We have a total of sixteen teams! Each has its own leader, capable of answering any question.
A new participant can find information about this in our club chat and make a decision as to what’s more interesting for him.
The team of designers actively participates in the life of the Orthodox youth club, creating a visual environment designed to reflect the values of Orthodoxy. Our young people are developing the club’s signature style (youth club logo and merchandise), creating various printed materials, and working on the site and social network design to convey ideas to a wide audience. They also try to increase the participants’ creativity. To achieve this, the Yakimanka members attend various events, exhibitions and workshops by areas of design and art in general.
The “Mercy” team started small — having one focus area, but on the regular basis. The guys began visiting the wards at the children’s psychiatric hospital overseen by the St. Andrew The First-Called Foundation. For more than a year and a half, the Yakimanka members, along with the representatives of the Foundation, bestow their care and love to the patients of this institution.
But in the spring of 2024, the team found another direction — overseeing the wards of the “Road of Life” foundation. Once a month, our youth comes to church to help the children take part in the Liturgy and receive the Holy Mysteries of Christ, as I have mentioned before. This wouldn’t be possible without the help from volunteers, because the wards of the fund are children with special needs.
And there’s more. Beginning from February 2025, the “Mercy” team is spending time almost daily weaving camouflage nets. Young men and women are doing this at our parish premises and in other places where help is needed.
Volunteers of the youth club visited the children’s psychiatric hospital
“Social networks” is a community for the young people who publicize the activities of our youth club on various social networking platforms. The importance of this ministry lies in the necessity to be present on the internet, one of today’s main venues of human communication. It is more important today than ever to preach the value-based and spiritual and moral narratives of Christian life among Orthodox youth in the environment most familiar and interesting for them. And these are all well-known social networks and platforms.
“Creativity” may interest those who love to create beauty with their own hands. The young people from this team are engaged in crocheting and making jewelry, they model objects from clay and paint paintings. Our craftswomen conduct master classes for other club members and organize events where anyone can purchase their creations. So, for example, our parish regularly holds charity fairs and exhibitions before Pascha.
“Media” is one of the first teams in the Yakimanka youth club. We attribute its founding to a pilgrimage trip to the Pskov-Caves Monastery. The members of this group are tasked with capturing all significant club events on photo and video in order to be handsomely presented to the audience.
“Sports” plays a special role in the youth club’s cohesion. Jogging, beach volleyball, soccer, ice skating, paddleboard trips along the Moskva River — all this is about our sports team.
Jogging sessions are, by the way, one of the key areas where the guys are preparing to take part in amateur races, such as White Nights, Moscow Marathon, Krylatsky Trail, Ladoga Trail, as well as charity races.
Members of the Yakimanka youth club “Youth Choir” was organized in November of 2024. Thanks to our choir director Natalya Kropacheva, our members learn to glorify God with their voices. During the time the team had operated, they were able to sing at several Liturgies, one of them a Patriarchal Liturgy, where they sang along with the combined youth choir.
Once a month, the choir members, under the direction of the choir director, sing a prayer service to the Holy Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna. Their plans for the future is to prepare themed concerts performing secular music.
“Film Club.” This group of young people is responsible for selecting and showing a movie we all watch once a month. It is easy to guess the requirements for the film; the content should hold deep meaning in relation to the fundamentals of the Orthodox doctrine. After the film, everyone stays for tea and sharing impressions. In March 2025, this team turned one year old.
“KultProSvet.”[1] The youth in this group analyzes and organizes a cultural program for the youth club — what museum, theater or cinema to visit and what excursion to choose. KultProSvet began its work in 2023, and as early as in 2024, we had a series of tours of Moscow’s spiritual shrines organized for the first time, including the study of frescoes and icon painting at the monasteries. They also made a trip to Kolomna. They were able to visit the Museum of the Russian Icon and the Museum of Russia Abroad. The group members also visited the Zaryadye concert hall and the Tsaritsyno estate. And of course, there are cozy evenings watching movies.
“Literary Club” began its activities in November 2024. The young people come together to speak about books and exchange opinions and impressions.
