Renovated Church
The Renovated Church, also known as the Renovationist Church or the Living Church, was a movement within the Russian Orthodox Church that emerged during the early Soviet era, primarily between 1922 and 1943. It was formed with the backing of the Communist government as a means to exert control over religious practices in the Soviet Union, seeking reforms that were not widely accepted by the traditional church. The movement attracted reform-minded clergy, including those advocating for the right to marry, which contrasted with existing church laws. Despite claims of a large membership, the Renovated Church had limited active participation and struggled to gain support from the broader population, who largely remained loyal to the Orthodox Church, particularly its leader Patriarch Tikhon.
As the Soviet government altered its stance during World War II, viewing the Russian Orthodox Church as a potential patriotic force, support for the Renovated Church waned, leading to its decline and eventual dissolution. While the Renovated Church's beliefs were similar to those of the Russian Orthodox Church, its organizational structure was distinct, relying on bishops who operated under government oversight. The movement had a notable impact beyond Russia, particularly in the United States, where it influenced the Orthodox Church's governance and property management. Ultimately, the Renovated Church serves as a unique historical example of the intersection between religion and state control in the Soviet Union.
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Renovated Church
The Renovated Church was a group of churches that sought reform in the Russian Orthodox Church in the former Soviet Union. It was also known as the Renovationist Church or the Living Church and was more a political entity than a religious faith. The Renovated Church was an attempt by the Communist government to control the Russian Orthodox Church, a Christian denomination.
The church was comprised mostly of reform-minded clergy from the Russian Orthodox Church and was assisted by the Communists, who saw the Renovated Church as a way to control religion in the Soviet Union without using force. In practice, however, few people were active members of the Renovated Church. Although the Renovated Church claimed to have about 17,650 clergy and nearly 14,000 church buildings, those figures represented the congregations of the Russian Orthodox Church, which never took any part in the Renovated Church.
The church existed in the Soviet Union from 1922 until about 1943. After the church was dissolved, most of the clergy who were involved in the movement repented and returned to the Orthodox faith. In the United States, the roles of Russian Orthodox bishops were changed because of actions taken by the Renovated Church.
Origins
During tsarist rule from the mid-1400s until the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russia was governed by a series of rulers who often held adversarial views on religion. When the tsarist regime fell in 1917, church leaders saw an opportunity for reform.
A council of the Russian Orthodox Church was convened in August 1917, and the patriarchal leadership of the church was reinstated. Vasily Ivanovich Belavin—known as Tikhon since he took his monastic vows in 1891—was named the eleventh Patriarch of Moscow, making him the leader of the largest and most influential church in a country where the secular leaders were encouraging atheism.
The independent-minded Tikhon was openly hostile to the Communist regime. In 1922, the government seized church assets on the pretext of selling them and redistributing the profits to poorer areas of the country. Tikhon attempted to keep some sacred vessels and other holy items in church possession and was placed under house arrest.
In an effort to gain control of the church, the Communist government began supporting a group of Orthodox clergy who favored reform. This group of reformers included married priests whose participation in the church was limited under existing law. Backed by the Communist government, these clergymen established the Renovated Church and created a new church council that immediately removed Tikhon as head of the church.
The Renovated Church enacted a number of reforms, including changing church rules to allow married clergy full rights and also allowing widowed clergy to remarry. Leaders of the Renovated Church sometimes turned on their fellow priests in the Russian Orthodox Church, subjecting many to persecution by the government.
In 1923, Tikhon publically recanted his actions against the Communist regime and was set free. Soviet citizens who had struggled to worship privately under the government’s atheist policies, took advantage of the patriarch’s reinstatement and returned to the Russian Orthodox Church, stripping away nearly all popular support of the Renovated Church.
With government backing, the Renovated Church in the Soviet Union continued for about two decades. Other churches in the country, including the Russian Orthodox Church, were subjected to continued persecution. World War II brought a change in the government’s attitude toward the Russian Orthodox Church, which was now seen as a potential source of patriotism. In the 1940s, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin allowed the Russian Orthodox Church to elect a successor to Tikhon, a move that effectively eliminated government support for the Renovated Church. By 1943, many clergy who had been part of the Renovated Church returned to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Beliefs
The beliefs of the Renovated Church were essentially the same as those of the Russian Orthodox Church. The key differences were in canon law and practices. The clergy who considered themselves part of the Renovated Church sought the right to marry and retain the ability to be full practicing members, including the right to become bishops.
Organization
The Renovated Church structure was episcopal in nature, with bishops responsible for ecclesiastical jurisdictions but subject to the government. The church had little impact on the religious life of the average Russian, who was far more likely to remain loyal to Tikhon and the main Russian Orthodox Church.
The impact of the Renovated Church was greater in the United States, where many of the religious items forcibly removed from the churches by the Soviet government were sold. Long after the Renovated Church faded in Russia, the church’s property continued to be moved across the ocean and sold to fund Soviet government operations.
During the time when Tikhon was under house arrest, the Renovated Church appointed John Kedrovsky, a married American priest who had been suspended by the Russian Orthodox Church, to serve as Archbishop of North America. Kedrovsky began acting on behalf of the church, almost as if he were patriarch, and conducted transactions related to church property. The resulting backlash against the power he assumed led to the Orthodox Church in America stripping all bishops of most powers related to property and finances.
Bibliography
"A History of the Orthodox Church: The Orthodox Church Since WWI." Orthodox Christian Information Center, orthodoxinfo.com/general/history7.aspx. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
Obydenkova, Anastassia V. "Religious Pluralism in Russia." Politics of Religion and Nationalism, Routledge, 2015, pp. 36-49.
Prokurate, Michael, et al. "The A to Z of the Orthodox Church." Scarecrow, 1996, pp. 204-205.
“St. Tikhon of Moscow.” Orthodox Church in America, www.oca.org/fs/st-tikhon-of-moscow. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
Young, Glennys. Power and the Sacred in Revolutionary Russia: Religious Activists in the Village. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997, pp. 147–68.