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Molokan Home Page
The  Home Page
We are
Remodeling and Moving this Molokan web site.
For years we did not have enough space to show all our
reports, photos and maps of
Molokans Around the World.
A new web site www.Molokane.org
was opened in
July
2004 with
20 times more space. Please report broken links, images, and errors to web master.
Short Description and History
Molokans (Russian
for "milk-drinkers": молокане) are
sectarian, Bible-centered
Christians who evolved from "Spiritual Christian" Russian peasants
(such as Jumpers, Doukhobors, Sabbatarians, God's People, and
others) who left
the
Russian
Orthodox Church, beginning in the 1600s. They called themselves "true
Spiritual Christians", rather than "milk-drinkers", because they could
no longer
accept the Russian Orthodox version of Christianity, nor that of the
other sects.
"...
Dukhobors, Molokans [and Jumpers], and
Subbotniks ... shared certain commonalties.
complete
and intense opposition to the Orthodox Church,
refutation
of the need for priests and hierarchies (or
any other mediators in a relationship with God, ...
abjuration
of Orthodox sacraments (notably water
baptism), icons, saints, relics, candles and churches. ...
rejected
secular authorities such as the Tsar and state
officials, and
opposed the power of
landlords and other social elites,
arguing that all humans were equal."*
Spiritual Christians did not believe that the Tsars or priests were
divinely
appointed to their positionsm, nor that the icons — even if properly
painted by an ordained icon-painter —
were truly holy pictures (icons)
containing some of the holiness of the individual or scene that they
portrayed. Spiritual Christians also objected to excessive Orthodox
fasting days,
military
killing, clergy charging for services, and other practices which they
believed conflicted with the
teachings of the
Bible, parts of which became available in the 1600s. Note that "divine"
is not the same as "holy." In Christianity a person or a thing can be
holy but only God is divine.
The first use of the label molokane
(milk-drinkers) appeared in the 1670s
referring
to those who ignored many of the 200 Russian Orthodox fasting days a
year by drinking
milk. Russian for milk is moloko [молоко]; and Molokan means
"milk-drinker". Molokans cleverly embraced the negative label assigned
by the Orthodoxy clergy to describe their heresy by substituting a
definition for milk
given in the Bible — the pure
spiritual word of God, presented in 1
Peter 2:2.
By law Russians must be Orthodox. Those who were Russian by nationality
and did not obey the Orthodox priests were classified as a dissenters,
non-conformists, non-believers, sectarians, heretics, schismatics,
felons,
and often
brutally punished. Because they actively recruited members from the
Orthodoxy, several
sects were classified as "infectious heresies", or Shaloputy (Molokans, Doukhobors,
Sabbatarians, Khlysty, Skopsy, ...[Pryguny, or Jumpers]), of which the
Molokans became the
most numerous, perhaps
over half a million at their peak about 1900. During the 1800s, the
Tsars
developed
policies to remove the most harmful sectarians away from central Russia
to the edges of the Russian Empire —
south
Ukraine, Caucasus, Central Asia, and
the Far East —
where many descendants still reside. Today over 200 Molokan (and
Molokan sub-group, mainly Jumper, Spiritual) communities
exists world-wide —150+ in
Russia and the FSU, 30 along the
American west coast,
and
7 in Australia. Russian Bibles, songbooks, texts and language are used
in all Molokan-related congregations world-wide.
In a sense Molokans are Protestants for rejecting Orthodoxy,
and like Presbyterians in that they have volunteer lay-ministers
and
a loose council of dominant elders. Though Molokans are somewhat
similar
to
the European Quakers
and Mennonites —
for their pacifism, communal organization, spiritual meetings, and
sub-groupings —
they are ethnically much closer to Doukhobors
and Sabbatarians [Subbotniki]
because they
evolved from the same Russian Spiritual
Christian movement
of Khristovers and Ikonobors, and migrated together with some
intermarriage.
Today
the majority of Molokans in Russia and Jumper / Maksimists in America
remain fractionated
into sub-groups, melted into
their
host cultures often being indistinguishable from their neighboring
citizens
except for a few, who adhere to Old Russian customs, the Russian
language, and their unique
forms
of religious worship and rituals (see Church
and Service below). In America and Australia the Jumper-Maksimists
present as
the most visible of the Molokan sub-groups, usually identifying
themselves as "Molokans" without revealing their sub-group affiliation
as Maksimists. Confusion arises in labeling
all sub-groups as Molokan because, for
example, nearly all congregations of maksimists do not follow the
original
Molokan
dogma nor do they recognize Molokan leadership or organizations,
indicating that Maksimiss are a separate denomination in behavior.
Also spelled: molakan, malakan,
molocan, malacan, moloccan,
molokane, molokani, molokane, etc.
* Breyfogle, Nikolas B, Heretics
and Colonizers: Religious dissent and Russian colonization of
Transcausasia, 1830-1890 (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia). 1998 doctorate thesis, pages 16-17.
Oldest Pictures
of Molokans
Drawing of
"Molokan presbyter Piotr Alekseievich
Semionov in 1865
by
artist Vasilii Vasilievich Vereschagin (1842-1904). This drawing is
also
titled "The
Molokan Prophet" in "Путешествый во Закавказию в 1864-1865 гг.",
«Всемирный путешественник»,
1870 ("Travel in
Transcaucasia 1864-1865", The World
Traveler, 1870, page 210; in Italian:"Voyage dans les provinces du
Caucase", Le Tour du Monde
1868. This may
be the earliest image of a Molokan. Semonov's village is
unknown.
Big
thanks to Alexey Sandikov (Yerevan, Armenia) for finding Semenov's name
on Cherepovets
InNet,
Vologda Oblast, which is now off-line. See the Sandykov and
Shorzha village genealogy website.
The following were probably also drawn in 1865, published in Europe in
1868-69, and in English in 1887.
"A
Molokane" from Vassili Verestchagin:
Painter- Soldier- Traveler, 1887, page 77.
"A
Molokane woman" from Vassili
Verestchagin: Painter- Soldier- Traveler, 1887, page 79.
Summary of Sections on
this page:
Today over 200 Molokan and sub-group congregations exist
worldwide, with 30 (mostly Jumpers) in
America. The most recognized central church and organization is the
USCM
Center in
Kochubeevskoe, Stavropol'skii krai, Russian Federation, location of
the 2005
celebration of 200 years of religions freedom. About 50
congregations are members, including First Molokan Church of San
Francisco — the only
congregation outside of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) to join. See the
website of the Union of Communities of
Spiritual Christian
Molokans in Russia. with more information in the Russian language.
Demographics describes
where 20,000
ethnic Molokans live around the world, with maps.
A short history of Molokans in Russia reveals that the name
Molokan comes from the Russian: "milk
drinkers".
Jumpers and Molokans in
America
provides a short history after the migration and the organizations that
evolved.
Two major sub-groups of American Molokans are the Constant and Jumpers / Maksimists.
American Molokan
Church and Service describes the typical church service and
dress,
with pictures.
Molokan singing and musical heritage is introduced in Psalm Singers.
How American Molokans live is summarized in American Molokan Homes
Why a Molokan Home Page? So
Molokans can control information about them on the Internet.
Credits and Web Master.
Who all made this Molokan homage possible.
Links to More Information
on Molokans:
American
Molokan-Jumper Dogma, Molokan
People (Russian), Molokan
NEWS, Molokan Genealogy
Resources, Molokan History,
Origin
& Meaning of Molokan Surnames.
Tambov Meeting, Russia, August
1-4, 1997 — Molokans from
around the world will discuss "Turning
Towards the Origins of Molokanism", inspect historical Molokan
archives,
and tour Russian Molokan villages. Includes photos of Tambov. Cost:
$1,400+. From California, 14 are attending. More after meeting.
