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

dual lives of people. Thus the subject of Chapter 7 is the concept of social practices and preaching as one of them. Chapter 8 is fully dedicated to the theme of communal hermeneutics and practices of reading the Bible in the community of faith, with preaching being one of them. Chapter 9 will bring this study of preaching into the educational institution. Since 1989, when the first theological school was opened in Odessa (Ukraine), seminaries, Christian institutes and universities, Bible schools and distance learning courses have been playing a more prominent role in the preparation of pastors, missionaries and even lay preachers. However, the way the subject of preaching is approached and taught, when little or no attention is paid to the role and place of proclamation in the formation of baptistic identity, hampers the potential effect their graduates can make and does not provide them with a tool to understand the environment they are intending to minister in. | will offer an overview of the courses on homiletics and baptistic identity that are taught in Moscow Theological Seminary of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (MTSECB), and TCM -— International Institute (TCMIl). | have chosen to address these schools as both of them play significant role in the Russian Baptist Union as places of ministerial formation. However, they also position themselves as centres of theological reflection, offering M-level courses. It is important to indicate that while pointing at the shortcomings of the above mentioned curriculums, | do not intend to suggest any major corrections or additions. The focus of my project is to offer a critical tool that educational institutions could use to enhance their understanding of the practice of preaching and the approach they use in teaching. Finally, it is necessary to set the limits to this study of Russian Baptist preaching. In my research | will first of all focus on preaching as a practice, and those convictions *8 McClendon, Ethics, p 29. 9 For more information on the history of Odessa Theological Seminary see their website http://odessasem.org/ru/aboutus-ru/history-ru (accessed on 08.02.2015). 10 that are related to this practice. The content of preaching, though occasionally referred to, will not be paid too much attention. This neglect is deliberate, since the limitations of this work will not allow me to study all the aspects of Russian Baptist preaching. This is a first major research focusing on preaching in the context of Russian Baptist worship. It is my hope that this study may serve as a stimulus for further research and development in the area of homiletics and its role and place in the ecclesial life of baptistic churches in Russia. 11 CHAPTER 1. Preaching as retelling the story: the beginning of the Russian baptistic movement? Introduction A number of books written on the history of the Russian Baptist movement begin with a descrip