Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

eaders who provided its spiritual content were imprisoned. The CCECB published its own newspaper, Fraternal Leaflet, beginning’ in 1965, but it literally remained a leaflet appearing bimonthly. It took awhile for the Bulletin to become regular, but by 1974 it was appearing almost bimonthly. In the early years, the Bulletin varied between twenty-five and eighty pages of information, which had been laboriously hand-lettered and then duplicated by hectograph process. This also meant that each issue was hand-lettered numerous times onto stencils in order to attain the necessary circulation. Later most issues were typed but duplication remained a prob- lem. Almost all of the Bulletiny (up to No. 72 by the end of 1979) have reached the West and provide a major source for the history of the move- ment.®2 The Bulletin included letters from prisoners, copies of appeals to the state, biographical information and, at regular intervals, an updating of the prisoners’ list. Through its Bulletin, therefore, the CPR has emerged as second spokesman for the CCECB and reflects a more intense negativist tone than the CCECB itself. The fact that women dominate it also represents a prob- lem for the reformers. Reform Baptists even more than AUCECB members place a very heavy emphasis on the subordination of women and feel un- comfortable that women are often the de facto leaders of their movement. Reunification Rejected, 1964-1974 243 The Tula Congress Unity talks failed in 1969 but there was a mood of optimism, especially since many had completed their prison terms. CCECB officials submitted a request to the state authorities in Tula for permission to hold a congress, and, to their surprise, three days before the congress began on December 6, they received notice of official permission. This may have been an ignorant mistake by the Tula city council, although it is possible that the Moscow au- thorities were hopeful that the last session of joint talks between the two unions, which took place on December 4, might actually lead to reconcilia- tion. Another factor may have been that the state hoped hereby to gain more details of Initsiativniki activity. In any case, shortly thereafter per- mission was withdrawn and the CCECB has been treated as an illegal orga- nization by the Soviet authorities to the present day. One hundred and twenty persons representing Central Russia, the Urals, Siberia, Northern Caucasus, the Ukraine, Moldavia, Belorussia, the Baltic, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Azerbaidzhan, and Georgia met in the un- registered prayer house in Tula, which was the personal residence of N. L Vladykin.53 Kriuchkov opened the meeting with prayer, and communion followed. The agenda was not very long, and the one-day session lasted from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. The CCECB report was presented in two parts. M. T. Shaptala, presbyter in Khartsyzsk (Donetsk Oblast), had been elected to take temporary leadership while Kr