Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

about as thoroughly as one could expect and many more went home convinced the AUCECB was sincerely striving for unity. Unfortunately, during all these painful ex- changes at the congress, no one could afford to accuse the chief culprit, the state with its administrirovanie. A New Free Church Statute Maybe the Initsiationiki would remain unconvinced but this congress finally completed the positive reformation of the AUCECB into a growth- oriented, forward-looking free church union. The constitutional revisions of 1966 were bolder and more thoroughgoing than those of 1963. The new constitution. demonstrated that congress delegates had successfully exerted their pressure and the cautious Moscow leadership could only retreat grace- fully and with sécret pleasure. A. I. Mitskevich, who introduced the revised statutes, pointed out that the new changes underlined the autonomy of the local church.5? Karev had already emphasized that the major changes focused on democratizing the leadership so that the senior presbyter would now be elected and would also receive a council to assist him. There were two other, much more funda- mental and daring changes, but perhaps the leaders thought that un- necessary publicity might antagonize the state. Whereas the 1963 statute had reaffirmed the spiritual role of the leaders, the 1966 changes restored biblicism in general. In a fashion similar to the CCECB’s statute, major sec- tions and subclauses were buttressed with biblical texts. Earlier the statute had stated that Holy Scripture was the basis of their confession of faith. To this they now added that it was also the basis for the life and activities of the union, albeit at one vital point concerning obedience to state laws, the quietist approach was emphasized by citing Romans 18. As a working church statute, another very significant change was the introduction of clauses spelling out what were the tasks and goals of the union, of the senior presbyters, and of the member churches. The new 216 Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II statute stated that the union had the task of putting into effect the prin- ciples and confession of faith, of fostering unity, and of maintaining purity of doctrine. Local congregations had as their primary goals preaching the gospel, teaching believers in holy living, and strengthening love and unity, Subtle word changes and additions reveal that major progress had been made in restricting state interference in internal church life. The brief declaration in paragraph 13 that head office workers must be church members must be seen as an attempt to oust the state-appointed watch- dogs. The introduction of open voting could help make delegates more honest before their peers—how they voted secretly was known to the au- thorities anyway. The statute also reflected an apparent increase in the legal rights of th