| Contrary to common notions and scholarly views of Orthodox Christianity in general and the Russian Orthodox Church in particular, missionary outreach has been an integral part of the Orthodox experience. A case in point is the Russian Orthodox Missionary Society (1870--1917) which orchestrated a far-reaching and influential evangelizing enterprise in late imperial Russia. Part and parcel of Slavic migration, imperial ambition, and the desire to solidify Russia's control of areas populated by non-Russian peoples, the Society funded and organized systematic ecclesiastic and educational institutions in more than two dozen separate regions of Russia, as well as in Japan and Alaska. The effort, however, defies a simple label of "Russification" and cannot be characterized as merely a coercive exercise. In fact, many agents of the Society displayed great sensitivity toward local cultures. Russian missionaries sought, to the degree possible, to maintain and utilize non-Russian languages and cultures as they led non-Russian populations into the fold of the Russian Orthodox Church. All these processes occurred in the context of efforts at modernization and secularization promoted by a state whose various ethnic groups grew in self-consciousness and resistance to intrusions into their way of life.; The Society operated in an environment of social change, rising radicalism, and conflicting visions of Russia's future. A significant question addressed in my research is the Society's relationship to and response to a fast-changing social and political landscape. In short, after establishing itself firmly (1870--1887), the Society made its greatest impact between 1888 and 1904 through aggressive support of missionary enterprises throughout Imperial Russia and abroad, the promotion of a network of schools integral to mission activities, and through publication of scholarly and popular accounts about the imperative of Russian missions for religious, cultural, and national objectives. Consequently, the study of the Orthodox missionary Society makes a contribution to several important aspects of Imperial Russia during the decades leading up to the revolutions of 1917. |
