Towards Understanding of the Practice of Proclamation: The Core Element of Russian Baptist Worship, Timofey Cheprasov, 2015

wed extreme conservatism in almost all spheres of life, notably worship style.° This conservatism that A. Popov refers to resulted in almost a total absence of educational materials in the BV during 1971-1988. The lack of theological education of the leadership of the union caused even greater emphasis on the value of spiritual formation, even at the expense of theological training, which can be clearly observed in preaching.” Conclusion This chapter provides a conclusion to a section that addresses a complex subject of the development of preaching in Russian Baptist communities. | have reviewed °° Istoriia Evangelskikh Khristian-Baptistov v SSSR, Chapter 7. 6° “The Great Purge” (also known as “the Great Terror”) is a term that refers to a wave of political repression in the Soviet Union that occurred between 1936 and 1938. This time is known for the mass arrests, imprisonments, and murders of the members of the Communistic Party, the Red Army, and every other social group in the country. | have referred to this era in section 3.4 Trials and Tribulations. For further reading see Orlando Figes, The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia (London, Allen Lane, 2007), Robert Conquest, The Great Terror: A Reassessment (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1990). 61 A. Popov, “The Evangelical Christians-Baptists...,” p 85. * Ibid., pp 179-180. 109 three distinct periods in Russian Baptist history — the formative years, the period of fast growth and maturity, and a much longer era of trials and tribulations. At all these stages, different external factors made the church adjust its theology and practices to the changing cultural and political environment. At the early formative stages, the preaching of baptistic communities was characterised by heavy emphasis on moral living and projection of biblical narrative into the life of communities and individual Christians, as well as overt criticism of the Orthodox Church. This was important as communities were learning to use the Bible as the main source for their faith and practice. The next era, the period of freedom and fast growth, brought forward the need to bring coherence into the teaching of local churches. The need was addressed through extensive publishing activities of Baptists and Evangelical Christians. Spiritual articles, sermons, theological materials — all of these were also used in preaching. Theological and ministerial training was of prime importance, and was rapidly developing despite various barriers set by the authorities. Spiritual formation and personal piety came to the forefront again during the time of persecution. The church lost all its educational institutions, and suffered a great loss of pastors and preachers. In such difficult times, those people who were able to train during the period of freedom played an extremely important role in churches. BV became the main source of theological and educational materials