Alpha and Omega METROPOLITAN FILARET in London July 2005

The Metropolitan of Minsk, the No 2 in the Russian Orthodox hierarchy, has a long Gandalf-white beard. He was on a 4-day programme visiting potential partners, ‘dignitaries’ and VIPs in UK. As well as a visit to the CMS office, he also visited the Archbishop of Canterbury. Timothy Okroev, my Russian Orthodox colleague. On this occasion, as well as our Regional Manager, he was acting as interpreter and guide.



The group visited the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, a key figures in the official Orthodox-Anglican Dialogue. The Archbishop, as its Patron, encouraged CMS to also support the Orthodox Church in Belarus in its theological education, evangelism and ministry to the poor.

Alpha at HTB

The Metropolitan also went on to a meeting with Alpha at Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB): My colleague Timothy writes:

'We had a meeting with Sandy Miller and Nicky Gumble joined by father Evmeniy from the Russian Orthodox Church.
HTB told the metropolitan more about Alpha and how it contributed to the spiritual revival in England, attracting a lot of young people. As a result of this meeting Metropolitan Filaret instructed father Evmeniy to study the “Alpha phenomenon” and report to the Holy Synod. It may well be that, once the report is completed Evmeniy will become the person to be officially entrusted with developing Alpha in the Orthodox context. This is probably one of the greatest outcomes of Metr. Filaret’s visit to England. After the meeting with the two Alpha gurus, the metropolitan was asked to speak at the opening of the International Alpha Conference at HTB that day. He addressed the audience of 500 Alpha delegates from across the world in a very open and charismatic way. He raised his hands and started praying for Alpha in this country, Alpha in every country where it brings people to Jesus, etc. He then said: “I think it is incredible that you have discovered the tool that helps you bring thousands of young people to God. The Church has always had tools of evangelism but I encourage you to continue developing Alpha, so that you may reach out to those who feel spiritual hunger in today’s world of despair and godlessness”. Astonishingly, he than said another prayer, this time the prayer of invocation of the Holy Spirit… The audience was surprised – they had come with prejudices against the Orthodox: “Alpha will never be accepted by them”, and here they were standing for the blessing of the Orthodox hierarch. We hope that there will be a direct link now, as a result of this meeting between the ROC and HTB. Nicky is keen to invite the Orthodox to their events. They are also planning to visit Moscow in January as another step forward in our common vision for Alpha in the Orthodox context. A very high, key profile was given to CMS at the opening, as Nicky emphasised that CMS vision is for helping the Orthodox ‘own’ Alpha as their own evangelism tool’.

I am always amazed at our ability in CMS to relate across the huge variety of churchmanship. And hence the unique position we have in building bridges between extreme groups. Perhaps this represents a new beginning, or even an end to traditional separation.

Alpha meeting Omega.