In Almaty, in the restored historical building of the former diocesan administration, the creation of a house-museum for the confessor of the faith, Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov), has begun

January 5, 2024. Alma-Ata. On the eve of the Nativity of Christ, the official transfer of the restored building took place, where the Alma-Ata diocesan administration was located in the 50-80s of the last century. An outstanding hierarch, confessor of faith and devotee of piety, Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov), who headed the Alma-Ata and Kazakhstan diocese from 1960 to 1975, worked in this house.

At the request of the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, the ancient house was purchased by philanthropists and donated to the Metropolitan District. Over the course of a year, the building was carried out by the public foundation “Apostol” (president G.G. Sosnovsky), thanks to which the building acquired its historical appearance.

In the renovated house, with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander, a museum dedicated to the elder saint Joseph (Chernov) will be created.

The ceremony of handing over the building was led by Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan and President of the Apostle Foundation Georgy Gennadievich Sosnovsky.

The solemn event was attended by: the dean of the parishes of Almaty, the rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Archpriest Valery Zakharov; Secretary of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District, Honored Artist of Russia, Member of the Church and Public Council under the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' for the Development of Church Singing O.N. Ovchinnikov; Head of the Department of Education and Catechesis of the Metropolitan District, rector of the Intercession Church and the Church in honor of the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the city of Alma-Ata, Archpriest Evgeniy Bobylev; acting rector of the Alma-Ata Theological Seminary, head of the information and publishing department of the Metropolitan District, Archpriest Evgeny Ivanov; head of the administrative secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov; head of the Metropolitan’s personal secretariat, Hieromonk Prokhor (Endovitsky); city clergy; Abbess Lyubov (Yakushkina) of the Iversko-Seraphim Convent with the sisters of the monastery; Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation, Head of the Culture Department of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District L.E. Goricheva; employees of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration.

After the symbolic cutting of the red ribbon, G.G. Sosnovsky presented Metropolitan Alexander with the keys to the restored building.

In the room that will become the main exhibition hall of the memorial house, the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan congratulated those present on the significant event, which marks the beginning of the creation in Almaty of a museum perpetuating the memory of the hierarch, whose name is revered by a huge number of people and whose prayer intercession is sought not only by Kazakhstanis , but also residents of other countries.

“Today, on the eve of Christmas Eve, when the earthly and heavenly Church is preparing to sing the praises of the newly born God-Infant, you and I have received particularly joyful news - in Alma-Ata, the southern capital of our country, a house-museum of the ever-memorable Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) will be created. With the support of philanthropists, thanks to the participation of caring people, through the efforts of the management and employees of the Apostle Foundation, the historical building of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration was restored. Here, in this ancient house, during the difficult years of militant atheism, when our Church lived under the yoke of administrative persecution, the Kazakh archpastors worked sacrificially, among whom Bishop Joseph occupies a special place - an ascetic, a man of prayer, a courageous confessor of the faith. In the distant 60-70s, the Alma-Ata diocese was huge; it united all the parishes located on the territory of Kazakhstan. Currently there are already 11 dioceses united in the Metropolitan District. When the saint was appointed to the Alma-Ata department, he was already 67 years old. But neither the severity of the hardships he suffered, nor his health, weakened by exile and prison, prevented him from becoming a loving, caring father and mentor to salvation for his large flock. He visited urban and rural parishes, often hundreds and thousands of kilometers away from Alma-Ata, educated the clergy with his example and wise words, warmed the hearts of people with ardent, bright sermons. Contemporaries and eyewitnesses have preserved for us a lot of evidence about the insight and gift of miracles with which the Lord noted His faithful servant,” said Metropolitan Alexander.

The head of the Metropolitan District noted that the unique exhibits collected in the house-museum will help visitors feel the atmosphere of genuine kindness and philanthropy that surrounded Bishop Joseph, feel his human modesty and simplicity, and see his ardent love for the Church of Christ.

With the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander, the main room of the future museum was decorated with icons, which the elder saint especially revered. This is the Belynichi image of the Most Holy Theotokos, which consecrated the childhood and youth of the future hierarch in the Belynichi Mother of God Nativity Monastery of the Mogilev diocese; the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, in front of which the blessed bishop especially loved to pray; the image of the righteous Simeon of Verkhoturye, whom Metropolitan Joseph called “my diocesan secretary, inspector of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration.” According to the recollections of his contemporaries, the bishop said to his spiritual children: “How simple he is, Simeon of Verkhoturye! And what a saint he is! I always pray to him." Often the bishop wrote him a note in which he asked the saint a question or outlined some situation that was difficult to resolve, stood up for prayer and read him an akathist. And it was in this way, as the archpastor himself said, that many problems were solved.

The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan showed those present some new exhibits that had recently been donated to the future museum by the famous church historian, professor of the Moscow Theological Academy, Archimandrite Makariem (Veretennikov). In his youth, Archimandrite Macarius, living in Karaganda, was spiritually nourished by Metropolitan Joseph and published a collection of the homiletical and epistolary heritage of the elder saint, as well as his memoirs. Thanks to the care of Father Macarius, the museum was replenished with things that belonged to the confessor of the faith - a panagia, rosary, dikiri and trikiri. Received for the exhibition: the cassock and sweatshirt in which the Bishop arrived in Kazakhstan, a tabletop Bible, a gramophone record with church hymns, a decree of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I on awarding the Order of Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir and an official of the bishop's ministry.

Metropolitan Alexander drew special attention of the event participants to the book “The Official,” which, before it came to Bishop Joseph, belonged to His Eminence Methodius (Krasnoperov), Bishop of Petropavlovsk, who suffered for Christ in 1921 and was glorified by the Church as a hieromartyr. On the front title page, Metropolitan Joseph wrote in his own hand “The Path of Subdeacon Vanya Chernov.” Below this line is a list of dates - the main milestones of his service to the Holy Church. Separately, the bishop wrote: “about death?” Later, next to the hand of one of his spiritual children, the date of death was written in pencil - September 4, 1975, 17:05.

The head of the Metropolitan District cordially thanked everyone who worked and is working to form the museum exhibition and expressed the hope that many more people will respond to his call, having preserved material evidence of the life and exploits of the ever-memorable lamp of the land of Kazakhstan, who will contribute to the creation of the house-museum.

Metropolitan Alexander and G.G. Sosnovsky signed an agreement on the transfer of the historical building of the Alma-Ata diocesan administration to the ownership of the Astana and Alma-Ata diocese of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan.

As the archpastor noted, the opening of the house-museum of Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov) is planned for early 2025, which will mark the 50th anniversary of the elder saint’s repose in the Lord, and the current year will be marked by preparations for the historical anniversary.

A group photo was taken to commemorate the event.