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

ou words to say.’ (This comes from my personal experience of growing up ina Baptist church in Russia). 88 the listeners. However, the preacher’s interpretation wasn’t considered to be final or inerrant. Rather, it served as a beginning of a discussion, when listeners were allowed to offer alternative insights, raise disagreements and ask questions. Preaching was a truly communal exercise! One of the downsides of such use of the Scripture was significant variations in understanding and application of the biblical narrative. Moreover, with education becoming more available and accessible, there was a growing need to bring some theological coherence into the diverse congregations of Baptists and Evangelical Christians as well as offer training to the quickly expanding numbers of pastors and missionaries. The leadership of the two unions reacted to these challenges by (1) organising various educational opportunities for pastors and preachers, and (2) through developing publishing activities, which became an important tool of raising theological literacy, providing examples of good quality sermons, and bringing a sense of unity to congregations spread over the vast territory of the Russian Empire (and later the USSR). Preaching was gradually becoming the task for people with a special calling, gifting and preparation. The tragic period of Communistic persecution and repressions affected all the spheres of Soviet society, penetrating and changing the lives of every family. Churches turned into targets for the police violence and atheistic propaganda. Gradually Christians were pushed to the margins of the social life, when ordinary people were embarrassed even to admit that someone in their family attended church services. For the Church it was a long battle for survival. When all educational activities were disrupted, youth work — prohibited, social involvement — banned, the only area where Christians could successfully resist communistic oppression was in their spiritual and ethical lives. The churches’ main approach to teaching preaching could be summed up in two phrases - to spend more time in prayer and to read and reflect on the Bible. The next chapter will develop the subject of preaching and preparation of preachers as it appeared on the pages of the Bratskii Vestnik. 89 CHAPTER 4. Preaching and Bratskii Vestnik Introduction Chapter 4 will continue to explore the history of the Russian baptistic movement and, particularly the development of preaching during the period of communistic oppression and persecutions. Although it may seem as a continuation of Chapter 3, | felt it was appropriate to put this material into a separate chapter, since my main focus will be on published materials, and specifically, on the official journal of the Baptist Union — Bratskii Vestnik. The importance and influence of this media is difficult to overestimate, since until 1968 when the Bible Correspondent Cou