Protestant Theological Education in the Former Soviet Union

Mark Elliott

ittle can be said on the subject of formal Protestant in the 1960s, General Secretary Karev commissioned Alexei L theological education for most of the Soviet era because, Bychkov, a construction engineer and future AUCECB general for almost the entire history of the USSR, it did not exist. Between secretary, to translate into Russian additional materials for cor­ 1917 and 1928 Soviet authorities closed all fifty-nine Russian respondence courses." Finally, the Kremlin gave permission in Orthodox seminaries and the four Orthodox academies. Between 1968 for the AUCECB to launch a correspondence program. This 1944 and 1947 eight Orthodox seminaries and two academies new possibility, clearly a carrot thrown to registered churches reopened, but only three seminaries and the two academies even as dissident Baptists were feeling the stick, proved to be a survived the Khrushchev antireligious campaign of 1959-64. major step forward however modest it might appear from a Following the wartime Soviet annexation of the Baltic States, Western perspective. Texts for the new program came from the western Ukraine, and western Belorussia, the Kremlin closed 1950s courses,fromBychkov's translations,from mimeographed almost all Catholic seminaries, allowing only one in Lithuania Bratskii vestnik articles, and from Moody Bible Institute (MBI) and one in Latvia to remain open.' courses." As for Protestants, the Evangelical Christians and the Bap­ Materials from this Chicago-based institution made their tists jointly operated two Bible schools in Leningrad and Moscow way to evangelical Christians in the Soviet Union in 1961 via, of from 1924to 1928,whileAdventistsmaintained twoBible schools all places, Argentina. The first Russian Bible Institute in the West, in Kiev (1921-29)and Rostov-on-Don (1925-29).Also, in the 1970s which began in Benito, Manitoba, in 1942, and transferred to and 1980s Lutherans had use of a small theological institute in Toronto,Ontario,in 1943,helpedlauncha sisterschoolin Rosario, Tallinn, Estonia. Prior to glasnost, that was the sum of the story.' Argentina, in 1944because of the presence of three to five million For many decades the only training available to would-be Slavic immigrants in the La Plata republics (Argentina, Para­ evangelical pastors was trial-and-error pulpitpractice and pasto­ guay, and Uruguay). Konstantin Lewshenia and Mary Beechik ral apprenticeship under a senior presbyter. Even tutorial read­ Fewchuk, graduates of Moody Bible Institute who were teaching ing programs were extremely difficult to manage because of the at the Latin American Russian Bible Institute, and Slavic Gospel scarcity of Christian literature. Associationmissionaries AndrewandPaulineSemenchuk,trans­ In 1945 newly united Evangelical Christians-Baptists (ECB) lated MBI correspondence texts for use with their students. Here gained permission to publish Bratskii vestnik (Fraternal herald), is the explanation for how essentially Arminian Evangelical the first Protestant periodical since the 1920s. General Secretary Christians-Baptists came to rely heavily on works of a dispensa­ Alexander Karev and AssistantGeneralSecretaryA. I. Mitskevich tional school for their theological education." saw to it that this sole publication for the ECB faithful included a Authorities limited correspondence enrollment to 100 per maximum of didactic articles for the instruction of pastors. The year until 1976, when the number increased to 150. By 1979, a initial monthly print run of 3,000 increased to 6,000 in 1974, and total of 272 pastors had completed the correspondence program to 10,000 in 1978. Since for decades the circulation was too small in dogmatics, exegetics, the Bible, pastoral theology, homiletics, even to provide every pastor with a subscription, each copy church and ECB history, and the USSR constitution.'? Neverthe­ circulated widely. Also, it was not uncommon for Bratskii vestnik less, modest state concessions to registered churches in the 1960s to be read from the pulpit prior to services.' and 1970s could not begin to satisfy pastors' needs for a better A number of ECB pastors from the Baltic States who had understanding of the Bible and evangelical faith. Only in 1987 received Bible school or seminary training prior to Soviet annex­ did Adventists, through arduous negotiations, secure state per- ation of their countries made significant contributions to Bratskii vestnik and hence to informal theological education. Estonian Oswald Tiark, with a master's of theology degree from New Between 1990 and 1992, York's Columbia University, not only contributed to Bratskii vestnikbut organized seminars and correspondence courses and evangelicals in the former wrote commentaries on Mark, Romans, and Ephesians, which Soviet Union founded circulated in Russian as well as Estonian.' Four pastors studied at a Baptist college in England, 1957-59, forty-four new Bible and twenty-three others studied abroad in England, Germany, schools and seminaries. Sweden, and Canada from the late 1960s to 1976. But these few allowed to study abroad could in no way satisfy the huge need overall for evangelical theological education." mission to establish a residential theological studies program." In the 1950s the All Union Council of Evangelical Christians­ Evangelicals' pent-upfrustrations over sevendecades of varying Baptists (AUCECB) quietly prepared eight mimeographed combinations of persecution, repression, and discrimination ex­ courses, which circulated secretlyamong selected pastors.6 Later, ploded between 1990 and 1992 in a frenzy of activity leading to thefounding of someforty-four additional programs of theologi­ cal education."Withfew exceptionstheseProtestantBibleschools MarkElliottis Professor ofHistoryand Director oftheInstitute forEast- West and seminaries still lack texts, libraries, permanentfaculties, and Christian Studies,BillyGraham Center, Wheaton College. Heis coeditor ofthe permanentfacilities. Nevertheless, theypossessstaffwithexcep­ East-West Christian Organizations Directory (1993) and the East-West tional dedication, infectious enthusiasm, and high hopes, and Church and Ministry Report. their students are extraordinarily eager to learn. Many Western

