Currently, the diocese, which will be discussed in the article, is one of the leading church and administrative structures that are part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It covers the territories of such districts as Chernigovsky, Priazovsky, Primorsky, Pologovsky, Vasilyevsky, Akimovsky, Gulyaipolsky, Tokmaksky, Bilmaksky and Berdyansky.
Creation of a new diocese
The Berdyansk diocese, which also included the Primorsky district of the Zaporozhye region, was formed as a result of a decision taken in the spring of 2007 at a special meeting of the synodal commission of the UOC. According to the document approved at it, a new church-administrative structure that became independent was separated from the Zaporizhzhya diocese. It became known as the Berdyansk and Primorsky diocese.
The newly formed structure got its name due to the fact that the city in which the residence of the diocesan head and one of the two cathedrals (Nativity of Christ) is located is Berdyansk. The second cathedral ─ Nikolsky ─ is located in the city of Primorsk.
Deaneries of Berdyansk and Zaporozhye dioceses
After the separation of the Berdyansk diocese from the Zaporozhye diocese, the following deaneries remained in the latter (districts that include nearby church parishes): Vodnyanskoye, Orekhovskoye, Veselovskoye, Vasilyevsky, Volnyanskoye, Novonikolaevskoye, Dneprorudnenskoye and Melitopolskoye. The post of diocesan administrator was retained by its former leader, His Eminence Vasily (Zlatolinsky).
The following deaneries were included in the Berdyansk diocese: Berdyansk, Chernihiv, Novovasilyevsk, Primorskoye, Kuibyshev, Gulyaipol, Tokmak and Pologovskoe. At the same time, the former head of the Diocese of Makeevka, Bishop Varnava (Filatov), was placed at the head of the newly formed structure, who was replaced a year later by His Grace Elisha (Ivanov). He came to the Berdyansk cathedra from the Donetsk diocese, where he served as vicar. In turn, Bishop Varnava (Filatov) was appointed head of the Diocese of Makeevka.
Expansion of the diocese and the appointment of its new leader
In 2009, the territory of the Berdyansk diocese expanded somewhat by including the Vasilyevsky district of the Zaporozhye region. Formerly a part of the Zaporozhye diocese, it was withdrawn from its composition and moved to the church-administrative structure formed two years earlier.
In May 2012, Bishop Elisey was transferred to the diocese of Kupyansk and Izyum that had been created shortly before, and Archbishop Luka (Kovalenko) of Zaporozhye and Meliopol temporarily performed his duties in July of the same yearwho gave way to Archimandrite Ephraim (Yarinoko). Shortly after his appointment as head of the Berdyansk diocese, Vladyka Ephraim was elevated to the rank of bishop.
On the path of spiritual growth
The future archpastor began his way of serving the Church in 1995 within the walls of the Khust Theological School in the village of Velyky Komyaty, Transcarpathian region, where he entered after graduating from a nine-year school. After studying for two years and feeling in his soul a call to monasticism, he went through the rite of tonsure as a monk, receiving the name of Ephraim and thereby asking for heavenly protection from the Monk Ephraim the Syrian, whose memory he revered from an early age.
Being a resident of the Holy Trinity Monastery in the town of Khust-Gorodilov, the young monk soon accepted the priesthood, first becoming a hierodeacon, and after a short time a hieromonk, after which in 2001 he was appointed abbot of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery in the Transcarpathian village of Tereblya. His zeal was repeatedly marked by church awards, so in November 1999, the then Hieromonk Ephraim was presented with a pectoral cross, and later another one was added to it, but this time with decorations.
Heading the diocese
Without interrupting his pastoral work, Hieromonk Ephraim entered the correspondence department of the Theological Academy, from which he successfully graduated in 2011. After serving for some time as secretary of the diocese of Khust and having by that time been elevated to the rank of archimandrite, Vladyka, as mentioned above, was appointed to the post of headBerdyansk diocese, after which he was ordained a bishop.
In addition to the above position, His Grace Ephraim, according to the decision of the Synod of the UOC, is the rector (priest archimandrite) of the “Rev.
Religious educator
Under the leadership of Bishop Ephraim of Berdyansk and Primorsky, many worthy shepherds work in God's Field, performing their ministry in numerous parishes of the Berdyansk diocese. Priest Sergiy Medvedev is one of their most prominent representatives. He earned his fame by creating a wide network of religious and educational Sunday schools, opened on his initiative in most parishes of the diocese.
Possessing a broad outlook and extensive knowledge of the Orthodox Faith, he makes every effort to pass them on to both the younger generation and older people who want to fully join the spiritual heritage of their homeland.
