Dialogue, cooperation and confrontation in the religious societies of the Russian province of the early 20th century (based on experience of the 1st All-Russian Congress: ‘Chasovennoe Soglasiye’)

The article analyses materials of the first and only All-Russian Congress of ‘Chasovennye' Old Believers held in Yekaterinburg in 1911. These materials were little known to specialists. The organization and discussions showed the presence of at least three branches among ‘Chasovennoe soglasiye' as the largest Old Believers denomination in the Urals and Siberia: conservative, moderate and loyal. Their representatives came to agreement about the rules of religious practices, but disagreed in understanding of ‘openness' and permissible interaction with the authorities, other denominations and loyalists in their societies. The purpose of the work is to show the heterogeneity of views and interests of urban, factory and rural Old Believer societies, depending on socio-cultural factors.