Moscow, Russia, Oct 26, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The Russian Orthodox Church is set to dedicate a new chapel boat on October 31 to St. Vladimir, the ruler who converted Russia to Christianity.
The “floating chapel” will be consecrated by Orthodox Metropolitan German Timofeev of Volgogrado and Kamishinskii, and its mission will be to visit settlements located on the banks of the Volga River where there are no churches or no plans to build one.
The boat will be christened “The Werenfried” in honor of Father Werenfried von Straaten, founder of Aid to the Church in Need, which is based in Germany and has sent assistance to the Russian Orthodox Church on various occasions.
The Orthodox Church has consecrated chapel boats on two other occasions, the “St. Innokentij,” consecrated in 1998, and the “St. Nikolaj,” consecrated in 2000.