The paper deals with the critics from the side of Russian canonists and jurists of the model of “symphony” as a basic principle of relations between the Church and the state, on the basis of archival as well as published documents from the time before the Church council. It represents the search for the adequate models that determine the legal status of the Church. There are examined the speeches during the Pre-conciliar session, at the Congress of clergy and laity, at the Pre-conciliar Council and during the Local Church Council 1917—1918 dealing with the status of the Church in the state. In the conclusion is formulated a question concerning the reasons for revival of the model of “symphony” during the post-soviet era.