On 14 February 2026, it was exactly two years since the establishment of the Missionary Department of the Archbishopric of Belgrade–Karlovci by His Holiness, the Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, with whose blessing and under whose patronage it has continuously operated to this day. In accordance with established practice, the Missionary Department of the AEM, on the anniversary of its founding, once again presents a brief report on the missionary activities carried out over the past year:
- The Section for Parish Mission completed, during the previous year, the first cycle of mentoring lectures for priests of the Archbishopric who have up to three years of ordained service. The topics covered included practical recommendations related to catechetical work, sermon preaching, premarital assessment and the marriage sacrament, the funeral service, and the celebration of the Divine Liturgy.
- The Section for External Mission organised seven thematic lectures in English within the framework of the NevskyTalks project, intended for foreign nationals residing within the Archbishopric of Belgrade–Karlovci, who are interested in Orthodox Christianity. Within the Programme of Mission in the Chinese language, an introductory course in Chinese for Orthodox missionaries was launched, and a bilingual Serbian–Chinese Orthodox Prayer Book was devised, which serves as an internal document.
- The Section for Dialogue in the Public Sphere organised seven panel discussions over the past year within its regular dialogue programme with Serbian intellectuals on various topics, with particular emphasis on the relationship between faith and science. A new forum format entitled A Book – A Reason for Conversation was also launched, within which two panel discussions were held. In addition to these activities, the Section Coordinator, alongside numerous media appearances, delivered ten lectures outside the established panel-discussion programme format.
- The Section for Apologetic Mission launched last year the Programme for the Support of Victims of Sectarian and Manipulative Activity, within which more than sixty individuals sought professional assistance with nearly one hundred advisory and consultative sessions conducted as well. Members of the Section participated in last year’s international FECRIS conference in Brussels, with an organised visit by Professor Alexander Dvorkin, during which several internal lectures and consultative meetings were held on the premises of the Department. The portal Apologetsko slovo was launched (see the section on internet projects below). Members of the Section were very active in the media and delivered twelve lectures on apologetic themes.
- During the latter part of last year, the Section for Electronic Mission conducted systematic visits to Belgrade churches, with the aim of assessing the state of parish websites, identifying potential issues, and defining steps for the improvement of the Church’s internet presence. A total of 23 Belgrade churches were visited, and professional consultations were held with clergy and laypersons responsible for maintaining parish websites. These visits and consultations were preceded by a thorough analysis, with attention given to content, structure, timeliness, technical functionality, and website security. For each individual parish visit, a detailed and precisely structured report was prepared, forming the basis for further improvements in this field.
The Missionary Department of the AEM currently has five different missionary projects operating within the aforementioned Sections. Over the past year, the following has been accomplished in the development of the existing and the launch of new missionary projects:
- The internet portal Kinonia (kinonija.rs), which operates within the Section for Electronic Mission, currently has approximately 80 volunteer collaborators, of whom around 50 are textual authors. During the past year, more than 1,700 original posts in Serbian were published on the Kinonia portal, and an English version of the website was also launched. Publications are organised into the categories: Written Word (with sub-sections From the Editor’s Pen, Theology, Liturgics, History), Living Word (with sub-sections From the Ambo, From the Chair, Conversations, Programmes), Interviews, Current Affairs, Catechesis, Our Recommendation, Conversations on Feasts, Interpretation of the Liturgy, Gospel of the Day with Commentary, and Feasts. The Kinonia portal has developed excellent cooperation with several Church media outlets.
- The internet portal Apologetsko slovo (apologetskoslovo.rs) was launched last year in memory of Protopresbyter-Stavrophor Prof. Dr Lazar Milin and operates within the Section for Apologetic Mission. Nearly 80 original contributions have been published on the portal – scholarly articles, observations on sectarian and cult-related topics, critiques, guidance and reviews. The portal aims, in the foreseeable future, to become the largest database of apologetic texts in the Serbian language, accessible to both the professional and wider public.
- Within the internet project A Tree by the Spring, 52 original interpretative units of the New Testament Scriptures have been published, following the “verse-by-verse” principle, encompassing detailed exegesis of the Gospel according to Matthew, chapters 4 through 10. The texts generally range between four and six standard journalistic pages in length. These units are particularly suitable for use in radio broadcasts.
- The project School of Parenthood was launched at the end of last year in cooperation with the Committee for Religious Education of the Archbishopric of Belgrade–Karlovci. The Missionary Department provides expert lecturers who deliver lectures on parenthood in primary schools where invitations have been extended by school administrators, intended for interested parents of pupils. Thus far, five professional lectures on parenthood have been delivered in Belgrade primary schools, with the project currently in its initial stages.
- The project Missionary Seminar was launched in memory of Protopresbyter-Stavrophor Ljubodrag Petrović. The seminar is conceived as a permanent four-day professional missionary gathering held annually at the end of the year. The first seminar included training in the principles and methods of external mission, electronic mission, apologetic mission, and engagement in the public sphere. More than seventy participants, including one archimandrite, took part in the first Missionary Seminar.
The Missionary Department of the AEM regularly publishes all its activities on its official website (at misija.rs in Serbian and mission.rs in English), along with its accompanying social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and X. The Department regularly receives media support from Television Hram and Radio Slovo Ljubve, with which it maintains exceptionally good cooperation, with strong media collaboration also established with Radio Belgrade 2.
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By the grace of God, the Missionary Department of the Archbishopric of Belgrade–Karlovci will, with the blessing of its founder, His Holiness the Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, continue in the coming period to advance existing and initiate new missionary activities, about which the faithful and the wider public will be duly informed.
