Novokreshchenskaya office

Novokreshchenskaya office - a Christian mission for the non-Russian peoples of the Volga region ( Mordovians , Chuvashs , Cheremis , Votyaks , Tatars ), formed in 1740 . The office was created on the basis of the New Baptism Affairs Commission, which appeared in 1731, at the head of which Alexy Raifsky worked. Its center was located in Sviyazhsk at the local Orthodox monastery. The mission was officially established by decree of Anna Ioannovna of September 11 . The head of the mission was appointed Archimandrite Dmitry Sechenov , under whose leadership initially consisted of 5 people (chief administrator, three preachers, clerk). To protect the mission during trips, the state allocated soldiers. For the needs of the mission, churches were built and parochial schools were established ( Kazan , Elabuga , Tsivilsk , Tsarevokokshaysk ), which were often perceived as an instrument of Russification . To encourage the transition to Christianity, the newly baptized were exempted from recruitment and rewarded with money. The activities of the Novokreshchensky office contributed to the Russification of the Nizhny Novgorod province. In 1747, in one Nizhny Novgorod diocese, there were over 50 thousand newly baptized. By 1753, most Chuvash and Mari were formally baptized ^[1] . In 1764, the Sviyazhsk office was abolished, the Cheremis returned to paganism. In the 19th century, the Fellowship of St. Guria became the heir to the Novokreshchenskaya office.