The orthodox Christian society as an alternative to the missionary society in St. Petersburg (in the 1860s)

This article is an analytical review of one of the projects that took shape in the 1860s in order to finance Orthodox missionary work. After brief preliminary remarks, the author analyzes in detail the proposal of the Orthodox Christian Society. This document is a detailed charter of this church-public organization, which at a high national level planned to finance a variety of missionary undertakings. The goals of creating the organization, its activity plans and administrative structure are subsequently revealed. The document does not indicate the date of its creation and authorship, therefore, a detailed analysis of the content is necessary to determine the place of this project in the history of the formation of centralized financing of missionary work. It also analyzes the possible mutual influence of the projects of the Orthodox Christian Society and the Missionary Society in St. Petersburg. Summing up, the author points out that the project of the Orthodox Christian Society was viewed as a “secular” alternative to the Missionary Society, created as a result of the conflict in the Missionary Society and the transfer of the central missionary organization to Moscow. Finally, general conclusions are drawn on the study of projects that went along with the design of the Central Missionary Organization in Russia.