Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

y. The state closed down the majority of formal ministries and banned the large public meetings, leading to smaller informal meetings in homes throughout the city, generally led by younger and less educated men, as well as women. The believers were not reunited until the 1890s, when new leaders arose and the political situation allowed them to meet openly for worship. Participants in these “house churches’, many of whom became disillusioned with Orthodoxy, formed the basis of the congregations of Ivan (Johann) Kargel, Wilhelm Fetler, and Ivan Prokhanov in the 1890s and early twentieth century, to which St Petersburg Baptists today trace their roots. Personal Relationships with Societal Outcasts Social work was a distinguishing characteristic of the Pashkovites, both when gathering openly in the 1870s-1880s, and later, when meeting in secret. The high society Pashkovites can be profitably compared to Count Leo Tolstoy, whose life was also changed when confronted with the Gospel. Yet while Tolstoy rejected his riches in solidarity with the poor, Pashkovites took a different approach, utilising their wealth and positions in service to God. While philanthropy was popular among Russian high society of the time,’ the degree to which the Pashkovites put their faith into prac- tice contradicted traditional Russian social order and societal norms. Their commitment was mocked by opponents. An Orthodox bishop criticised Pashkov publicly for his practice of “going to homes, and not only of the rich, but also the poor’. Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod Konstantin Pobedonostsev, the lay administrator of the Orthodox Church, reported with concern that the rich aristocrat was visiting the lodgings of lower class coachmen.’ Pashkov’s followers soon joined him in this enterprise. In addition, Pashkov and his associates opened schools, orphanages, hospi- tals, cafeterias, teahouses and shelters; published and distributed inexpen- sive Christian literature; visited hospitals and prisons; and provided work for the unemployed. Such intimate contact with the lower levels - and > See Adele Lindenmeyr, Poverty is Not a Vice: Charity, Society, and the State in Imperial Russia (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996). * [Episkop Feofan], Pismo k odnomu litsu v S.-Peterburg po povodu poiavleniia tam novago uchitelia very (Moscow, 1880), p. 1; K.P. Pobedonostsev, “Vsepoddanneishaia zapiska ober- prokurora Sviateishego Sinoda, predstavlennaia Gosudariu Imperatoru v Maie 1880 goda’, in Svedeniia o sekte Pashkovtsev (n.p., n.d.), p. 1. 54 even outcasts - of society was unheard of among the aristocracy. Those who have seen the elegant palace of Princess Vera Gagarina on Bolshaia Morskaia Street in the centre of St Petersburg can appreciate the comment of her niece, Princess Sophie Lieven [Sofiia Liven], describing Gagarina’s visits to families in poverty: Anyone who has not been to such an apartment cannot pictur