Project: Research-practical project “Living Communities”
Funding: It is carried out in cooperation with the Living Tradition Foundation and the Synodal Charity Department with the support of the Presidential Grants Fund.
Research team: Ivan Zabaev, Elena Prutskova, Polina Vrublevskaya, Elizaveta Kostrova, Tatiyana Krihtova, Valeriya Elagina, Markin Kirill, Oreshina Daria, Nikolay Emeliyanov
About the project
The aim of the project is to develop social activities of Orthodox parishes and NGOs in order to increase their efficiency in solving local social problems, including those in conjunction with secular and state actors. The addressees and participants of the events are activists of parishes, employees of confessional and secular NGOs, employees of diocesan departments for charity and social service in five regions of five federal districts of the Russian Federation. Social assistance to vulnerable groups of the population makes an important part of activities of many parishes. Their relatively small size and good integration into the local community allows parishes to respond flexibly to the specifics of local needs for social support of citizens and to adapt to specific tasks. We see examples when the parish succeeds in transforming the social environment and realizing social projects. More often, however, such results are not achieved no matter how willing active parishioners are to develop social activities. Insufficient funding is the most obvious obstacle. Still, fundraising may not be the solution in all cases. The Active Tradition Foundation has already held a series of seminars to improve fundraising skills among parish activists. As a result, the effect of training activities turned out to be more reliable after a preliminary social analysis of the local current situation. Practitioners often lack a common vision of the structure of their activities and an understanding of their potential in connection with the available opportunities. Hence, it will be useful to study socially active parishes in order to identify criteria and reasons for success of certain practices, while at the same time observing less active parishes with a focus on their specific difficulties. Such a comparison will make it possible to develop meaningful locally oriented recommendations to increase the efficiency in solving local social problems of the projects that are already being implemented, as well as to increase the general number of social initiatives.
The project will include (1) five ethnographic expeditions to regional Orthodox parishes to study their social activities; and (2) thirty local events (workshops, online lectures, and presentations of the results of the ethnographic research) for the representatives of target groups, which will improve their competence in developing social projects and give them recommendations on their activities from experts. As a result of the project activities, those who organize and implement social activities in Orthodox parishes and NGOs will be able to develop existing and new initiatives based on the unique sociological data and specially developed methodological recommendations on possible strategies for increasing the effectiveness of social projects for the local community.
Relevant news
SEMINARS
Seminar №1. 11.06.2024
At the introductory seminar, participants discussed possible strategies for working with the field data. Possible ways of describing the material were identified as: the ways of locating churches by place and the fact of church activity during the Soviet period; the juxtaposition of the figures of the priest and the social worker on the mental map of the church community; the intersection of questionnaire data with in-depth interview data. The desired strategies for working with the data were also discussed, according to the research interests of the participants and the expectations of the seminar colleagues.
Seminar №2. 18.06.2024
At the second seminar, participants discussed possible strategies for analyzing project data and outlined three approaches to systematization. One approach involves coding interviews based on indicators developed as part of the operationalization of the concept of a «living communities». Another option focuses on identifying a common problem or several key issues that appear most frequently in the cases. The third approach involves moving from the analysis of individual interviews to broader generalizations, allowing for the construction of a comprehensive picture based on the collected data.
Seminar №3. 02.07.2024
At the third seminar, participants discussed the extent to which the existing operationalization of the concept of a “living communities” is suitable for analyzing interview transcripts. They noted that many potentially significant factors mentioned by respondents are not adequately reflected in the proposed indicators. Additionally, it was acknowledged that interviews do not always reveal the negative aspects of parish life: certain issues remain unspoken, either because they seem too obvious to respondents or because they prefer not to discuss conflicts and problems within the community. Particular attention was given to the metaphors of illness and healing as a potential tool for theorization. What is living can experience pain and go through periods of crisis. It is especially revealing when a parish community undergoes conflicts yet manages to maintain its integrity and continue its development. As a result, it was decided to temporarily abandon the previously developed operationalization scheme.
