Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

conference in Moscow in 1977 in order to demonstrate idarity wi ir president. eae 25 years of East/West Baptist relations, it is difficult to detect any clear articulation of policy and goals by the international Baptist leaders. A primary reason was the lack of expertise on the Soviet ae Those few Baptist experts on the Soviet Union that did exist were ae su ciently utilized by the BWA because it lacked funds. As a Tesu t, the. secretary for Europe was left to his own ingenuity and he was in any as burdened with other tasks throughout Europe. A growing number oO 2 - ficial exchanges of delegations served to improve personal relations, and the Western visitors usually reported in the press on their personal impressions. But a more thorough, detailed reporting with recommendations based on lessons learned from previous trips or other information gained did not take Pe este Baptist relations were therefore shaped very much by the interests of the European secretaries. J. H. Rushbrooke had an intense interest in Russia. This strong interest was resumed by the Swedish Baptist Erik Ruden, who held the office during the sixties, and did attempt ae personal persuasion to bring about reconciliation between ciate Moscow. He was succeeded by the British leader, C. Ronald Goulding (1967-74). Goulding had little experience with the Soviet ar ase for some students at Spurgeons College where he had served as principal. During his time in office he visited the Soviet Union several times, ia i significant being his attendance as the only foreign observer at the AUCECB Congress.®> His reporting subsequently helped provide an oa side perspective on the congress, although his observations were limite ny reliance on translators and the uniqueness of the event. During his time in office, however, Goulding devoted much more energy to the developing conflict between church and state in Romania, where his intercession on be- half of Baptists with state officials brought some improvements. The Foreign Connection 375 Goulding was succeeded by the former general secretary of the German Baptist Federation, Gerhard Claas. Claas and his union had a long- standing active interest in the Soviet Union, knew many of the leaders per- sonally, and Claas was able to converse in German with leading persons outside the Moscow circle. Claas, due to his own initiative and the growing experience of the organization, has provided creative leadership with the goal of assisting in normalizing church-state relationships but more so to foster more theological depth in church life. Claas and other Baptist leaders were involved in attempts to assist in the creation of a seminary, by provid- ing guest lectures and library materials. The EBF introduced the Summer Institute of Theological Education whereby East European students could spend two summers of study at the Rtischlikon seminary and complete the remainder of the program by corresponde