Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

n many churches, the dea- 328 Soviet Evangelicals Since World War Il cons assist the presbyter in visitations with the membership and in generally caring for the spiritual welfare of the church. The office of evangelist was historically a very vital office in evangel- ical churches and was therefore held in high esteem. A major reason for the rapid growth in the 1920s was the work of the evangelist who was supported by groups of churches and assigned to specific districts to evangelize. The office of evangelist is not permitted legally since 1929, but it still functions. In registered churches some of the preachers are informally asked to serve as evangelists, which. means that they travel to neighboring villages for preaching services to small groups of people which are too small to register. Reform Baptists still place great emphasis on this office by maintaining a special department of evangelism. In the registered churches the evangelist is often an individual show- ing promise as a preacher. Weekend evangelistic trips are his apprentice- ship and later he may be encouraged to move to another community which is in need of a presbyter. The other preachers are not usually ordained. Ina large church, such as the AUCECB church in Novosibirsk with 1,000 members, there is at present a preaching corps of thirty-six persons.* All take their turn at preaching, although some are more active than others be- cause they are also deacons, choir leaders, or band leaders. Recently the word evangelist has once again appeared in Bratskii Vestnik. In connection with the question of improving relations with Pente- costals inside the union, both President Andrei Klimenko and the general secretary, Alexei Bychkov, urged the introduction of either assistant senior presbyters or evangelists who would devote their time exclusively to strengthening the unity of the brotherhood. Delegates approved the crea- tion of a department for evangelism and unity at the 1979 All-Union congress.‘ A little-noted but powerful source of leadership in the local congrega- tion is the executive committee. According to the law, it consists of three persons but may not include the presbyter. The executive committee is responsible for the nonspiritual aspects of congregational life. It negotiates the contract for the building, is responsible for repairs and maintenance and extension or remodeling when these become possible. In most evangelical churches, the non-ordained preachers are elected to the executive commit- tee so that its activities are included in the discussion at the regular meeting of ministers. The AUCECB sought to restrict the powers of this committee in a revised statute approved in December 1979 whereby all spiritual and policy-setting issues became the presbyter’s prerogative and the executive Children and Youth 329 ies s responsibility was limited to looking after