Money and the Church: a stumbling block to spirituality and wealth

Unfortunately, today you can hear reasoning from many people in the spirit of: “Why does everything in the temple cost money? Didn't Christ drive out the merchants? Why is it cheap to make a candle, but they sell it at exorbitant prices? It’s clear that the “butts” should buy Mercedes. Or a watch." There are a lot of people's tax inspectors who competently talk about church income. Let's try to figure out why the church actually needs money, where is it spent and should parishioners pay for spirituality?

Return gift

If a person knows the Gospel, he immediately remembers that Christ expelled the merchants from the temple. If a person has not read the Gospel himself, well, sooner or later there will be “well-wishers” from some sect who will not deny themselves the pleasure of pointing a finger at someone else’s “sin.” With angry indignation they will draw your attention to the obvious contradiction between the life of the Orthodox Church and the Gospel... But Orthodox priests also read the Gospel. Why is money ringing in our churches?

Money in the church is payment for the fact that we live in conditions very different from the cultural and everyday environment in which the foundations of Orthodox life took shape. This is our payment for the fact that we do not live in a traditional society, not in a peasant community. We are residents of cities, northern ones at that, and by no means Palestinian or Greek.

Let us imagine the foundations of church “political economy” at a time when the so-called natural economy dominated.

There was almost no money (especially in the countryside). People brought to the temple a piece of what they grew or made themselves. They did not buy candles in the temple - but brought their own from home. They did not buy a bottle of oil for their home lamps in the temple, but they brought oil made with their own hands from home. They did not buy prosphora in the temple, but brought their own homemade bread or flour for the temple. They did not buy incense brought from abroad in the church store, but they themselves shared the resin they collected with the temple. What we take out of the temple today, a hundred years ago people (at least peasants) brought to the temple.

The peasant understood that he was not the creator of his harvest. Yes, his work and his contribution are great. But without rain and without sun, would the land plowed by him bear fruit?! Throughout the suffering he looked at the sky with hope. Now he has a harvest - and a sense of justice requires him to be grateful to Heaven. He brings a piece of his harvest, a piece of his labor to the altar: “You gave this to me, Lord, I thank You and bring a gift in return, albeit a symbolic one.”

This is precisely the meaning of the blessing of honey, apples, and grapes on August church holidays. Apples do not become tastier or holier by bringing them to the temple. The soul just learns to be grateful. <…>

Why doesn't the Church pay taxes?

The church is exempt from income taxes. If you looked at the financial situation of most temples, you would realize that with a tax, they would not be able to make ends meet.

But let’s imagine: they would mix it. Income tax is cash registers in every temple. Each cash register no longer needs a simple grandmother and a kind parishioner, but an employee. Reporting and so on But the main thing: the introduction of a tax would deprive the church of the opportunity to do the most important thing that we actually expect from the Church: if necessary, give away candles or something else for free - after all, everything is now on the balance sheet of the accounting department...

Trade? Collecting donations!

So, people brought a piece of their labor to the temple. So today, at funeral services, remembering their loved ones “for their repose,” people bring cookies, apples, gingerbread, sugar, pancakes from home and place them on the funeral table. At the end of the prayer, they give some of the food they brought to the clergy, some are offered to everyone who is in the temple, and some are distributed to the poor near the temple. The same thing happened before with the most important church service - the Liturgy. People brought wine and bread from home and handed them to the priest with a request to pray for those who brought these gifts and for those for whom they were brought. This was what is called prosphora today. In Greek this word means offering. Prosphora is what is brought to the temple, sacrificed, and not what is taken away from the temple.

But today people do not bake bread or make wine at home. <…> People live by other types of work, and these other types of work give them food and income. But wherever a person works, his religious conscience reminds him: in your work you use those talents, those gifts, those opportunities that the Creator has given you. So return at least a part of them to His temple with gratitude. How can an engineer or a tractor driver, a journalist or a teacher bring a piece of their work to the temple? It’s not a good idea to bring a part from a tractor or a copy of a newspaper with your article... – So we have signs that express the fruitfulness of labor in a variety of areas. This is what in modern political economy is called the “universal equivalent.” Money.