Seminar №4. 26.09.2024
At the seminar, participants discussed the results of interview coding and the core categories that help outline the structure of parish life. One of the key observations was the central role of the rector in most parishes. This sparked a debate on whether to dedicate a separate analysis to the figure of the rector, detailing his role and specific characteristics, or, conversely, to focus on the structure and dynamics of the community without emphasizing his personality. A third approach would be to examine different models of interaction between the rector and parishioners. In addition to the rector, the social worker also plays a significant role in parish life, influencing decision-making related to parishioner activities. In some regions, such as the Voronezh region, this function is performed by women’s councils. A typical portrait of a social worker emerges: most often, this is a woman aged 40–50. At the end of the meeting, participants discussed the weaknesses of existing approaches to operationalizing the concept of a «living communities» and possible ways to improve them.
Seminar №5, 10.10.2024
At the fifth seminar of the «Living Communities» project, the structure of the upcoming monograph and the refinement of indicators for assessing the «vitality» of parishes were discussed. Three options for organizing the text were proposed: chapters dedicated to individual cases, grouping parish cases by theoretical categories, or structuring chapters by operationalization indicators. Participants highlighted the need to refine the operationalization of «vital» parishes, as current indicators fail to capture the differences between types of priests and their impact on parish organization. The discussion focused on the cases of parishes in Baltiysk and Ostrogozhsk. In Baltiysk, the influence of the local environment on parish activity was examined, while in Ostrogozhsk, attention was given to the role of women’s councils as religious analogues of secular institutions.
Seminar № 6. 24.10.2024
At the seminar, the cases of two churches in Khabarovsk were discussed. Particular attention was given to the characteristics of parish communities that do not fit previously established typologies, including the «blurred» type. Using the example of the cathedral, participants examined how the absence of a stable identity tied to the community impacts parishioners’ active participation in church life. The potential use of parish social media pages as an additional data source was also considered. A key outcome of the seminar was the agreement on an interview coding methodology based on Strauss and Glaser’s approach, emphasizing the identification of core categories, actions, and processes.
Seminar № 7. 07.11.2024
At the seventh seminar of the «Living Communities» project, key analytical categories of parish life were discussed: discipline, justice, charisma, enthusiasm, and family. The discussion was based on analytical materials prepared by the participants. Topics included the impact of factors such as the rector’s position, the «second person», and parish structure on the «vitality» of the parish community. In addition, conditions for distinguishing «closed» and «open» communities were examined. The seminar also raised the question of whether it is appropriate to define subcategories within broader analytical categories, such as «love» and «family».
Seminar № 8. 21.11.2024
The seminar examined various types of participation in parish life and their potential impact on the functioning of Orthodox religious communities. Additional attention was given to structural and contextual factors influencing the «vitality» of parishes, including the church’s spatial proximity to the historical and geographical center of the city, the rector’s age, and established pastoral traditions. The second part of the discussion focused on issues related to the systematization of data on parish communities within the framework of the «Living Communities» project database.
Seminar №9. 05.12.2024
The ninth seminar of the «Living Communities» project focused on analyzing the impact of spatial and geographical factors on the non-liturgical activities of Orthodox parishes. The keynote speaker, MSU master’s student Yaroslav Kuksin, presented the results of a study on the geographical distribution of non-liturgical activities among Moscow’s parish communities. The analysis revealed a clear differentiation across three zones. In central Moscow, parish activity is relatively low, which can be attributed to the limited availability of space for events in historical churches, competition from secular organizations (cultural centers, NGOs), and the low density of residential buildings, which reduces the potential audience. In New Moscow, there is a dynamic development of non-liturgical initiatives, whereas semi-peripheral areas occupy an intermediate position.
Additionally, the participants examined the issue of interaction among three key actors in the urban space—parish communities, local residents, and municipal authorities. The need to study their cooperation or conflicts at the district level was emphasized, which could become the subject of future research.
Seminar №10. 10.12.2024
The tenth meeting of the «Living Communities» project focused on structuring a summary table consolidating the results of data analysis across all studied parish communities. At the current project stage, a database of 20 case studies has been compiled, each containing a sufficient volume of interviews for analysis. Key categories defining a community’s «liveliness» — such as activity, sustainability, and engagement — have already been identified for each case.
