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

on on Theosis and Sobornost in Chapter 2. 8 Sipko, “Zhit’ po Biblii ili po “pon’iatiiam”?” 9 Nicolai A. Kornilov, “K Voprosu ob Avtoritete v Khristianskoi Zhizni” [“To the Question of Authority in Christian Life”], in Put Bogopoznaniia, Vol. 2 (Moscow, MTSECB, 1997), pp 14-15. 122 cover up our opinions and preferences... This is a source of the second problem: the lack of understanding [of the Bible] forces us to preach what is on the surface, what we are used to. But we do not speak from the Bible, we do not answer people’s needs. That is why our preaching is empty, passing by people’s lives. °° Although |, by no means, claim or assume that all or even the majority of preachers in Russian Baptist churches can find themselves in the above mentioned article of Yuri Sipko, the point he is making has to be taken seriously. Whilst the typology of the source of preaching authority suggested by Brown helps to get a better understanding of the multifaceted concept of authority and power in churches, a significant point should not be omitted — the call for educated listeners, able to evaluate the message proclaimed from the pulpit and call the preacher to accountability. This latter element is often left out from the Russian Baptist ecclesial scene, thus leaving churches without an important tool of protection against various abuses of power. In order to further explore the role of preaching and preachers and Russian Baptist communities, my next step will turn to the listeners, and evaluate their perception of the ministry of the Word. 5.2 Contemporary understanding of preaching The first part of this chapter seeks to answer the question of what is Russian preaching, where it happens, who are the practitioners, and addresses a number of serious issues that are rooted in authority that preachers receive through their ministry. Now | would like to turn to the question of how preaching is perceived in contemporary Russian Baptist churches. In order to answer this question, | have collected 100 surveys from four Baptist churches in the Voronezh region. Aiming to have a variety of congregations included in my study, | have approached the First Baptist Church of Voronezh, which is a congregation that follows traditional patterns of worship and preaching with approximately 450 members located in a centre of a large city. The second church is a smaller community with approximately 130 regular worshippers, founded in 1997 in the village of Somovo, a suburb of Voronezh. The third church (Blagodat [Grace]) is also a fairly small (100-120 members) community, ° Ibid., p 34. 123 which was started 25 years ago, with a large proportion of young adults attending the services (approx. 65%). The church is located in the city of Voronezh. Finally, the fourth church (“Severnaia Tserkov”) was a rather recent church plant — a church that was started approximately 10 years ago by a small group of members from the Fir