Metropolitan Alexander Chairs a Meeting of the Diocesan Council of the Astana and Almaty Dioceses

December 11, 2025. Almaty. At the Administrative and Spiritual–Cultural Center of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District named after Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov), Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan chaired a meeting of the Diocesan Council of the Astana and Almaty Dioceses.

Taking part in the meeting were: Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen, Chancellor of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District; Bishop Klavdian of Taldykorgan; and Bishop Veniamin of Talgar; Archpriest Valery Zakharov, dean of the parishes of Almaty and rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral; Archpriest Evgeny Bobylev, chairman of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District and rector of the Intercession Church of the Southern Capital; Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov, rector of the Almaty Theological Seminary and head of the Information and Publishing Department of the Metropolitan District; Archpriest Alexander Suvorov, head of the Metropolitan District Department for Public Relations and secretary of the Diocesan Council; Archpriest Alexander Ievlev, cleric of the Ascension Cathedral of the Southern Capital; and Hieromonk Dimitry (Baidek), sacristan of the Dormition Cathedral of the city of Astana.

Also participating in the meeting was O. N. Ovchinnikov, Secretary of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Honored Artist of Russia, and member of the Patriarchal Council for the Development of Russian Church Singing.

Metropolitan Alexander summed up the work of the Diocesan Council for the outgoing year and outlined the principal commemorative dates to be observed in 2026: the 25th anniversary of the uncovering of the relics of the heavenly patrons of Kazakhstan – the Venerable Martyrs Seraphim and Theognost of Almaty; the 200th anniversary of the birth of a prominent spiritual enlightener – Bishop Alexander (Kulchitsky) of Turkestan and Tashkent; and the 80th anniversary of the return to the Russian Orthodox Church of the Cathedral in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker – one of the oldest churches of the Southern Capital. The Head of the Metropolitan District announced a list of planned spiritual–educational, scholarly–educational and cultural events to be held within the diocese.

As part of the commemorations, scientific and practical conferences, concerts by choral and creative ensembles, and photo exhibitions will take place in Astana and Almaty. Members of the Diocesan Council were given specific assignments in preparation for the celebrations.

During the course of the meeting, a decision was made to establish a diocesan trusteeship commission tasked with providing material and social support to clergy, church workers and parish staff of the Almaty Diocese. The head of the commission was appointed as Archpriest Vyacheslav Pugachev, chairman of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District Commission for Charity and Social Ministry.

The members of the council approved the agenda of the forthcoming diocesan assembly and recommended appointing Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky) as its secretary.

The participants of the meeting also discussed preparations at the parishes of the diocese for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ and Theophany.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Metropolitan Alexander thanked those gathered and bestowed his archpastoral blessing upon all.