14 INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY RESEARCH seminaries, with incomparably greater material assets, would be Adventists, with approximately 80,000 members, have the most justified in being envious. favorable ratio of seminarians to membership. Even though this investigation focuses on residential cen­ Profile of the Present Situation ters, it should be noted that a majority of pastors presently are receiving their training through correspondence courses, which Nineteen Protestant residential Bible schools and seminaries will probably be true for several years to come. report 1,667 students currently enrolled in programs of at least Correspondence Program No. Enrolled one year in length. The eight largest institutions have 100 to 220 Biblical Education by Extension (BEE), 2,000 students each, while the next eleven in size enroll 18 to 75 including 700 ECB pastors in the Russian students each. (See Appendix.) These figures do not account for Republic scores of institutions for which enrollment data are not yet available. Nor do they includewell over1,000 students receiving International Correspondence Institute 714 instruction in three-week to six-month courses (Victory Bible (Pentecostal) Institute and Korean Methodist Bible School)." And they do not Moscow Correspondence Bible Institute 200 include over three thousand pastors studying by correspon­ dence in at least five programs. Lutheran Theological Institute 100 The level of instruction in the new residential schools, in the Apocalypse (Logos-related interdenominational 90 majority of cases, approximates that received in Western, fresh­ program in Krasnodar) man-level college or university courses, simply because few believers under Communism had a chance to receive a univer­ Adventist 80 sity-level education. An increasing number of new believers with higher education may change this if, as seems likely, they Total 3,184 enter seminaries in increasing numbers. Protestant theological programs, not surprisingly, tend to be Higher costs for residential programs, the size of the country, concentrated in larger cities, with the capitals of Moscow, Kiev, transportation problems, and the difficulty pastors with church and Riga having especially strong enrollments. Several pro­ and family responsibilities face in leaving home for extended grams have moved, or are moving, to St. Petersburg and Kiev periods necessitate the continuation of strong correspondence from smaller cities: Logos from Belorechensk to St. Petersburg; programs, at least in the near term.'? Still, residential programs St. James from Koresten to Kiev; and Donetsk Bible College from are in great demand. Many schools can accommodate only a Donetsk to Kiev. small portion of their applicants. Ukrainian institutions command attention because of their disproportionately large number and size. Ukrainians in the Priorities of National Seminaries former Soviet Union number 52 million, whereas Russians num­ ber 147 million, yet Ukraine has slightly more Protestant semi­ On February 11, 1993, the Overseas Council for Theological nary students than Russia (606 versus 595). Also, Kiev, which is Education and Missions, Peter Deyneka Russian Ministries, and a fraction of Moscow's size, has a third more Protestant seminary Wheaton College's Institute for East-West Christian Studies students (381 compared to 281, if the Donetsk school, which is sponsored a conference in Moscow attended by thirty-eight moving to Kiev, is counted in the totals). And Moscow's largest Russians and Ukrainians representing twenty-two new Protes­ Protestant institution is only the eighth largest in the former tant Bible schools and seminaries. In that meeting seminary Soviet Union. delegates expressed more concern for quality, affordable course Before the breakup of the USSR, the strength of Orthodox, texts than they did for any other need." For example, Anatolii Catholic,and Protestantchurchesin Ukraine led WilliamFletcher Glukhovskii of the New Life Theological School in Kiev reported to label it the Bible Belt of the Soviet Union." For example, nearly that his students currently had texts for only seven of fifteen 50 percent of Adventists in the former USSR reside in Ukraine, courses." versus 21 percent in Russia; 50 percent of Evangelical Christians­ A number of challenges face those who would seek to Baptists reside in Ukraine, versus 33 percent in Russia; and 67 remedy this shortage: percent of Pentecostals reside in Ukraine, versus 3 percent in Russia." Yet the striking concentration of believers in Ukraine is 1. As yet, no single master list exists for Christian titles not matched with availableChristian literature, eitherin terms of available in the various languages of the former Soviet quantities published in-country or in terms of materials im­ Union. ported from the West. In 1987-88, for example, only 8 percent of 2. Nor does a clearinghouse exist to provide bibliographic the copies of Scripture published in, or imported into, the USSR control for translations in progress. The potential for waste were in the Ukrainian language. And in 1992 the United Bible (and for confusion over copyright issues) was illustrated at Societies imported two and a half times as many Scriptures and the February theological. education conference as two Scripture portions into Russia as they did into Ukraine (1,999,581 schools (Zaoksky and Odessa) reported that each recently versus 777,202).16 Assuming thatChristian literature in general is had completed translations of WilliamSanford LaSor's Old being supplied in the same proportions, it is easy to see the added Testament Suroeq." burden Ukrainian institutions face in procuring texts and in 3. Most titles available in translation are not presently in developing libraries. print, or available copies cannot begin to service present As for denominational affiliation, the new schools include seminary needs. some 535 Pentecostal and 530 Baptist students. Lutherans, with 4. Fewer than 400 Protestant works have been in print in over a half million members, would appear to have the least Russian in recentyears, and fewer than 100Protestanttitles favorable ratio of seminarians to membership. Conversely, in Ukrainian." Historians often note that the Reformation

