On October 28-29, 2026, the IV International Scientific and Practical Conference “Theology, Society, State: A Space for Dialogue,” dedicated to the memory of Archbishop Alexander (Timofeev) of Saratov and Volsk, took place in Saratov. The conference was organized by the Saratov Orthodox Theological Seminary, the Alma-Ata Orthodox Theological Seminary, and Saratov State University named after N. G. Chernyshevsky.
On October 28, at the plenary session, Valeria Elagina delivered a paper titled “Two Understandings of the Rector’s Authority: Domination and Empowerment in the Formation of the Parish Community.” On the same day, at the section “The Sociological Dimension of Church Ministry,” the participants of the Orthodox Monitor project spoke about their research: Elena Prutskova delivered a paper titled “Dynamics of Religiosity among Orthodox Russians in the 21st Century (Based on Nationwide Mass Surveys)”; Mikhail Baikov presented a paper titled “A Cohesive Family as a Channel for Transmitting Parental Strictness: Religiosity and Control over Adolescents”; Vasily Tazin shared his findings in a paper titled “Abandonment by God and Related Spiritual Crises: Criteria for Distinguishing”.
