Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

ng was prefaced with a few remarks by the senior pastor (pres- byter), Vladimir Parfenenko, who identified two kinds of ministry, “visible” and “invisible.” The first, he explained, involves that which is related to congregational worship, such as sermons and music. “Invisible” ministry is all the rest, including Sunday school, youth activities and social service ministries.’ The pastor did not go into detail about what he meant by “visible” and “invisible” ministry, beyond emphasising that all Christian service - within or outside the walls of a church, whether or not evident or even familiar to others - is valued by God. Still, I found it curious that he assigned social service ministries to the realm of the “invisible”, when precisely in this sphere, evangelicals in Ukraine are becoming very visible indeed. At that same meeting, members reported on free lunches for the elderly, free medical assistance provided by Christian professionals, a church-supported mission to drug addicts and alcoholics, and free legal advice. In addition, First Baptist Church is active in ministries to the hearing impaired, the ' | regularly attended this church and was present at the meeting. 210 blind and people with other disabilities. To be sure, not all of these minis- tries are open to the general public. Medical assistance and legal aid are intended primarily for church members. Nevertheless, the list is extensive enough to attract some notice. While this particular church has about twelve hundred members and better resources than many smaller congregations, it is not unique. A Baptist church in Pryazovs’ke, a small community in the Zaporizhzhia oblast of south-eastern Ukraine, with about forty members, primarily elderly, opened its own fully-registered children’s home in 2001, including a four-grade school. As of spring 2005 they were caring for thirty-two chil- dren and hoped to expand to forty by the end of the year. While no statistics are available on all the ways and places in which evan- gelicals (especially, but not exclusively, Baptists) address the social needs of their communities, one of the most striking visible phenomena of the post- Soviet period is the growth of charitable or social service ministries. In this paper, the terms “charity” and “social service ministry” refer to what Pastor Parfenenko assigned to the category of “invisible” service —- organised, intentional efforts by Christians to relieve human suffering and respond to human need without getting anything in return. It is well known that in the Soviet Union, church life was legally restricted to worship in designated places by registered congregations. In reality, of course, much more was going on that is little documented. Neverthe- less, until recently it was unthinkable for churches to engage publicly in the kinds of activities they now do. The distinction between their limited Soviet past and the opportunities of the present is