St. Andrew's Church in Moscow is a community of Christians who seek to
- nurture the development of our faith through an Anglican form of worship, providing regular services which communicate the Gospel of Christ;
- apply our Christian beliefs to our daily lives;
- develop a community to support each other while living in Moscow;
- encourage ecumenical initiatives and activities;
- serve the community
History of St Andrew's
The story of the English Church in Moscow, Part 3. People often ask about the history of St. Andrew's. Jean Coussmaker tells us some more of the background to our chaplaincy.
Patriots and Dissenters.
Church minutes reflect the patriotism of the British community in Moscow,
and this is particularly apparent for significant occasions. Queen Victoria's
death in 1901 was an occasion for deep mourning; the church minutes' secretary
recorded: "The Memorial Service held on the day of the Funeral was the
most touching ceremony ever held within this Church. An oil-painting of
Her late Majesty, notwithstanding the fact that it was finished in nine
days, can be considered a very good likeness..." In contrast, he wrote
of the service to commemorate Edward VII's coronation: "Our beautiful little
church was brightly decorated with flowers and flags, and a large congregation
(of 285 persons), including the Consuls of most foreign nations, heartily
joined in the specially selected service, led by organ and full choir.
Marble busts of their Majesties were raised on pedestals at one end of
the cloakroom and prettily decked out with evergreens and flags." However,
death drew the biggest crowds; when King Edward died in 1910, the congregation
numbered 550 (the largest ever recorded at St. Andrew's), and included
the Grand Duchess Elizabeth and her suite; but only 237 attended the coronation
service for King George V. After the coronation service, many of them went
for a banquet in the Hermitage Restaurant - does anyone know if the building
still exists?
Church records also give us an insight into the domestic running of the church: improvements and money matters. Thus we read of the Church and Parsonage being joined up to the town water supply, the repairs made to the hearse, the change from gas to electric lighting, made possible once more by the generosity of Jane McGill, and improvements made to the Library thanks to a donation from an amateur theatrical performance.
But as church committee members know only too well, financial problems are a recurrent item on the agenda. To offset the costs of Queen Victoria's memorial service, the "church in mourning" was photographed, and copies sold for church funds. It is a copy of this photograph which we have today.
In 1905 the resources of the Church Poor Fund became increasingly strained as "an apparent stream of indigent Britishers" passed through Moscow from Japan and the Far East, using the new Siberian railway which the British themselves had helped to build. Applicants for financial aid were examined very carefully. After the Russo-Japanese war, church funds were very low, as more and more of the British community left Moscow. Fees were introduced for occasional worshippers, those "who never hesitate to make use of the Church when necessary, from attending the various services to having a free christening," wrote an indignant church clerk.
It is comforting to read that the same ups and downs in parish life occurred then as they do today. Harvey Pitcher, who wrote several books about the British in Moscow, spoke to one of the English governesses, Emma Dashwood. She recalled that on her first Sunday in Moscow in 1912, she was asked to sing in the choir: "I was dragged into it; the choir was so depleted then!" She described the organ and choir stalls "high up at the back" in the gallery. An archive photo shows the large pipe organ; perhaps Melodiya will tell us one day what they did with it.
The church employed a number of paid servants in the nineteenth century, but as times grew more difficult their number was cut back until there were just two Russian workmen. The only other paid employee was the organist, who had a small flat in the church. In 1903 the minutes record that he was sacked as "His knowledge of anything at all about matters regarding our Church property, not solely comprised in his duties as organist, was primitive in the extreme." The accounts show that for 600 roubles a year he was expected to combine the duties of organist, librarian and church caretaker, and it is perhaps significant that after his departure, these jobs were divided up.
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