GERMAN DIOCESE: June 1, 2012
The 10th Youth Conference of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia is Held in Koln, Germany

From May 26-28, 2012, with the blessing of His Eminence Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany, the 10th Annual Youth Conference of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was held in Koln, as is the tradition, on the premises of the Church of Holy Great Martyr and Healer Panteleimon.

The participants included young people from ages 18-35, representing various German cities. Youth also came from other countries: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. The event opened with a moleben, after which Priest Andrei Ostapchuk, the leader of the event, gave a keynote speech, wishing the participants success.

Protopriest Artemy Vladimirov then read a lecture titled “Spiritual Treasure,” which was followed by a round-table discussion.
On the first day, the youth broke up into workshops, followed by sporting events. That evening, the conferees prayed at divine services, after which a concert was given at the parish school auditorium by renowned Orthodox singer Svetlana Kopylova, who sang the parable songs “Brush in the Hand of God,” “Sister,” “The Heart of a Mother” and other works.

The next day, after Divine Liturgy and a trapeza, the delegates heard speeches on the development of youth ministry in various countries. Hegumen Ignaty (Sidorenko) spoke to the young people about the work of the Orthodox Youth Movement in Kazakhstan. That evening, everyone gathered in the parish school hall for another concert prepared by the Kazakhstan contingent, which included the group 2еРИ, and performed the songs “Theme,” “Guardian Angel,” “Rise Up” and the hymn of Orthodox youth in Kazakhstan “We Live and Move by You.” Stanislav Novitsky, winner of many musical competitions, performed some etudes by Serge Rachmaninoff. Anna Novitskaya sang a song titled “Christ is Risen.” Vitaly Ozhgikhin then sang his own composition, “Praise, my soul, the Lord.”

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