Address of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan to the Organizers and Participants of the All-Kazakhstan Congress on Church Social and Charitable Work “Serving One’s Neighbor”

Very Reverend Fathers, dear brothers and sisters!

I warmly greet the organizers and participants of the First All-Kazakhstan Congress on Church Social Ministry. Today, here within the walls of the Spiritual, Cultural and Administrative Center of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, people have gathered who take deeply to heart the needs, illnesses and sorrows of others and do everything in their power to alleviate the suffering and pain of their neighbors.

The doing of good works is closely bound up with the very essence of the life of the Orthodox Church and of every Christian, for, according to Scripture, faith without works is dead (Jas. 2:26). The mercy commanded by Christ is faith in action; it is love expressed in concrete deeds aimed at the good of one’s neighbor. It is no coincidence that we call service to our neighbor “social ministry,” for nothing has such a profound influence on the formation of a healthy society as kindness. Moreover, without people supporting one another, society itself cannot exist – it will disintegrate and disappear.

Therefore, what we call the Church’s social ministry is directed toward addressing pressing and vitally important needs. Through the doing of good works, the character of the person who performs them is itself formed. Christ says: “By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another” (Jn. 13:35). At the Last Judgment, the Lord will ask us whether we performed works of mercy – whether we gave food and drink to those who hungered and thirsted, visited those who were sick or in prison, clothed the naked and welcomed the stranger. We will be called to account for whether or not we performed such deeds, because without them the human person cannot attain fulfillment, nor can the human family that we call society be formed.

For this reason, the Church’s social work is not some secondary responsibility to be undertaken by a rector, parish, dean or diocesan hierarch; rather, it is one of our fundamental duties. The more actively we engage in this work, the more grace-filled our own lives will become – our ecclesial, family and personal lives alike.

It is essential that every Orthodox community, alongside worship and preaching, should have organized forms of social and charitable work. It is highly desirable that volunteers, parish workers and sisters of mercy receive professional training, know how to care for the sick and be familiar with modern methods of assisting those who suffer from illness. The diocesan social ministry department must create conditions in which anyone wishing to help their neighbor is given the opportunity to do so.

It is good when a parish has a mercy group, yet sometimes even most parishioners are unaware of its existence. Do not hesitate to tell people about this ministry. Those who wish to help will only be able to join your work if they learn about it and become interested. Therefore, raising awareness in parishes and encouraging participation in social ministry must be the responsibility of every clergyman, and especially of every parish rector.

I would like to call upon all those laboring in the grace-filled field of social ministry not to grow weary in their diligence, but to strive in every way to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ, Who, in the words of the Apostle James, is “very pitiful, and of tender mercy” (Jas. 5:11). And when the Savior comes in the glory of His Father with His angels, then He shall reward every man according to his works (Mt. 16:27).

Invoking God’s blessing,

HEAD OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH OF KAZAKHSTAN

METROPOLITAN OF ASTANA AND KAZAKHSTAN