Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

ich was a summary of the legislation on cults which they had not promised to obey in all details when they first registered. In response, these churches returned their registration papers and the CCECB wamed all the churches to be certain to maintain full independence of their church from the state. New Frontiers 1. Clergy Education. Where the presbyter maintains a good relation- ship to the senior presbyter and listens to the counsel of brethren elected by the church, where the presbyter pays attention to the needs of the church, “there the work of unity is strengthened and the church grows spiritually and in numbers. ’’48 Such was the advice which Andrei Klimenko repeatedly gave to local leaders. The leaders were responsible for the spiritual life of the church, but they must not lord it over the members. During the anti-church campaign of the early sixties, the local church council consisting of laymen was given increased power in order to break the influence of the clergy. The AUCECB itself had been forced to issue a statute that dramatically strengthened the powers of the senior presbyter over against the local clergy but restricted the role of the senior presbyter to a non-preaching supervisor. Now, as pressures on them eased, the Moscow leadership placed heavy emphasis on restoring the spiritual role and in- fluence of both presbyter and senior presbyter. It was especially an em- phasis on leadership style. Style of leadership would be crucial for the future of a modern church no longer as ready to accept authoritarianism but look- ing for spiritual examples who could motivate them. When the seminary New Frontiers After 1974 437 would finally open its doors, it would be possible to train a handful of better quality workers, but most leaders would need to rely on available literature to teach themselves, 2. Church and Society. Russian evangelical pronouncements on church and society have often resembled a tightrope balancing act. As Alexander Karev reminded his listeners in 1969, all forms of social activity such as caring for orphans, the sick, the aged, and the needy, “have been taken over by the state which is carrying out this grand task fully. ... Therefore the church has no need to conduct this function.’’4? At the same time, since state officials were also concerned that religious sectarians should not be isolated from society, Bratskii Vestnik frequently advised local leaders to involve themselves in local cultural affairs.5° The Bible proclaims a strong message of Christian responsibility toward society—the Apostle James defining true religion as “to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world” (Jas. 1:27). These somewhat contradictory concerns meant that Soviet evangel- ical pronouncements on church and society were difficult to interpret. Alexander Karev wanted his listeners to be realistic. The Reform Baptists