Although the core data has been systematized in a unified table, participants proposed supplementing it with new indicators for in-depth analysis. Specifically, to explore the relationship between a community’s «liveliness» and the role of the priest, it was decided to introduce variables for clergy typology: years of service since ordination, level and focus of education (secular or theological), as well as personal interests, and non-liturgical initiatives. In the future, this data may form the basis for a separate table compiling information on priests who participated in interviews for the «Living Communities» project and its sequel. This will enable cross-analysis of the role of the clergyman’s personality in shaping the dynamics of parish life.
Seminar №11. 24.12.2024
The seminar focused on discussing the 
concept of the «second person» as a mediator of a unique mode of communication within the parish community. This figure has no formal obligations within the church community but plays a key role in establishing and maintaining connections both within the parish and beyond. Unlike the priest, the «second person» is not a cleric, which allows parishioners to build horizontal rather than vertical relationships with them. In this way, they create an alternative source of authority, fostering open and informal interaction within the community.
Seminar №12. 21.01.2025
The seminar focused on analyzing the unique characteristics of Orthodox Christianity in the Far East. The interviews highlighted that the Khabarovsk Territory is perceived as a region where traditions had to be revived practically from scratch after the Soviet era. Indigenous small-numbered peoples, primarily the Nanai, remain largely uninvolved in Orthodox practices. This was exemplified by a past conflict over an initiative to translate the Bible into the Nanai language, which local communities interpreted as an imposition of a religion alien to their culture. Organizational challenges were also discussed: in Khabarovsk, due to the small number of churches and a shortage of priests, a single clergyman often serves multiple parishes without being permanently assigned to a specific community. This has led to a functional division among churches — for example, one parish may host a Sunday school, while another focuses on choir activities, and so on.
Seminar №13. 30.01.2025
At the latest meeting of the 
«Living Communities» project, participants discussed interviews with priests conducted in parish communities of the Samara and Rostov regions, as well as previously prepared analytical materials. The participants concluded that the activities of parishioners in the Rostov region are largely shaped by the Cossack identity of the local villagers who attend the church. In this case, the connection of the local population to Cossack heritage and noble families comes to the fore, fostering their solidarity and self-organization.
For describing the case study from the Samara region, the category of «help» may prove key. Initially, people come to the church to help others, and through this interaction, they learn about one another. Notably, the church’s charitable initiatives involve not only parishioners but also volunteers, including non-Orthodox individuals.
Seminar № 14. 04.02.2025
At the fourteenth seminar of the «Living Communities» project, participants continued their discussion of materials from the shared database of parish communities. The meeting focused on selecting the most compelling and significant cases to be included in the final monograph. During the discussions, several cross-cutting themes and categories were identified that unite parish communities across various regions. Key recurring categories include: the concept of «the second person», the role of the parish priest, empowerment, and the preservation of traditions.
Seminar №15. 11.02.2025
During the seminar, participants explored the dynamics of parish communities in small towns and villages, where limited material and financial resources pose challenges to sustainable development. In such contexts, social connections and horizontal communication emerge as key mechanisms to address these challenges, forming the basis for mutual aid and cooperation. Special attention was given to the model of the rector’s authority as «empowerment» — an approach centered on involving parishioners in decision-making and delegating responsibilities. This model was contrasted with authoritarian leadership, highlighting its potential to foster resilient, self-organizing communities even in resource-constrained environments.
Seminar №16. 18.02.2025
The sixteenth meeting of the «Living Communities» project addressed the limits of growth in parish communities, using a case study of a church in Yekaterinburg. Participants outlined three strategies relevant to communities reaching a critical scale. The first strategy involves avoiding expansion to preserve interpersonal bonds and reduce risks. The second prioritizes multiplication while maintaining relationships within the community. The third replaces interpersonal dynamics with bureaucratic structures. The chosen strategy shapes the community’s development path amid institutional and social constraints.
Seminar №17. 25.02.2025
The seventeenth meeting of the «Living Communities» project focused on identifying theoretical frameworks for analyzing specific case studies of parish communities. The discussion centered on community development scenarios, their embeddedness in local tradition, and strategies for overcoming crises. Participants examined various models, including communities that form around an interest in history and traditions, with an emphasis on engaging new generations. Cases demonstrating successful leadership transitions were also discussed, where the change was facilitated by a successful combination of the discipline instilled by the previous rector and the enthusiasm of the new one. The conversation outlined key categories for comparative analysis, such as tradition, rootedness, and discipline.