He brings part of what a person earns to the temple in the form of money. He exchanges these pieces of paper for things that he did not make himself, but that are needed for services in the church: candles, bread (prosphora), wine, oil, incense. To an outsider's eye, there is an obvious trading transaction taking place here: money is exchanged for objects. In fact, everything is different. The man made his sacrifice. But you can’t light a banknote instead of a candle, and you can’t put a coin in a censer instead of incense. Well, the Church made sure in advance that the necessary substances were prepared. You don’t need to make the candle yourself and take it to the temple halfway across town. A parishioner can bring his sacrifice in the form of a coin to the church threshold, and then walk inside the temple with a candle in his hand. <…>

We do not see this as an act of sale. The “candle box” is, rather, that transitional vestibule that helps people from modern civilization painlessly move (at least in one respect) into the world of ancient tradition. And therefore, we do not believe that the presence of a “candle box” at the temple violates the Gospel commandment or the tax code.

Patriarch Alexy II, when meeting with the clergy, constantly emphasizes: in churches there should not be the words “price”, “cost”, “fee”. It is better to say “donation for such and such a candle”, “donation for such and such prayer”. And there are temples in which candles are generally offered without any talk about money. The candles are laid out simply and openly, with a donation box next to them. Some people, due to their limited means, take it for free. But often people put into this box not the ruble that the production of the candle actually cost, but five or ten rubles - realizing that this is not an exchange of equivalents, but a sacrifice... <...>

Website of the parish church in honor of St. John the Merciful

Let us imagine the foundations of church “political economy” at a time when the so-called “subsistence economy” dominated.

What was needed for the daily life of the temple? – Bread and wine for the sacrament of Communion. Wax for candles, olive oil for lamps, incense for incense. All this is not at all exotic and not expensive. The Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian peasants (and it was from there that the Orthodox way of life came to us) had all this at hand. He grew his own bread. He made wine from his own grapes. The olive tree grew in his own pasture. Resin collected from trees (primarily pine and cedar) could be used as incense. There was almost no money (especially in the countryside). People brought to the temple a piece of what they grew or made themselves. They did not buy candles in the temple - but brought their own from home. They did not buy a bottle of oil from the temple for their home lamps, but they brought oil made with their own hands from home. They did not buy prosphora in the temple, but brought their own homemade bread or flour for the temple. They did not buy incense brought from abroad in the church store, but they themselves shared the resin they collected with the temple. What we take out of the temple today, a hundred years ago people (at least peasants) brought to the temple.

The peasant understood that he was not the creator of his harvest. Yes, his work and his contribution are great. But without rain and without sun, would the land plowed by him bear fruit?! Throughout the suffering he looked at the sky with hope. Now he has a harvest - and a sense of justice requires him to be grateful to Heaven. He brings a piece of his harvest, a piece of his labor to the altar: “You gave me this gift, Lord, I thank you for it and bring a gift in return, albeit symbolic.” This is precisely the meaning of the consecration of flax, honey, apples, and grapes on August church holidays. Apples do not become tastier by bringing them to the temple. The soul learns to be grateful.

So, people brought a piece of their labor to the temple. So today, at funeral services, remembering their loved ones “for their repose,” people bring cookies, apples, gingerbread, sugar, pancakes from home and place them on the funeral table. At the end of the prayer, they give some of the food they brought to the clergy, some they offer to everyone who is in the temple, and some they distribute to the poor near the temple. The same thing happened before with the most important church service - the Liturgy. People brought wine and bread from home, handed them to the priest with a request to pray for those who brought these gifts and for those for whom they were brought. This was what is called “prosphora” today. In Greek this word means offering. “Prosphora” is what is brought to the temple, sacrificed, and not what is taken away from the temple.

But today people do not bake bread or make wine at home. Moreover, neither home-baking bread (in those families where it has been preserved), nor home-made wine or candles is now the main type of work for almost anyone. People live by other types of work, and these other types of work give them food and income. But wherever a person works, his religious conscience reminds him: in your work you use those talents, those gifts, those opportunities that the Creator has given you. So return at least a part of them to His temple with gratitude. How can an engineer or a tractor driver, a journalist or a teacher bring a piece of their work to the temple? It’s not a good idea to bring a part from a tractor or a copy of a newspaper with your article... – So we have signs that express the fruitfulness of labor in a variety of areas.