January 1994 15 had little or no impact in sixteenth- and seventeenth­ The following six suggestions seem best to take account of century Russia, with ramifications to the present day. For present needs and also risks: example, only in 1992-93 were such Protestant classics as John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion and John 1. Encourage study abroad only for especially talented, ma­ Wesley's Standard Sermons being translated into Russian." ture, and dedicated pastors targeted for teaching positions, 5. Available titles would be suitable for only a limited num­ preferably those who would not bring their families with ber of classes, since most are devotional or evangelistic in them to the West. The costs entailed in more trips home nature. would be preferable to the financial and cultural costs of 6. A number of delegates at the February 1993 conference family residence in the West. noted that the quality of translations too often is poor. 2. Utilizeextensionprogramsandcompetencytests to shorten 7. Many schools as yet lack a sufficiently broad exposure to the length of Western instruction. the range of evangelical literature to ensure the choice of 3. Encouragecompletionof M.A. programs,rather thanlonger the best texts for varying purposes and levels of instruc­ M.Div. programs or doctoral programs. Doctorates prob­ tion. ably will be desired more than they will be needed for at least the first decade of residential seminary education in If texts are in short supply, libraries must be but a dream. the former Soviet Union. Comparedwiththe St. PetersburgOrthodoxSeminaryandAcad­ 4. Encourage Western church and parachurch groups and emy Library, with300,000 volumes, the largest Protestant collec­ seminaries and the churches of the former Soviet Union to tion is the Zoaksky Adventist Seminary, with 12,000 volumes." join forces in establishing perhaps a single Russian and a Other collections presently exist only as projections, or number singleUkrainiangraduate-level Protestanttheological pro­ in the hundreds, or have hefty percentages of less accessible gram in order to foster the contextualization of seminary English-language works or less relevant nontheological titles. education and to minimize the theological brain drain. If few pastors as yet have had the benefit of a seminary 5. Encourage Western institutions to work together in education, it is to be expected that individuals qualified to teach strengthening a few graduate-level programs in the former in Protestantseminaries would be especially rare. Consequently, Soviet Union by means of coordinated faculty postings in for the timebeing,every Protestant seminaryin the former Soviet the East and cooperative credit from Western degree pro­ Unionis relyingheavilyuponinstructors from the West. Thevast grams. majority of the guest lecturers teach through interpreters. Ac­ 6. Invest more resources in Western faculty teaching in the cording to seminary representatives at the February conference, East, especially those with relevant language skills, and in addition to this handicap, many Western instructors lack less in student scholarships for study in the West. sufficient appreciation for Russian, Ukrainian, and Baltic history At the February theological education conference, seminary and culture, a problem that better orientation could help to representatives emphasized their concerns for (1) an organiza­ correct." tion to facilitate ongoing sharing of information and coordina­ For years to come a serious obstacle to contextualized Prot­ tion, (2) permanent facilities, (3) financial support, and (4) the estant theological education in the former Soviet Union will be establishment of seminary accreditation standards. Delegates the lack of indigenous believers qualified for seminary teaching hoped for help from abroad through a process of East-West positions. Consequently, the question of how best to prepare interaction, rather than Western dictation. Indeed, the issue of Russian, Ukrainian, and Baltic seminary faculty deserves careful outside assistance, and how best to effect it, is bound to loom study. In recent decades a lack of judicious screening of students large. Comments to this effect in Kohl's theological education for seminary study in Europe and North America has precipi­ survey make this clear: tated a crippling Third World theological brain drain. The per­ centage of seminarians not returning from study abroad is esti­ • We want to know what is going on ... what is available. mated to be as high as 75 percent from Colombia, 85 percent from • How can we become part of the loop? the Caribbean, and 90 percent from India." It is hoped that • We are hungry and thirsty for information and fellowship. Western seminaries will keep this danger in mind as they accept • We do not want everything to be given to us, but we must students from Soviet successor states." know what is available. • We do not want ready-made Western Christianity to be Principles for Moving Forward dumped on us. We would love to have the tools, and then we will work it out for ourselves." Many church leaders in the former Soviet Union already have concluded that lengthy studyabroad may provecounterproduc­ Prudent assistance from abroad will focus on aid that will tive, even assuming students return home. For example, in a minimize long-term dependency. To date, unfortunately, only recent survey of Protestant theological educators in the former Adventists seem to have taken this concern to heart. Their Eastern bloc, World Vision Germany director Manfred Kohl Zaoksky Seminary includes a fifty-five-acre farm, greenhouses, discovered overwhelming support for training in-country and a canning plant, and a printing press, which not only supply the greatwariness concerning the consequencesof studyabroad. (Of needs of their communitybutproduce revenue for the supportof forty-eight respondents, twenty-three favored in-country resi­ the institution. Most theological education programs not only dence programs, twenty-four favored correspondence courses, lack income-producing auxiliary services but also feel obligated and only one favored study abroad.) In his 1992 interviews Kohl to abide by the long-standing, even pre-Revolution, custom of noted consistent opposition to theological training in the West, awarding student stipends above and beyond the Western prac­ which was expressed "very politely, but very strongly.?" It thus tice of tuition scholarships. The lack of part-time or summer behooves educators and church leaders, East and West, to pro­ employment for students, compounded by growing unemploy­ ceed with caution. ment and inflation, does not help the problem."

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Biola University · 13800 Biola Avenue ' LaMirada, California ' 90639-000 1 Information sharing and greater coordination will be vital if 1. National delegates formed four committees to continue evangelicalChristians are to avoid working at cross-purposes, as discussions onliteraturedevelopment (for course texts and in the case of indigenous versus Western study, and to avoid libraries), faculty development, a future theological educa­ needless duplication, as in the case of the two translations of the tion conference, and information sharing and coordina­ same Old Testament textbook. Yet meaningful cooperation will tion. be a daunting task, even assuming that both parties, East and 2. Delegates appointed a small group of Russians and Ukrai­ West, see thebenefit. To startwith, the numbers alone compound nians to work with Dr. Peter Kuzmic of the Evangelical the challenge of working together. Twenty-five indigenous Prot­ Theological Institute, Osijek, Croatia, to help organize a estant denominations" and close to a thousand indigenous 1994 conference on theological education in East Central parachurch missions and charities now function in the former Europe and Soviet successor states. Soviet Union." Also, approximately 700 Western church and 3. Peter Deyneka Russian Ministries volunteered to organize parachurchministriescurrentlyworkin EastCentralEuropeand a representative committee to select twenty texts already the former Soviet Union." No less than fifty Western organiza­ available in Russian that would be reprinted for 1993-94 tions are assisting new Protestant schools. At the Moscow theo­ classes. (The Overseas Council will administer a grant logical education conference alone forty-six representatives of awarded in June 1993 for the purpose of launching the twenty-seven different Western church and parachurch bodies reprint project. Full funding would involve the reprinting gathered for the day. of twenty texts per year for five years.) The February meeting provided a helpful illustration of 4. Peter Deyneka Russian Ministries agreed to coordinate a evangelical, but otherwise doctrinally diverse, groups working comprehensive Christian literature survey project, includ­ together. Evangelical Christian-Baptist, Pentecostal, Mennonite, ing evaluations, with the assistance of David C. Cook Adventist, and Presbyterian delegates chose to stress their com­ Foundation, Mission Forum's Literature Information Ser­ mon concerns for training and equipping leaders rather than vice, and Wheaton College's Institute for East-West Chris­ their theological differences. And Western participants chose to tian Studies." listen at length to the priorities of Russian and Ukrainian repre­ 5. The Christian Resource Center, Moscow, agreed to pro­ sentatives rather than recite what the West thought best. vide administrative oversight for a projected theological Indigenous and Western leaders working together took the library that would not be associated with anyone denomi­ following concrete steps: nation butwould be open to all seminary students, includ­ Noteworthy