Mexico Molokan Web Site,
proposed by Dr. Rojas, featuring the Museo Comunitario del Valle de
Guadalupe
(The Community Museum of Guadalupe Valley) homage, an index of
materials archived there, photos and information of displays and
publications,
and other information on Molokans in Mexico.
Reference List of
publications by and about Molokans and where to find them; includes
history books, songbooks, newsletters, phone directories. and
More Information on the
Internet about the Molokans; includes articles, music CDs, photos,
reports, and interesting tid-bits. Also see: Molokan
NEWS
and Molokans
Around the World (the new root home page).
Molokan Organizations
around the world.
Demographics
In the late 1800s, estimates for the Molokan population ranged
from
100,000 to half a million. Less than 3% (about 2,500, mostly Jumpers
and Spiritual) joined the
migration
to America. Since then Molokan identity has dwindled, in Russia because
of
Stalin's purges and ban on religion, and in America because of many
influences,
such as language, cultural clash, intermarriage, competing religions,
etc.
 Today, approximately 20,000 people ethnically identify
themselves
as Molokans. They are equally divided between Russia and America, with
a few in Australia. In Russia, almost all of the over a million
descendants of
the Molokans know very little about their past. Mainly elderly women
(babushki) persist to revive
the religion. In America, about one-third
of the descendants of the migration claim ethnic identity, and fewer
regularly associate with Molokans or Jumpers other than close
relatives.
Over 200 active Molokan and Jumper congregations exist worldwide.
In Russia,
most Molokan congregations re-appeared due to laws now permitting
religious freedom. The 150 Russian Molokan and Jumper communities are
mostly in
the south, concentrated in the Northern Caucasus, throughout the
Stavropol'skii krai, and the eastern Rostov oblast, Tselinskii raion.
Since the reorganization of the former
Soviet Union, almost all Russians, including Molokans, have been driven
from the Caucasus. Of those who weren't resettled with existing Molokan
communities, many were resettled throughout the Krasnodarskii oblast
and
Chernskii raion in the south Tula oblast.
In America (click on map to
enlarge) 30 Jumper congregations with church buildings
currently exist
on the West Coast, most on the East Side of the Los Angeles area, where
60%
of American Jumpers reside. After immigrating, numerous agricultural
communes were started in Central California, Arizona, Mexico,
Washington, Hawaii,
New Mexico, and Idaho. The end of the WWI and the depression cause most
to
return to the Los Angeles area. Today the descendant population of
Jumpers and Molokans
in America numbers an estimated 20,000. About half have married within
the
Jumper-Molokan community, but not all maintained congregation
membership. Of
those
perhaps as many as 5,000 attend gatherings at least annually, and an
estimated
2,000 are regular worshipers.
The "milk
drinkers"
A complete description of the Molokans is as complex as their
various factions and sub-factions. In their 400 year history, the
Molokans have
developed diverse traditions, songs, and philosophies, all reflecting
the
impact of influential members and differing socio-political
environments.
(See the near-comprehensive reading list). The following is a brief
history.
The Molokans trace their roots back to a seventeenth century
movement among the Russian peasantry away from the tsarist-dominated
Russian Orthodoxy. Known as Spiritual Christianity, it was one of the
many sects that arose, and it soon proliferated into numerous branches.
The name Molokan was first applied to a group of Spiritual
Christians in the Tambov province of Voronezh Guberniia around 1765
(#38 on map below). In general, Molokans followed the Bible literally — in contemporary American Christian
lingo, "they
were Bible centered" opposing the religious leadership of the tsar or
pope. By ignoring fasting days designated by the Russian Orthodox
Church (approximately 200 days per year), those
who drank milk were labeled "molokane" ("milk drinkers"). Instead of
rebuking the label, leaders of these Spiritual Christians embraced it
with the spin that "Molokane" were "drinkers of the spiritual milk of
God" (1 Peter 2:2).
<>Similarly the Spiritual Christian Doukhobors positively spun
their
derogotory name from "wrestled against the spirit of the
church and
God." <>into "wrestle
with the spirit of truth." Find many excellent articles online at Spirit- Wrestlers.com and
the Doukhobor Geneaology Website
and many other website
sites.
In time, Molokanism and Doukhoborism
spread widely in central and
southern Russia, but the burdens of religious intolerance and pressure
to enter military service, which violates their religious principles,
forced them to accept internal exile to the outlying regions of the
Empire, where they gained
a measure of religious toleration.
In the beginning of the 1800s when Russia conquered the Caucasus
(Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaidjian) large numbers of sectarians, mostly
Molokans, Jumpers, Subbotniki, and
later Doukhobors
and "Khlysti",
were resettled in the undeveloped areas of Transcaucasia, where they
remained until the first decades of the present century, and where many
relatives
of the American Jumpers and Molokans remained up to the recent
repatriation of
Russians. In the Caucasus, where the groups that were later to come to
America had
resettled, many Subbotniki, Jumpers, Maksimists and Molokans exchanged
draft
exemptions for services as
unarmed
border guards, carriers of mail and freight, and travel guides.
Beginning
about 1905 and continuing to about 1912, Jumpers and Molokans in the
western
Caucasus,
mostly the Kars oblast, migrated to Los Angeles. Some were inspired by
their Jumper prophets, young men were threatened by the military draft,
and
all were
encouraged by the example of the Doukhobors who had proceeded them to
Canada.
Jumpers and Molokans in America
Culturally surviving American Jumpers and Molokans have evolved
into a
tightly knit, ethnic community that resembles, in some ways, the
communal religious societies of America's early history, such as the
Moravians, Shakers, Harmonites,
and others. Contemporary descendants of the Jumper and Molokan
migration to
America
express a full spectrum of characteristics, attitudes and beliefs
stemming
from old and new worlds. Some members strongly adhere to traditional
values,
dress, language and lifestyles, but most are indistinguishable from
ordinary
Americans.
(Section to be added. Check later.)
After glasnost, Molokans in Russia quickly formed a
central organization, the SSCM (Society of Spiritual Christian
Molokans), but Jumper-Molokans in America, due to their individualism
and
fractured organization, have
no one official central church or leader or newsletter. To contact the
American Jumper-Molokan church, one must contact all 30 Jumper churches
and all
social organizations. One American Jumper-Molokan elder jokingly
summarizes
his frustration with trying to rally the community: "Molokans [Jumpers]
are the
most democratic people in the
world. Every one does what he damn pleases!"
In spite of their overall structure, many Jumper-Molokans in
America live
by a rich tradition of folkways that retains its vitality through the
strength of religion. The most pervasive feature of this
religion is the
communal singing of spiritual songs and verses from Scripture in
Russian.
The songs and psalms are sung in the context of domestic and community
gatherings,
during the Sunday and holiday services, at weddings, child dedications,
funerals and memorials, prayer meetings and on other occasions.
See references for much more on the American Molokans.