This is what in modern political economy is called the “universal equivalent.” Money.

He brings part of what a person earns to the temple in the form of money. He exchanges these pieces of paper for something that he did not make himself, but that is needed for church services: candles, bread (prosphora), wine, oil, incense... To an outsider's eye, there is an obvious trading operation going on here: money is exchanged for objects. In fact, everything is different. The man made his sacrifice. But you can’t light a banknote instead of a candle, and you can’t put a coin in a censer instead of incense. Well, the Church made sure in advance that the necessary substances were prepared. You don’t need to make the candle yourself and take it to the temple halfway across town. A parishioner can bring his sacrifice in the form of a coin to the church threshold, and then walk inside the temple with a candle in his hand.

We do not see this as an act of sale. The “candle box” is rather a transitional vestibule that helps people from modern civilization to painlessly move (at least in one respect) into the world of ancient tradition. And therefore, we do not believe that the presence of a “candle box” at the temple violates the Gospel commandment or the tax code.

His Holiness Patriarch Alexy, when meeting with the clergy, constantly emphasizes: in churches there should not be the words “price”, “cost”, “fee”. It is better to say “donation for such and such a candle”, “donation for such and such prayer”. And there are temples in which candles are generally offered without any talk about money. The candles are laid out simply and openly, with a donation box next to them. Some people, due to their limited means, take it for free. But often people put into this box not the ruble that the production of the candle actually cost, but five or ten rubles - realizing that this is not an exchange of equivalents, but a sacrifice.....

Now it is clear why, from a church point of view, those who buy (here, they buy) candles from street vendors or in secular stores, not in the temple, sin. If a candle is a symbol of our burning towards God and our sacrifice for Him, then what happens if you purchased this candle from an ordinary businessman? The candle does not pray for us, instead of us. The candle only reminds us of the prayerful burning that should be in our hearts. A candle today is not a way to illuminate a temple or apartment. She is the embodiment of the small sacrifice that we made to the temple. This small sacrifice itself is a symbol of the greatest sacrifice that a Christian must offer to God: “Let us give ourselves, and each other, and our whole life to Christ our God.” Is it really possible to say this prayer with a stolen candle in your hand? Such a sacrifice is not brought to the temple, but past the temple. And such a candle burns not for God, but for our selfishness and cheap “savings.” Today the words “sacrifice” and “sacrifice” are not popular. But the more persistently advertising and popular culture insist that one should live as deliciously as possible and that “you can’t deny yourself pleasure,” the more important it is for the Church to resist this dehumanizing fashion. Our dispute with the tax police, who strive to collect taxes from those “purchase and sale” transactions that they imagine in churches, is not about money. Looking at the church sacrifice made by people in this way is the same as seeing baptism as only a hardening procedure. It is not for the sake of hardening that people approach baptism. Of course, what is happening in the baptismal font can be described according to the laws of physics and we can recall not Christ, but Archimedes: let’s compare the weight of the body and the mass of the water displaced by it... But it is not in order to raise the water level in the baptismal font that a person descends there... And how is what happens in the baptismal font cannot be described by the laws of Archimedes, and what is happening at the candle box cannot be described only by the laws of Adam Smith, Karl Marx and others.

This is not trade, but education of the soul. Realize that small gesture that you make at the church box, not as an ordinary trading transaction, but as an initial sacrifice - and a lot will begin to change in your soul. It is not necessary to light a purchased candle with the consciousness of fulfilled purchasing duty on a candlestick, but to illuminate one’s path in life with the flame of sacrifice. This, of course, is not much. But it can also help a person realize that, in addition to work, there is also service in the world. In addition to what is bought and sold, there is also what is donated. It is clear that the Church has something to spend money on. Construction and restoration of churches, salaries for priests and singers, watchmen and cleaners. Costs of maintaining seminaries, Sunday schools, church gymnasiums and hospitals. Renting premises for non-temple talks and lectures and purchasing airtime for radio and television preaching. Maintenance of the central apparatus and foreign missions and representative offices... Where can the Church get this considerable money from?