Personalia

We are pleased to announcethe appointmentofTiteTienou odistminister,beganhis careeras a missionaryin SouthKorea. as a contributing editor of the INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MIS­ The United Church Board for World Ministries (successor SIONARY RESEARCH. He is President and Dean of the Faculte de to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis­ Theologie Evangelique de l' Alliance Chreticnne in Abidjan, sions) has elected David Y. Hirano as executive vice-presi­ Cote d'Ivoire. Earlier he served for four years as founder and dent. Hirano, a product of the mission of the American Board, director of Institut Maranatha in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkino is the first Asian American to head the denomination's world Faso, and for the last nine years (1984-1993) as professor of ministries board. He succeeds Scott S. Libbey who retired theology and missiology at Alliance Theological Seminary, December 31, 1993. Nyack, New York. Dr. Tienou is an ordained minister of the Katherine B. Hockin, missionary leader in the United Christian and Missionary Alliance. Church of Canada, died on April 24, 1993. She was 83. Born to Walter Riggans will become the General Director of the missionary parents in Western China, she was raised in China Church's Ministry Among the Jews (CMJ) effective August 1, and also served there as a United Church worker in the 1940s. 1994. From 1977 to 1981 he served as the Church of Scotland Later she worked with the Student Christian Movement, the ministerin Tiberias, Israel. From1981to 1986he wasa member Canadian Council of Churches, and the United Church of of the CMJ staff in Israel, serving as a pastor at Christ Church, Canada. The INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN published her autobio­ Jerusalem, and as the director of the Hebrew Language Study graphical reflections "My Pilgrimage in Mission" in January Centre at Immanuel House, Jaffa. Since 1986 he has been the 1988. Tutor in Biblical and Jewish Studies at All Nations Christian College, Hertfordshire, England. Announcing James T. Laney, President of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, has been appointed by President Bill Clinton as U.S. The long-awaited Index 1912-1990 to the International Review Ambassador to the Republic of Korea. Laney, a United Meth­ of Mission, compiled by A. Christopher Smith, has been pub­

18 INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY RESEARCH ing Orthodox and Catholic, as a means of bridge-building. study in Russian, will they want to? Should they have to? Copies of works collected in the Russian Ministries survey Over time, will it be politic for schools there to depend on project would be deposited in the new Moscow library, at Russian-language instruction?34 an as yet undetermined institution in Kiev, and in the Billy 4. For better or worse, assistance from abroad will prove Graham Center Library at Wheaton College. (A grant vital in the development of residential programs (which proposal is pending for development of the Moscow and require literature, libraries, faculty, and buildings), justas Kiev theological collections.) it was vital in the development of correspondence pro­ grams earlier. 5. Generational tensions in church leadership likely will be Projections heightened with better-educated younger pastors and laypeople seeing church life differently from older lead­ Finally, a number of projections would seem reasonably safe to ers and laity, who outlived the state assault without make, notwithstanding the fluid and volatile politics and eco­ benefilofeducation. nomics of Soviet successor states. 6. Finally, nondenominational schools (with an enrollment of 366 at present) are likely to grow in importance as 1. In all probability, correspondence programs, as noted, will Western and indigenous parachurch groups plant more continue to service n1any students, especially if economic and more churches that are neither Baptist nor Pentecos­ conditions continue to deteriorate. tal, per se.35 2. Continuing political decentralization and fragmentation and growing nationalism will make it increasingly prob­ Protestant theological education is emerging in the former lematic for individual seminaries to draw students from Soviet Union in a manner unique in the history of Reformation many republics. Simply put, crossing borders may grow churches. Never before, and nowhere else, have Protestants ever more difficult. The Russian Orthodox Seminary and launched as many formal theological training programs as Academy in St. Petersburg and the Zaoksky Adventist rapidly as they have in Soviet successor states-and what is Seminary already see this as a significant problem. doubly unprecedented, they started from a base of zero. Much 3. The need for more Christian literature in Ukrainian will that is positive can be said for the vision, enthusiasm, and increase. Even if 21 percent of Ukraine's population is energy of the new theological educators in the East, and for the Russian, and even if a majority of students in Ukraine can willingness of an array of Western evangelical church and

