Mr Sergei Chapnin

Independent Scholar

Sergei Chapnin is a chief editor of ‘Dary’ (The Gifts) almanac of contemporary Christian Art and chairman of ‘Artos’ Fellowship. In 2009-2015 he was a managing editor of the official magazine of the Russian Orthodox Church The Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate and the official newspaper The Church Herald. He also served as a senior lecturer at the Theological faculty of the St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University, as a secretary of the Commission on Church, state and society of the Inter-Conciliar Board of the Russian Orthodox Church and a deputy chief editor of the Publishing house of the Moscow Patriarchate. He organized many national and international events for the Church, including a biannual Festival of Orthodox Media and exhibitions of contemporary Christian art and architecture, including “The Saints of The Undivided Church” project – the biggest collection of contemporary icons.

Since 2016 he is also a Research Associate in Postsecular Conflicts Project in The University of Innsbruck.

His main interests include: the intersections of religion, state, and society, civil religion and secularization with a focus on a period of so-called ‘Church revival’ in Russia. His book, titled “The Church in Post-Soviet Russia. Revival, ‘quality of faith’, dialog with the society” was published in Russian in 2013. And the book «The Church Revival. Summation» published in 2018.

 

Selected publications:

1.      «Ukraine Is Dangerously Close to a Religious War», in: Bloomberg, 10.10.2018, https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-10-10/ukraine-is-dangerously-close-to-a-religious-war

2.      «The Ukrainian Church's Quest For Ecclesiastical Autonomy», in: PONARS Eurasia (George Washington University/IERES), 27.09.2018, http://www.ponarseurasia.org/node/9938

3.      «Russia’s No-Show at Pan-Orthodox Council Reveals Hopeless Lack of Unity», in: Carnegie Moscow Center, 29.06.2016. https://carnegie.ru/commentary/63954

4.      «The Church of Empire», in: The Firsdt Things, November, 2015. https://www.firstthings.com/article/2015/11/a-church-of-empire