Constants
and Jumpers
Two major subgroups of Molokans migrated to America. The Postoiannye
(Constant or Steadfast, i.e., unchanged or original) Molokans were, and
remain,
centered around Potrero Hill in San Francisco (south of
downtown), and near Sheridan, north of Sacramento, California. Also the
new First Reformed Molokan Church, Woodburn Oregon is composed of
Jumpers who abandoned Spirit and Life dogma and adapting the services
into English, essentially reverting back to original Molokan. The Pryguny
(Jumpers, also called
Leapers, Skippers, Prancers, or Dancers), settled mostly in Los Angeles
and
Central California, with a few congregations in central Oregon and one
in Arizona. Although the Pryguny were a much smaller
group in Russia than the Postoiannye, they were more severely
persecuted and concentrated in the Caucasus and consequently migrated
in larger numbers. The two
groups differ in some points of doctrine, domestic custom and ritual,
particularly the holidays they
observe. Constants observe five Christian holidays adapted from
their Orthodox past, while Spiritual and Jumpers adapted five Old
Testaments holidays from the Subbotniki. Constants and
Jumpers have no official ties in America and operate as separate
religions. Because Jumper/Maksimists by dogma reject Constant Molokans
as "delusional" and "under
the number of the spotted beast" (666), and conversely Molokans claim
that Jumpers are not really Molokans, the Jumpers are often classified
as a separate faith. (Book of the Sun: Spirit and Life,
M.G. Rudometkin, Book 4, Article [Story] 6, Page 277-279, verse 16).
Almost all of the descendants of the Jumper-Molokans who came to
America
reside along the West Coast, except for about one hundred families who
moved to
two areas of Australia in the early 1960s, and a few families who moved
to
South America. About two-thirds live on the East Side of Los Angeles,
where
they have nine churches — or
more properly, gatherings: sobranie
in Russian. Most
of the Jumper churches look like quite
ordinary
buildings, not unlike Quaker meeting houses. Prayer meetings can be and
frequently
are held in private homes since it is the gathering and not the
building
that is sacred. The San Francisco Molokan Church is designed much more
ornate than the Jumper buildings and was used as a model for the new USCM Center in
Kochubeevskoe, Stavropol'skii krai, Russian Federation.
The largest community outside of Los Angeles and San Francisco is
near Kerman, west of Fresno, in central California, and other live
mostly in
communities with churches in central California, Arizona, Oregon, and
Australia.
(See map of Molokan and Jumper
communities in
America.)
American Jumper and
Molokan Church and Service
The typical American Jumper church in urban areas is a plain
building on a residential street with a parking lot. Rural churches are
usually isolated on a country road. The Steadfast church is clearly
identified with signs, while only few of the Jumper churches are
labeled with an identifying sign. Jumper/Maksimists in America express
more fear of outsiders seeing their services which some believe are
only for the true believers. The most zealous and exclusive American
Jumper/Maksimists reject all other Jumpers who are not members of their
own congregation. See "A Letter to
you from the Holy Spirit", sent in 1998.
American Jumper religious dress has evolved from that of the upper
class Russian
peasant. Men wear a kosovorotka, pullover shirt (rubashka)
worn over the trousers, which has a high straight buttoned collar and a
row of buttons running half way down the left chest, and is tied with a
tasseled cord belt (poyas). Full beards are common on the
elders, particularly among the Jumpers. Women are more fully costumed
with
a fancy lace head shawl (kosinka), and layered long dress
with an apron, both often adorned with lace. In America, this peasant
style
has evolved from the multicolored original peasant clothes to fancy
costumes
in pastel, or white for solemn occasions. Often couples will wear
outfits
of the same color. The Steadfast are less uniform in dress than the
Jumpers
in that a shirt and tie is accepted by the men and the women often wear
a plain dress, and usually have a head covering. The American Jumpers
are often more dogmatic about language, ritual and dress, and are quick
to reprimand those not in uniform or following the rituals, as compared
to Constants. This adherence to language, form and style has alienated
a majority of American-born Jumpers who have left the faith of their
ancestors.
Upon arrival at the church for service, members typically wait
outside until a small group gathers. By custom, a woman must be
escorted in by a
male. When the group decides to enter, the men proceed women, with the
eldest
male or a visiting guest elder at the head. They usually pass through a
small
entryway containing a coat rack before entering the main assembly room.
The
group pauses after all have entered and are facing the congregation as
it
stands, acknowledging their arrival. After the lead-entering male
quietly
recites a short prayer, the new arrivals seat themselves. This entry
ritual is practiced more by observant Jumpers than Constants.
Recognized Jumper guests, especially ranking elders, are
usually offered
priority seating when they visit another Jumper congregation, but not
always due to shunning between congregations and individuals. Outsiders
are usually seated with the congregation.
Except at funeral and weddings, uninvited outsiders rarely attend a
typical worship service. The Steadfast are more cordial to outsiders
than the Jumpers, and the Jumpers vary widely in their reception of
outsiders or other Jumper guests.
The religious service of Molokans and Jumpers, though similar,
differ in many details of prayers and songs, but loud singing and
jumping are the most obvious among Jumpers, particularly the most
adherent to the Jumper prophet M.G. Rudometkin. The service is divided
into two sessions: the first seated while
verses are chanted and religious thought shared, and the second
standing for prayers and singing of songs. Plain, backless, wood
benches, skameiki, provide traditional seating for the
first part of the service, though some congregations provide benches
with backs along the walls. The first
arrivals will arrange the benches and table if necessary. If many
guests
arrive additional benches are moved from a stack, usually along the
wall, as needed. The congregation is arranged with the women to one
side and the
men around a table located toward one corner of the room away from the
entry.
The elders who sit in the front row around three sides of the table are
called
the pristol (literally: "at the table"). They are
arranged
in five groups (four for Steadfast) by their functional position: (1)
the presviter, presiding elder or minister, sits at the
end of
the table facing the congregation, and at his side, if the congregation
is large, is a pomoshchnik, helper; to the presviter's
right
are (2) the besedniki, speakers, and (3) the pevtsy,
singers; and to the presviter's left are (4) the skazateli,
readers, and, in Jumper congregations, (5) the proroki,
prophets.
There are usually more singers than any other group. Male members and
guests with no rank will sit in rows behind the readers and prophets.
Some elders
like to sit along the wall for back support, and many congregations
have added bench cushions in recent decades.
Women sit facing the presviter and a few feet from the men.
Leading
women singers sit in their front row closest to the male singers. In
Jumpers
congregations, prophetesses sit in their front row opposite the lead
women
singers near the male prophets. Other women and female guests sit
behind
these. In Russia the lead prophetess in a Spiritual congregation may
have a chair at the table opposite the presbyter.
The table is rectangular, of dining room size, and covered with
a
fine white cloth. On the table, before the presviter, lay open the
books
for worship all in Russian. In order, they are the Bible with Apocrypha,
a collection of prophetic writings (The Spirit and Life), only
in
Jumper congregations), a collection of song texts (The Sionskii
Pesennik),
and the book of prayers (Molitvennik).
Also on the traditional table is at least one linen towel (politentsia)
always seen in Russia, and increasingly seen in the US and Australia as
a handkerchief for collecting charity. In Russian Spiritual
congregations, 2 towels are placed at the end of the table away from
the presbyter such that they hang over the edge of the table. One towel
is used for the collection, the other for special blessings, such as a
wedding. In America the towel was forgotten then revised as a
handkerchief because the collection money is traditionally tied with a
handkerchief into a bundle (uzel) after
being placed on the table, and some suggested that the money should not
be allowed to touch the alter table because it has been reported in the
news to be filthy (with bacteria, and drug traces) so the handkerchief
should be placed down first before the collection is taken to keep the
table clean (chisty).
About half of the American Jumpers and all the Australian Jumpers
follow this practice now. The use of the second towel is completely
abandoned, or lost, by the American and Australian Jumpers.
The presviter coordinates the service and recites
the
prayers. He rarely conducts a sermon. That function is usually
performed by the
speakers
who read from and elaborate on the Bible in Russian. Jumpers
also use the Spirit and Life as their own "Third
Testament". The use of English varies within
and
among congregations. Because few youth understand Russian, it is
increasingly
tolerated, especially during an occasion when a speaker feels that
English
is appropriate for the audience, or the speaker is not fluent in
Russian.
