Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

treatment of leaders and members is a significant factor contributing to vitality during times of oppression and persecutions, which have often occurred in the history of the Russian and Ukrainian evangelical brotherhood. This egalitarian attitude was inherent to the movement from its early days. Pietism promotes a very strong self-identification of individual members with the group, but does not guarantee the stability of a faith community or even permanent involvement of its members. The membership of the group in Osnova decreased after an initial phase of high interest.** Wiist’s revival preaching produced only a temporary splash of activity in his own parish. A generation later, no significant Pietist activities were reported there. Moreover, at the end of his activity, some of his most enthusiastic followers separated from Wiist to form a group with a dubious reputation. Personal convictions and authentic sincerity alone are insufficient for the stability of a group. Here Pietism showed again its deep dependency on persons rather than principles. From the viewpoint of structure, Pietism did not change the traditional patterns of leadership and authority, nor did it alter the pastor’s role in the church. The Reformation focus on sola scriptura and mechanisms of taking decisions in the church did not change significantly, although the strong orthodox Lutheran hermeneutics became weaker. The interest in church structures within Pietism fell short against higher interest in mission, revival and personal faith. This helps to explain why Pietism did not produce its own theology of the church.” -~ 27 “Svedeniia 0 sostoianii raskolov v Khersonskoi gubernii’, p. 15. 28 “Svedeniia o sostoianii raskolov v Khersonskoi gubernii’, p. 15. 40 Even while in opposition to the mainstream Lutheran Church in Germany, Pietism remained an integral part of that church structure, and did not exist outside of it. Russian Stundism, on the contrary, was from its very beginning considered a foreign body within the Russian Orthodox Church. The old wineskins were not prepared to hold the new wine. The new faith community needed a new church structure. From FELLOWSHIP To CHURCH: A New STRUCTURE FOR THE New Fait Origins of the Russian Baptist Structure Developing a congregational structure in the 1860-70s, the first Russian und Ukrainian Stundists had the opportunity to either create something absolutely new or - more unconsciously than deliberately - follow estab- lished patterns. The first adherents of the new faith initially remained in the Russian Orthodox Church. During this period, it slowly became evident that the potential existed for deep conflict between the totally new kind of personal piety and the liturgical manifestation of faith. The definite turn towards Scripture as the main source of faith meant at the same time strict rejection of traditional expressions of faith.*° The distance of the new beli