Evaluation of the activity of the Tobolsk spiritual consistory in the annual reports of diocesan bishops

The article for the first time presents an analysis of the activities of the Tobolsk spiritual consistory based on annual reports on the state of the diocese. In the research literature, there is practically no information about the activities of ecclesiastical consistories, while during the synodal period in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church (1720-1917), these institutions daily resolved hundreds of issues related to the service of clergy and the life of the rest of the population (marriage, divorce, etc.); the fate of many people depended on the effective work of consistories. Reports of diocesan bishops to the Most Holy Governing Synod, compiled in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries and currently stored in the Russian State Historical Archive, are a valuable and practically the only historical source that has survived to this day, containing a description of the activities of spiritual consistories, including an analysis of both quantitative and qualitative parameters, includingfixing the names and surnames of ministers. Studying the assessments of the work of the Tobolsk Ecclesiastical Consistory by bishops will help to find out the reasons for delays in resolving cases and uncover other problems.