods, the Charter of which did not correspond to church law and state legal provisions. This discrepancy consisted in the fact that the Union declared itself a public organization, but determined the directions of its activities at the general church, diocesan and parish levels, without providing for interaction with canonical church structures and responsibility to the hierarchy.

Concluding my speech, I would like to wish the participants of the Congress success in the forthcoming work and fruitful discussions on the issues briefly outlined by me in the presented report.

Archbishop Tikhon of Bronnitsa
editor-in-chief of the publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchy

For 20 years, the library has been working in the direction of "Revival and preservation of the national and spiritual traditions of the Russian people." The revival of spirituality, intelligence, morality is always relevant in the work of the library. The project "My Russia, Orthodox!" allows our readers to expand their horizons in the study of literary heritage about the history of our Motherland, the history of the church, Orthodox holidays

Goal and tasks

Orthodox education of children, adolescents, youth of the village; Preservation of the memory of the great Orthodox saints; Teach readers - children, adolescents, youth to read Orthodox literature correctly, understand it and think correctly; Show readers Orthodox customs, traditions, life. Attracting readers-children, adolescents, youth and their parents, institutions and organizations existing in the village to participate in the events held by the library for the Orthodox education of the younger generation;

about the project

"Peter and Fevronia. Day of Family, love and fidelity" - we were filmed by the Orenburg television

Dear supporters! In our difficult times, the spiritual upbringing of the younger generation is of paramount importance. And this is not accidental, because the moral development in a person is connected with his spiritual development. An educated person and a person who reads books will never go astray, will not become a drug addict, an alcoholic, etc.

The holiday "Day of Family, Love and Fidelity" was repeated in the registry office of the village of P-Pokrovka. Anniversaries were honored - those who lived in love and harmony for 35, 40 years.

And that is why the library is often called the temple of the book, and the word temple itself is associated in the mind of a person with a spiritual temple, therefore, spiritual enlightenment is the leading place in the library. Our library has extensive experience in this noble cause. Spiritual and moral education consists of many moments, this is the education of patriotism "Forever in the memory of the people!"

And citizenship, instilling family values, cultivating love for one's small homeland, one's own land, preventing bad habits, cultivating a desire for a healthy lifestyle. my motherland Working on the project "My Orthodox Russia" we have achieved considerable results.

"Light of book understanding. Day Slavic culture and writing. Cyril and Methodius".

Fragments of the holiday "Easter! Great Resurrection!"

Illumination of the Library by Father Daniel

From our events readersacquire knowledge about the Orthodox past of our Fatherland, about Orthodox saints and their deeds in the name of the Faith. We also cooperate with the Orthodox Church. We show all the hardships of the trials that our country has inherited.

"Nativity!"

The hours of Orthodoxy that we spend in the library and beyond on the basics of Orthodox culture not only contribute to the dissemination of information about the role of Christianity, national culture, but also draw attention to the moral foundations Orthodoxy, introduce the younger generation to the national shrines... Work on the project will continue in the next 2015.

On the International Day of Childhood at the station "Pravoslavnaya" librarians held loud readings about the "Lives of the Saints". Children took part in quizzes and received prizes bought with the funds of library readers.

Fragments of holidays

Studying history and cultural heritage of our region, we introduce readers to famous poets and writers. Live communication gives a good result. After all, the formation of a civic sense of personality begins with small things: careful attitude to the village, city, settlement where you live; respect for the family; participation in what is happening around ... So that our children do not grow up as "Ivans who do not remember kinship ...".

Meeting with the famous Orenburg poetess N.Yu.Kozhevnikova

Meeting with the famous Orenburg poet, prose writer P.G. Rykov

Meeting with S.I. Zhdanov. famous photographer, author of the book "Notes of a Photohunter", Thanks to Sergei Ivanovich, we know what wonderful birds and animals inhabit our steppe region, how to protect our native nature ...

Meeting with the Orenburg writer, poet SIBurdygin.
We do not have enough chairs to place our readers in the library at the holidays that we hold, there are no books to encourage children participating in competitions, quizzes, etc., we need stationery, we need money for gifts for children at the most beloved Orthodox holidays "Christmas", "Easter", "Trinity", which are traditionally held in the library. Thanks in advance if you'd like to help us! To instill in readers spiritual and moral values, to pour goodness into their souls is the goal of all our work. You can also see about our holidays in the Library Work blog on the Orenburg News portal on the library website about the work of the library you can also see

1. About our publication

Orthodox magazine for children "My Joy".

The first issue of the magazine was conceived as a gift for the children of Donbass for the Bright Holiday Christ's Resurrection in 2003. The editorial board decided to ask the young readers themselves how they would like the magazine to be called. A competition was announced among Sunday schools for best name children's orthodox magazine. From the whole variety of name options, we singled out the proposal of Bogdana Vorobyeva - the greeting of St. Seraphim of Sarov - "My joy, Christ is Risen!". It seemed to us that the words from the reverend's address most suited our idea of the magazine. The magazine aroused genuine interest among readers, and our Vladyka Hilarion gave his blessing to publish it monthly. Last year, "My Joy" celebrated its fifth anniversary. At the moment, 80 exciting and colorful numbers have seen the light.

2. Why are we doing this?

"My joy" is an informative and at the same time soulful magazine. With the help of the magazine, we strive to create a counterbalance to the consumer worldview and the current trends of penetration of Western culture. We are trying to show the younger generation Orthodox guidelines, i.e. landmarks of our culture.

