The Resurrection Brotherhood by the Resurrection Church of Arkhangelsk in 1900–1917: an example of organized parish charity

• Published in: The Quarterly Journal of St Philaret s Institute
• Main Authors: Trofimenko V. G., Balakshina Yu. V.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: St. Philaret’s Christian Orthodox Institute 2024
• Subjects: history of the russian church; resurrection brotherhood; parish charity; parish fraternities; Religion (General); BL1-50; Arkhangelsk
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.25803/26587599_2024_2_50_77; https://doaj.org/article/0f4a0aa39a45488bb6369fb756c35e99

The article is devoted to the activities of one of the Orthodox brotherhoods that existed in Arkhangelsk on the eve of the revolution of 1917. The Resurrection Brotherhood by the Resurrection Church, created by Fr. Mikhail Popov, differed from most similar organizations by a significant degree of awareness of the role of the church parish in the life of society, as well as a pronounced emphasis on charity for the poorest population, which could not be imagined without solving religious, moral and educational problems. The main milestones of the biography of Fr. Mikhail Popov, which allowed him to get acquainted with the experience of Orthodox church brotherhoods, were restored. The most important was the experience of his priestly service in the Lesninsky monastery of the Sedlec province and the principles of organizing charitable and educational services, which were the basis for it by the hegum. Ekaterina (Efimovskaya). The principles of the structure of the Resurrection Brotherhood are described, which was conceived by the founder as a kind of “core of the parish”, consisting of Christians ready for sacrificial service to God and their neighbors. The original concept of “universal missionary” formulated by Fr. Mikhail Popov was considered. The article compares the Rules of the Resurrection Brotherhood with the charters of other brotherhoods of 19th century, which set charitable and educational goals. Significant differences were revealed in the principles of membership, the method of collecting funds, and the structure of the internal life of the fraternity. The main source for the research is reports written by the founder and permanent leader of the brotherhood. They are characterized by much more complete information than the standard reports of church organizations of that time, which allows us to draw certain conclusions about the activities of this community