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

ching notes and sermon outlines provided another way to help pastors in their ministry, but also served to educate preachers across the country. Finally, although irregularly, journals published extended articles on how to preach.®* Apart from the recognition of the benefits of using printed media, from the early years of baptistic movement in Russia, its leaders showed appreciation for Christian education.®* Dei Mazaev, who served as a president of the Russian Baptist Union for 8° Coleman argued that ‘Russian Baptists’ conversion stories usually drive home the point that, in the end, neither the religious traditions of their youths nor revolutionary politics could offer them the assurance of salvation that they craved. Instead, Baptist auto-biographers emphasize the role of ordinary believers in shaping the thinking of potential converts and in guiding them toward achieving salvation. In so doing, they paint a picture of an egalitarian, self-educating movement of working people.’ Thus, simple, uneducated people were given an urge to evangelise, reach out to the fallen world of sin. (For an extensive analysis of the use of conversion narratives see Coleman, Russian Baptists and Spiritual Revolution, Chapter 3). Cf. A. Popov, ‘““The Evangelical Christians-Baptists...,” Part III. 81 Eg. A series of articles on preaching by M. Timoshenko, “Kafedra” [“The Pulpit”], in Baptist, Vol. 36 (1911), p 284. 82 Eg. Pavlov and Kargel were sent to study at a seminary in Germany, as preparation for their ministry; Prokhanov studied extensively in a number of evangelical seminaries and colleges in Europe. Cf. Kuznetsova, “Early Russian Evangelicals...,” p 248. 73 over 20 years, at the end of the 1g" century, indicated the need for developing theological schools. He called people to pray, asking God to send His ministers, ‘clothed in contemporary theological education.’®? It was recognized that society was changing and certain views and practices, which were acceptable only few years ago, required modification. M. Timoschenko, one of the Baptist leaders, wrote, ‘When God’s work only started to develop, whoever opened the Gospel were fascinated — everything was new, unknown, thus interesting. Today we live in a different time, 184 hence we’ve got new requirements.’” Preparation of people for ministry through more formal educational arrangements was seen as a way forward. One of the first projects initiated by Prokhanov after 1905 was the organization of a 6-week study course for young preachers from St. Petersburg, Samara and other places from across Russia. They were taught biblical interpretation, theology, homiletics, church history. The unusual features of these courses were non-theological disciplines — grammar, Russian literature, history, and geography.®° Among their teachers were Kargel, Prokhanov, Pavel Nikolaii and a number of other leaders of Evangelical Christians and of Baptists. Despite