Metropolitan Alexander Presented Church Awards to Employees of the Almaty Diocesan Administration

December 16, 2025. Almaty. A ceremony of presenting church awards to employees of the Almaty Diocesan Administration who marked jubilee and commemorative dates in the concluding year took place in the Throne Hall of the Spiritual and Cultural Center of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District named after Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov).

The awards were presented by Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan.

Among those present were the Secretary of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, Choir Director of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, member of the Patriarchal Council for the Development of Russian Church Singing O.N. Ovchinnikov; Head of the Information and Publishing Department of the Metropolitan District, Rector of the Almaty Orthodox Theological Seminary, Candidate of Theology Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov; Head of the Metropolitan’s Personal Secretariat Hieromonk Prokhor (Yendovitsky); Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District Priest Georgy Sidorov; Head of the Metropolitan Protocol Service Protodeacon Roman Golovin; employees of the Almaty Diocesan Administration.

Metropolitan Alexander addressed the award recipients with a speech. “Time passes swiftly, the year is drawing to a close, and very soon we shall welcome the feast of peace and God’s love for humankind – the Nativity of Christ. In the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, a good tradition has taken shape – at this time to bestow church distinctions upon clergy and lay people. It is a great joy for me today to see all of you and to present you with awards of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan. I know how difficult it can sometimes be, in contemporary circumstances, to carry out pastoral ministry or to fulfill other responsible obediences. By the mercy of God, thanks to your labors, the life of our diocese is developing. May God grant that the church awards presented to you today serve to strengthen your zeal in further service to Mother Church. Everything that we do is done not for ourselves, but so that our native Orthodoxy may be strengthened and affirmed, so that as many people as possible may learn of the beauty of the heavenly world, so that the world around us may be transformed by the light of faith in Christ. The Psalmist David teaches us, in our labors, in the realization of plans and in seeing results, to address God thus: ‘Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory’ (Ps. 113:9). I thank you all from my heart and ask you not to lose spiritual courage when you encounter various difficulties and challenging circumstances. ‘God is with us!’ – these words, which will often be heard during the days of the Nativity celebrations, are an absolute reality of the life of an Orthodox Christian. The Lord abides with each of us, instructs us, gives strength, and helps when we turn to Him with prayer and trust. I wish all of you God’s mercy and blessed success in service, labors, and various works for the good of the Church and our neighbors, for the good of our native Kazakhstan,” the hierarch said, in particular.

In recognition of labors for the benefit of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan and in connection with significant dates, Metropolitan Alexander presented the following church awards:

• the Order of the Holy Venerable Martyrs Seraphim and Feognost – to Archpriest Georgy Lagovsky, Rector of the Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah in the village of Karai;
• the Order of Saint Venerable Confessor Sebastian of Karaganda – to Hieromonk Alexy (Cherevtsov), Rector of the Nativity of the Theotokos Church in the Akzhar microdistrict;
• the Order “Enbek Üşin” (For Labors) – to Priest Georgy Sidorov, Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District; to Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Head of the Metropolitan Protocol Service; to N.E. Terekhova, Accountant of the Almaty Diocesan Administration; to I.V. Akimov, chorister of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Almaty; to S.Kh. Blagodarnaya, chorister of the right choir of the Ascension Cathedral of the southern capital;
• the Order of Saint Luke, Confessor of Crimea – to Deacon Alexander Jodzhua, Chief Physician of the Orthodox Medical Center named after Saint Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky);
• the Medal “Algys” (Gratitude) – to A.B. Akhmetov and M.M. Ababakriyev, choristers of the right choir of the Ascension Cathedral of the southern capital;
• the Medal “For Merits before the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan” – to A.V. Chasovitina, chorister of the right choir of the Ascension Cathedral;
• the Medal “Enbek Üşin” (For Labors) – to R.K. Sborshchik, chorister of the right choir of the Ascension Cathedral of the southern capital; to V.L. Posadneva, Director of the television studio of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District “Semirechye”.

On behalf of the award recipients, Priest Georgy Sidorov expressed words of gratitude to the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, thanking the archpastor for his high trust and fatherly care.