The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret’s Institute

The article is dedicated to the theme of the participation of lay people in the Supreme Church Administration of the Orthodox Russian Church in the pre-conciliar years. The analogy is drawn between the new composition of the Supreme Church Administration bodies and the practice of laity participation in the advisory bodies of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire. The article tells about the laity elected at the All-Russian Local Council as members of the Supreme Church Council: professors S. N. Bulgakov, I. M. Gromoglasov, A. V. Kartashev, P. D. Lapin, Prince E. N. Trubetskoy, as well as the official S. M. Rayevsky. For the first time, mentioned are members of the Council who were elected deputies to the members of the Supreme Church Council from the laity. They were: professors P. P. Kudryavtsev, L. I. Pisarev, I. I. Sokolov, diplomat Prince G. N. Trubetskoy, lawyers M. I. Arefyev and P. I. Astrov, although they did not participate in the work of the Supreme Church Council.  
On the basis of archival documents of the Patriarchal Chancellery kept in the Russian Orthodox Church, the participation of each of its lay members in the work of the Supreme Church Council in 1918–1920 is analyzed. The conclusion is drawn about the substantial involvement of the laity in the work of the Supreme Church Administration and in making important decisions in church life. At the same time, there was a steady decrease in the number of lay people at meetings of the Supreme Church Administration in the early years of Soviet power, amid the Civil War and the beginning of persecution of the church.