American YMCA and Russian Culture

The Preservation and Expansion of Orthodox Christianity, 1900–1940

Häftad, Engelska, 2014

AvMatthew Lee Miller

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In The American YMCA and Russian Culture, Matthew Lee Miller explores the impact of the philanthropic activities of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) on Russians during the late imperial and early Soviet periods. The YMCA, the largest American service organization, initiated its intense engagement with Russians in 1900. During the First World War, the Association organized assistance for prisoners of war, and after the emigration of many Russians to central and western Europe, founded the YMCA Press and supported the St. Sergius Theological Academy in Paris. Miller demonstrates that the YMCA contributed to the preservation, expansion, and enrichment of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. It therefore played a major role in preserving an important part of pre-revolutionary Russian culture in Western Europe during the Soviet period until the repatriation of this culture following the collapse of the USSR. The research is based on the YMCA’s archival records, Moscow and Paris archives, and memoirs of both Russian and American participants. This is the first comprehensive discussion of an extraordinary period of interaction between American and Russian cultures. It also presents a rare example of fruitful interconfessional cooperation by Protestant and Orthodox Christians.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2014-10-14
Mått156 x 225 x 22 mm
Vikt449 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor300
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN9781498503877

Tillhör följande kategorier

Religion: allmänt inom Filosofi och religion
Europas historia inom Historia och arkeologi
Kristendom inom Filosofi och religion

PrologueChapter I.The YMCA and Russia: A Profile of Good WorksChapter II.The YMCA and Russia: Wrestling with the IssuesChapter III.Confessional Confrontation: Perceptions, Images, and CorrectivesChapter IV.Work among Working RussiansChapter V. “Service with Fighting Men”: The Y among SoldiersChapter VI.The Russian Student Christian Movement at HomeChapter VII.The Russian Student Christian Movement AbroadChapter VIII.“The Hunger for Books”: Serving a Starving ReadershipChapter IX.Teachers and Priests: The St. Sergius Theological AcademyChapter X.Sustaining an Orthodox CommonwealthEpilogueBibliographyAppendix: A Note on Archival Sources

Miller (history, Northwestern College) has written a valuable study of the YMCA's role in helping to keep Russian Orthodoxy alive and vital during the 20th century. Before WW I, the YMCA, the leading US Protestant movement that sought to teach the Christian faith through youth activities, cooperated with Orthodox clergy and believers to help Orthodoxy adjust to the modernizing winds pushing Russia toward industrialization and land reform. When the communists took power in 1917 and Russian believers fled to western Europe, it was the YMCA that provided financial support to maintain the Orthodox community and to build St. Sergius Theological Academy in Paris, which became the home for Orthodox intellectuals like Sergei Bulgakov, and St. Vladimir's Theological Seminary in New York. Throughout the decades of communist rule, the YMCA backed the isolated Russian Orthodox community and helped it to grow. Mining both Russian and YMCA archives, Miller shows the interdependence and cooperation between the two Christian communities and fittingly hails the YMCA's philanthropy and ecumenism in a time of need. Excellent index and bibliography. Summing Up: Highly recommended.