In past centuries, most of these funds came directly from the state budget. With the separation of Church and State, one can no longer rely on this source.

Nobody forces him to buy candles. The most important sacraments of our church life - confession and communion - are always performed without any “payments”. If a person does not have the opportunity to make the appropriate sacrifice for a christening, wedding or burial, according to church rules, the priest is obliged to agree to completely free work (it will be more difficult to persuade the choir).

If it is not petty self-interest and not the typical thirst for “freebies” that are behind this, but real poverty – well, a person’s fervent prayer for his neighbors will be heard by God. After all, the priest, completing the liturgy, lowers into the Chalice with the atoning Blood of Christ all the particles taken from the prosphora handed over to the altar. Taking these particles (bread crumbs) out of the prosphora at the beginning of the Liturgy, the priest read out the names of those people who were listed in the accompanying notes. Now he lowers them all into the Chalice with the words: “Wash away, Lord, the sins of those who were remembered here with Your honest blood, with the prayers of Your saints.” You see: the priest does not say “those who are now remembered by me,” but in general “those who are remembered.” The “prayers of the saints” mentioned in these same words are by no means only the prayers of those whom we are accustomed to seeing on icons. This also refers to the prayers of those who stand with us in the church, those who partook of the Blood of Christ at this Liturgy (before Communion, the priest exclaimed: “Holy to the saints,” that is, the shrine of Christ is given to those who worthily confessed their sins , having cleansed himself, proceeds with Communion).

As we see, the priest does not pray for our neighbors instead of us, but together with us. And therefore, the inability to make a monetary sacrifice to the temple does not in any way mean that a person cannot make a prayerful, heartfelt sacrifice to God. Confess, take communion, and, having received communion, pray for your loved ones - and such a prayer will mean no less than the priest’s prayer for them at the altar according to the note you gave.

And now the time has come to reveal the main secret of the church economy: the Church lives on the money of atheists.

Finally, both he and I come to the conclusion that the time has come for my conscious baptism. Will the priest, who has invested a lot of his own effort into making my decision become more conscious and profound, take money from me, a student? Or rather, he himself will give me a gift on the day of my spiritual birth?.. By the way, this is exactly what happened to me in 1982 - at baptism, not only did they not take a penny from me, but they also gave me a cross and candles.

Years pass. The young man grows up to be truly a church person, regularly confesses and receives communion; He comes to church not only on major holidays... And then one day he comes to the priest not alone: “Father, meet me, this is my Tanya... We would like to get married...”. Will the priest talk to him about money? Or will he marry his spiritual son joyfully and free of charge - and, again, will he give another book for this occasion?

A year passes. The young man and his Tanechka, who this year has also become a parishioner and spiritual daughter of the same priest, approach him with another request: “Here, you know, Vanechka was born here... When should we baptize him?” Who will remember money here?

More years are left behind. Tatyana will mournfully approach the same priest (if he is still alive) and say: “I am a widow... Sing to my beloved.” And will he really take money from his own grieving spiritual daughter for the funeral service of a person raised by him, who spent his entire life in front of the priest?

Here is the paradox of church life: regular parishioners, the true spiritual children of the priest, bring practically no money to the temple. The temple lives not on donations from parishioners, but on the money of “parishioners.” First of all, with the money of those who are brought to the temple twice in their lives: the first time to baptize, the second time to perform a funeral service. These practical atheists, unknown to either the priest or the parishioners, transfer their money to the church “candle box”.

This system of church “economy” developed in Soviet times. Today it has, of course, become more complicated. Book and icon trade has appeared (there are churches that honestly warn: books in our church are expensive, more expensive than in a secular store. But understand, dear ones, by purchasing a book from us, you are donating to the revival of the church.”). There are philanthropic sponsors. There is help from city authorities.

