Russian Old Believers

Seraphim . said:

What do people think of the small group of Old Believers that exist in Russia? How far do they differ theologically to Russian Orthodox?

Am mostly interested in Eastern Orthodox opinions, but all opinions are welcome, this topic would be off-topic in the T.A.W forum so I assume this is the closest matching forum for it.

If it's off-topic or rule breaking here, feel free to delete my thread and impose appropriate sanctions on me as a poster.

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I do not see how this would be off topic in The Ancient Way forum. The rules of that subforum say "Active promotion of views contrary to the established teachings of canonical Orthodox Churches are considered off topic. This includes schismatic or Old Believer teachings." So yes, it mentions Old Believer teachings. But it does not say that questions could not be asked about them; it merely prohibits active promotion of them, which your questions are not doing.

RileyG said:

I think some exist in Alaska, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. They're rather small. (at least in the United States)

Some have no priests, and no sacraments.

I actually own the Russian Old Believer prayer book that is fully Orthodox, even though I'm Roman Catholic.

It's my understanding, some Russian Old Believers later came into full communion with the Russian Orthodox Church and kept their practices.

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You are correct, there is a community of Russian Old Believers here in Oregon. Most reside in a town called "Woodburn" which is located in the Willamette Valley's I-5 corridor, which is around 10-15 miles north of Salem, and 30 or so miles south of Portland. A tad bit of information, these Old Believers have lived there, that I know of in my 60 plus decades, probably longer. Many Old Believers have also taken up golf in the past few years and are actually quite good. I've been matched up with some on the course and had the opportunity to talk with them. The ones I've talked with, told me that their relatives immigrated to Oregon via South America, mainly Brazil.

When sharing the golf course with them, it is very easy to spot the "Old Believer" players, because of their attire. The men wear colorful hand embroidered shirts with a rope looking belt (poyas) around their waste, and long beards. The women playing wear their everyday attire, being long silk looking dresses with head scarfs (silk?) tied behind their heads. It is actually a pretty cool site to see on the golf course. The Old Believers also venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary same as we Catholics and our Eastern Orthodox brothers and sisters. One last thing, for some reason, and back in the day, the Russian Old Believers young men were/are 'huge' fans of "Muscle Mopar." The wilder the color, the better!


Have a Blessed Day!