The Quarterly Journal of St. Philaret’s Institute

Readers are kindly offered an abridged version of the speech delivered on 5 November 1866 at a meeting of Kazan University by A. S. Pavlov, associate professor of Canon Law (later distinguished professor of the Department of Ecclesiastical Law at the Faculty of Law of Moscow Imperial University and correspon­ding member of the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences). The Assembly Speech was delivered two years after the publication of the law “On the Rules for the Establishment of Orthodox Church Brotherhoods” of 8 May 1964 and was devoted to the conciliar nature of the life of the Church, which the scholar expresses through the term “living reciprocal action” of all its members. Based on Holy Scripture and Church tradition, canonical and historical sources, A. S. Pavlov convin­cingly shows that the life of the Church is possible only “when each member acts in a commensurate manner” (Eph 4:16), and that the laity can assist their spiritual pastors in all areas of church life. 
The introductory article highlights three types of arguments that A. S. Pavlov uses to justify the need for the laity to participate in the affairs of the Church: ecclesiological, canonical, and historical. The main ecclesiological justification is the unchanging conciliar nature of the Church, which consists in the free and fraternal relationship of all members of the Church to one another. In apostolic times, faith in the conciliar Church was embodied through the resolution of the most important issues of its life by the elders — the apostles and presbyters — together with the entire people. In the subsequent period, the Church saw in the teachings and practices of the apostles a canon, that is, a norm and model for action, which is confirmed by A. S. Pavlov with references to the works of the fathers and tea­chers of the Church, canonical documents, and conciliar acts. Finally, the scholar demonstrates that, from a historical perspective, the liberation of the Church from state patronage contributes to the manifestation of its conciliarity through the broader and more responsible involvement of laity in church life.