In Russia the worship service usually starts at 8 a.m.. and
proceeds past noon. In some congregations, members fast before service
and bring food for a communal meal before going home. In America, and
Australia, the service has considerably shortened, usually starting at
10:30 a.m. on Sundays.
During
the first part of the service the presviter will direct
the
head singer to coordinate the singing of verses. The head singer may
start
a verse himself of call upon another singer. When called upon, a singer
will
begin a verse from memory leaving it to the reader to locate and recite
lines
ahead of the singers. As fewer youth learn the rituals, increasingly
this
process requires singers to call out the location by page or number of
the
verse they are starting. After several verses are sung, the head
speaker
is asked to coordinate the religious message.
The benches are stacked to the sides by the men at about 11:30
a.m.
for the second part of the service, prayers and songs. The presviter
stands to the readers' side of the table, where the men have cleared a
large square area. The men stand on three sides, and the women
stand opposite the presviter. The presviter, after listing dedication
and intentions for prayer, recites the Lord's Prayer (often with
vestigial Old Slavonic words, as he learned it from his grandfather)
followed by other prayers appropriate to the day or occasion. Some
parts of the ritual require kneeling which
varies among congregations. After prayer, the singers are instructed to
begin. Songs are sung from memory or increasingly with the aid of
songbooks
brought from home or provided by the church. There is usually a corner
shelf
near the table for storing church songbooks. The shelf is remnant of
the
corner shelf seen in Old Russian peasant cabins and in Old Believers
churches
and homes but instead of displaying icons, Molokans use it to store
religious
texts. A few Molokans have installed similar corner shelves in their
homes.
All members may sing. Readers do not recite for songs as they do
for verses. Although songs and verses are often categorized by how
appropriate they are for different services and occasions, a seasoned
singer can creatively select a message in a song for an uncommon
situation. Often younger singers are amazed when a head singer will
select a song that has not been sung
for years, because he considers it the right song for that moment.
As singing begins among the Jumpers, in an orderly fashion
beginning with the men, the congregation will place an offering (melosteniia)
on the table (in Russia money is placed under a towel), and later,
perform a greeting ritual in which members give each other a "holy or
brotherly
kiss" (archaic: lobzaniia). In Russia the kiss greeting
varies
widely from one to three kisses, holding or not holding hands as if
shaking
hands, and bowing from a head nod to three complete kneelings placing
the
head on the ground. Selected songs accompany the offering and kissing.
Among Jumpers, occasions arise when selected members will jump (in
Russian:
leap, dance, prance, skip, etc.) and one or more may dictate or speak
in Russian "in the spirit", or decreasingly "in tongues". In Russia
often one hand is held up, in America and Australia both hands are
always held up during jumping. Although any
member may deliver a prophecy or spiritual message during any part of
the service, this function is usually carried out by the anointed
prophets selected in a ritualistic manner by another prophet.
The Steadfast profess the Holy Spirit but not in such an overt fashion
as
jumping, and they have limited "kissing" to the greeting of guests and
high
holidays. The service usually ends with a prayer at noon, but may
continue for special occasions.
The youth usually take back rows and have little or no
responsibilities in the service. Practice participation in the service
ceremony is provided to the youth in a few churches on Sunday evening
or during the Sunday Night Young Church in Los Angeles or Wednesday
Night or Sunday Morning services at the United Molokan Christian
Association (UMCA) near Los Angeles for
the Jumpers, and the Sunday School in San Francisco for the Steadfast.
Singing practice is provided and encouraged for the youth in song
classes (spevki), conducted on week nights by
accomplished singers throughout the communities.
The traditional sabbath began with services on Saturday evening,
then Sunday morning and Sunday evening —
three meetings. Most congregations have shortened this to one Sunday
morning meeting.
Each church has a large kitchen to prepare obedy,
meals, for special occasions. Sawhorses and tabletop planks stored to
the side
in the church are assembled with the benches into rows of tables for
these
meals. A typical meal consists of four courses: (1) chai,
tea, with sugar and sweets (pastries, dates, raisins, nuts, etc.) and a
salad (cut lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers); (2) borshcht,
usually a beef broth vegetable soup, without beets as in the South
Russian
style, or lapsha, thin egg noodles in a beef broth; (3) miaso,
meat, usually boiled then broiled beef, but sometimes chicken or lamb
(in
Russia, meat is so expensive that this course is skipped); and, (4)
fruit
in season (in Russia kompot, rehydrated dried fruit is
last).
In Tambov, Russia tea is served last. Except for the soups, which are
ladled into individual bowls and eaten
with
traditional wooden Russian spoons (loshki), the meal is
eaten with the fingers. This manner of eating is a carry over from the
old country.
At home, except for the traditional elderly, most American Jumpers and
Molokans eat
the
typical American diet with popular settings and flatware. Cultural
vestiges
such as wooden spoons and familiar Russian dishes remain popular and
distinguish a meal in a Jumper or Molokan home. The elders remember
when each
family would bring their own samovar to a meal. Now each
church boils water in caldrons (large custom-made boilers) and
distributes the hot water in kettles
to the tables.
Obeying the Old Testament food laws, Jumpers-Molokans prepare all
church
meals "kosher style" (see OT Leviticus 23). Meats are home grown and
slaughtered or purchased from a kosher style butcher, preferably a
Jumper. Vegetarian options are provided for courses (2) and (3).
Breads, pastries, and noodles are homemade or custom ordered. In Los
Angeles, one remaining Jumper butcher supplies almost all church
orders. There were as many as 6 Jumper-Molokan stores in Los Angeles in
the 1920s, reduced to 2 in the 1960s, and one struggling now.
After the meal is served and prayed for, and the elders have begun
eating, all serve themselves. Women traditionally pour the tea and
provide food
preparation help and serving at their seat, particularly among the
elders.
During each course, when the congregation is eating, a speaker is
called. After the speaker, when most have finished a course, and before
the next
course is served, songs are sung. Some singers may temporarily leave
their
seats to stand near groups sitting together who have been asked to
start
a song to add more voices to that group. In Jumper congregations,
usually
during the meat course just before singing ends after the table is set,
it
is not uncommon for a prophet to deliver a prophesy, a timely message,
and the congregation to stand while many jump and sing.
The meal is prepared and delivered to the tables by a partiia,
party or work group. Every paid-up congregation member belongs to a
work
group and is expected to attend when it is their day to work in the
kitchen,
beginning at 5 a.m.
Besides rest rooms, the church may also have a small nursery.
Large
congregations may have an adjacent building for funerals (a few
congregations still prohibit coffins, considered "unclean", in the main
assembly hall), classes, and/or meetings.
For more descriptive details of the Molokan and Jumper church,
liturgy, and
singing, see References.
Psalm
singers
When asked: "What is a Molokan?", a prominent American
Jumper-Molokan
elder, stated: "A Molokan is a person who sings the psalms." When asked
to elaborate, he added that when the Molokans no longer sang the psalms
in their services, they would cease to be Molokans [or Jumpers]
(1).
Molokan and Jumper services and socialization traditionally
revolved around
singing. For the illiterate Russian peasant convert, it was the primary
religious
educational tool. Spiritual Christians adapted traditional Russian folk
melodies
into their religious repertoire. The music of both Steadfast and Jumper
Molokans is entirely vocal, consisting of stikhi
(verses) and pesni (songs) or dukhovnye pesni
(spiritual songs). Texts of stikhi are taken verbatim from Old
and New Testament scriptures in Russian, and, among Jumpers, from the
writings of their prophets contained in the Dukh
i Zhizn' (Book of the Sun: Spirit and Life). There are more than a
thousand stikhi
texts and an equal number of texts for pesni, but the number in
current
usage is somewhat smaller. Jumper Molokans sing both pesni and stikhi
in worship, but pesni are in general regarded as less solemn,
and
are not usually sung during the most sacred part of worship services.
