St Andrew’s Church (see photo) in Moscow is part of the Diocese in Europe, serving a large international congregation situated just a 10min walk from the Kremlin. Their chaplain (ie vicar), the Rev Canon Malcolm Rogers – in a zoom conversation on Friday – shared how he’d been reflecting on the Benedictus (Luke 1:68-79) for the past two months:

"It speaks of the Mighty Saviour who saves his people – not by blood taken but by blood given. It speaks of how Christ will bring a new dawn, a new hope, and peace. But just at the moment it is the central bit that really speaks to me: ‘to set us free to worship him without fear’.

“Fear here is so paralysing. It is going to take a couple of months to untangle all the knots in my stomach. And yet both Russia and Ukraine gave us the examples of women and men, church leaders and members, who had discovered this Mighty Saviour, and who chose to worship and seek His kingdom in the face of terrible persecution. They had discovered that if we worship Him and put Him at the centre of all that we are and do, then we need have no fear – because even though our life can be taken from us, He can never be taken from us.

“Pray for Ukraine – but also pray for us in Russia, for believers in Russia – and our community of St Andrew’s, almost certainly soon to be priest-less. Pray for courage not just to survive, but to speak for what is right and true. Don’t condemn the hierarchs, or church leaders, but do pray for them. They could be the ones who can stop the war."

Bishop Jo