Baptistic Theologies, 2009

od through signs that he was boldly asking from the Lord. A third element in his strategy was limited cooperation with the authorities. Differently from the Anabaptist model of total separation from the State, he cooperated with the authorities but did not allow them to interfere too much and impose their point of view upon his ministry. The most important trait of his missionary work was his vision for the need to literally obey biblical commandments - which marked his continuing influence in this village. An important factor that marked his strategy was the spirit of prayer. He considered prayer as having the same importance as the preaching of the Word of God. These elements marked his strategy and brought a continuing influence in the area. 36 Ibid. 37 Interview ofTepes Paleu Gheorghe; even though he was not a contemporary of the event he knew about this prayer from the testimonies of the contemporaries who were deeply moved by this attitude. 38 Interview oflonut Handaric. 39 Azimioara, Din viata si lucrarea lui Teodor Popescu, p. 70. The Beginnings and Growth of Baptist Witness in Bicazu Ardelean 49 The first baptisms in Bicaz Gavril Dunca did not limit his presence in Bicazu Ardelean only to preaching the Word of God but he considered the organising of the church as part of his ministry. This study considers a third important factor (together with his conversion and the specifics of his missionary strategy) that contributed to his influence: his organisational ability. After he was assured that it was God’s will to organise the church in Bicaz he was involved in doing that. His organisational spirit is proved by three things that happened in the month of April 1925. On 25 th April 1925 he visited, for the second time, the people in Bicazu Ardelean. To his surprise he found there a small room arranged according to the example of the church the visitors from Bicaz had seen in Toplita. The people also had an authorisation from the prefect of the county who wanted to gain their elective support. The authorisation acknowledged their legal right to become Baptists. In this situation the only thing Dunca did was to organise the church. He held a meeting on Sunday, 26 th April and gave the example of the practices of Baptist Churches. According to his statement the necessary elements were prayer time and a worship service. 40 This practice continued through the years and, in time, Bible study was introduced. During the prayer time that lasted for an hour all the people from the church were expected to pray, beginning with those in the first benches and finishing with those in the last. During the worship service they sang some songs and read Bible texts - and it was the explanation of these Bible texts that formed one or more sermons. 41 This example, and the insistence that the church service should be held in a specific way, was part of Dunca’s organisational spirit and helped the church t