Dr. E. (Katya) Tolstoy Director Institute for the Academic Study of

Dr Alexei Bodrov St Andrew’s Biblical Theological Institute, Moscow Amsterdam, 23 September 2015 Dear Alexei, Dear colleagues at St Andrew’s, It is my great pleasure to send you the most cordial congratulations on the 25th anniversary of St Andrew’s. With your dedication and perseverance, you have established an Institute that is unique in Russia and in the ecumenical world. In all your activities over the past 25 years, you have opened avenues to revive Orthodox theology and ecumenical contacts. You enabled a generation of students and academics in Russia and beyond to really engage with Western Christian thought and academic works, through your teaching, your highly successful Summer Schools, and your outstanding publishing house. Not least, in the conferences and Summer Schools you organize in Moscow, and those you co-­‐‑organize with numerous ecclesial and academic institutions in Europe for many years, are venues for reflection and exchange on our common Christian heritage as well as on contemporary issues. This makes St Andrew’s a singular Institute worldwide. The fact that you have gathered such an extraordinarily talented and committed team testifies to your calling. To me personally, our acquaintance and our ongoing institutional cooperation have been a source of great inspiration and reflection. I am looking forward to continuing our joint ventures and am extremely grateful to accompany you on the spiritual paths of St Andrews. May you keep the spirit and the power to pursue your work, With my best wishes and warm regards, Katya Tolstaya Dr. E. (Katya) Tolstoy
Director Institute for the Academic Study of Eastern Christianity (INaSEC)
Associate Professor of Dogmatics and Ecumenics, Faculty of Theology, VU University Amsterdam