Steadfast Molokans sing only stikhi
from the Bible in worship, allowing pesni or other hymns after the
formal prayer ceremony and during memorials for the
dead, wedding showers, or other non-worship occasions. Musically, the stikhi
constitute a
single style. Pesni melodies, however, are varied in both style
and
origin. The collection of songs is published in the Sionskii Pesennik
(Songbook
of Zion) collection, which is updated and republished about every
decade. The Jumpers have been editing out songs only sung by Constants
from recent editions of their songbooks, like "Silent Night".
The melodies of the Jumper-Molokan Sionskii Pesennik are
remarkable for
their retelling of the history of Russian song, from its peasant roots
up to the early nineteenth century, when Molokans departed from Central
Russia. Many of the melodies and styles contained in it are ostensibly
unique survivals of Russian songs, which have disappeared from other
known traditions. The melodies once sung to text identifiable as
stemming from the oldest traditions of Russian folk song have in many
cases been forgotten. For the survival
of those that are still sung we must thank the strongly conservative
religious tradition of this community that considers its Russian roots
a God-given
source of its vitality.
For much more about Molokan and Jumper singing see Dr.
O'brien-Rothe's The
Molokan Heritage Collection, Volume IV: The Origins
of Molokan Singing, and other references.
American
Molokan and Jumper Homes
Though most all Molokans and Jumpers in America are
indistinguishable from
their neighbors, a few traditions prevail from the old country. The
most common domestic displays are a samovar (metal urn
for boiling water, see photo), wooden Russian spoons (loshki),
and the open Russian Bible and other sacred books on a table. Early
photographs of the family
in traditional dress are common, particularly of a married couple.
Cassette
tapes, or CDs, of Molokan and Jumper singing, Molokan and Jumper
history books, and issues of Molokan
and Jumper newsletters are also usually easily found. The more active
the family
members
are in the study and practice of the faith, the more likely these items
occur.
Earnest Molokans and Jumpers will play church songs in their car stereo
player to
learn
while driving.
The most traditionally orientated families still practice formal
traditional Russian Molokan greeting of guests, prayers, songs, and
meal service at
home. Ideally they actively teach these customs to their children.
Ideally the Molokan and Jumper home will be "clean" in the
"kosher-style".
From oral history, the lesson that "pork is not meat" is embedded in
the cultural fabric of American Jumper-Molokans who adhere strongly to
religious tradition.
Many American Molokans and Jumpers have evolved to somewhat tolerate
pork,
shellfish,
etc., at home; or they will eat in a restaurant were it is served but
they
won't order it. Many American Molokans and Jumpers descendants,
believing that the New
Testament supersedes the Old Testament law and that a kosher diet is
for the Jews,
or have little family indoctrination against pork, have no dietary
restrictions. In Russia, ethnographic surveys conducted
in
the 1980s of Molokan eating habits show that many Molokans and Jumpers
in the
Caucasus will hunt and eat bear and wild boar when possible because
fresh meat is
difficult to get and is expensive. Similarly most Russian Jews have
dropped
the kosher diet. One Molokan babuska (elderly woman) in
Russia
summarized her philosophy on strictly adhering to Molokan food laws:
"No
matter how hard you try, you'll probably still eat an entire pig in
your
lifetime."
Why a Molokan
Home Page?
Update
In-Progress
So searches for "Molokan" and "Jumper" on the Internet will locate
accurate
information originating from real Molokans about Molokans, Jumpers and
other sub-groups and related groups. Besides some
Molokan and Jumper history being misstated, it has been been confused
with
Russian Orthodox, Doukhobor, and Brethren faiths. There is also
confusion among
Molokan sub-groups as to what to call themselves. This section provides
corrections and links to examples of such misinformation grouped into
3 clusters: humor, history and labels.
The first mention of Molokans on the Internet apparently appeared on a
listserve in 1990. The phrase "old
Molokan scout" has been scattered among dozens of web sites by
Armenian scholars and historians to document their genocide on the
Internet. By 1995, mostly mis-information was posted on the Internet
about
Molokans, Jumpers and Doukhobors. About that time a thread (topic)
appeared on a
the old "Little Russia Bulletin Board" discussion group hosted by the
University of Texas, San Antonio, on which a Jumper girl attending
California State University Fresno asked if there were "any Molokan
guys out there?" — in
cyber-space, or using the Internet. This single question was responded
to, and attracted many postings about Molokans and Jumpers which led to
either the
same girl or another person creating the first discussion group
dedicated to Molokans and Jumpers —
the "Molokan Forum", on Yahoo.com. For the first 2 years, few
postings (chatter) appeared.
In 1996, I wrote a series of 3 articles (to be posted) published in ISKRA explaining
the new Internet
and how Spiritual Christians can use it to educate and communicate with
our people, and correct misunderstandings. Soon after those articles
appeared, several Canadian-Doukhobors started web sites and discussion
groups. In June 1997, this Molokan Home Page was started on space loaned
(link old) by Dr.
Story, Russian instructor at Glendale Community College, just
before the Molokan Youth Conference in Tambov,
Russia. Within a month of this web site being online, Jumpers in
California began reading it and discussing, cussing and recussing it.
One man even circulated a petition to order me to shut the site down
(to be posted) because he believed that Maksim G. Rudometkin forbade it
in the "Book of the Sun, Spirit and Life". In November 1997, Dr. Story
arranged for GCC to host a Russian
History Day featuring Arizona Molokans. Before 1997 no Molokan or
Doukhobor
organization or
individual had an ethnic web site, though some had business
web sites.
By 2000 other
computer-savy American-Jumpers began their own discussion groups and
Russian Molokans posted all their post-perestroika journals online. The
original Molokan Home Page marketing plan has been a success because
facts and phrases
originated here have appeared on over 100 webs and news articles about
Molokans and Jumpers, including the Los Angeles
Times. In 2006, this Molokane.org
web site receives over 100 visitors each day. (Statistics to be
posted..)
1.
Misleading
humor
In 1995, two years before The Molokan Home Page was published,
Internet searches for "Molokan" found this limerick by the
Trobador@aol.com which
was posted to the Early Music
listserve (EarlyM-L@aearn.bitnet);
Subject: "Uncouth
Molokans". At the time, Trobador was a graduate
student of the Russian-born ethnomusicologist Dr.
Margarita Mazo, a music professor at Ohio State
University who researched Molokan and Jumper singing in Russia and the
US and
included Jumper psalms in her lessons. This is
complete limerick is also posted on Tony
Davie's Limerick Archive as "The Milky Way":
A Molokan whose shorts were of
silk,
Sang dank chants, and sad songs of that ilk
During Lent. But he'd still
Grab a nip of the swill
His Ma brewed from cold borscht and fresh milk.
During Lent, when fresh milk was
abhorred,
Otets Ivan, who liked not to be bored,
Ate stale cabbage and wurst
As his lungs fairly burst
With loud songs of Swiss cheese to the Lord.
This limerick though humorous is not
historically accurate. It's unlikely that a Russian peasant would
make underwear from expensive silk. There is no safe "swill" (fermented
liquid) that Russians made from soup (borscht).
Russians and Eastern
Europeans do make many products from milk, but no fermented alcoholic
drink. He may be thinking of "swill
milk" (from cows fed fermented grain), and/or Mongolian
fermented horse milk.
It's just a silly limerick.
