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The Rev Malcolm Rogers has been in charge of the most extraordinary church.  St Andrews looks like an ordinary British Victorian church, but amazingly it’s just ten minutes from the heart of power in Russia, the Kremlin.   His flock include ordinary local Russians but also a range of ex-pats and members of the international community, eg diplomats, business types, etc.  This would have been an unusual posting at any time, but he’s been there during a remarkable period:  It included the spat over the Salisbury poisonings… the Moscow World Cup… the Covid Pandemic… and now the war in Ukraine. 

It’s put him in a sensitive situation at times, but also in a position where he is able to understand how the world is seen through Russian eyes.    

Now, he and his wife Alison are leaving Moscow, ending their amazing time there.   He’ll be moving into a cottage in North Norfolk, awaiting news of his next job as an Anglican vicar. 
In this Heart and Soul, we’ll hear their extraordinary story of faith and diplomacy. Malcolm provides spiritual leadership to his diverse congregation, who have been an inspiration to him, but at times he has also had to tread carefully. As the diplomatic chasm opened up after the invasion of Ukraine, that became more acute.

The first part of the programme will have him in Moscow, his home for the last six years…. and the second part, in his new home in England, reflecting on his time in Russia.   There’s his personal story of faith and relationships, and that of his wife too… but there’s also space for some really interesting things he has to say about the Ukraine war, which he is very much against, but can provide a Russian perspective. 

We’ll hear their experiences, their feelings about Moscow and its inhabitants… the people they met, what it’s been like as spiritual leader of such a strange community… the bonds he’s forged… what he’s learned…  how his faith has led him and inspired him in his work there.