Bishop
Archbishop Arkady (in the world Alexander Pavlovich Ershov) was born on August 15, 1878, into a priest's family. After his birth, he moved with his family to the village of Sabarka, where he spent his childhood. Around 1898, he entered the Perm Theological Seminary, and upon graduation, he was ordained as a priest. He served in the church of the village of Shlyapniki, and during the First World War, he was a regimental priest. Around 1917-18, he served in the village of Stepanovo, where his wife died, leaving him with two daughters.
From 1919 or 1920, he served as the rector of the All Saints Church in the city of Kungur. During this time, the years of the Renovationist schism began, and he became an active opponent of the Renovation. On July 13, 1923, in the city of Kungur, he was elected to the diocesan council of the 'non-renovationists,' of which Father Alexander Ershov became the chairman. He appealed to Patriarch Tikhon to appoint an Orthodox bishop. In 1924, he was ordained as Bishop of Kungur, taking the name Arkady.
Bishop Arkady performed liturgies, denounced the schismatics, and introduced innovations in the worship. His authority aroused envy among the Renovationist clergy, and on January 23, 1929, he was transferred to the city of Omsk, and then to Cheboksary. From November 1931, he became the administrator of the Sverdlovsk diocese, but soon was arrested and sentenced to three years of exile in Kazakhstan.
After his release in 1935, he was elevated to the rank of archbishop but was removed from administration. On September 29, 1935, he was arrested again and on October 22 was retired. On January 21, 1937, he was sentenced to five years of imprisonment, and on October 28, 1937, he was executed in the city of Novosibirsk.
