Baptists in the U.S.S.R. Some Facts and Hopes, J. H. RUSHBROOKE, 1943

BAPTISTS in the U. S. S. R. 4 SOME FACTS AMO^HOPES 'V A - { % ■ \ . ■ V [ \ ' -y. v^,\ iTf s rf * V t .. '" i. ■ ^ -f. - — BY J. H.^RUSH BROOKE, m.a., d.d., lld, President of the Baptist World Afliance FOURPENCE Baptists in the U.S.S.R. SOME FACTS AND HOPES By J. H. RUSHBROOKE, M.A., d.d., ll.d. President of the Baptist World Alliance London : THE KINGSGATE PRESS 4, Southampton Row, W.C.l Published April, 1943 Made and Printed in Great Britain BAPTISTS IN THE U.S.S.R. The fact that there are large numbers of Baptists in the U.S.S.R. has come as a surprise to many well-informed persons The Silence within their own communion. In recent of Years years little has been heard of Russian Baptists. Broken. Soon after the Baptist World Congress held at Toronto in 1928, and attended by their repre¬ sentatives, correspondence between them and their fellows in other lands abruptly ceased. Its volume is still extremely small. The few letters and telegrams have given no picture of the life and activities of the churches. They have expressed the natural concern of loyal Soviet citizens for their invaded homeland, and a passionate desire for victory over the Fascist enemy; and they have laid stress on the need of immediate and substantial help. Owing to lack of information, statistics published by the Baptist World Alliance have included no figures for the U.S.S.R. The Alliance stands by the principle that its statements shall be precise and fully certified; they therefore cover only bodies definitely reporting, and exclude mere estimates — however credible these' may appear. Notes have been added year by year that the total Baptist church membership in the world — now over 12f millions — would be increased by at least hundreds of thousands if reports could be obtained from the Soviet Union. The news received during the past few months includes two statements of importance. One is that the Government is “ doing everything possible to help believers ’* ; the other is that the Baptists and “ Evangelical Christians ” (who, as we shall see, are also Baptists) number 4,000,000. These declara¬ tions come from themselves. A further significant fact is that on the 7th February, 1943, these bodies joined in the obser¬ vance of “ Baptist World Alliance Sunday,” a day devoted by Baptists in all parts of the earth to common worship, prayer, and testimony.^ ^ In many British Baptist churches collections were taken on that day on beh^f of Mrs. GhurchiU’s Red Cross Fund for aid to Russia. 3 Who