lished and sent to all current subscribers of the journal. Those Images of Mission." The Association of Professors of Mis­ wishing to purchase copies may do so through the publica­ sionwill meetJune 16-17at the same placein conjunctionwith tions office of the World Council of Churches, P.O. Box 2100, the ASM. The theme of their meeting will be "Integrating 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland. The price is SFr 17.50/$11.95/ Spirituality." Mary Motte, F.M.M., of the Mission Resource £6.95. Center in North Providence, Rhode Island, is president of the A new Institute for Mission Studies, sponsored by ASM, and Jonathan Bonk of Providence College and Semi­ Concordia Theological Seminary, a theological school of the nary in Otterburne, Manitoba, is president of the APM for Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, has been established in 1993-94. For further information and registration for both St. Louis, Missouri. Robert Kolb is the first director. The meetings, contact George R. Hunsberger, Western Theologi­ institute will provide intensive mission-related study pro­ cal Seminary, 86 East 12th Street, Holland, Michigan 49423. grams for seminarians and missionaries, as well as for pastors In a restructuring of the World Council of Churches in and lay workers from other countries. 1992, the former Commission on World Mission and Evange­ The Board of Trustees of the Maryknoll School of Theol­ lism (CWME) became part of Program Unit II: Mission, Edu­ ogy has approved the creation of a Center for Mission Re­ cation, and Witness (MEW). There has been some further search at Maryknoll, New York. The task of the new center is rearrangement and retitling within the units. Unit II, whose to investigate the trends, contexts, and challenges of mission executive director is Ana Langerak, is now named Life, and to foster reflection on their practical implications. The Education, and Mission (LEM). It includes the following center, now in its formative stage, is composed of two interre­ offices: lated units: the historical research unit, and the contemporary Churches' Action for Health (formerly Christian Medical mission research unit. The core staff of the center is presently Commission) made up of two senior researchers-Thomas Bamat, a soci­ Education for All God's People ologist, and Jean-Paul Wiest, a historian. A third senior re­ Mission and Evangelism in Unity searcher is being sought. Gospel and Culture and the Theological Significance of The American Society of Missiology will hold its 1994 Other Faiths annual meeting on June 17-19,at TechnyTowers, Illinois (near Community and Justice (formerly Urban-Rural Mission). Chicago). The themeof the meetingwill be "ImagesofChurch-

January 1994 19 parachurch agencies to assist. As the same time, sober reflection Appendix would suggest that too many institutions have been founded The following table lists the nineteen Protestant Bible schools and without sufficient consideration (1) for the advisability of col­ seminaries known in the former Soviet Union that currently offer a laborative efforts in the expensive and labor-intensive areas of training program at least one year in length. faculty, text, and library development; and (2) for the need to ponder the pitfalls and lessons to be gleaned from the history of Date of Protestant theological education. Seminaries in Soviet successor Name Affiliation" Founding Location Enrollment states should consider carefully Western models and Western Calvary Bible Institute P Jan. 1991 Riga, Latvia 220 Zaoksky Theological Seminary" A 1987 Zaoksky, Russia 170 Odessa Bible College andTheological Seminary" ECB Oct. 1991 Odessa, Ukraine 160 St. James Bible College N (75% P) Apr. 1991 Kiev, Ukraine 132 Protestant theological Baptist Theological Seminary" ECB 1991 Kiev 129 education is emerging in Logos Christian College" ~ Oct. 1990 St. Petersburg, 114 Russia the former Soviet Union in Riga Lutheran Seminary L Riga 110 a manner unique in the Victory Theological Instituteb P Oct. 1992 Moscow, Russia 102 Bible Training Schoolb,c P Oct. 1991 Moscow 75 history of Reformation Lutheran Theological Institute L Tallinn, Estonia 70 Theological Seminary ofChristians churches. ofEvangelical Faithb P 1990 Temopol, Ukraine 65 NewLife Theological School" N Aug. 1992 Kiev 62 Donetsk Bible College" N 1991 Donetsk, Ukraine 58 b money and what both entail. Western involvement could sap Moscow Theological Institute P Oct. 1992 Moscow 54 Baptist Training Center" ECB 1991 Moscow 50 vitality, foster dependency, and replicate the debilitating Third Temple oftheGospel Seminary ECB Mar. 1991 St. Petersburg 30 World-First World theological brain drain, if assistance is not Theological Faculty, measured, culturally nuanced, and carefully coordinated. University ofTartu L Tartu, Estonia 28 The February 1993 Moscow Conference on Theological Edu­ Latvian Baptist Seminary ECB Riga 20 cation offered encouraging evidence of a spirit of cooperation, Estonian Baptist Seminary ECB Oct. 1989 Tartu 18 both among indigenous churches and seminaries, and between Total 1,667 them and Western participants. That spirit will need to be trans­ a Denominational affiliations areasfollows: A = Adventist, ECB = Evangelical Christian­ lated into many concrete, collaborative efforts if evangelical Baptist, L=Lutheran, N =Nondenominational, andP =Pentecostal. Christians in the former Soviet Union are to see lasting growth bRepresented at theMoscow conference on theological education, February 1993. fostered by its first generation of theologically trained leaders. cSponsored byBethany World Prayer Center andGulf States Mission Agency.

