Scenarios of church authority in non-canonical orthodox jurisdictions

The article analyzes peculiarities of the church authority structure, which are characteristic of non-canonical Orthodox jurisdictions. The church authority scenarios implemented - to the extent that they do not affect issues regulated by the canons - are quite variable, and are often associated with specific jurisdictions. As a rule, scenarios of ecclesiastic authority implemented by non-canonical so-cieties are determined by the social and cultural conditions in which they exist, by pragmatic and opportunistic tasks. The article considers the following scenarios of ecclesiastic authority: imitation of the church tradition of canonical Orthodoxy, an appeal to the canonical order of the pre-revolutionary, so-called “Synodal Church”, references to eschatological expectations. The study makes it possible to conclude that the scenarios of ecclesiastical authority implemented in marginal-ized Orthodox jurisdictions perform a number of pragmatic functions both in the field of apologetics and, in some very limited situations, that of advertising of the jurisdiction concerned. The choice of specific strategies is determined by both individual preferences of the leaders and conditions in which this or that “alternative church” operates.