St. Andrew's Anglican Church, Moscow - Confiscation and Renewal

Confiscation and Renewal

During the October Revolution, Bolsheviks mounted a machine gun post in the church tower to stop troops of the Provisional Government from advancing toward the Kremlin. The Bolsheviks were dislodged on October 29, 1917.

According to Herbert North, son of the chaplain “we spent nearly a week in the basement with no light and little food. On emerging from the house at the end of the fighting we found many spent cartridges in the courtyard and two large pools of blood.” .

The church was confiscated in 1920 and the Chaplain, the Rev. Frank North, was expelled from Russia to Helsinki. He served in Helsinki, officially as the Chaplain to Helsinki and Moscow. During the following 71 years, the Helsinki chaplain would occasionally give services at the British Embassy in Moscow.

The church and parsonage were used by the Soviets as a hostel for girls and to house diplomats from Finland and Estonia. In 1964 Melodiya took over the church as a recording studio. Dmitry Shostakovich and Mstislav Rostropovich both recorded at Melodiya’s St. Andrew's studio.

Following perestroika, on July 15, 1991, the Helsinki Chaplain, the Rev. Tyler Strand, celebrated the first Eucharist at St. Andrew’s since 1920. Regular services began soon after. The Rev. Canon Chad Coussmaker was appointed permanent Chaplain in 1993. The Rev. Dr Canon Simon Stephens has served as Chaplain since 1999.

Queen Elizabeth II visited the church on October 19, 1994, and agreed with Russian President Boris Yeltsin that the church would be returned. Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin signed the order to return of the property religious use, though in Russia, all religious property is officially state owned, with the congregation only having the right to use the property. Chernomyrdin's order was not immediately effective, with the property re-registered to the state only in January 2008 and Melodiya occupying parts of the property until about 2001.

Every one is welcome to attend St. Andrew's, and the congregation includes people from Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Southern Sudan, Kenya and other countries with an Anglican heritage. Attendance is about 150 each Sunday and about 200 at Christmas and Easter.