Notes------­ Theauthor's notesfrom meetingsand interviewsheldin February and March Evangelical Christians-Baptists in the USSR, As Reflected in the 1993proved helpfulat a numberof points. Sources includePeterDeyneka, Jr., BratskiiVestnik" (Ph.D. diss., University ofStrasbourg, 1978), pp. 43­ Anatolii Glukhovskii, Ludmilla Gorbuzova, Jack Graves, Terry Henshaw, 45. Manfred Kohl, Mikhail Kulakov, Jr.,Anne Kull, PeterPenner,Heigo Ritsbek 6. Peter Deyneka, [r., in William S. Covington, [r., "Consultation on (November 14, 1991), Terry Schnake, Andrew Semenchuk, IgorTsiupak,and Theological Education in the Former Soviet Union, A Conference at Charles Warner. Wheaton College," Minutes, September 3, 1992. 1. Dimitry Pospielovsky, The Russian Church Under the Soviet Regime, 7. Chalandeau, "Theology," p. 41; "Rev. Alexei Bychkov and Rev. 1917-1982, vol. 2 (Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, Michael Zhidkov Sharing with Wheaton Area Pastors," transcript, 1984),p. 302;A. Johansen, Theological Study in theRussianand Bulgar­ March 13, 1987, p. 6. ian Orthodox Churches Under Communist Rule (London: Faith Press, 8. Sawatsky, Soviet Evangelicals, pp. 330-31; Chalandeau, "Theology," 1963), p. 4. p.45. 2. Mark Elliott, "Seventh-Day Adventists in Russia and the Soviet 9. Andrew Semenchuk was president of RBI from 1955 to 1968. The Union," in Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and SovietHistory, vol. 34, Toronto school was a joint venture of Oswald J. Smith, Toronto pp. 111-12; Walter Sawatsky, Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II People's Church, and Peter Deyneka, Sr., Slavic Gospel Association. (Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1981), pp. 46, 331; Heigo Ritsbek The Toronto school closed about 1954 (Semenchuk in Covington, interview, November 14, 1991.The crippling effect of long-standing "Consultation," p. 2; Semenchuk interview, March 17, 1993). state proscription of Protestant theological education appears some­ 10. Sawatsky, Soviet Evangelicals, p. 330; Chalandeau, "Theology," pp. what less debilitating when contrasted with the pervasive KGB 45-46. The state also required Orthodox seminaries to study the interference in the life of the three token Orthodox seminaries that USSR constitution. For the Orthodox course of study, see Johansen, survived the Khrushchev antireligious campaign. State manipula­ Theological Study, pp. 4-5; and Ellis, Russian Orthodox,p. 116. tion of evangelical pastors may have been less successful overall 11. Marite Sapiets, True Witness: TheStoryofSeventh-DayAdventists in the simply because Protestants lacked seminaries. See Jane Ellis, The SovietUnion(Keston, England: KestonCollege, 1990),p. 286;Mikhail Russian Orthodox Church: A Contemporary History (Bloomington: Kulakov, Jr., interview, February IS, 1993; Mikhail Kulakov, Jr., Indiana Univ. Press, 1986), pp. 109-20; and Anthony Ugolnik, The "Zaoksky Theological Seminary, Presenting to You Our Seminary," OrthodoxChurchand Contemporary Politics in the USSR (Washington, unpublished flier (1992). D.C.: National Council for Sovietand East European Research, 1991), 12. Jack Graves, "Biblical and Theological Education Initiatives in the pp.21-24. Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe," unpublished directory, 3. Sawatsky, Soviet Evangelicals, pp. 331, 425. OverseasCouncilfor Theological Education and Missions, 1993,p. 1; 4. Ibid., p. 331. interviews with Jack Graves and Manfred Kohl. There now are 5. Ibid., pp. 330-31; Alexander de Chalandeau, "The Theology of the eighteen Orthodox and eight Catholic seminaries.

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13. Interview in St. Petersburg with Terry Henshaw, February 9, 1993; Meeter's Basic Ideas of Calvinism and is overseeing the Russian interview in Moscow with Ludmilla Gorbuzova, February 14, 1993. translation in Moscow of The Golden Book of Calvinism, an abridge­ A survey of theological educators in East Central Europe and the ment of the Institutes. Funders include the Christian Reformed former SovietUnion, undertakenby World VisionGermany director Church World Literature Ministries and the Back to God Hour. Manfred Kohl, revealed that 25 of 51 respondents favored three-year Calvin's Institutes previously did circulate in East Central Europe in programs, 13 favored two-year programs, but only 2 favored one­ Latin. Rev. George Rodonaia, a United Methodist pastor in Houston, year programs ("Towards Globalization of Theological Education: Texas, originally from Soviet Georgia, translated the Standard Ser­ Feasibility Study on Extending Theological Education into Eastern mons,whichmaybe published in Moscowby GoldenAge Publishing Europe and Parts of the Former USSR," Survey Appendix [thesis House. prospectus, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, October 15, 23. Author's conversations with St. Petersburg Vice-Rector Veniamin, 1992], p. 1). In contrast, Russian Orthodox seminary and academy February8,1993,and Adventistseminarypresident,MikhailKulakov, courses run four years each (Johansen, Theological Study, p. 4). [r., February 15, 1993. See also Ellis, Russian Orthodox,p. 107. 14. William Fletcher, "The Soviet Bible Belt: World War II's Impact on 24. Nine of twenty-four conference respondents cited faculty develop­ Religion," in TheImpactof World TNar Ilon theSovietUnion,ed. Susan ment as a critical concern (author's notes from February 11, 1993, J. Linz (New York: Rowan and Allanheld, 1985). Moscow Conference). See also Kohl, "Towards Globalization," pp. 15. Kent Hill, The Soviet Union on the Brink: An Inside Look at Christianity 22-23. Sawatsky (Soviet Evangelicals, p. 330) heads his section on andGlasnost (Portland,Oreg.: MultnomahPress,1991),p.373;Sapiets, theological education, "The Missing Teachers." True Witness, pp. 274-78; Philip Walters, World Christianity: Eastern 25. Jack Graves, "Plugging the Theological Brain Drain," Evangelical Europe (Monrovia, Calif.: MARC, 1988), p. 72; Walter Sawatsky, Missions Quarterly 28 (April 1992): 155. See also "Bring Training In, "Protestantismin the USSR," in Religious Policyin theSovietUnion,ed. Not People Out," AlbanianInsight, no. 20 (February 27, 1992): 2. Sabrina Ramet (Cambridge: CambridgeUniv. Press, 1991),pp. 18-19; 26. Students from the former Soviet Union currently are enrolled at Ralph Mann, "Soviet Pentecostal Demographics," unpublished pa­ AsburyTheologicalSeminary, Dallas Theological Seminary, Denver per (Denton, Tex.: Mission Possible, October 1991), p. 2. Conservative Baptist Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, Men­ 16. Mark Elliott, "New Openness in USSR Prompts Massive Bible Ship­ nonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, Moody Bible Institute, Southern ments to Soviet Christians in 1987-88:A Statistical Overview," News Baptist Seminary, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and NetworkInternational, March20,1989,p. 28;idem, "ScriptureImports Wheaton College. to Former Eastern Bloc," United Bible Societies World Report 271 27. Kohl, "Towards Globalization," p. 1 (survey appendix), p. 16 (text). (March 1993): 30. 28. Ibid., pp. 20-21 (text). 17. Chuck Schwartz, BEE, speaking at Moscow Theological Education 29. James W. Cunningham, A Vanquished Hope: TheMovementforChurch Conference, February 11, 1993; fax from Beth Yost, International Renewalin Russia, 1905-1906 (Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir's Semi­ Correspondence Institute, March 17, 1993; author's notes from re­ nary Press, 1981), p. 47; Ellis, Russian Orthodox, p. 105; Graves, ports at Moscow Theological Education Conference, February 11, "Biblical and Theological Initiatives in the Former Soviet Union and 1993; interview with Anne Kull, Lutheran School of Theology, EasternEurope," unpublished directory, Overseas Councilfor Theo­ Chicago, March 29, 1993;Kohl, "Towards Globalization," pp. 17,24­ logical Education and Missions, 1992, p. 2. 25. Mikhail Kulakov (February 15, 1993, interview) noted that 500 30. Twenty-one denominations are listed in Mark Elliott and Robert Adventists also were studying theological educationby extension at Richardson, "Growing Protestant Diversity in the Former Soviet three sites. Union," in Russian Pluralism,Now Irreversible? ed. Uri Ra'anan et al 18. Fourteen of twenty-four respondents listed the need for texts as the (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992),p. 204. Four additional denomi­ most urgent. See Jack Graves, "Report of the Conference on Theo­ nations now working in the former Soviet Union are Christian and logical Education in the Former Soviet Union, Moscow, Russia, Missionary Alliance, Pentecostal Holiness, Christian Reformed, and February 10-12, 1993," Overseas Council for Theological Education Evangelical Covenant. and Missions, February 24, 1993, p. 2. 31. Author's conversations with Dr. Sharon Linzey, Moscow State Uni­ 19. Author's notes from February 1, 1993, Moscow Conference. The versity visiting professor, February 15, 1993. Orthodox have had to contend with the same shortage. See Ellis, 32. Sharon Linzey, Holt Ruffin, and Mark Elliott, eds., East-West Chris­ Russian Orthodox, p. 108. tian Organizations Directory (Evanston, Ill.: Berry Publishing Ser­ 20. David Allan Hubbard and Frederick William Bush assisted La Sor in vices, 1993), includes 687 entries. The author has files on an addi­ revising his Old TestamentSurvey:TheMessage, Form, and Background tional35. of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub­ 33. Wil Triggs and Mark Elliott, "Christian Literature: Who Has Pub­ lishing Co., 1982). Odessa holds the Russian translation rights. lished What, Where, and in Which Languages?" East-West Church 21. Books Translated from English to Eastern European and CIS Languages and Ministry Report1 (Spring 1993): 12. (Elgin, Ill.: David C. Cook Foundation, 1992) includes 370 Russian 34. Michael Mandelbaum, ed., The Rise of Nations in the Soviet Union titles and 51 Ukrainian titles. (New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1991), p. 103. 22. ChristianBridge, Carol Stream, Ill., translated intoRussian H. Henry 35. Elliottand Richardson, "GrowingProtestantDiversity," pp. 198-200.

