House church (Russia)

In the Russian Orthodox Church, a house church (Russian: домовая церковь) is a church parish that is intended for performing religious services for members of a particular institution. These particular churches are sometimes located outside the jurisdiction of the corresponding territorial administrative unit.[4][5]

The Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi is a historic example of a house church that is affiliated with the Tretyakov Gallery[1][2][3]

Overview

House churches can be attached to hospitals, orphanages, and other charitable organizations. Additionally, these types of churches can be seen within educational institutions such as secondary schools and universities. They are intended for the religious participation of individuals staying at or studying within these host establishments.[5]

Background
Further information: House church

The term house church can have various meanings within Christianity and historically has not been applied universally to refer to a specific concept.[6] Early Christian churches[note 1] were generally found within the houses of individual worshipers.[7][8][9] However, it can also be used to describe a church that operates under this or similar structures.[6][10][11]

History

Original house churches were not considered parishes but rather were owned by the private institution or person that owned the building. As they were not considered parishes, extensive records of their location and the number of churches that existed are not available. However, they were likely a popular source of attraction among Moscow's historical churches.[12]

Following the Russian Revolution and the subsequently passed Decree on Separation of Church and State, all church property rights and legal identities were revoked entirely. While this severely impacted how regular parish churches operated, it did not have any effect on home churches which had neither property nor a separate legal identity from their host institutions, to begin with and thus were effectively independent of the state. Ironically, the decree that was meant to hurt the freedoms of religious assemblies ended up protecting them form house churches.[12]

However this protection did not last, and in August 1918 the People's Commissariat sent instructions out that all house churches at educational institutions would mandatorily be closed (roughly 16% of all house churches). Despite being nominally limited to just house churches within schools and museums, the instruction was rigidly applied to effectively outlaw all house churches. While some house churches managed to convert to parish churches, others were not so fortunate. By the end of 1920, 13 house churches had been closed down and liquidated.[12]

Types
Main Church of
the Armed Forces of Russia
Главного храма Вооруженных Сил России
CountryRussia
DenominationRussian Orthodox
Websitehttps://hram.mil.ru/
Architecture
Functional statusPlanned
StyleRusso-Byzantine

Within the military

The Russian Orthodox Church has frequently been tied to Russian military forces through its religious involvement in military life and as a means of promoting patriotism, from the time of the Tsardom of Russia to the present.[13][14]

On 4 September 2018, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu announced plans for the construction of a cathedral to be located within Patriot Park outside Moscow. The church would be built by 2020 and would reportedly stand to honor the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.[14] The cathedral is planned to be the world's third-largest Orthodox church,[15] and it will feature a Russo-Byzantine style of architecture.[14]

A month later, Shoygu stated that the front steps of the church building will be made from former Nazi Germany military hardware which was captured and taken as trophies by the Red Army. The building is planned to be colored in camouflage green, topped with six golden domes, and have several glass panels throughout.[16]

A foundation called Voskreseniye was set up to collect funds from the public to build the planned cathedral. The head of Vokreseniye, Vladimir Bogatyryov, has stated that the cathedral will be used to train and educate so-called war priests.[16][17]

It will become the main cathedral of the armed forces, yet another symbol of our unflinching national traditions and our loyalty to the memory of our ancestors and their accomplishments for the benefit of the fatherland...

Vladimir Putin, at the cornerstone consecration ceremony. (2018)[14]

Within colleges

According to Vladimir V. Belokurov, vice-rector at Moscow State University, house churches within educational institutions like colleges and universities are critical to the learning experience for students. In an interview with Tatyana's Day,[note 2] Belokurov cited their ability to raise spiritual and cultural awareness for individual students and their positive contributions to campus life.[19]

Current status

In 2005 there were 112 house churches within Moscow,[4] but as of 2013 this number was 164.[20]

See also

Notes
  1. Also called New Testament churches[7]
  2. The magazine is a student publication run out of Moscow State University's house church.[18]

References
  1. Lebedeva, Elena (18 December 2006). "Храм Святого Николая Чудотворца В Толмачах" [Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Tolmachi]. pravoslavie.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  2. Strelchik, Evgeny (12 December 2012). "Третьяковка приглашает... в храм/Интервью/ЖМПиЦВ" (Interview). Tserkovny Vestnik (in Russian). Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  3. "The reconstruction of the Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi 1997". tretyakovgallery.ru. Третьяковская галерея. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  4. "Домовые храмы". vidania.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  5. "Православная энциклопедия" [House Church]. Orthodox Encyclopedia (in Russian). Vol. 15. M.: Church Research Center. 2007. pp. 640–641. ISBN 978-5-89572-026-4.
  6. Metz, Donald L.; Anderson, Philip; Anderson, Phoebe (1977). "The House Church". Review of Religious Research. Religious Research Association. 18 (2): 204. doi:10.2307/3509665. ISSN 0034-673X. JSTOR 3509665.
  7. Filson, Floyd V. (June 1939). "The Significance of the Early House Churches". Journal of Biblical Literature. 58 (2): 105–112. doi:10.2307/3259855. JSTOR 3259855.
  8. Campbell, R. Alastair (2007). "Review of House Church and Mission: The Importance of Household Structures in Early Christianity". The Journal of Theological Studies. 58 (2): 666–671. doi:10.1093/jts/flm035. ISSN 0022-5185. JSTOR 23971194.
  9. Button, M. Bruce; Van Rensburg, Fika J (2003). "The "House Churches" in Corinth". Neotestamentica. 37 (1): 1–28. ISSN 0254-8356. JSTOR 43048456.
  10. McFaul, Thomas R. (1975). "Hey, That's Our Church! by Lyle E. Schaller; The House Church by Philip Anderson and Phoebe Anderson". Sociological Analysis. Oxford University Press. 36 (4): 379–380. doi:10.2307/3710535. ISSN 0038-0210. JSTOR 3710535.
  11. Birkey, Del (2019). The House Church: A Model for Renewing the Church. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-5326-7834-9. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  12. Ignatovich, Tatyana (23 January 2007). "Дом Божий и революция". Tatyana's Day (in Russian). Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  13. Peck, Michael (11 November 2018). "Russia's Next Weapon: A Church". The National Interest. Center for the National Interest. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  14. Kishkovsky, Sophia (12 October 2018). "New Russian cathedral to feature frescoes celebrating armed forces". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  15. Gilbert, Paul (24 September 2018). "World's Third Tallest Orthodox Cathedral to be Built for Russia's Armed Forces near Moscow". Royal Russia News. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  16. Wesolowsky, Tony (27 December 2018). "Giving Tanks At Grand Russian Military Cathedral". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  17. "Russia's New Military Cathedral Will Train War Priests — Reports". The Moscow Times. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  18. "Редакция — Татьянин день". Tatyana's Day (in Russian). 13 August 2019. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  19. Godik, Juliana (19 March 2009). "Зачем нужны домовые храмы в вузах?" [Why do we need house temples in universities?] (Interview). Tatyana's Day (in Russian). Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  20. "В Московской епархии около одной тысячи храмов и часовен" [There are about one thousand temples and chapels in the Moscow diocese]. Фома (in Russian). 20 December 2013. ISSN 2076-9784. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
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