Conventions of religious teachers of secular secondary schools (based on materials from the “Church gazette”)

In July 1909, the first all-Russian congress of religious teachers of secular secondary schools was held in St. Petersburg, where the issue of serious problems of teaching the Law of God in schools of the Ministry of Public Education was openly raised. The School Council under the Holy Synod decided to send out topics for discussion at diocesan religious teachers’ congresses. This article examines the opinions of teachers of religious disciplines on the reasons for the unsatisfactory state of religious education and upbringing, on the study of Holy Scripture in senior grades, and proposals for student participation in worship services. Based on the review and analysis of the decisions of 58 religious teachers’ congresses, it is concluded that the largest number of proposals concerned the issue of studying Holy Scripture in senior grades. The second important topic was the worship service and the participation of schoolchildren in it.