Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

e began to print books. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm did not last for long. Soon problems arose inside the church. Michat Stankiewicz, a member of the Baptist Council, commented: “We had to change our work, change our thinking, and look for other solutions to the same matters. Mission work still existed but the enthusiasm had subsided.’ New members of the churches in the western part of Poland were mostly repatriates or young people raised in the church. Local churches experienced no growth in numbers. Although there were baptisms and regular worship services, many members left the country in search of better lives. The fourth period (1969-1979) was a period of developing a Polish Baptist subculture. Society changed dramatically between 1969 and 1979. * See Dziennik Urzedowy Ministerstwa Administracji Publicznej, Nr. 17, 1947; Tomasz Langer, Parstwo a nierzymskokatolickie zwigzki wyznaniowe w Polsce Ludowej (Poznan: Wydawnictwo Poznanskie, 1967), p. 173; Andrzej Tokarczyk, “Mniejszosci wyznaniowe w PRL’, Euhemer: Przeglad Religioznawczy, vol. 12 (1968), p. 140. * Ruth Kowalczuk, “50 lat w Zborze interview” (Interview by Ryszard Tysnicki), Stowo Prawdy, no. 3 (March 1997), p. 7. °° Michat Stankiewicz, “Mieszkamy we wlasnym domu’, Slowo Prawdy, no. 7-8 (July-August 1974), p. 6. 56 Michat Stankiewicz, “Cwieré Wieku’, Slowo Prawdy, no. 7-8 (July-August 1969), p. 5. 178 New forms of communication, culture and technology were revolution- ising the thinking of the people, and the church could not keep up with the new ideas.* Congregations became a bastion of a strange culture, language and music. Even the great accomplishment of constructing new buildings could not replace the lack of dynamic mission. Baptists continued to stress the authority of the Bible in their lives and worship. Choirs and musical groups continued to develop and to enrich the Baptist worship experience. In 1971 a Christian music festival was organised. The response from churches was overwhelmingly good, so it was decided to hold the festival annually, devoting it one year to choirs and the next year to orchestras and bands. In the 1970s, youth from churches in central and western Poland realised that, to unchurched young people, traditional church music sounded unreal and artificial.*’ For that reason a few musical groups began to sing choral and a cappella music in services, using more modern music, often translated from English and German.* The groups leaders were concerned with both the modern music form and the words communicated to listeners. Unfortunately, at the same time, the lack of dedicated ministry during that period led to sad consequences. Statistics show a decline in Baptist church membership. Although there were some baptisms, the church lost more people than it gained.*? According to Michat Stankiewicz, “from 1918-1939 we grew from 700 to 7000 members, but in the years after the war, the Baptist Church great