In 1995, another music student soon
reprimanded
the Troubador: "As I have
already discovered, the Molokans [Jumpers] are a very sensitive and
private group
of people. I believe it would be improper for me to continue discussion
about them
on the net from now on. I hope you and any other interested parties
understand." He's referring to Los Angeles Jumpers who visited Dr.
Mazos class in Ohio and sang for her students but did not want to be
identified.
Also in 1995, Dr. Mazo arranged for Russian and American Jumpers to
perform for 10 days in Washington DC at the annual Smithsonian
Festival of American Folklife, expenses paid. Mazo invited Jumpers
because their singing in Russia is more developed and theatrical than
Constants. The Russian Jumper-Maksimist choir was organized, but
American Jumpers refused to participate. Quickly Constants from San
Francisco and from Stavropol,
Russia joined for the June-July 1995 event. Many Russian Maksimists
are still disappointed about the fears of their American counterparts.
They lost a free trip to the US. An outside observer cannot easily
distinguish these behavioral
differences if each group claims to be "Molokan".
2.
Some
web sites
and books report the wrong history
The following text from "Russian
Immigration" By: Jessica and Marissa, was posted in 1998 on the
high school web site Immigration to America: An Index of
Ethnic Immigration by Ms. Kane's Period 3 Class. It is among
hundreds of curriculum
projects posted since 1997 by Needham High School, Needham MA.
"First
Wave
"The first Russian settlers in America were fur traders who crossed the
Bering Strait into Alaska in the mid eighteenth century. ... Members of
persecuted religions such as the Molokan
and Orthodox crossed the strait to escape government
oppression in Russia. These people converted many Eskimos to their
religions, and started small communities in Alaska. The migration
stopped, however, in 1867, when Russia sold Alaska to the United
States."
A year latter, this history error by
high schoolers is repeated on the The
Maritime Heritage Project, "Created April 1999", on the Russia
page:
"... members of
persecuted religions
such as the Molokan and
Orthodox crossed the [Bering] strait to escape government oppression in
Russia. These people converted many Eskimos to their religions, and
started small communities in Alaska. The migration stopped, however, in
1867, when Russia sold Alaska to the United States. From 1880 to 1914,
there was a new wave of Russian immigrants coming to America, which
included poor peasants and persecuted Jews."
Only Orthodox Russians crossed the
Bering Strait in the 1800s, and they were not persecuted. No Molokans
crossed the Bering Strait to
America, nor are there Eskimo Molokans, nor is there a Molokan
congregation
in
Alaska. Less than 1% of all Molokans in Russia, mostly Jumpers,
migrated mainly to
California, mainly as "poor peasants" in the "new wave", most from 1907
to
1912.
A
History of Molokans in Boyle Heights, by Marco, Roosevelt High [Los
Angeles],
Grade 12, 1998, has 2 major errors. The photo: "The
Russian cemetery" is the not the a Molokan-Russian Cemetery, but
probably Evergreen Cemetery. Below this photo, Marco writes:
"Most of them left
for America ...
from 1900 to 1905. About 5,000 Molokans fled in large groups,
called clans, to America.
... some of them settled
in Canada... "
The facts are less than 1%, about 2500, of all Molokans and Jumpers in
Russia
migrated to America, most between 1905 to 1912, and none or very few to
Canada. The large groups were not called "clans" but by the name of
their home village, like Selimskii, Akhtinskii, Darachakskii, ....
In Multicultural
America: Russian Americans, Paul Robert Magocsi repeats the
immigration error that 5,000 migrated to California; and shows a photo
of Russian girls with this in the caption: "...lace shawls of these
women are called kascinkas..." The text does not identify these as
Molokan-Jumper girls visiting Mexico, nor state that mainly American
Molokans and Jumpers use the archaic kasinka,
for platochik [head scarf].
Dance expert Henry Morgenstein, on his Dance
Quotations page, repeats a line from World History of the Dance (1963)
by Curt Sachs: ".. In Europe we have the "loss of self" motif clearly
illustrated in the whirl dances of the Russians sects of the Molokani
in Armenia.." Sachs probably confused Molokan-Jumpers-Leapers with
Moslem Whirling
Dervishes of neighboring Turkey. Jumpers and Maksimisti sometimes
jump, leap, and skip while waving one or both hands above and/or below
their shoulders, to the beat of the singing, but they never spin as do
the Dervishes.
Attempts to ask the owners of these abandoned web sites to correct
their
errors
seems futile, but is ongoing.
Before the Internet, many erroneous news articles have appeared in
print, particularly about Jumpers where I live in Arizona. One example
among many is a 1992 report by an Arizona professional historian who
was contracted to document the ethnic diversity of Glendale. He starts
with: "Russian
Orthodox Molokan". Such misinformation spreads. In 1999, Glendale
city planning commission sub-committee minutes recorded a worker who
attended a Jumper funeral praising the "Russian Orthodox singers" who
came from Los Angeles (minutes to be posted).
Historian Peter Brock states "Skakuny
[Jumpers] ... the largish Molokan denomination" in new book Against the Draft: Essays on Conscientious
Objection from the Radical Reformation to the Second World War
(April 2006), page 318. Constants are the largest Molokan denomination,
and some government demographers and historians will say that the
Jumpers [Skakuny] are a separate sect. See Constants
and Jumpers above.
3.
Often Molokans and Jumper/Maksimists are mislabeled by others or
themselves.
Before the Molokan ("milk-drinker") label appeared, the ancestors of
Iconobors, Doukhobors, and Molokans, called themselves
"Spiritual
Christians". Along with earlier groups, like "God's
People",
they shared similar beliefs against the divinity of
icons,
priests, and the tsar; war; anticipation of the millennium; and some
had
a Christ-like
leader
and/or ritualistic way to express the Holy Spirit. During the 1600s,
the heresy labels of "milk-drinkers" and "spirit-wrestlers" had often
been
embraced by the condemned and reinterpreted as good labels. The
"milk-drinkers" — molokane —
during religious fasts diffused the verbal
attack by finding a complimentary
meaning for "milk" in the Bible. About the same time, Doukhobors,
or "spirit-wrestlers",
changed their derogatory label from those who wrestled against the
spirit of the church and
God to people who "wrestle with the spirit of truth." (See Koozma
J. Tarasoff Spirit Wrestlers:
Doukhobor Pioneers’ Strategies for Living (2002)., Chapter
1.)
The most detailed first-hand reports of sectarians is found in archived
Russian police reports after religious meetings are raided, and the
participants
arrested and interrogated. The police often have a different
perspective than the Russian Orthodox Church authorities in
documentation, and
sectarians are known to lie and switch their claimed religion depending
on
their situation and/or to gain privileges, like a travel permit, to
join family members, receive benefits, avoid arrest, etc. See Breyfogle's thesis (Chapter _) for
examples of
sectarian switching.
Molokans are often mistaken, intentionally and unintentionally, for
other sectarian or schismatic groups in
Russian history, like Jumpers, Doukhobors, Old Believers, Mennonites,
etc.; or groups in America, like Quakers or Amish. Part of this is due
to inattention to detail on the part of scholars, but even serious
Russian religious scholars can be uncertain
as to which sectarian group is which. Some of this is due to the
heretics hiding
their illegal heresy from authorities. Photos of conservative members
of these various religious groups and sects often show bearded men, old
Eastern European clothes, and coverings on women, which can easily
confuse an outsider, scholar or not, into thinking
they are all the same. Also labels applied by the
authorities are not always the same labels which sectarians use to
describe
themselves. Labeling Russian religious dissenters was not easy. During
the 1800s over 100
heresy, sect and schismatic labels were used by the Russian
Orthodox Church. Molokans in Russia continue to first identify
themselves as "Spritual Chjristians", while this label is now dropped
by those in America and Australia. Compoountding the confusion is the
fast that nearly all the Jumper-Maksimists call themselves "Molokan", a
form of identity theft or name highjacking, not appreciated by the
authentic Constant Molokans.
