New York, May 20, 2025
Photo: global.oup.com A new book on St. Tikhon (Bellavin) focusing on his time as a missionary bishop in North America and as Patriarch of Moscow during the first years of the Bolshevik persecutions is now available for pre-order from Oxford University Press.
The People’s Patriarch: Tikhon Bellavin and the Orthodox Church in North America and Revolutionary Russia, at 440 pages, is the first comprehensive biography of Patriarch St. Tikhon.
In his research, author Dr. Scott Kenworthy consulted a wealth of previously unused and inaccessible primary sources, including St. Tikhon’s letters and encyclicals, documents from the Soviet leadership and secret police files, and materials from a dozen archives in five countries in order to deliver a comprehensive examination of this pivotal era in North American and Russian Orthodox Christianity and St. Tikhon’s tremendous influence on it.
The People’s Patriarch tells the story of St. Tikhon, who became the first Patriarch of the restored Russian Orthodox Church in 1917, just days after the Bolshevik Revolution. Having previously served in North America, St. Tikhon envisioned an inclusive Church that welcomed all believers—directly opposing the Bolsheviks’ goal to eradicate religion entirely. Through the lens of St. Tikhon’s humble leadership, the narrative explores the clash between religious and revolutionary visions for Russia’s future, showing how his guidance helped the Orthodox Church endure tremendous persecution and ultimately outlast the Soviet regime.
This new publication can be pre-ordered from Oxford University Press and will ship on November 14.
***
Scott M. Kenworthy is Professor in the History Department at Miami University (Ohio), where he also teaches for the Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, and Religious Studies programs. He is the author of the prize-winning book The Heart of Russia: Trinity-Sergius, Monasticism and Society After 1825 and, together with Alexander Agadjanian, Understanding World Christianity: Russia. He is past president of the Association for the Study of Eastern Christianity and has held research fellowships in the US, Germany, Hungary, and Romania.
Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!
