In Nizhny Tagil, Orthodox Christians held a protest against the activities of the Pentecostal Church "New Generation"

On June 23, in Nizhny Tagil, Orthodox Christians held a picket in front of the cinema, which hosted a seminar of the New Generation Pentecostal Church. According to an eyewitness to the events, a member of the Union of Journalists and a representative of the public non-profit Orthodox organization "Good Deed" Lyudmila Gladkova, who is quoted by

"Pravoslavnaya Gazeta" (Yekaterinburg), the picket "was conceived as a protest against the New Generation's claim for two hectares of municipal land on Tagilskaya Street to expand its material base", but that the action coincided in time and place with a Pentecostal seminar , "was in the hands of God."

The Pentecostals called the police, however, said L. Gladkova, "the head of the Leninsky District Department of Internal Affairs, Colonel Fedotovsky ... having familiarized himself with the contents of the posters in the hands of the picketers, correctly assessed the situation on the spot. He calmly left, confident in the peaceful mood of both sides."

Explaining the essence of the claims of the Orthodox to the New Generation Church, L. Gladkova writes: “A historical monument of the Demidov era, the Orthodox chapel of miners, falls into the site chosen by representatives of this non-traditional confession for Russia. an opportunity to raise a prayer to the Lord for intercession and help in their hard work.Here they buried those who died 'in grief' or reposed due to old age or illness.

While assuring the city authorities that on the future territory of the 'New Generation' sect, buildings of a drug addiction rehabilitation center will be created, modern buildings of the community's office buildings, and most importantly, a large prayer house, will be built, its leaders do not take into account the fact that in our ancient The city has real heirs of this historical and cultural zone. It also includes the narrow-gauge Demidov railway, the Kedun-Bykovo station, and the entire territory adjacent to our natural landscape monument - Mount Vysokaya, 'where the Tagil land came from'.

And for the Orthodox, let’s just take a breath after the restoration of our destroyed churches (Holy Trinity, in the name of Alexander Nevsky, All Who Sorrow Joy and others), the soul also hurts that a transformer box is now located in the former chapel (it’s good that not public toilet). But we do not yet have the rivers of money that the New Generations receive in the form of humanitarian aid from their overseas friends, and believers believe that it is impossible to give an Orthodox shrine to people who do not recognize the Mother of God and Her friends - our patristic saints.

In addition, the Orthodox are dissatisfied with the spread of "alien" religious teachings: "... national self-consciousness is currently affected by Protestant thinking and the cult of the Western consumerist lifestyle. That is why in the "New Generation" young members of the community often perceive the gospel truths through the prism of worldly good and This hook is most often used by their "elder brothers" in confession, who themselves received both education and training abroad.

The picketers intended to collect the signatures of the townspeople under the corresponding appeal, but they failed to do so: “It was as if the picket participants had done something unnatural, among which, by the way, were not only grandmothers, but also young representatives of the Orthodox denomination, and the intelligentsia - teachers of educational institutions, school teachers. And they laughed at them, twisted a finger at their temples, took pictures on mobile phones. As if they didn’t go to the square in Tagil, but appeared on Unter der Linden with posters in Russian ... "

“As for emergency calls from police 'gas trucks' and fire trucks to circuses and cinema halls, where Protestants of all stripes and ranks so love to gather their 'prayer forums,' notes L. Gladkova in conclusion, 'this is most likely talking about their weaknesses. We, Orthodox Christians, would prefer to speak with Euro-Christians one on one, without forceful pressure and gloating."

Sources

• An Orthodox checkpoint was organized in Nizhny Tagil near the Sovremennik cinema, where neo-Pentecostals gathered // Orthodox newspaper (Yekaterinburg). 2005. July 1st. (With reference to the "Information Agency of the Yekaterinburg Diocese".)