St. Andrew's Anglican Church, Moscow
St Andrew's Anglican Church | ||
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Style Gothic Revival | | |
Completed | 1884 | |
Specifications | ||
Materials | Brick | |
Administration | ||
Diocese | Europe |
St Andrew's Anglican Church in Moscow is the sole Anglican church in Moscow, and one of only three in Russia (The Anglican Church in St Petersburg was established 1723
The current church building dates from 1883 and the parsonage from 1894. During the
Early history
Some early records are available through the Russia Company archives in London's Guildhall,[2] and from records sent to the Bishop of London.[3]
External videos | |
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St Andrews Overview, 6:31, St. Andrews Anglican Church Moscow[4] |
The first Anglican worship in Moscow may have been held in the Old English Yard, now on
Sometime after the city burnt in 1812, services were held on
By the 1880s the congregation had grown and a building larger than the chapel was needed. The Russia Company gave 25,000 rubles and the congregation raised 188,616 rubles to build the church. It was designed by Richard Knill Freeman, of Bolton, in the Victorian Neo-Gothic style.
At the time, the congregation was evenly divided between adherents of the
Jane McGill paid for the building of the parsonage in 1894.[7] In 1904 she founded St. Andrew's House for indigent governesses and other ladies, on nearby Tverskaya Street.[2]
Confiscation and renewal
During the October Revolution, Bolsheviks mounted a machine gun post in the church tower to stop troops of the
According to Herbert North, son of the Anglican chaplain Frank William North "we spent nearly a week in the basement with no light and little food. On emerging from the house at the end of the fighting we found many spent cartridges in the courtyard and two large pools of blood."[8]
The church was confiscated in 1920 and the Chaplain, the Rev. Frank North, was expelled from Russia. He later served in Helsinki, officially as the Chaplain to Helsinki and Moscow. During the following 71 years, the Helsinki chaplain would occasionally conduct services at the British Embassy in Moscow.
The church and parsonage were used by the Soviets as a hostel for girls and to house diplomats from Finland and Estonia.[9] In 1964 Melodiya took over the church as a recording studio.
Following perestroika, on 15 July 1991 the Helsinki Chaplain, the Rev. Tyler Strand, celebrated the first Eucharist at St. Andrew's since 1920. Regular services began soon after. The Rev. Canon Chad Coussmaker was appointed permanent Chaplain in 1993. The Rev. Dr Canon Simon Stephens served as Chaplain from 1999-June 2014. The current chaplain is Canon Malcolm Rogers.
Queen Elizabeth II visited the church on 19 October 1994 and agreed with Russian President Boris Yeltsin that the church would be returned.[11] Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin signed the order to return the property to religious use,[12] though in Russia, all religious property is officially state owned, with the congregation only having the right to use the property. Chernomyrdin's order was not immediately effective, with the property re-registered to the state only in January 2008 [10] and Melodiya occupying parts of the property until about 2001.
Everyone is welcome to attend St. Andrew's, and the congregation includes people from Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Southern Sudan, Kenya and other countries with an Anglican heritage. Attendance is about 150 each Sunday and about 200 at Christmas and Easter.[13]
See also
References
- ^ "The Anglican Church in St Petersburg".
- ^ a b Guildhall Library, The English Church in Moscow retrieved August 20, 2008. Original Company records go back to 1666, with some copies of earlier documents.
- ^ The story of the English Church in Moscow, Part 1 by Jean Coussmaker, published in 1999 in the church magazine, retrieved August 20, 2008
- ^ "The History of St. Andrew's Church". St. Andrews Church and Centre. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
- ^ Wilson, William Rae (1828). Travels in Russia: &c, &c, Volume 2. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. pp. 72–75.
- ^ a b The History of St. Andrew's Published in the church magazine, retrieved August 20, 2008. Text is adapted by James Colley from an article by S.C. Romanyuk in "Architecture and Building in Moscow", 1995, No.3, Pages 42–46.
- ^ St. Andrew's History Archived 2011-02-12 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved August 20, 2008
- ^ The story of the English Church in Moscow, Part 4 by Jean Coussmaker, published in 1999 in the church magazine, retrieved August 20, 2008
- ^ History - Embassy of Finland in Russia In Russian. Accessed March 4, 2011.
- ^ a b A Divine Cause Alisa Ballard, Moscow News №26 3 July 2008, retrieved August 20, 2008
- ^ The Moscow Times Anglicans To Regain Property, Frank Brown, October 13, 1994, subscription required. Retrieved August 21, 2008]
- ^ The Moscow Times, Church Passes To Anglicans, October 25, 1994, subscription required. Retrieved August 21, 2008
- ^ Serving the International Community for Christ