22 INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY RESEARCH ( NEW BOOKS from WILLIAM CAREY LIBRARY)

communicating the gospel effectively is knowing and under­ CHURCH MULTIPLICATION GUIDE standing your audience. [The author] has written a book from a Helping Churches to Reproduce lifetime of study that will help anyone rethink what they say Locally and Abroad and how they say it." George Patterson and Richard Scoggins WCL242-5 Retail $7.95x 1993, 8 1/2 x 11 paperback, 128 pages. Special Postpaid Discount $7.50. "How to" books are abundant and often not every practical. This book is different - it is an exception in its category and WORKING YOUR WAY very practical. George Patterson, formerly a Conservative TO THE NATIONS Baptist missionary in Central America, has coached church planters in different cultures, and helped develop TEEE - The­ A Guide to Effective Tentmaking ological Education and Evangelism by Extension . Richard Jonathan Lewis, Editor Scoggins coordinates the Fellowship of Church Planters, com­ 1993, 8 1/2 x 11 paperback, 204 pages. mitted to reproduce disciples and networks of new churches A "First of its kind" book of essays on effective tentmaking by and church planting teams . experienced and knowledgeable missions specialists from The two sections address the areas of Church Multiplication around the world. Sponsored by the World Evangelical Fellow­ Arising From Obeying Jesus ' Command, and Church Repro­ship Missions Commission, under the direction of Dr. William ductionfrom Ten Viewpoints . Taylor, this manual is an important step in identifying and clari­ Dr. Ralph D. Winter, President of William Carey International fying the "tentmaking" concepts in today's world. Dr. Jonathan University, says of the book "This has got to be one of the Lewis , author and compiler of the widely used 3-volume set most exciting documents I have ever held in my hands. Here WORLD MISSION; An Analysis of the World Christian Move­ [George Patterson), one of the two or three world experts in ment has given the church a valuable new tool for understand­ the growth of the church shares in both diagram and illuminat­ ing tentmaking. Authors and titles of the 12 chapters are: ing discussion some of the most important insights of his ca­ Don Hamilton - Planning for Success reer. Robert E. Logan. of Church Resource Ministries, notes J. Christy Wilson, Jr. - Getting Perspective "The Church Multiplication Guide provides an effective David Tai-Woong Lee - Cross-Cultural Servants framework for raising up leaders and reproducing at every lev­ Jonathan Cortes - Critical Considerations ofDeployment el-s-disciples, cell groups, and churches. I highly recommend Joshua Cortes - Biblical and Doctrinal Foundations it." Joshua K. Ogawa - Biblical and Doctrinal Foundations WCL245-X Retail $5.95x Elizabeth Vance - Personal Readiness Special Postpaid Discount $5.25 Jim Chew - Two Essential Skills James Tebbe - Team Dynamics and Spiritual Warfare MEDIA IN CHURCH AND MISSION Elizabeth Goldsmith - Understanding the Host Culture Communicating the Gospel Carlos Calderon - Dealing With Stress Marcelo Acosta - Becoming a Belonger Viggo Sogaard Appendices are A Personal Action Plan and Resources 1993, paperback, 304 pages. WCL244-1 Retail $7.95 Viggo Sogaard, a native of Denmark, is Associate Professor of Special Postpaid Discount $6.25 Communications at Fuller School of World Mission, and Me­ dia Consultant for the United Bible Societies, offers a highly TO ORDER . . . readable and practical synthesis of what has been leamed Send check or money order to: through the new wave of thinking about communications. His WILLIAM CAREY LIBRARY Thesis is a simple one-we cannot communication effectively P.O. Box 40129 and create understanding unless we take the audience serious­ Pasadena, California 91114 ly. If this is not done, well-intended Christian commun ication will be avoided, misunderstood, or ignored. The 16 chapters Add $1.00 for handling . California residents add 7.25% for are broken down in three sections :Foundational Principles for tax, L.A. County add $8.25 %. Use ofMedia in Church and Mission. Selected Media Descrip­To place your order using MASTER CARD or VISA tions, and Practical Guidelines for Media in Church and Mis­phone TOLL FREE sion. 1-800-MISSION (647-7466) Dr. Bruce Larson, Dean of the International School of Chris­ PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE tian Communications says of the book "Much of the secret of

