Clergy Recruitment

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Thread discussing issues with recruiting clergy into ROCOR in Australia.
Conversation began with the following email exchange:

2009/4/16 Snejana Karmanovskaia <s.karmanovskaia@student.canberra.edu.au>

Dear everyone,
At the Mini-Syezd on 14-15 March 2009 the question of the lack of priests and guys in the seminaries was raised.
Could the Diocese sponsor the existing priests in Russia (possibly recent seminary graduates) to come to Australia to stay and work?
As I understand, most of the parishes that have no priests (i.e. Elevation of the Cross in Hobart) do not have enough people that come to Church to support the priest and his family. Could the new-comers from Russia be sponsored to attend a university/tafe courses in order to have an employment for the rest of their lives in Australia?
I also understand that the priests' attitude to Church work in Russia is not one of the active integration with the parisheners and that only the certain outgoing and very social priests would fit in Australia. Also, the potential new-comers would have to have a reasonable proficiency in English in order to study and live in Australia. I do believe, however, that there would be some priests or soon-to-be seminary graduates that would be glad to move to Australia.
What are your thoughts on this matter and should we, if possible, contact the seminaries in Russia to advertise Australia as a potential destination? We could then start organising for events that would raise money for the priests-to-come. The parisheners with no priests would, undoubtfully be most keen.
Please e-mail me your thoughts on this matter and if you think it worthwhile so that I could follow it through.
Kind Regards,
Snejana.


On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 8:31 PM, Marina L <mlobasto@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Snejana,

Much as I appreciate the sentiment of this idea, I would urge caution and deep consideration in how this process would take place.

Russian seminaries, attitudes to priests and attitudes towards the Church Abroad were all subjects I touched upon in my masters. I wont go into detail here, but from the interviews I conducted and literature I read, it became evident that there are certinaly differences in the mentality and attitudes of and towards priests, parishioners and communities in Russia and Abroad.

I am in no way suggesting that one is better than the other, or more correct than the other, merely that differences are apparent and certianly do exist.

Having said that, there are certainly priests and potential priests that would be capable of assimilating into a different society and would have the capacity to provide the spiritual nurturing required by our parishes. My only concern here would be - are these not the same priests that Russia requires now, during this difficult time of rebuilding?

Another consideration is the difficulty of uprooting a family (if the potential priest has one) and moving them to a foreign country. Having moved states and countries before, I am acutely aware of the potential culture that can be experienced and how important it is to have a support network in your new location.

I am not in any way saying that this is a bad idea... merely suggesting it is not a process that should be rushed and one that deserves considerable thought.

Kind regards
Marina


Thank you, Marina, for sharing your thoughts and knowledge in response to Snejana's idea of sponsoring priests from Russia.

Prior to the signing of the Act of Canonical Communion with the Moscow Patriarchate there was a meeting held in Sydney in the presence of His Grace Archbishop Hilarion (now His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion). I was present at the meeting and witnessed Snejana's idea raised by other parishioners as a concern. They were seeking clarification out of fear that priests from Russia would take the place of priests in ROCOR parishes. Archbishop Hilarion's response at the meeting was very similar to Marina's.
With love in Christ,

Katya


Hi all,

I sincerely regret missing that particular talk.
Does anyone happen to have the notes from it or a recording?

Kind regards
Marina


Hi all,

Is there a lack of interest in going to the seminary in Australia? Perhaps investing in a campaign to find interested persons from Australia and sponsoring them instead would be a better idea.

Kind Regards,

Grigory Metlenko

[Snejana Karmanovskaia]

Dear All, Христос Воскресе!

As Grigory Metlenko rightly suggested,

Russian Orthodox Priests-to-be could indeed go to St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College in Australia.

Does anyone know anyone who is studying there and is going to become Russian Orthodox Priest?

Should we ask people (from our parishes who are thinking of becoming priests) if they would be happy to study in Australia but not studying due to:
- it not normally being practiced;
- Greeks having new style;
- financial hardships;
- other?

Should we also ask the seminarians in the USA (or Russia) why they went there? And why they did not think to ask Metropolitan Hilarion for a blessing to attend Greek College and to liaise with the Greek Archbishop?

Kind regards,


Snejana Karmanovskaia

[Grisha Metlenko]

Just a correction:

My suggestion was to sponsor interested orthodox in Australia, to be sent to our own russian orthodox seminaries...

[Admin]

Just commenting on Snejana's post - one would need to understand the current relationship of the Greek archdiocese with ROCOR and consequential attitudes towards Russian students at St Andrews. I am not sure that they are too keen to get friendly with us after all those years of contempt for the Russian Church Abroad, even though we have re-established communion with Moscow.

Be aware that they do not recognise the legitimacy of any diocese in the "barbarian lands", those outside the territory of the traditional patriarchates, besides those that belong to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. This is a rule made in the 4th Ecumenical Council that is being interpreted by the Greeks in a very legalistic way, but one which has expired due to new realities.

Russians have studied at St Andrews. I have heard stories that the experience, though, was not sweet. There is also the issue of modernistic/ecumenical/superficial theology being taught where nice intellectual formulas are made to accommodate everyone without addressing the core of spiritual life.

St Andrews had some great theologians in the past. It would be interesting to hear the posts of anybody that has studied there more recently.