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The clerical work of the Synod was performed by an Office of the Synod that was managed by the Chief Secretary. As the activities of the Procurator grew, and became more intrusive, during the nineteenth century, an independent office for him was created in 1836. Most notable of the chief procurators were [[Nicholas Alexandrovich Protasov|Nicholas A. Protasov]], from 1836 to 1855, and [[Constantine Petrovich Pobedonostsev|K. P. Pobedonostsev]], from 1880 to 1905.<ref>George T. Kosar, ''Russian Orthodoxy in Crisis and Revolution: The Church Council of 1917-1918'', ProQuest Information and Learning Company, 2003, UMI MicroForm 3116620. p4 - dissertation</ref>
[[Image:Konstantin Pobedonostsev.jpg|right|thumb|175px|Constantine Petrovich Pobedonostsev - Ober-Procurator 1880 - 1905]]
After the abdication of Emperor [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]] in the February Revolution of 1917, the institutions of the Synod were abolished during the events of the year. Early in March 1917, all the members of the Synod (eight bishops and two priests) appointed by the Emperor were dismissed by the chief procurator, [[Vladimir Nikolayevich Lvov|V. N. Lvov]], as reactionary vestiges of the tsarist era and a new Synod of Bishops was elected by the Church hierarchy was instituted. Only one bishop from the previous synod was elected to the new Synod, Archbishop [[Sergius I (Stragorodsky) of Moscow|Sergius of Finland and Vyborg]]. The new Synod, of four bishops and four priest, was tasked by the procurator, Lvov, to convene the All Russian Church Council in August 1917. Under the Provisional Government, the procurators were Lvov and the last procurator, A. V. Kartashev
While the legitimacy of the removal of the old Synod came into question, these questions were brushed aside as the August council neared under the oversight of Lvov and [[Anton Vladimirovich Kartashev|A. V. Kartashev]].<ref>George T. Kosar, ''Russian Orthodoxy in Crisis and Revolution: The Church Council of 1917-1918'', ProQuest Information and Learning Company, 2003, pp24-31.</ref> With the election on [[November 5]], 1917 of Metr. [[Tikhon of Moscow|Tikhon]] of Moscow as the patriarch of the re-established [[All-Russian Church Council of 1917-1918|Patriarchate]], the Apostolic Governing Synod instituted by Emperor Peter I as the governing body of the Church of Russia came to an end.