Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

mutual understanding and unity between Christians and nations.’”'? He added that objective foreign religious workers “correctly evaluate the life and service of our churches.”’!4 Such workers recognized that: _ One must say that socialism brought material blessings to a great many people in Eastern Europe.... They are happy to find themselves in their country as good patriots, and they strive to do all in their power to be true to their Christian faith and to their Lord and Savior." Those who did not correctly evaluate their life were individual religious figures who “do not like the socialist system. 1 In the local churches there had been growth. Thirty thousand members had joined in the past five years. During the same period more than 50 congregations received registration, although 22 village congrega- tions closed down because their older members died or moved. Urbaniza- tion was the major factor. But there were also new regions in Siberia and Kazakhstan, where congregations were newly established, but there was a shortage of church workers. The report on unity was not very extensive, because there was little progress to report. Since 1969 they had appealed four times to the CCECB to resume discussions on reconciliation, but had received no replies. The CCECB continued to issue statements strongly attacking the AUCECB. An outside observer looking carefully at both sides could only conclude that the will for reconciliation was fading, both sides maintaining nonnegotiable conditions, Bychkov read the full text of a letter sent to M. T. Shaptala in- viting the CCEGB to participate in the preparation for the Congress and went on to state that on November 80 they had received a letter in reply which Bychkov felt unable to read because of its “unbrotherly style.” !7 But he tried to answer the four-point CCECB objection to participation. To postpone the Congress as the CCECB suggested was no use, he said, as had already been demonstrated in 1969. But he could announce that in October 1974 the AUCEGB Presidium had appealed to the Supreme Court of the USSR to show mercy and leniency towards believers on trial, and he New Frontiers After 1974 421 claimed that senior presbyters were reporting that “many brethren were released. '8 To recognize the legality of the CCECB was, however, not within their competence, Bychkov said. Delegates Want More In a church setting with so many delegates and guests, genuine dis- cussion would have been difficult in any case. What did follow consisted much more of set speeches; as usual the first ones were by key leaders such as the new Ukrainian senior presbyter, Jacob K. Dukhonchenko, who gave additional statistical information about church life in their regions, Of the 34 persons who managed to speak before time ran out, a significant number devoted themselves to short statistical surveys of church life in their area and to expressions of appreciation for the work