IBMRI/94 acknowledgmentof the truthin the Catholic doctrine of apostolic partydialogue" (Johannes Aagaard), which operatesonassump­ succession. tions that do not include the affirmation that Christians must I agree that the "classic" paradigm lacked adequate recogni­ make, namely, that in Jesus God has acted decisively for the tion of the work of the HolySpirit. As a missionary in India, I had redemption of the world. been strongly influenced by the missiology of Roland Allen, for The Missio Dei slogan emerged following the Willingen whomthe recognition of the workof the Spiritin mission was the Conference in 1952, which spoke of the source of the church's very center. When I became partof the WCC staff, I proposed the mission in the action of God the Father in sending his Son. Once study on the missionary structure of the congregation precisely again the powerful intellectual currents of the later 1950s and with the hope thatRoland Allen's ideas mightpenetrate the older 1960s hijacked this biblical statement in the interests of a churches. But the "paradigm shift" of the 1960s ensured that the missiology thatbypassed the church and led to the acclaiming of study was hijacked in the interests of the dominant ideology of all sorts of secular movements as "God at work in history." In the secular. Thirty years later secularity is out and "spirituality" reaction against an overly church-centered missiology, we had a is in. But there are many spirits abroad, and when they are missiology that found God's redeeming action almost every­ invoked, we are handed over to other powers. The Holy Spirit, where except in the preaching of the Gospel. It was a sad period. the Spiritof the Father and of the Son, is known by the confession If it is true that the missionary movement has been blind to that Jesus alone is Lord. the ecological crisis, that is a grave charge. For myself, I can only Raiser finds that there are three new realities that I have not say that it has been a constant theme of my speaking and writing adequately recognized-religious plurality, the concept of the that the world dominance of the idolatry of the free market will, Missio Dei,and the ecological crisis. I offer a word on each. if not reversed, both disintegrate human society and destroy the Religious plurality is as old as known human history; what environment. I regret that the immense labor of the WCC under is new is that churches in the old "Christendom" have woken up the banner of "Justice, Peace, and the Integrity of Creation" has to it. One may well admit that the euphoria of Western colonial had such meager results, because it has attacked the symptoms expansion, which was so often mixed in with missionary mo­ and not the cause of the malady. The ideology of the free market tives, enabled the Western churches to engage in world mission rests upon a doctrine of human nature that is directly attacked by without seriously facing for themselves the question of the the biblical faith. Idolatry cannot be countered merely by moral uniqueness and finality of Christ. The collapse of Western self­ protest against its effects. It has to be tackled at its source. That is confidence and the corrosive effects of the "acids of modernity" why I believe that the first priority for the churches and for the World Council of Churches should be a radically missionary encounter with this ideology, which, under the name of "mod­ ernization," is destroying traditional cultures and threatening to Do we look for the ultimate destroy the world. "Cocktail-party dialogue" will not do here. unity of the human family We have to find ways of making known the fact that the incar­ as the fruit of God's nate, crucified, and risenJesus is Lord also of the economic order. There is no room for religious pluralism here. reconciling work in Jesus No doubt there are intergenerational factors in this discus­ Christ, or do we have some sion. Much depends on the period in which one was intellectu­ ally formed. The products of the 1960s who now provide leader­ other center to propose? ship in most areas are easily recognizable. I have the strong impression that the next generation, now in their twenties and thirties, have turned away from this paradigm. There is consid­ (Lippmann) now produce a mood in which the recognition of erable fear that the WCC may be trapped in a paradigm that is religious plurality puts a question mark against the absolute alreadylosingits power. WhatImostwelcomein Konrad Raiser's lordship of Jesus Christ. That is precisely the issue now to be response is his welcome to real discussion, and his recognition faced: Do we look for the ultimate unity of the human family as that the WCC must be a place where conflicting views can meet the fruit of God's reconciling work in Jesus Christ, or do we have in honest search for the integrity of our Christian witness. If I some other center to propose? The "reticence" about interreli­ have written critically, it is not as one who stands outside but as gious dialogue with which Raiser charges the missionary move­ one who wants to be within the ecumenical family, where we can ment arises from the recognition that there is a kind of "cocktail­ speak frankly to each other. I hope and pray that it may be so.

Correction A correction should be noted in the second paragraph of "Protestant Theological Education in the Former Soviet Union" by Mark Elliott (January 1994,page4).In the 1920sEvangelical Christians operated a Bibleschool in Leningrad and Baptists operated a separate Bible school in Moscow.

52 INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY RESEARCH