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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 includes local Russian people but also many English speaking ex-pats and members of Moscow's international community. This would have been an unusual posting at any time, but he’s been there during a remarkable period. It included the diplomatic dispute over the Salisbury poisonings, the Football World Cup staged in Russia, the Covid pandemic and now the war in Ukraine. 

It has put him in a sensitive situation at times, but it has also helped him to understand how the world is seen through Russian eyes.    

After six years, Malcolm and his wife Alison have just left Moscow, bringing to an end their inspiring spiritual and personal journey. In this edition of Heart and Soul, we hear their extraordinary story of faith and diplomacy. Malcolm has provided religious leadership to his diverse congregation, but at times he has had to tread carefully. As the diplomatic chasm opened up after the invasion of Ukraine, that became more acute.

Producer/presenter: Bob Walker
Production co-ordinator: Mica Nepomuceno
Editor: Jonathan Hallewell