Dr. Breyfogle claims the label pryguny
(Jumpers)
first appeared in 1854 in Armenia guberniia, though the characteristics
of Jumpers existed earlier under other labels (spiritual dancers,
leapers, ...) in New Russia (South Ukraine). In 1858 Orthodox Russians
in the Caucasus complained "...that fanatical Molokans [probably
Jumpers] were
invading their churches during services, throwing rocks, shooting at
icons, and generally disrupting worship." (See: Breyfogle's thesis, page 101,
footnote 57.)
There is such a distinct difference and separation between
Jumpers and Constants that they were nearly always classified by
historians and themselves as separate religions until the 1900s. The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New
Religions,
by James R. Lewis categorizes both as varieties of Molokan (page 496):
"Molokan Spiritual Christians (Postojannye)", and "Molokan Spiritual
Christians (Pryguny)." To
date, no Jumpers/Maksimists joined the USCM Center,
Russian Federation, opened in 1997; but the American Molokan-Constants
did. The translated name of the RF organization is "Union of Spriitual
Christians — Molokans", placing emphasis on "spiritual Christian".
My late grandmother, Sasha Shubin, often repeated oral history that
Jumpers
should avoid (not marry, attend services with, ...) the Constants
because they were mean to Jumpers in Armenia by reporting us to the
authorities as the bad guys. I knew she was repeating gossip and rumors
she heard in Los Angeles and that she never visited Constants in San
Fransico where I had relatives. When I first visited the San Francisco
Molokan Church in the late 1960s, I had a list of Jumper/Maksimist
rumors
about Constants which I investigted. None were true. The American
Jumper
prophet Rudometkin calls the Constant Molokans "wayward / delusional",
and is more critical of Subbotniki. An anti-Molokan-Constant sentiment
prevails
among many American Jumper leaders because of this passage. The
Molokan-Constants observe Christmas and holidays abandoned by
Rudometkin as pagan or from the Orthodox. Molokan leaders
from San Francisco have never been welcomed guests at the UMCA
(Jumper/Maksimist)
picnic in Los Angeles for the past 40 years. A Constant minister was
not allowed to stand with his Jumper/Maksimist
family during their father's funeral at Percey Street church (Samrin's)
probably because he married out,
which is not a shunned sin among the Constants.
Despite facts that Constants and Jumper/Maksimists have different
holidays, rituals, and officially avoid each other, the
Jumper/Maksimist always register their churches, cemeteries and
organizations as "Molokan". In practice they are two different
religions. Each of these two groups is more likely to marry an outsider
(American) than each other.
In 1917 during the Arizona CO protest Jumpers/Maksimists identified
themselves as
"Russian sectarians, Spiritual Christians-Jumpers" and "Holy
Jumpers", and the press reported Jumper ritualistic behavior in the
courthouse: “The dance was not unlike that done by Indians at
ceremonials. Performed in unison, the effect was to almost rock the
building." (“Jail for Anti-War Russians,” Arizona Republican, 10 June 1917.)
Later the press changed these labels to "Molokan", and "Molakans".
The Library of Congress on its American
Memory web site confuses the Molokans and Jumpers/Maksimists: "The
Russian
Molokans, also called
Molokan Spiritual Jumpers, Spiritual Christians of the Sect of Jumper,
or Milk Drinkers, ..." The songs
and photos are of the largest Constant Molokan congregation in
America, though some Jumpers, probably Spiritual Molokans, from a
separate congregation, 2 blocks
away, may have attended this event.
In Arizona, a Tolmachoff clan of
confessed Baptists and non-Jumpers (kids of Jack Wm. & Doris, and
Pete Wm. & Sally) is trying to steal the church properties by
falsely filing documents at the Arizona Corporation Commission, and
falsely labeling themselves "The Christian Molokan Church of Arizona."
The original name of "Church
of the Spiritual Christian Molokans of Arizona, Inc."
was reinstated in 2005 after a 3-year investigation by the state. But
many errors persist in the unofficial pubic record. Besides their huge
personal debts, illegally changing the church and cemetery locks, and
other crimes, they demand that their members take communion (juice and
bread) to prove they are "Christian". They even fooled the LA-UMCA by
providing a bogus change of presbyter
for the 2004 Russian
Molokan Directory. And recently fooled Jumper/Maksimisty in
Kerman, California that by dressing as Jumpers at a funeral, something
they only do in Arizona when someone from California is visiting.
This labeling for personal gain, especially to hide illegal
acts, also persists for the Canadian
Doukhobors who have tried to correct the press for decades to not
label
the "Sons of Freedom"
(also
see), or Freedomites,
as Doukhobors. But, most people mistakenly still think Doukhobors are
the burners, bombers
and strippers. In 2002, an educational video for kids to correct
this error was funded by
the Canadian government, My Doukhobor Cousins:
"Mention the word 'Doukhobors' to
most Canadians, and it conjures up images of fire and nudity shrouded
in religious fervor. ... The Cousins' research helps dispel the
confusion between the orthodox Doukhobors,
the independents and the freedomites, better known as Sons
of Freedom Doukhobors. Over the years, all of these sects have been
lumped together in the media, while, in fact, most of the negative
images reflecting their unorthodox behaviour are more synonymous with
the actions of the freedomites [a
small group]."
After decades of public relations, Doukhobors are still
being confused
with the Dunkers,
a German sect, according to Koozma
Tarasoff a Canadian-Doukhobor and historian. The words sound alike.
On October 14, 2005,
Tarasoff presented his paper: "How the Church, the Mass Media, and the
Zealots Hijacked the Doukhobor Name" at the Conference of the Canadian
Ethnic Studies Association in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. In 2006, the
professional Peter
Langer Associated Media Group, which sells 182,000+ high quality
travel and
culture photos, misidentifies and sells a photo of Hutterite women as "Saskatoon:
Doukhobor women." These different colonies are next
to each other as this map shows.
Sub-Groups
To confuse
matters more, hybrid and new sub-groups evolved within and split from
the
Spiritual Christian Molokans — Molokan-Subbotniki,
Shaloputy-Molokans,
Communal-Molokans, Saturday-Molokans, Jumpers, Jumper-Maksimists,
New Molokans,
Dry
Baptist Molokans (spiritual christening), Waterers (vodianie, water christening) Don (Kossak)
Molokans [Donskoi Tolk], Spiritual
Molokans, Molokan-Mormons,
Armenian-Molokan-Jumpers, etc.; and in America new-subgroups:
"Re-Formed" in Oregon (descendants of Jumpers who converted to
Constants and translated their services into English), and "Clarkys" in
California (ultra-orthodox Maksimists who shun other
Jumper/Maksimists). The
groups differ in location,
day of
worship (sabbath), holidays celebrated (traditional and/or Old
Testament), prayer meeting room (church) decor, and service rituals.
Intermarriage between these sub-groups and with Doukhobors and other
sectarians and Orthodox was rare, permitted after conversion. This
diversity caused the original Molokans in the mid-1800s to call
themselves "Constants" (Postoiannie, unchanged) to
distinguish them as the original group and separate themselves from the
more zealous and radical off-shoots. But even among Constant Molokans,
the most numerous group in
Russia,
regional
differences are obvious in singing style and the kissing ritual, due to
a century of separation, but is changing where refugees from diverse
populations congregate in Russia and adjust to each other.
