At the turn of the twenty-first century, members of the independent Orthodox clergy came to the conviction that an independent church organisation was needed, one able to carry out reforms consistently and to develop conciliar life.
On 31 January 2000 a press conference was held in Moscow at which the creation of the public movement “For the Revival of Orthodoxy” was announced.
Among its initiators were Protopresbyter Gleb Yakunin, Metropolitan Stefan (Linitsky), Archbishop Kiriak (Temercidi) and the future Metropolitan Vitaly (Kuzhevatov).
The Founding Declaration proclaimed the need to return to the apostolic model of church government.
Its authors called for the decentralisation of church authority, the restoration of conciliarity, the independence of communities, an end to the compulsory binding of church jurisdiction to state borders, and the overcoming of excessive administrative centralisation.
Particular attention was given to the reform of liturgical life.
It was proposed to widen the use of modern national languages in worship, to make the sermon an obligatory part of every church assembly, to simplify certain ritual practices, to ease overly rigid disciplinary requirements and to ensure transparency in church finances.
The founders of the Church stressed that renewal was meant not to alter the dogmatic foundations of the Orthodox faith but to bring church life back to the principles of the Gospel.
On the basis of the movement the Orthodox Church of the Revival was formed.
On 13 May 2000 it received the name “Apostolic Orthodox Church”.
The name expressed its founders’ wish to emphasise continuity with the faith and spiritual experience of the apostolic age, as well as their commitment to a conciliar order.
Metropolitan Stefan (Linitsky) became the first Primate of the Church.