3. Who are we doing this for?

Initially, the magazine was created for pupils of Sunday schools. To some extent, this limited the magazine: in terms of information - by the regional level, in terms of presentation of material - by the level of knowledge of Sunday school students. Subsequently, it was decided to expand the readership. We tried to create a magazine that would be interesting to read not only for church children. We opened new headings, found accessible forms of narration and presentation of material, as well as our own design style.

To date, the journal has a fairly extensive rubricator, which makes it possible to comprehensively develop and satisfy the spiritual interests of the young reader.

If we talk about the age category, then these are children from 10 to 15 years old.

3. What do we consider the main thing in our work?

"My Joy" is an Orthodox publication, and, of course, its concept is based on the main commandments of Orthodoxy: faith, love for God, love for one's neighbor.

There are several vectors of communication with a young reader in the magazine. One of them is aimed at the personality of the reader himself: age-related (psychological) problems are raised through the characters of the magazine and ways of solving them are suggested.

Another vector can be designated as historical. Here the reader will learn world history, and history native land and the history of the Orthodox faith.

The educational vector introduces the reader to the basics of Orthodoxy, Holy Scripture, with the lives of saints and ascetics of the faith.

It is also possible to single out the vector of leisure, which is served through the aesthetics of the poetic and artistic headings "Sounding pipe" and "Vernissage", as well as "Our quiz" and "Making with our own hands", which have fallen in love with the first issues.

4. What side of our publication do we consider strong and why?

It is not in the spirit of Orthodoxy to praise oneself. The most forte any media project is its relevance: when there is a permanent audience that watches, listens, reads, gives feedback, lives with us.

We receive a lot of letters to the editorial office. We enjoy reading them aloud. Someone just writes to us about themselves, someone sends their poems and drawings. We admit that these are the most exciting and joyful minutes of our work. And we are grateful to everyone who reads and writes to us for their participation and love.

We consider our team as our internal achievement. The creative team of the editorial staff is working on the creation of the magazine: the editorial board, editors, proofreaders, designer, artist.

It is especially gratifying that a team of contributors to the journal has also been formed. These are students and graduates of the Department of Spiritual Culture at the Faculty of Additional Professions of Donetsk National University, correspondents (employees) of the press service of the branch of the Donetsk Metallurgical Complex, on the technical basis of which the magazine is published.

5. What does our publication look like?

Volume - 36 printed illustrated full-color pages of A4 format, with its original logo.

Release frequency - 1 time per month

Circulation - 10,000 copies.

Editor's page - a thematic appeal by one of the representatives of the editorial board to young readers (published on the occasion of an informational occasion, for example, Great Sunday, Christmas, the anniversary of the magazine, innovations, competitions).

Theme of the issue - the central heading of the magazine, which sets a cross-cutting topic that touches on topical issues for our category of readers, refracted by the prism of the Orthodox worldview (for example, friendship, habits, relationships with parents, courage and courage, good deeds, the image and likeness of God in man, etc.). P.). The rubric is aimed at positioning the Orthodox view of the reality around us.

History lessons - description of historical events (important, significant episodes of world history). Returns the reader to history, culture, traditions, gives an understanding of the patterns in history, shows the power of God, God's providence.

Your calendar (chronograph) - links significant Orthodox memorable and historical dates into a single calendar chain, highlighting the most interesting, from the point of view of a young reader, the events of these memorable dates.

Reached heaven - about ascetics and saints; examples of their lives contribute to the formation of a pious personality and the need for missionary service to one's neighbor.

Basics of Orthodoxy - acquaintance with the basics of Orthodoxy, its culture and traditions; fulfills its educational purpose.

Pray child - introduces the prayer practice of Orthodoxy; teaches the child to pray.

holy image - about icons (the history of miracles) and icon painters. Fulfills educational purpose.

holy warriors - the life of the holy warriors, reveal the theme of self-sacrifice and martyrdom for the sake of Christ, contributing to the formation of a pious personality.

Food for the soul - soulful reading - wise stories, stories and fairy tales for children. Reveals the beauty of the world created by God, His wisdom and providence.

let's get acquainted - acquaintance with interesting people, with the activities of Sunday schools. Exchange of experience, involvement in community life.

Cyrillic - teaches the basics of the Church Slavonic language in a form accessible to children (with instructive, historical examples).

Children's stories - the world through the eyes of a child, i.e. children's perception of the surrounding reality in an Orthodox arrangement (with Orthodox analytics).

chronicle - diocesan events - interesting events in the Orthodox life of children at the level of the district, city of the region. Fulfills the information goal.

Vernissage - children's work (drawings, crafts). It reveals the beauty of the world created by God, teaches children to glorify the Lord through their creativity.

Voiced flute - poems and songs (including those sent by readers). It reveals the beauty of the world created by God, teaches children to glorify the Lord through their creativity.

It's interesting to know - facts, events that deserve attention. Realizes the educational and educational goal.

Little feet in holy places - pilgrimages to holy places. It realizes the information and educational goal, acquainting the reader with the shrines of Orthodoxy.

Do it yourself - teaches the young reader to be creative.

Our quiz - the topic raised in the issue is fixed in a playful way.

New headings added - Visiting the master - introduces the young reader to the profession of people working for the good of the Orthodox Church (bell-caster, prosphora maker, icon painter, wall painting, wood carver, gold embroiderers, etc.). Headings introducing the young reader to famous personalities (Storytellers and their tales, 12 great people of history).