Seminar №18. 04.03.2025
The eighteenth meeting of the «Living Communities» project examined how concepts of liminality and communitas can be applied to studying parish communities. Participants explored how rites of passage facilitate the creation of a distinct social space — communitas characterized by the absence of rigid structure and relationships based on equality. Through discussion of various case studies, the group addressed the phenomenon of permanent liminality, where the facilitator of transition rituals themselves exists in a transitional state. Attention was given to the tension between maintaining the spirit of communitas and the need to develop organizational structure as communities grow, a process that often leads to the loss of «human-scale» relationships.
Seminar №19. 11.03.2025
The nineteenth meeting of the «Living Communities» project discussed Talja Blockland’s book «Community as Urban Practice». Participants examined an alternative approach to understanding communities that focuses on public practices and everyday interactions rather than geographical proximity or normative conceptions. The discussion paid particular attention to the concept of «public familiarity» and the significance of weak social ties in shaping urban environments. Using parish communities as examples, the conversation explored how religious communities extend beyond church walls through public practices and influence urban space. The question of community boundaries and their maintenance through various forms of social relations was also considered.
Seminar №20. 18.03.2025
The «Living Communities» project held a discussion of the second part of Talja Blockland’s book «Community as Urban Practice». Participants focused on analyzing the conditions for community emergence, particularly the role of «public familiarity» and «absent ties» — fleeting but regular interactions that create a foundation for recognition and sense of community. Using parish communities as an example, the discussion explored how sustainable communities form through the intersection of social networks and joint public practices. Particular attention was paid to how collective experience and shared narratives enable a community to exist not only within the church space but also in the urban environment.
Seminar №21. 25.03.2025
The twenty-first meeting of the «Living Communities» project focused on finding an adequate theoretical language for describing religious communities. Participants discussed contemporary approaches to understanding tradition and identified limitations of existing concepts when applied to field data. The discussion proposed an alternative approach that derives analytical categories directly from empirical material. Special attention was paid to procedural aspects of community life, enabling a shift from static concepts to describing specific practices and interactions. As part of this methodological reorientation, the possibility of using more neutral concepts for analyzing practices of maintaining continuity in religious communities was considered.
Seminar №22. 01.04.2025
The latest meeting of the «Living Communities» project continued the discussion of theoretical approaches to analyzing parish life. The focus was on the applicability of liminality and communitas concepts for describing contemporary religious communities. Participants noted that classical theoretical constructs require adaptation to the heterogeneous practices of parish life. The seminar examined a wide spectrum of community-forming practices: from utilitarian actions and social activities to structured rituals. Particular attention was paid to how this diversity of practices enables the involvement of people with different needs and expectations in parish life. Participants also emphasized the importance of working with people in transitional states for community development. The discussion noted an interesting phenomenon: in interviews, the language describing social activities of parishes often exists separately from religious terminology, raising questions about how these two dimensions relate in the minds of community members.
Seminar №23. 08.04.2025
The twenty-third seminar of the «Living Communities» project discussed Danièle Hervieu-Léger’s concept of religion as a «chain of memory». Participants examined how contemporary parish communities restore broken religious traditions and create new forms of continuity. The discussion paid special attention to the role of collective memory and rituals in forming religious identity. Using specific case studies, the conversation explored how tradition can serve not only to preserve but also to renew religious practices in a secular society. The importance of symbolic continuity and the authority of tradition for legitimizing new forms of religious life was noted.
Seminar №24. 15.04.2025
The twenty-fourth meeting of the «Living Communities» project discussed concepts of power and empowerment in the context of parish life. Participants examined the power-empowerment dichotomy proposed by M. Haugaard and its applicability to analyzing Russian church communities. The discussion noted the complexity of directly transferring Western concepts to the local context, where the rector’s authority has a symbolically entrenched nature, and empowerment mechanisms are often linked to personal authority. Particular attention was paid to the ambivalent nature of empowerment, which can combine with elements of hidden pressure, as well as the role of the «second person» in the parish as a mediator between the formal structure and parishioners’ initiatives.
