Minor Orthodox Brotherhoods in Arkhangelsk Governorate in the Late 1890 s – Mid 1910 s as an Example of Social Ministry of the Church

The article focuses on the one of the understudied episodes in the history of the Arkhangelsk and Kholmogory diocese, namely on the activities of the Orthodox parish brotherhoods, which existed at the turn of the XX century. Through parish brotherhoods, some Orthodox clergymen and the most devoted lay people met the challenges of the modernization age. Facing the stratification of society, rapid urbanization of the predominantly agricultural Russian North, propaganda led by radical political parties, social diseases such as alcoholism and moral decadency, the best members of the church were willing to help their neighbours both spiritually, through prayer and exhortations, and financially. Thus, parish and sobriety brotherhoods were born in the Russian North: in Arkhangelsk and provincial cities (Kholmogory) as well as in large villages such as Ust-Tsilma, Izhma, Kekhta etc