On Sunday, October 1, which is the Sunday after the feast of the Exaltation of the Honourable Cross of the Lord, the consecration of the church in the name of St. Nikola the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, took place in the town of Revda, Sverdlovsk region.
This triumph of Orthodoxy was led by Metropolitan Korniliy of Moscow and All Russia. He was concelebrated by the rector of the Revda church Archpriest Ioann Ustinov (Pristan village), Archpriest Mikhail Tataurov (Shamary village), Archpriest Nikola Tataurov (Perm), Priest Georgiy Dubrovin (Perm), Priest Alexandr Chalov (Ochor), priest Nikola Paramanov (Sepych village), protodeacon Viktor Savelyev (Moscow), deacon Antoniy Slepushkin (Ekaterinburg), deacon Nikola Tataurov (Shamary village), deacon Ioann Pshenichnikov (Ivdel), deacon Avvakum Rakhimov (Ivdel) ), Deacon Ilya Ustinov (Pristan village).
During the service, Andrey Anisimov, one of the key participants in the construction of the church, was elevated to the rank of reader.
Metropolitan Korniliy arrived at Koltsovo airport in Yekaterinburg on the evening of September 29. On September 30, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church, accompanied by the Secretary of the Moscow Metropolis, Protodeacon Viktor Savelyev, and the Secretary of the Ural Diocese, Deacon Antoniy Slepushkin, arrived in Revda to perform an all-night vigil on the eve of the consecration of the church. In the church, the Metropolitan was met by Archpriest Ioann Ustinov, who cares for the community, and parishioners of the Revda Church. In his welcoming speech, Metropolitan Korniliy congratulated Christians on the after-celebration of the Exaltation of the Cross and the upcoming Sunday and blessed them for their feat of prayer.
In his sermon after the service, the Primate of the Church noted:
— Today we consecrated the house of St. Nikola, a quick helper, a warm intercessor, and the one who prays for our souls. The Lord himself greets us: the weather cleared up, and the sun warmed us during the procession of the Cross. This is grace, which notes that here, in the Urals, another small island of holiness has appeared.
Metropolitan Korniliy compared the construction of the church with the construction of the Noah’s Ark – the ark of the salvation of human souls:
— The church is a ship of salvation that should transport us to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Deacon Nikola Tataurov said the following about this important event for the Ural Old Believers:
— Today we pray and sing, asking the Lord that in this new church he would “accept bloodless and most pure sacrifices from the hands of his servants. Rewarding those properly who offer them with purification from their sins and great mercy.”
The assembled clergy and laity of the Ural diocese wished Metropolitan Korniliy good health and wise governance of the Holy Church.
The ceremony of laying of the foundation of the Old Believer church in the city of Revda, Ural diocese, 50 kilometres from Yekaterinburg, took place at the end of August 2012. The construction of the church began in September of the same year, that is, 11 years ago.