Community members have had time to immerse themselves in the work of two writers: C. S. Lewis, the well-known author of The Chronicles of Narnia, and our Russian classic writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. In both cases, the guys studied these literary figures from new angles: learning about Lewis’s moral and religious letters, as well as discussing Chekhov’s stories related to Christian spiritual themes.
At present, the participants have plans to read the fascinating 2,000,000 Kilometers to Love by Klaus Kenneth, which explores the Lord’s human nature!
“Grants.” We are actively working to develop this group. Its creation has to do with the possibility of receiving funding from the state for the particularly significant and extensive youth projects. Our club is founded and operates exclusively on a volunteer basis. However, there are certain events that need to be financed. This team has members who know how to draw up projects and how to account for the use of funds. We have one project implemented with the help of a grant. We hope that in the future we’ll have more.
“Patrology.” This team is for those who are passionate about reading from the Holy Fathers. The idea to create this group came from a team leader who has lived abroad and where such groups were quite common. The team’s goal is to consolidate the practical fruits of the spiritual and ascetic experience of the Holy Fathers about the acquisition of the Holy Spirit and align it with the realities of life of the Orthodox youth of today. Through the prism of patristic teachings, the members explore a great number of important topics: the essential nature of man, the meaning of life, the search for oneself, marriage, family, love and many others.
“Travels.” For the first one and half or two years of our youth club’s existence, I was the one who organized pilgrimage trips. This activity takes a huge amount of time, and what makes it particularly challenging in a club setting is that you have to consider a massive amount of details — from buying tickets to hotel reservations, meals and excursions. Over time, our Yakimanka members took on this task.
During the work of this team, we were able to visit such places as Pechory and Pskov, Optina Pustyn/Kaluga, Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra and the Holy Spring, Gremyachy Klyuch Spring, Yaroslavl, Tolga Convent, Kazan and Sviyazhsk, Ryazan, and Crimea.
“LIK.”[2] Love. Art. Team. All members of the group are tasked with organizing a meeting of our youth club with interesting speakers, often well known in the public spotlight. For example, journalist Tutta Larsen and her husband Valery Koloskov recently visited us.
The young people also pay a lot of attention to the atmosphere of the meeting. It can be a conversation in a candlelit area, a unique table setting, a decoration of the area where we meet our speakers.
On July 12, they held a large-scale festival called “Bread and Salt” in the Russian style on the occasion of the third anniversary of our youth club.
Yakimanka Youth Club marked a third anniversary with a big festival called, “Bread and Salt,” held on the lawn beside the Church of St. John the Soldier.”
“With Love, Ya.” A major goal of the members of this team is party planning for the Day of Orthodox Youth. This happens annually on February 15, when the Church celebrates the feast of the Meeting of the Lord. The team’s goal: unification of youth movement and the young people’s talents, educational activities (workshops in dancing and what not).
“Salt & Light” is a bridge between the two worlds: the spiritual — by reading and contemplating about the depths of the New Testament; linguistic — by discussing eternal truths in English in order to be able to speak confidently about the Good News of Christ anywhere in the world.
— Why “Salt & Light”?
Because, Ye are the salt of the earth... Ye are the light of the world (Matthew 5:13–14).
— How does this team conduct its studies?
They read the Gospel in English, compare the Orthodox translation and other translations to find the depth of meanings; analyze linguistic features (in grammar and vocabulary) and consolidate knowledge on a practical level. They learn to talk about the Orthodox faith in such a way that they are understood in another language. They share thoughts and discuss sermons by the ROCOR priests.
They pray in English (their meetings start with the Lord’s Prayer).
Members of the Yakimanka youth club — Father Anthony, how do young people change after coming to your club?
— The main thing a young person gets upon coming to the church youth club is a large number of friends and like-minded people who strive to be in church and with God, just like him. At the same time, the activities of the youth club are so extensive that it isn’t necessary to begin your participation in its work with strictly religious activities. It is already quite a lot to simply talk about spiritual matters with peers or participate in acts of mercy.
— Are you the club members’ father confessor?
— Not for all of them. I am always open to questions about Church and Christian life, I help them to get ready for Confession and Communion, but I never take the initiative in the matter of spiritual guidance. There is an important condition here: A young person must express this desire himself. I think it’s no good to exert even the slightest pressure. That said, I always joyfully acknowledge those who approach the Holy Chalice for the first time. I try to say something about it in my Telegram channel.