In America in 1926, a new youth education and service organization, the
United Molokan Christian
Association, was incorporated using 5 words to describe their members — "Russian Molokan Spiritual
Christian Jumpers". These 5 descriptors also appeared on the sign of
the
first Jumper cemetery in Los Angeles, at which are buried Amenian Jumper-Molokans.
This public relations effort
helped to
unite most all the factions that immigrated. But, today in America and
Australia, most Jumpers and Maksimists call themselves simply Molokans,
sometimes Protestants, partially to avoid explaining to an outsider,
and/or identifying with, the radical spiritual component of Jumpers and
Maksimists. These semantics have confused many descendants of American
Jumpers to
believing that one cannot be a western Christian and a Molokan-Jumper
at the same time. This is in part because they also confuse the Russian
historical label of "sectarian" and "sekt",
meaning Russian but not Orthodox (a group of persistent heretics), with
the modern western
use of "sect" to describe a new religious group started by a single
person, like the recent cult
of Jim
Jones. In Russia, Molokans and Jumpers are
historical indigenous sects, and American scholars often call them an
ethic group and a religion,
not a western sect. Some in America may claim that zealous
Jumper-Maksimists who mention Maksim G. Rudometkin in song or prayer
are an American sect or cult, but this usage of Rudometkin's name in
praise differs little from the way
Catholics or Orthodox refer to Saints. Also there is no living
Christ-like leader
among Jumpers or Maksimists in the world today, nor among Doukhobors.
Many Canadian Doukhobors have embraced the analysis of Russian
historian A.I. Klibanov who concluded that Doukhobors evolved from a
sect to a "social movement" when they burned their guns in three large
demonstrations in the Caucasus on Easter morning 1895. (See The
Events That Shook the World in 1895, and The Doukhobor Peace Day,
both by Koozma J. Tarasoff.)
The most common misuse of the term Molokan in America and Australia is
by Jumpers who only identify themselves as Molokans, rather than as
Jumpers or Maksimists, as scholars characterize these different groups,
and as Constant Molokans refer to these off-shoot sub-groups.
Doukhobors
About 2 dozen
commercial online
encyclopedias
(like: FreeGlossary,
Encyclopedia4U,
Encyclopedian,
ExplainThat,
FactBase, Masterliness, Opentopia, What is.TV, etc.) confuse
Molokans with Doukhobors ("the sect from which
Molokans evolved"), perhaps because both sects are Spiritual
Christians.
This misinformation has been transferred to scientific documents, like The
Linguasphere Register, 1999/2000 edition, page 442, ISBN / EAN:
095329191X ("index of over
70,000 linguistic and ethnic names") [Update Sept 11, 2007: The 2006 Linguasphere Register and a new
website are in-progress. Liguasphere Press ceased operations in 2006.
Its work is being continued by GeoLang Ltd.] These errors are slowly being
corrected by the
anonymous contributors who mostly copied this mis-information from
sites like Wikipedia,
where
it is now corrected, but not corrected on the more numerous "daughter"
sites. You can tell that these encyclopedia sites have
old information if the link to the Molokan Home Page is to the old
"gecko" server which was discontinued in June 2004.
Even Russian writers confuse Molokans with Doukhobors. Update
In-Progress
Orthodoxy
Some scholars
and/or writers call Molokans "Old
Ritualists", or "Old
Believers" (another
example), or “molokan
branch of old believer church”, even in officials government
reports by the U.S. State
Department in 2002, and by Armenia
to the Council
of Europe. They may mean that Molokans have an
"old religion", but
probably confuse the two. "Old Believers"
(Russian: starovery), are un-reformed
Orthodox
who predate the "Molokan" label. You'd think at least our governments
would know we are not Orthodox.
Molokan are not Orthodox, but
many
converted from Orthodoxy as Raskolniks,
"schismatics". Even worse, an old information web site still states: "Molokans
(a Russian Orthodox sect)",
(Moldava: Religion, "Data as
of June 1995"). In a 1994 report to the World Bank someone recognized a
difference: "Molokans...
A sect related to the Old Believers...(footnote 10)" A recent
posting by blog photographer Nazarian
(12/15/2005) explains: "Molokans
... in Armenia... belong to two different sects in Russian Orthodox
religion. One is more strict and the other one is more liberal and
welcomes progress." Nazarian
relized there were different groups calling themselves Molokan but
continued the false label of Orthodox.
In July 2006, someone posted: "Molokan,
as far as I know is a Russian Orthodox group founded by Leo Tolstoy, or
supported by him." The first part is not true, but the second part
is. Tolstoy supported the Molokans and Doukhobors. See: A Molokans's Search for Truth:
The Correspondence of Leo
Tolstoy and
Fedor
Zheltov.
Most recently on March
11, 2008, The New York Times
errored in an article about Turkey, A
Patchwork Land Confronts a Lie of Whole Cloth, by stating in
paragraph 16:
"...Molokan, also
known as Russian Old Believers." I complained and the paper published a
Correction on March 25, 2008 and changed the online text to "...
Molokan, who have their
roots in Russia." Progress!
White-Russians
This term has 2 origins: (a) Belarus, the "White
Rus" republic east of Moscow, and (b) White
Russians who were the exiled "aristocrats" —
nobles, princes, princesses, military officers, professionals,
intellectuals — waiting to
return to Russia; called
“white” because of their opposition to the “red” Soviet state.
Most likely Molokans are confused witht he second group, many of whom
also
immigrated to Los Angeles and hired some Molokan/Jumpers.
Jumper-Molokan immigrants were mainly peasants, but often in Los
Angeles were labeled "White
Russian" by East LA Mexicans and others. This mistake occurred recently
at the University of Southern California (April 27,
2000), where many descendants of Jumper/Maksimists graduated. I
helped with the Boyle
Heights Project and
complained about this mistake which was corrected on 2 subsequent USC
web pages posted a month later( 1, 2).
Brethren, Mennonite, Amish, Quaker, Baptist
In the early 1900s,
some historians called Molokans Quakers, probably
from Quakers who visited and documented Molokans in the early 1800s
and from Western scholars having no other groups to which to compare
them, or because some American Jumper-Molokans did alternative military
service
in Quaker CO camps during World War II.
In his 1974 review of Bekker's
"Origin of the Mennonite Brethren Church", Giesbrecht misquotes “Molokan brethren”.
About 4 times Bekker mentions Molokans who visited his church in the
mid-1800s, and once calls them brethren, similar to the use of
"brother" in "Christian brother in Christ", identical to Berokoff's
use: "... Molokan
Brethren in Iran ..." In 2002, a woman described her
Molokan best friend: "...the best way to
describe Molokans is Russian Mennonites or Quakers." A 2004 UK
Government study reported Molokans as "a
quasi-Baptist group", perhaps because founders of the the
Russian Baptists were Molokans (Pavlov,
Vorinin, Prokhanov). In 2005, an Armenian thinks Molokans are "a
Russian version of Amish".
New Labels
In 2005, Armenian
reporters label Maksimisty as
"Maximalists"
or "extremists", short for "Jumper-extremist".
This could be (a) a
misuse of a historic term for the Soviet party of
Socialist-Revolutionaries, (b) "Biblical
maximalism" (literal interpretation of the Bible), or (c) "believing that the
Church's scope was broad and rich enough to embrace everyone and all
things religious and cultural." Do you know?
If you find more examples, send them in. Be sure to include the
complete URL, web address, for the web site.
Credits
and Web Master
For corrections, comments, suggestions, or questions about the Molokan
Home Page,
e-mail the Web Master: A.J. Conovaloff at ajconova@student.gc.maricopa.edu
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