Design and Establishment of Church Areas by the All-Russian Church Council of 1917–1918

Abstract

In the autumn of 1918, The All-Russian Church Council considered the project of establishing Church areas. The beginning of the discussion on this topic in the Church was laid by the Pre-Council Presence in 1906. The Pre-Council Meeting in April 1912 briefly addressed the topic of metropolitan areas and agreed with the view of the Presence on the areas as associations of existing dioceses for pastoral and missionary purposes. Despite the great work done by the precouncil bodies, the Council’s decision on the establishment of areas was brief in scope and declarative in content. As the council’s work was expected to be completed soon, it was deemed necessary to allow the Holy Synod and the Supreme Church Council, headed by the Patriarch, to determine the number of areas and distribute dioceses among them. It was assumed that the central church administration would also be responsible for setting up the activities of the newly established areas. In 1928 and 1934, in relation to the administrative and territorial reform in the Soviet state, an attempt was made to create Church areas headed by regional bishops. However, over time, the project lost its relevance, among other things, because of the new wave of repressions against the Church and attempts by the Soviet authorities to destroy the Church organization.