Regional Stage of the 2nd All-Kazakhstan Church Readers’ Competition “In the Beginning Was the Word…” Held in Almaty

March 23, 2025. Almaty. With the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, the regional stage of the 2nd All-Kazakhstan Church Readers’ Competition “In the Beginning Was the Word…” was held at the Cathedral of Sophia of the Iveron-St. Seraphim Convent.

The competition was organized by the Department of Culture of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan (Head – Honored Cultural Worker of the Russian Federation L. E. Goricheva).

The event was held with the aim of drawing the attention of the younger generation to the cultural richness and spiritual depth of the Church Slavonic language, as well as to the understanding and reflection on the liturgical heritage of the Church.

The jury, chaired by Bishop Klavdian of Taldykorgan, Vicar of the Astana Diocese, included: Dean of the Parishes of the Southern Capital and Rector of the St. Nicholas Cathedral, Mitred Archpriest Valery Zakharov; Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov; Head of the Metropolitan’s Protocol Office, Protodeacon Roman Golovin; Instructor of Music Theory at the Almaty Seminary, E. V. Savelieva; and Instructor of the Sunday School of the Ascension Cathedral, I. V. Bykova.

The event was held as part of the celebrations marking the 225th anniversary of the birth of the first archpastor of the Turkestan Diocese, the “Apostle of the Great Steppe” – Archbishop Sophonius (Sokolsky).

More than 30 participants took part in the regional stage of the competition, competing in two age categories: Sunday school students of the Southern Capital (ages 10 to 16), and church readers from the churches of Almaty (ages 17 and up).

Before the beginning of the competition, Bishop Klavdian greeted the assembled participants and addressed them with words of spiritual instruction on the importance of the laity’s active participation in the liturgical life of the Church.

During the event, the contestants demonstrated their skills in the conscious reading of morning and evening prayers, the Gospel and Epistle readings, the Horologion, the Psalter, liturgical texts, as well as their ability to translate various portions of the divine services from Church Slavonic into Russian.

On the same day, the regional stage of the Church Readers’ Competition was held in all dioceses of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District. The jury will review the recordings of the participants’ performances, based on which the winners of the competition will be determined.

The final results of the competition will be announced on April 27 as part of the Paschal Festival, which will take place on the grounds of the Iveron-St. Seraphim Convent in Almaty.

The event was filmed by the Semirechye television studio of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan (Director – Honored Cultural Worker Viktoria Posadneva; Cameraman – A. Schmidt), and photographed by Information Department staff member A. Shcheglov.