Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

eason he was officially responsible in the eyes of the authorities for everything done by the AUCECB. That was what made the task so burdensome. The general secretary, as in the state apparatus, has great executive powers, but Klimenko as president has been able to exert a definite leadership role. Klimenko, for example, presented the major report to the annual meetings of the AUCECB plenum on the spiritual state of the churches. By reporting and identifying problems, he helped shape the agenda of the churches. Often he offered very specific advice, virtually directives to all the presbyters and members. Why would the churches follow him? Klimenko has only eighth-grade education and preaches very simple sermons, This is the chief reason for his popularity. He is a man of the people who feels deeply for the individual church member. At conferences and in local churches his deep concern for the spiritual tone of the churches was very evident. Regularly he offered advice for the presbyters. He em- phasized that the church ordinances should be conducted with appropriate respect. He has also gained a reputation as a skillful adviser in local conflict situations. His is a quiet, steadying influence. His chief quality is that they trust him. 8, Other Leaders. Jacob K. Dukhonchenko, as the senior presbyter for the Ukraine, is responsible for 46 percent of the entire membership. He is assisted by four deputies and assistants and a 15-member presbyter council. His region is divided into 25 oblasts with a senior presbyter at the head of each. Dukhonchenko is a younger man (late forties) whose initially most striking feature is his girth. A more lasting impression is his personal warmth and a simple faith that expresses itself by inviting the visitor to pause for a moment of prayer before beginning the discussion. Dukhonchenko, who graduated from an institute as an engineer, initially served as a presbyter in Zaporozh’e before becoming senior presbyter for the Zaporozh’e Oblast in 1968. In a surprise move, Ukrainian delegates elected him to replace N. N. Mel nikov as senior presbyter for the entire Ukraine at the pre-congress conference in 1974, That meant he would also be elected first vice-president of the AUCECB. Dukhonchenko’s popularity continues to increase and he could have been elected president New Frontiers After 1974 433 in 1979 had he agreed. Because his power base and residence is in the Ulaaine, his role on the presidium has been a secondary one. Although not well educated theologically himself, one of his major concerns is the in- troduction of more educated and capable leadership. He has also shown concern to provide this leadership with theological study aids. Dukhonchenko’s deputy in Kiev, Ivan S. Gnida, now moves to Moscow to become the assistant general secretary, replacing the retiring A. I. Mitskevich. It is an exact parallel to Mitskevich’s own move to Moscow from Kiev in 1956,