Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

dlia istorii, p. 479. *° Istoriia evangel’skikh khristian-baptistov v SSSR, p. 438. *! Franklin H. Littell, The Anabaptist View of the Church: a Study in the Origins of Sectarian Protestantism, 2nd edn (Boston: Starr King, 1958), p. XVI. 2 The term “presbyter” refers to the head of a congregation. The term “pastor” was not introduced until the 1990s. The Russian translation of the New Testament uses “presbyter” where the English translation uses “elder”. *? Istoriia evangelskikh khristian-baptistov v SSSR, p. 63. Ad that the “brethren” knew well what to do and how to operate as a church. The dynamics are remarkable: on 8 June 1871, Mikhail Ratushnyi was baptised here by Ivan Riaboshapka, along with fifty others.“* On 8 October, Ratushnyi made his own copy of the “Rules of the confession of faith of the newly-converted Russian Brotherhood”; on 28 November of the same year Ratushnyi informed his archbishop of his desire to leave the Orthodox Church. Shortly after 3 August 1873, Ratushnyi wrote about the establish- ment of church order in a letter: We have chosen church officers [tserkovnosluzhiteli]. They can baptise adults, but we do not baptise newborns; they also may marry believers with the consent of bridegroom and bride, the desire of parents on both sides, and the agreement of the Church... In addition they have the authority to baptise, administer the Lord’s Supper, marry, bury and conduct the business of the Church.” Only two years after the first baptism, Baptists in the Odessa region already viewed themselves clearly as a church. The above-mentioned “Rules” consist of ten sections. Three of them deal directly with the topic of church structure. Designed according to the pattern of “the first Apostolic Church’, the visible church consisted of true believers only. Positions of primary responsibility such as presbyters, teachers and deacons were chosen from within its midst. Excommunica- tion was included as a means of maintaining order in the church, as well as restoration of those who repented. Sections are also included on repent- ance, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The imagery of the Body of Christ and the holy temple of the Lord (Ephesians 2:20-22; 4:11-16; and 1 Peter 2:5) were used in this document as structural patterns of the Church.” According to Archbishop Leontii, the “Rules’, “containing an exposition of Reformed faith,... expose their compiler to be a well-educated theolo- ** Reshetnikov and Sannikov, Obzor istorii, p. 99. *° “Pravila veroispovedaniia novoobrashchennago Russkago Bratstva’, in Aleksii, Materialy dlia istorii, p. 482. ‘© “Pismo M. Ratushnago Nikolaiu Liashkovu, pisariu kantseliarii Chernigovskago voin- skago nachal’nika ot 1873 g”, in Aleksii, Materialy dlia istorii, p. 189. *” Cf. Paul S. Minear, Images of the Church in the New Testament (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960), p. 164; Avery Robert Dulles, Models of the Church, 2"4 edn (Dublin: Gill a