— What would you advise the rectors of parishes who want to organize the same youth clubs as yours?
— First of all, I want to wish that they realize the importance of youth ministry and responsibility for the presence of young people in the Church. Secondly, it is about finding a motivated person who is willing to be involved with youth ministry. Most likely, this will be easier and faster for a young priest to handle, as he can speak the same language with the twenty- or thirty-year-olds. Also, in my opinion, it is useful for a person responsible for the parish youth ministry to seek help from those who are already busy working in this field. The support of the rector is of no small importance either. Having a gathering space for the youth club and some kind of financial assistance matters a lot as well, especially when you are making the first steps.
I can also say from my experience that treating young people exclusively as free labor results in a drop of their interest in church life. To clean up in the church, dig up a flower bed, or clean the candleholders is certainly good. But youth ministry in the parish shouldn’t be limited to doing just that. When the young people realize that something is done specifically for them and the parish is willing to provide space for their meetings, they will come on their own, carrying buckets and brushes to clean up the church. Our youth and I clean the church for every major church feast. This is just a matter of course.
— Father Anthony, what are your plans for the future? Are there any priorities in the development of the youth club?
— We always need to grow, no matter what level we are at now. Currently, because of our really busy work schedule and the great number of events and club participants, a separate meeting room would really come in handy for us. After all, there are three hundred of us, yet the festal church refectory can only accommodate a maximum of forty people. Our parish Sunday school, where we meet from time to time, makes do with the arrangement problem. Thanks to Tatyana Aleksandrovna Sultanova, the school director, our youth club can periodically hold events for a hundred people. Finding the solution about the space for our club is perhaps one of the major challenges right now. But we do understand that the possibilities of the parish aren’t limitless and we always thank Vladyka Silouan for the opportunity to hold meetings in the festal refectory. We are thankful for what we have, show humility, but we never forget about our future expectations.
Members of the youth club at church on Palm Sunday — Are you able to manage and maintain a work-life balance? Obviously, it’s not an easy job, with this level of responsibility.
— Naturally, working with young people in the parish can’t be the only part of your life schedule. At least for the simple reason that we all practically “live” online right now. I always have a finger, as they say, on our youth club. I get messages not only from our current club members, but also from those who want to join it. I also have to keep abreast of all current work. Besides, I should know each member of the club in person. This work is done virtually twenty-four/seven. Every section I have mentioned has to be administered, in one way or another.
But all worries and difficulties fade away when I see that our members come to Christ. This is really important for me personally. I also came to God at approximately the same age they are now. So, their spiritual progress helps me to experience once again this innermost feeling and get inspired to continue working.
— In the Telegram channel “Father from Yakimanka,” you published a post about the wedding of a couple from your youth club. Is this the first such event for your club?
— No, far from the first. Despite the fact that the main goal of our community is the study of spiritual life and its aspects, the members manage to build families. Over the three years of our club’s work, we’ve had six married couples! It brings such joy! It is especially important that the young people were able to get to know each other while being actively involved in the youth club projects, busy doing things side by side, observing one another from different angles. This is how you build a strong family, when young people are united by a common spiritual goal.
— Father Anthony, what is your advice for young people who haven’t yet become members of Orthodox associations, but who really desire it?
— First of all, not to be afraid of anything. A great number of youth clubs operate within the framework of the Russian Orthodox Church, and they will be happy to see young men and women, where they will always find help at educating and getting to know likeminded people. It is probably the communication that becomes a key factor in the making of a choice of having Confession, Communion, or sometimes even Baptism.
That said, we should understand that an Orthodox youth club is not a separate structure. It isn’t! It’s not some kind of elite gathering. This is a part of the Church that lives the interests of the parish. Ideally, it would have been great to organize from time-to-time events with different age groups. Or, it would be even better if the parish had several priests, one engaged with the youth club, another with middle-aged people and seniors, and another with children.
Our youth often attends the Sunday school theater productions. With older parishioners, it could be a Liturgy, a pilgrimage trip, or some kind of a themed festival. That’s when we arrive at having a true Orthodox community that unites all age groups among the parishioners.
