Vasyl Kostantynovytch Lypkivsky (; 7 September 1864 – 27 November 1937) was the founder of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the first auto-consecrated "Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine" (1921–1927). Education and early ministry Vasyl Lypkivsky was born in the village of Popudnya in the Kyiv Governorate (now Cherkasy Oblast), where his father was a priest. In 1873 he began his education at the Uman Theological Seminary and graduated from the Kyiv Theological Academy in 1889 with the title of Candidate of Theology. On 20 October 1891 he was ordained as a clergyman. He ministered in the Lipovets region, staying there for a period of 11 years. In 1903 he was transferred to Kyiv and was appointed as director of the School for Teachers of Religion in Kyiv. Because of his participation in the Ukrainian ecclesiastic movement, he was removed from his position in 1905 and transferred to the parish of Kyiv-Solomenka in the capacity of prior. Involvement in the independence movement During this time the Eastern Orthodox Church in Ukraine remained part of the Russian Orthodox Church until Ukraine affirmed its independence in the chaotic situation following World War I and the Russian revolution. In 1905, Lypkivsky became President of the Congress of Clergymen. Because of his Ukrainophilia and liberal views, he fell in disgrace with his superiors. One of his campaigns was for the use of Ukrainian language instead of the Church Slavonic language being used in church services. In 1917, he was again President of the Congress of Clergymen and Laymen. At this congress, a resolution for the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was made. The government of the new Ukrainian Republic passed a law allowing for the founding of a Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in 1919. Under his supervision, the first religious service in the Ukrainian language took place at the St. Nicholas Military Cathedral in Kyiv on 9 May (Old Style) 1919. For this reason, the Russian bishops prohibited his religious services and deprived him of his clerical title. For the time being, an unstructured association in favor of ending ties with the Russian church was gaining ground among the Ukrainian Orthodox faithful. Creation of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church The move for autonomy from Russia led to the assertion of Ukrainian autocephaly at the First All-Ukrainian Orthodox Church Council on 23 October 1921. Since no Orthodox bishop would take part in this