“Liturgists” and “specialists”: has the “new” priest replaced the traditional one?

The purpose of the study is to understand whether it can be said that the changes in the official narrative of the Russian Orthodox Church about the priest influenced the real time allocation of the priests in such a way that in everyday life we meet new style priests (specialists) and old-style priests (oriented to traditional, primarily liturgical functions). Based on in-depth interviews, the author analyzes the representations of the informants - how a good priest should behave. As a result, the typology of parish priests of the modern Russian Orthodox Church is proposed based on their position in the functional structure of the church organization. The author concludes that although the time allocation of the modern pastor is influenced by his position in the Church structure, however, the way he acts largely depends on the internal attitudes (the image of a good priest) and can be a kind of overcoming his place in the structure. The relevance of this study is determined by its novelty and practical significance. The constant change of modern society requires constant analysis of the place and importance of religious actors. Sensitivity to these changes allows to carry out correct transformations and fruitfully to solve problems of Church life.