About the book: 2016 / Memoirs of the former “church Surkov”, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, who until recently was responsible for the relations of the Russian Orthodox Church with the state and society, is frank the story of a “church bureaucrat” about his service as a cleric and the internal structure of the church body. For twenty years, Father Vsevolod lived with the Church in three eras - Soviet, “perestroika”-Yeltsin and modern. Before his eyes, it was changing, and he took a direct part in these changes. From the story of Father Vsevolod you will learn:• how and by whom the church structure is actually governed;• why he had to leave his high post;• how the Church interacts with the state, and the state - with the Church;• why theocracy is the best social system for Russia;• how, how much and from what church institutions earn and where to spend their earnings;• why parish priests now drink much less than before......and many other details, hitherto unknown to the reader. The author's undoubted literary talent made it possible to combine in one book true journalistic intensity and funny church stories, reflections on the fate of the faith and Russia (up to radical economic reforms and changes in elites) and genre parish scenes, vivid portraits of church Primates (including the current Patriarch) and secular media persons, “the clergy and the world».