In Lipetsk, Orthodox Christians held a prayer service on the territory of the temple occupied by the Baptist community • Sova • RIMA

In Lipetsk, Orthodox Christians held a prayer service on the territory of the temple occupied by the Baptist community

As reported by the Slavic Legal Center with reference to the Gorod48.ru portal , in Lipetsk about a hundred Orthodox on November 4 held a procession from the Church of the Nativity to the Trinity Church, which was transferred in 1989 to the local community of Evangelical Christian Baptists. After a prayer service and a sermon right at the door of the church (where a Baptist meeting was taking place at that time), priest Georgy Kondratyuk, according to the SOC, "informed the Orthodox that the Trinity Church itself and the land plot on which the temple building is located, by order of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 19, 2007 handed over to the Orthodox community.

“Recently,” he said, “the issue of transferring the temple was discussed by the governor of the Lipetsk region, Oleg Korolev, and Bishop Nikon of Lipetsk and Yelets. We Orthodox understand that the issue of its transfer cannot be resolved immediately and to the detriment of the Baptists, who spent a lot of money on its repair The leadership of the region and the spiritual leadership of the diocese are looking for a way out of this situation, and we hope that the authorities will soon find a suitable building for the Baptist Christians to move into."

Presbyter of the ECB community Vladimir Ilovaisky, who left the church during the sermon of Fr. George, was quite surprised by the information about the transfer of the building to the Orthodox. “As the leader of the first Lipetsk ECB community, no one informed me about this, they didn’t call the regional administration and didn’t offer to move somewhere,” he told the correspondent of the Gorod48.ru portal. “We have never “clung” to this temple before. , realizing that it will have to be returned sooner or later. But we still hope that we will be compensated for the costs of restoring this church or the authorities will provide the property with an equivalent meeting space. unsuitable and dangerous for gatherings of people and requiring a multi-million dollar investment that we don't have."

Sources

Orthodox Christians served on the territory of the Baptist Church in Lipetsk // Slavic Legal Center. 2007. November 6. (With reference to the Gorod48.ru portal.)