Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

Catholics, making it necessary for the Baptists to find other places. Baptism was once performed in a pond belonging to a church member.” Few baptisms were performed free of persecution. Believers in the village of Swiecice met regularly in a barn, which they decorated and prepared for the celebration. During the baptismal service some men served by preaching God’s Word. Leaders organised a choir, which included secular singers from the community. In notes from the church about this event, we read that more people gathered in this barn than normally attended > Krzysztof Kossarzecki, “Dzieje Baptyst6w Ostrédzkich’, Stowo Prawdy, no. 12 (December 1998), pp. 32-34. 4 “Ordynacja brata A. Kircuna w Zelwie’, Slowo Prawdy, no. 3 (March 1926), p. 5. Some people came that kind of distance just to attend a regular service. See “Kwiatki z podrézy misyjnej, Stowo Prawdy, no. 5 (March 1926), p. 5, and many other reports. 2° “Z podrézy misyjnej na Kresach’, Stowo Prawdy, no. 5 (May 1927), p. 5. 6 “Chrzest podtug Pisma Sw., Slowo Prawdy, no. 3 (March 1928), pp. 2-6. 7 Jan Petrasz, “Z pracy misyjnej w Malopolsce: Radosne zniwo’, Stowo Prawdy, no. 11 (November 1926), p. 4. 8 “Uroczystos¢ chrztu we wsi Pniédwko pow. Chelmskiego’, Stowo Prawdy, no. 11 (Novem- ber 1926), p. 4. 171 the local Roman Catholic or Orthodox churches.® The number of people being baptised by immersion varied each time.** Baptist church member Waldemar Gutsche described, After the services, the whole congregation went to the water where six people were baptised. It was raining but nothing could stop those people from giving testimony of their new lives in Jesus. But not all people were there to listen and gladly receive God's word. Even the police were told to keep the peace during the public baptisms.* Sometimes people came to disturb what was happening. Baptists could not openly and totally rejoice in this celebration, as many Jews came to speak out against them.” Often the government limited the work of the church. State approval was secured only following persecution and discrimination. The congrega- tion in Bialystok, in eastern Poland, was not officially approved until 1923. Prior to that date, the church had no buildings, no administrative struc- ture, and no choir. The church was forced to meet on the side of the river, in meadows and pastures or at the homes of believers.** THE Baptist CHURCH DURING AND AFTER Wor-Lp War II Life and ministry changed in the Polish Baptist Church during World War II and in the years following it, from 1945 to 1979, when Poland was under a Marxist regime. At the beginning of the war, much Polish terri- tory was annexed by Germany. Baptist churches in the annexed lands were forced to join the Bund Evangelisch-Freikirchlicher Gemeinden (Baptisten), centred in Berlin. They were assigned German preachers, or were placed under the authority of German-speaking churches. Their members were for