And it turned out that the warmth of human relations is rewarded handsomely. The parishioners, who have fallen in love with the priest and are convinced of the selflessness of his service, perceive the needs of the church as their own. And, if they cannot help themselves, they find acquaintances in the new Russian elite (in the government apparatus, in banks, in business), introduce them to the priest and convince them to help. The same priests who treated people like mercenaries and looked at parishioners through banknotes were left alone with all the waves of the financial crisis. The good shepherds, who were able to treat people in a humane, Christian way, fulfilled the gospel words about caring for earthly goods: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all this will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Deacon Andrey Kuraev

(Pskov-Pechersk leaflet No. 282)

What are the offerings used for?

Candles, once necessary to illuminate the temple, today have lost this purpose. The temple is illuminated by electricity, and you have to pay for electricity with money. Where can the temple get money to pay city services?..

The fact that the Church has something to spend money on is understandable. Construction and restoration of churches, salaries for priests and singers, watchmen and cleaners. Costs of maintaining seminaries, Sunday schools, church gymnasiums and hospitals. Renting premises for non-temple talks and lectures and purchasing airtime for radio and television preaching. Maintenance of the central apparatus and foreign missions and representative offices... Where can the Church get this considerable money from?

In past centuries, most funds came directly from the state budget. With the separation of Church and State, one can no longer rely on this source.

In some countries, the Church (almost exclusively the Catholic Church) still has land at its disposal that was donated to it over many previous centuries, and the Church can live by renting out this land. But this option is unrealistic in modern Russia.

In a number of countries (primarily Germany and the Scandinavian countries) a special church tax is collected. Every citizen of the country is obliged to transfer a certain percentage of the total amount of his income to church needs (freedom of conscience here means that a person can decide for himself which denomination he trusts with his money). Such an option in modern Russia is clearly from the realm of fantasy.

Finally, those religious communities that do not depend on state support often impose their own internal mandatory tax on parishioners. This is the so-called tithe. The parishioner is required to donate ten percent of all his income to the church fund. Once upon a time there was such a rule in Rus' (remember that the first Orthodox church in Kyiv was called the Tithe Church). But today we are prevented from returning to such a practice by the understanding that this step means reducing the already tiny pensions and salaries of many of our parishioners by a tenth of them.

What remains in this case? – Invite parishioners to donate to the church to the best of their ability (bringing penny sacrifices for candles and prosphora) on ordinary days and years of their lives. And at the same time, invite them to donate larger sums to the temple on those rare occasions that happen infrequently in life (primarily at baptisms and weddings).

What does a priest's income consist of?

A minister's working day is often not standardized. You must arrive for the morning service at 7–8 am; it ends at approximately 11 am. Next comes work with parishioners and other responsibilities.

The priest's income is formed from his salary and money for services performed. The amount of donations for custom-made services is set by the abbot. Some temples post a list of prices at the entrance so that everyone can check it in advance. In other cases, people themselves are interested in how much they owe. Then the priest can name the amount of the donation or say “How much can you give.” In such cases, a person often begins to worry that he will make a mistake with the estimate, and gives a large amount. If we talk about borders, then one demand can cost from 500 to 30,000 rubles.

A priest's salary per month can vary from 20,000 to 200,000 rubles. Beginners earn little. As a rule, about 20 thousand in requirements and 15 in salary. The rector has more income. In Moscow, 200 thousand may not be the maximum, but the average salary of a minister. In central churches in cities, the rector can receive from 1 million rubles.

If you don't have a penny

There is no doubt that being an Orthodox parishioner under these conditions is much “cheaper” than being a Protestant paying monthly tithes. But, despite this, Protestant preachers like to make jokes about the love of money of the Orthodox: they say everything is for money. No, not everything. A person can go to church and live the church life without contributing a single penny to the church treasury.

