Paul B. Anderson, the American Ymca, and Russian Orthodox Christians, 1900–1940

Abstract

Paul B. Anderson served with the American Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and eventually emerged as the most significant leader for the YMCA’s efforts among Russians. Throughout his career he worked to support Orthodox culture. He led an exceptional and fruitful effort of interconfessional cooperation by Protestant and Orthodox Christians in an extraordinary period of interaction between American and Russian cultures. Anderson contributed to a fundamental change in the outlook of the YMCA on Orthodoxy: from resigned toleration through pragmatic assistance and limited support to active support. From 1900 to 1940 many Y secretaries developed a sympathetic and supportive approach to the Orthodox Church as they developed relationships, worked in partnership, studied culture and theology, and experienced the complex realities of the early twentieth century. Refs 36.