Living Church

The "Living Church" (Russian: Живая Церковь) was a Renovationist organization that emerged in May 1922 with the active support of the State Political Directorate (GPU) under the NKVD of the RSFSR. Throughout its existence, the leader of the “Living Church” was the protopresbyter Vladimir Krasnitsky. Although the “Living Church,” at its founding in May 1922, declared its intention to enact sweeping reforms in church life — including revisions of doctrine — in practice, its activities largely revolved around the promotion of privileges for the married ("white") clergy and the suppression of “counterrevolution” within the Church. Initially, it even sought to become a part of the Soviet punitive system. The “Living Church” also rejected any liturgical reforms.

In its early months, the Living Church unified nearly all Renovationist elements, which is why its name became the unofficial designation for the entire schism. However, after the “All-Russian Congress of White Clergy and Laity of the ‘Living Church’” held in August 1922, irreconcilable disagreements emerged among its leaders. As a result, many members broke away and formed other Renovationist organizations such as the “Union for Church Revival” (UCR) and the “Union of the Communities of the Ancient Apostolic Church” (SODATs). During October 1922 - August 1923 Living Church, UCR and SODATs were three ruling groups within Renovationist schism.

After being released from house arrest, Patriarch Tikhon condemned the “Living Church” and the Renovationist schism as a whole, which significantly weakened the position of all such groups. In September 1923, Vladimir Krasnitsky announced the break of the “Living Church” from the newly established All-Russian Renovationist Synod (formed a month earlier). However, most members did not follow Krasnitsky, remaining loyal to the Synod. Without state support, the “Living Church” quickly devolved into a small local faction of Krasnitsky’s followers, whose numbers steadily declined. With Krasnitsky’s death in 1936 and the beginning of the Great Purge in 1937, the “Living Church” ceased to exist altogether.