If a person does not have the opportunity to transfer to the altar a note about the “remembrance” of his loved ones with a sacrificial penny attached to it, it does not matter. The Lord knows the thoughts of our hearts and the state of our family budgets. If it is not petty self-interest and not the typical thirst for “freebies” that are behind this, but real poverty – well, a person’s fervent prayer for his neighbors will be heard by God. After all, the priest, completing the Liturgy, lowers into the Chalice with the atoning Blood of Christ all the particles taken from the prosphora handed over to the altar. Taking these particles (bread crumbs) out of the prosphora at the beginning of the Liturgy, the priest read out the names of those people who were listed in the accompanying notes. Now he lowers them all into the Chalice with the words: “Wash away, Lord, the sins of those who were remembered here with Your honest blood, with the prayers of Your saints.” You see: the priest does not say “those who are now remembered by me,” but in general “those who are remembered.” The “prayers of the saints” mentioned in these same words are by no means only the prayers of those whom we are accustomed to seeing on icons. This also refers to the prayers of those who stand with us in the church, those who partook of the Blood of Christ at this Liturgy (before Communion, the priest exclaimed: “Holy to the saints,” that is, the shrine of Christ is given to those who worthily confessed their sins , having cleansed himself, proceeds with Communion). As we see, the priest does not pray for our neighbors instead of us, but together with us. And therefore, the inability to make a monetary sacrifice to the temple does not in any way mean that a person cannot make a prayerful, heartfelt sacrifice to God.

Confess, take communion, and, having received communion, pray for your loved ones - and such a prayer will mean no less than the priest’s prayer for them at the altar according to the note you gave.

Where do donations go?

To a person who has not deeply delved into church life, it may seem that all the money goes into the pockets of the priests. But this is absolutely not true - the church has a lot of financial needs.

In addition to basic liturgical things such as incense, lamp oil, wine, candles, etc., each parish pays wages to those who work. In large churches, this can be a fairly wide staff - security guards, janitors, cleaners, candle shop workers, and cooks. The choir should be mentioned separately - if the choir is professional, its participation in divine services often places a significant burden on the parish budget.

Important! A very common myth is that the church does not pay taxes. There are a number of official benefits, but no one has completely abolished taxation.

A large expense item for any parish is utility bills. In order for every worshiper to be warm and comfortable in the temple, it is necessary to provide sufficient heating, lighting, timely repair and replacement of communications, pipes, roofing and much more.

In the end, we must not forget about the priests. If the white priesthood serves, then a family, often with many children, is waiting for the priest at home. This family needs to be fed and supported. The priest prays for his parishioners, listens to confessions, goes to church services, and daily performs enormous spiritual work for the benefit of the believers. Isn’t it fair that the flock, spiritually nourished by the priest, supports him?

Priests of the Russian Orthodox Church receive financial support equal to the regional average salary

When buying an icon in a candle shop or giving a note, we may think that we are not making a purchase, as in a store, but are performing an act of mercy. A simple action can appear to us in a completely different light.

Contributed by visitors

And now the time has come to reveal the main secret of the church economy: the Church lives on the money of atheists.

Imagine that I am a young “God seeker”. I come to the temple and ask the priest to baptize me. Father, after talking with me, realized that I had a serious desire, but I had no knowledge about the Gospel and the norms of church life. He invites me to go to Sunday school or to talk with him. Time passes (maybe a month, maybe years). Finally, both he and I come to the conclusion that the time has come for my conscious baptism. Will the priest, who has invested a lot of his own effort into making my decision become more conscious and profound, take money from me, a student? Or, rather, will he himself give me a gift on the day of my spiritual birth?.. By the way, this is exactly what happened to me in 1982 - at baptism, not only did they not take a penny from me, but they also gave me a cross and candles.

Years pass. The young man grows up to be truly a church person, regularly confesses and receives communion; He comes to church not only on major holidays... And then one day he comes to the priest not alone: “Father, meet me, this is my Tanya... We would like to get married...” Will the priest talk to him about money? Or will he marry his spiritual son joyfully and free of charge - and again, will he also give another book for this occasion?

Here is the paradox of city church life: regular parishioners, the true spiritual children of the priest, bring practically no money to the temple. The temple lives not on donations from parishioners, but on the money of “parishioners.” First of all, with the money of those who are brought to the temple twice in their lives: the first time to baptize, the second time to perform a funeral service. It is these practical atheists, unknown to either the priest or the parishioners, who transfer their money to the church “candle box.”

