Father Alexander Menn Orthodox Open University
State license on Religious studies

Father Alexander Menn Orthodox Open University is a living memorial to one of the greatest Christian leaders of this century. Father Alexander was a theologian and talented writer, a gifted preacher and active pastor, whose works first appeared abroad and were not published in Russia until the 1990's. Despite this, Father Alexander's books have always enjoyed great popularity. In 1988 Father Alexander started lecturing on the Bible and on Christian thought. Thousands of people used to attend his lectures and thus made their first step towards Jesus Christ. On September 8th 1990 Father Alexander Menn delivered his last lecture, "Christianity". The next day he was brutally murdered, by an assailant wielding an axe, on his way to he church in which he served.

The University was to due to open in the autumn of 1990, and it did open according to schedule, although mourning the loss of Alexander Menn. His disciples and friends - both priests and lay people - shared and followed his ideals of openness and tolerance, his creative spirit, his active opposition to hatred and prejudice, religious fanaticism and superstition. The University is an independent, non profit-making, educational institution which does not receive government funding. In 1993 Patriarch Alexiy II gave his blessing to the University.

Besides religious education, University activities include the promotion of religious tolerance and a better understanding of the various Christian confessions. For many years we have been working to become a place where Christians of all denominations can meet and learn to understand each other.

We preach the Gospel of Christ and lead the missionary work for a long time. Our University offers basic religious education and culture to people who were denied this opportunity for many years. Faithful to the ideas of our founder, we oppose the use of Christianity for nationalistic or political purposes. The University provides programs that help students develop abroad and independent vision of the world, and to gain a different knowledge from that available in traditional secular universities.

The University programs address themselves to everyone irrespective of their basic education, age and denomination. Following the entrance examinations and an interview students are enrolled on both a full and part-time basis. Some of our students do not take a BTh degree but take particular modules that interest them. Students and professors here are people of different Christian confessions: Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant.
The main types of publishing activities:

- Biblical scholarship
- Theology
- Books of memory by Christian martyrs of the twentieth century
Examples of Courses:
Basics of Christian Faith; History of Christian Art; Orthodox Icons; Ancient Hebrew; Ancient Greek; Latin; Aramaic; Russian Religious Philosophy; Introduction to Russian Orthodox Church Liturgy; Old Testament Exegetics; History of Philosophy; History of the Christian Church Patristics
Basics of Dialogue between Different Confessions
Modern Christian English Literature
Exegetics of Christian Text of First Centuries

In Russia we preach about Christ, providing basic religious education and knowledge to people, who for many years were deprived of it. In keeping with the ideas of our founder we oppose the use of Christianity for nationalistic or political purposes.

We would be most grateful for the following types of support:
- your prayers,
- information on like-minded organizations and foundations,
- books on theology and Church history,
- financial assistance.

We need financial support to pay adequate salaries to our lecturers, for publishing activities, to organize and develop our library, and to support our missionary activities in other Russian towns.

OUR USD ACCOUNT:
40703840500120000028
Bank of Moscow, 8/15 Rozdestvenka, Moscow, SWIFT: MOSWRUMM
Bank-Correspondent - JPMorgan Chase Bank, New York, SWIFT: CHASUS33