Seminar №25. 13.05.2025
The recent meeting of the «Living Communities» project examined the reproduction mechanisms of parish communities through the lens of liminality and tradition concepts. Participants discussed how these theoretical approaches help explain the stability of religious communities across different social contexts. The conversation highlighted that while liminality describes transitional states and experiences of collective communion, tradition serves as a mechanism for consolidating these states, ensuring long-term stability. Particular attention was paid to community boundaries, collective identity formation practices, and the distinctive characteristics of rural versus urban parishes. Through specific case studies, the role of the church as a center unifying tradition, ritual, and liminal experience was explored.
Seminar №26. 13.05.2025
At the latest meeting of the «Living Communities» project, participants discussed the concept of liminality in anthropological and sociological theory — from its classical interpretation as a transitional phase in the works of Arnold van Gennep and Victor Turner to more contemporary understandings of «structural suspension». The discussion focused on how different definitions of liminality can be applied to the study of parish communities. It was noted that liminal states may take both positive forms — fostering inclusion and renewal — and negative ones, linked to exclusion or marginalization. Special attention was given to the role of rituals and symbols in shaping collective transitions, as these elements allow communities to experience and consolidate change together. The conversation also addressed the problem of conceptual overextension and the need to balance classical and modern approaches. In conclusion, participants emphasized the collective dimension of liminality — the ability of a community to undergo transitions as a whole, which sustains its vitality and cohesion.
Seminar №27. 27.05.2025
The latest meeting of the «Living Communities» project focused on the case of the parish in Baltiysk — a community situated within the specific context of a military town marked by constant population change and social instability. The discussion centered on the role of the parish priest as a guide in states of liminality and on how parish life operates amid ongoing transitions and uncertainty. Participants noted that the parish engages with people in crisis or transitional situations, serving as a space of social integration. The priest was seen less as a guarantor of transformation and more as someone who creates conditions for transition and communal continuity.
A key question arose: can such experiences truly be described in terms of liminality when transitions remain unfinished and individuals linger in in-between states? It was emphasized that the vitality of the parish depends not only on charismatic leadership but also on its capacity for self-organization. Paradoxically, constant change and adaptation emerge as mechanisms of stability. Compared to other parishes, Baltiysk appears as a more dynamic community — one whose vitality is sustained not by tradition, but by flexibility and openness to crisis. Acting as both a religious and a social institution, the parish provides a space for those otherwise excluded, illustrating how instability itself can become a foundation of communal life.
Seminar №28. 09.06.2025
The latest meeting of the «Living Communities» project focused on the case of a parish in Khabarovsk — an emerging community formed «from scratch» on the city’s outskirts. The discussion examined how this parish develops collective memory and continuity in the absence of long-standing traditions. It was noted that the parish functions as an open and expanding community, bringing together people with diverse spiritual backgrounds. Its vitality stems from the combination of pastoral initiatives and active lay participation, which together sustain its internal coherence. Two main pathways of joining the community were discussed: through informal interaction and through liturgical participation. The intersection of these pathways shapes the parish’s core and everyday rhythm. Participants emphasized the importance of those who assist the priest and help newcomers integrate into the community, linking everyday life with liturgical experience.
A significant topic concerned spatial and symbolic boundaries: the parish’s location behind a checkpoint creates a sense of separation that, paradoxically, encourages initiatives aimed at openness and inclusion. Efforts such as landscaping, pilgrimages, and public events help overcome isolation and strengthen communal ties. The discussion highlighted the Khabarovsk parish as an example of how a young community can build continuity and collective memory through shared practices and experiences.
Seminar №29. 24.06.2025
At the 29th seminar of the «Living Communities» project, participants discussed two models of authority in parish communities, using the case of a church in Mikhaylovsk. The contrast between «vertical» (authoritarian) and «horizontal» (empowerment-oriented) forms served as a basis for reflecting on how power and initiative are actually distributed within parish life. It was noted that, in practice, these models often intersect rather than oppose each other. Particular attention was given to the role of active lay participants — coordinators and assistants who form their own centers of responsibility and engagement. The discussion emphasized the importance of describing authority not through evaluative dichotomies but through its concrete effects and its capacity to sustain communal life.