This system of church “economy” developed in Soviet times. Today it has, of course, become more complicated. Book and icon trade has appeared (there are churches that honestly warn: books in our church are expensive, more expensive than in a secular store. But understand, brothers and sisters, by purchasing a book from us, you are donating to the revival of the church). There are philanthropic sponsors. There is help from city authorities.

And it turned out that the warmth of human relations is rewarded handsomely. The parishioners, who have fallen in love with the priest and are convinced of the selflessness of his service, perceive the needs of the church as their own. And, if they cannot help themselves, they find acquaintances in the new Russian elite (in the government apparatus, in banks, in business), introduce them to the priest and convince them to help. The same priests who have a mercenary attitude towards people and look at parishioners through banknotes are left alone with all the waves of the financial crisis. On good shepherds, who treat people in a humane, Christian way, the gospel words about caring for earthly goods come true: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

Deacon Andrey KURAEV

How is the church hierarchy built?

To become a priest, you must receive theological education at a seminary. Previously, with long service in the church and a strong desire, such status could be given to a person from the outside. Now the rules have changed. Seminaries are now officially classified as state institutions of higher education. In fact, spiritual education is very different from secular education.

A seminary graduate can rarely get a standard job. He is faced with a choice: urgently get married and look for a place in the church, or remain single and become a monk. The first option is more familiar. After marriage, a seminarian can expect to be ordained to the priesthood (by undergoing ordination). He needs to write a petition to the bishop for further appointment as a priest. The second way is implemented less frequently, since leading such a lifestyle is quite difficult.

The church hierarchy includes clergy and clergy . The first ones only help to conduct services. The latter undergo ordination and have the right to perform the sacraments and can manage the parish. They are divided into deacons, priests and bishops. How many months, years or decades a seminarian will spend to become a priest depends only on his abilities and obedience.

Parishes appoint their own head. If there are a small number of parishioners, then the priest does the bulk of the work himself and with the help of his mother. If there are more people, they can hire candle makers, cleaners, and gatekeepers (they look after the temple). The priest will only come for services.

They can be fired for misconduct that causes reputational and public damage to the church. The culprit can first move to a parish in another locality, and then go on vacation without compensation. In case of serious violations, they may be fired altogether.

1. Orthodox parish and sponsors

The single church body, today, is divided into 15 Local Orthodox Churches. Each Local Church may include Autonomous Churches, exarchates, metropolitan districts and other associations that consist of dioceses. A separate diocese is headed by a bishop - the highest-ranking representative of the Orthodox clergy.

But a bishop cannot simultaneously be in every territorial church community of his vast diocese. Therefore, priests and deacons help him in his ministry, forming the church clergy and managing local communities - parishes.

A parish is precisely a territorial community of Orthodox believers registered with government agencies, headed by a priest. At the time of its formation, the parish may not have a church, infrastructure facilities, or even a dedicated plot of land. Then the first goal of the community will be to obtain land and erect on it everything necessary for the performance of divine services and the functioning of the church body.

Land can be allocated to a parish for ownership or for free use by the administration of the locality where it is located. Also, often, benefactors can transfer or bequeath a plot for a temple to the temple.

With the construction of a temple, everything is much more complicated. In former times, the temple was erected “by the whole world.” Each resident of the area made a monetary contribution or participated in the construction with their labors. The size and splendor of the temple depended on the size of the community.

Today, most of the residents of the locality or district of a large city where the parish is located visit the temple from time to time, only on major church holidays (although there are exceptions). And the contributions that regular parishioners could collect for the construction of the temple are usually completely insufficient.

Therefore, the priest leading the community and members of the parish council are forced to look for ktitors (major philanthropists) from among entrepreneurs, officials, and leaders of public organizations - those who today are commonly called “sponsors” for the construction of the temple. And it’s good when they can be found, because otherwise the construction of the temple could drag on for decades.

As a rule, assistance to the temple is provided not in pure cash, but in materials or work. One company is able to supply several bags of cement, another - a car of sand. Some benefactor is ready to cover the roof of the church, and some official is ready to pave the church yard.

So, over time, the parish rebuilds its church, improves the territory, sets up a church shop, a priest's house, a Sunday school, a garage, a workshop and other necessary facilities.