Molokan Center, Kochubeevskoe,
Stavropol'skii krai, Russian Federation — 1997

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Location of the 200th Anniversary Celebration of Freedom of Religion for Molokane
1805-2005

  New Center: Union of Spiritual Christians — Molokans
The world-wide Molokan Center was built near the city of Stavropol', in the town of Kochubeevskoe.
The building was modeled after the 2-story Molokan prayer building in San Francisco, California,
from plans drawn by architect Peter Kostrikin, assistant presbyter in SF (who died Aug 2005).  

View from top of nearby apartment.
Workshops are on left, caretaker's
home is in front of church. Dotted line
in background is the highway bridge railing.


The woodshop is the long building in the left foreground, and the brick factory is on the right. The toilet building is behind the left edge of the woodshop. Many homes were built behind the church in this new suburb served by the Molokan construction supply business which closed about 2000. The workshops are now used for classrooms and dormitories for guests.


View from top of wall between workshops looking north. Upstairs, the assembly hall is on the right side, classrooms on the left.

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                          ENLARGEMaps: Kochubeevskoe is
about 20 miles south of the city of Stavropol'. 8 nearby Spiritual Christian congregations are shown underlined. Click here to see an aerial photo of the Center. Click here for the cemetery. 100s of family gardens — dachas — can be seen south of town, each about 600 square meters — 1/6 acre.


Sign at top of stairs, center entry.

Looking north-east.

Looking east at head presbyter Vasili Tim. Schetinkin in main hall. Pipes along the wall are for winter heating.

Looking south-west, from opposite corner of above. The brown pipes are for natural gas,
which are often above ground.
  Open-House Ceremonies — August 1997

Note the camera man at center-left,
video-taping the entire event.

A dozen presbyters lined the head table
with the city and province leaders. 


The Kochubeevskoe congregation offers
their prayer of thanks. Most in the front
row are wearing clothes donated by
American Molokane and Dukhizhizniki

Starting 3rd from left: American Elder
Presbyter Fred Kappsof from San Francisco, California; Stavropol' administrator (tallest); then
Elder Pete Wm. Loskutoff, San Francisco. 

Head presbyter Schetinkin and family
ask for forgiveness and blessings.

Final prayer with all presbyters.
   Day After Open-House — August 1997
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Guest presbyter Fred Kappsof
from San Francisco speaking on
Sunday after the open house.
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Guests from California at Sunday meal.
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Youth on steps. The older girls, wearing scarfs, were helping cleanup (below).
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Guests who wanted their photo taken for you to see.
3 presbyters are seated in the center row.

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Girls washing mop rags outside.
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Elder presbyter Kharitonov and wife from Melitopol, Zaparozhe province, Ukraine. He helped host the 1992 International Molokan Convention.
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Samovars fired with scraps in front of woodshop.
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Large pot for soup on the "outdoor" stove.
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Decoration wall towels in basement prayer house, also seen above.
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Looking south. Caretaker family lives in this house at the Center to guard prayer house and shops. Brick factory is in back.
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Woodshop interior. Here all the doors, windows, stairs and floor planks were made with table saws, lathes and hand tools. The shop sold finished lumber and wood items to the public, providing a few jobs for Molokan refugees. It is now used as a classroom and
dormitory for guests.
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Brick factory interior. Here bricks to build the shops, house and church were made. Cement is mixed, poured into the form (front) and vibrated. The form is pulled outside where the wet bricks are dropped on a slab (below) to cure. The factory sold rough brick to the public, providing a few jobs for Molokan refugees. It was used as a classroom and dormitory for guests, and by 2013 converted into a museum.

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Looking east. Customer picking up bricks on drying slab. Caretaker house on left, factory on right. Many buildings are made with large reinforced concrete slabs called "plates" (behind tractor) which are positioned and welded together.

Spiritual Christians Around the World
Духовные христиане мира