Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

re some signals pointing toward normalization. Dur- ing the 1970s the international world awakened to the fact that a major split had taken place. Although none of the Western church organizations abandoned their support for the AUCECB, a growing number were search- ing for ways to support the Initsiativniki as well. The dawning of 1970 also marked a watershed for the CCECB. Recon- ciliation talks had failed. They had held their one and only legal congress and had organized themselves for a wide-ranging sphere of activities. Most of their leaders would soon be behind bars again or hiding from the au- thorities. Would their full and total obedience to God ever be vindicated, they wondered. Notes to Chapter 7 1. BV 2/72, p. 74. Remark made by I. Ia. Tatarchenko. 2. As recalled by a participant (Umsiedler interview data). 3. W. C. Fletcher, Religion and Soviet Foreign Policy 1945-1970 (London: Oxford University Press, 1973), pp. 94-97; BV 1/62, pp. 12-17. 4. See below, chapter 18, p. 365. 5. Between 1959 and 1963 Bratskii Vestnik referred directly or indirectly to 21 churches that had to seek new quarters; problems in 22 churches (18 of them in 1962-63). There were 46 leadership changes without reason given or because the presbyter was considered unsatisfactory by the senior presbyter. Ina further 22 cases leadership conflicts were reported: The senior presbyters most frequently reporting were: A. P. Miroshnichenko (Crimea), reporting seven times; I. D. Shavyrin (Belgorod), P. A. Parchevskii (Kharkov), and G. G. Ponurko (Dnepropetrovsk), reporting six times; K. L. Kolibabchik (Kherson and Nikolaev), K. S. Sevashko (Grodno), D, I. Ponomarchuk (Moldavia), M. S. Vashchuk (Central Asia), Z. N. Golik (Chernovitsy), R. R. Podgaiskii (Stavropol) and M. I. Sorokin (Kursk), report- ing five times. E. N. Raevskii from Eastern Siberia made no report between 1961 and 1963 and G. M. Buzynin of the Middle Volga region had not: reported since 1957. Such data can only be indicative since other senior presbyters may have reported quarterly as required but the fact of publishing excerpts from the reports indicated Moscow support. When I. Ia. Kaliuzhnyi icky) reported (4 times), it usually involved a list of churches where the context indicates that he had enforced the Moscow line with toughness and had exerted his influence in local leadership changes. 6. BV 6/63, p. 13. 7. AS 770, p. 52. 224 Soviet Evangelicals Since World War i] 8. BV 6/63. Unless specifically indicated, the following conference details are based on this official report. Initsiationiki supporter M. T. Shaptala, preacher in Khartsyzsk (Donets Oblast), was listed as a guest. The reformer ’s report is available in AS 770, pp. 121-136. 9. This was the last congress where the names and addresses of all representa- tives were listed in the official report. 10. AS 770, pp. 128-4. On Rovno statistics see BV 3-4/54, p. 67; 5/5