Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

esult in another split in their union and neither they nor the authorities want that. Atheist scholars predict a new crisis for evangelicals because they will lose the young people to secularism. As long as the presbyter and other believers demonstrate the moral courage and charisma which the atheist evangelist appears to lack, young people will be attracted to the church. The problem emerges as the Christian youth seek to apply the social message of the gospel. Leaders like Bychkov have been urging believers to cooperate with social institutions locally in helping build a more just society. But there are many evangelicals who fear such involvement as a surrender to worldliness. As Soviet society continues to become less ideological, more consumer-oriented, and more influenced by Western culture, it will be- 472 Soviet Evangelicals Since World War Il come increasingly difficult to distinguish what is worldly and what is Chris- tian. Those are the concerns behind the heavy emphasis on clergy educa- tion that one heard at the last AUCECB congress. Alexei Bychkov an- nounced that future students in the correspondence course should be persons with a better-quality secular education, persons who were prepared to work hard at their studies. But they must also be persons willing to be sent to places of need, not simply to provide extra help in the strong central city churches. Alexei Bychkov also announced a major project to translate a New Testament Bible commentary series into Russian. That should help the present untrained clergy improve the quality of the sermons which constitute the main nurture for Christians facing a complicated world. Reform Baptists still argue that the only way to have a reliable church is to have no relations with state officials, claiming that the AUCECB leaders in Moscow still live with compromise. Some workers in the Moscow offices were sharply criticized at the 1979 congress because their integrity was in doubt. Leadership continues to be a fundamental problem. To out- side observers, the quality of leadership in the AUCECB has been improv- ing and the number of senior presbyters distrusted by their membership has _ decreased. New ‘council and presidium members added in 1979 will improve the leadership image among the members. Perhaps the most able leaders are prevented from serving in elected office due to state constraints, but that, too, seems to be less true than formerly. Leadership for both AUCECB and CCECB churches is more a burden than a joy. The context of decision-making as described in this book is such that few leaders enjoy the full trust of the members or of their colleagues. Reform Baptist leaders have become factionalized because they cannot fully trust each other except in prison. It seemed apparent at the 1979 congress that well-meant efforts by AUCECB leaders were sometimes misconstrued. Fortunately the New Test