EAST-WEST CHURCH MINISTRY REPORT SUMMER 2016 Vol. 24, No. 3 Introducing& Coverage for Malkhaz Songulashvili, Evangelical Christian Baptists of Georgia Mark R. Elliott, Editor As soon as I had opportunity to peruse Malkhaz the interface of evangelical and Orthodox theology; Contributing Editors Songulashvili’s comprehensive account of the history a comparison of Georgian Baptists and Romania’s and current status of Georgia’s Evangelical Christian Lord’s Army; the heresy of phyletism (the fusing Canon Michael Baptists (337 pages of text, 90 pages of appendices, of Christian allegiance and national patriotism); the Bourdeaux Keston Institute, and 62 pages of bibliography of Georgian, Russian, ordination of women; and the defense of freedom Oxford English, French, and German sources), I immediately of conscience for all, including for those who hold recognized a volume that had import well beyond beliefs even a majority consider objectionable. Dr. Anita Deyneka the confines of a small, post-Soviet republic in the Unfortunately, for the present issue, even with World Without Orphans, Caucasus. For the first time in 24 years as editor of considerable effort, I was unable to secure Russian Wheaton, Illinois the East-West Church and Ministry Report, I chose evangelical and Orthodox responses to the ongoing Father Georgi Edelstein to recruit multiple critiques of a truly path-breaking Georgian Baptist Church experiment. However, for Russian Orthodox Church, study. As a consequence, in addition to reprinting an the next issue I have managed to recruit Russians to Kostroma Diocese excerpt from the book, this issue includes reviews critique Songulashvili’s volume. In the meantime, I by four theologians and church historians: James J. will close with a quote from British Baptist pastor Bishop Eduard Khegay United Methodist Church Stamoolis (author of Orthodox Mission Theology and missiologist Darrell Jackson: “More conservative in Eurasia, Moscow Today), Danut Manastireanu (longtime World Vision Baptists have been critical of… [Georgian administrator for Eastern Europe and the Middle Baptist] reforms, although an official European Miss Sharon Mumper East), Paul Crego (Library of Congress), and David Baptist inquiry in 2003 found in favor of their Magazine Training Bundy (New York Theological Seminary). The wide remaining within the family of European Baptists” Institute, Colorado Springs, Colorado range of significant issues addressed by Songulashvili (“Experimentation in Worship: A Georgian Baptist and his reviewers include Georgian Baptist Case Study,” East-West Church and Ministry Report Rev. Nick Nedelchev borrowings from Orthodox liturgy and iconography; 13 (Summer 2005), 15. ♦ Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute, A Merging of Protestant and Orthodox Theology and Sofia, Bulgaria Practice: Evangelical Christian Baptists of Georgia Dr. Peter Penner Malkhaz Songulashvili Training Christians In Georgia, beginning in the late 1980s, every established in Tbilisi. Both the first papal nuncio, for Ministry (TCM), faith group began to enjoy the freedom to revive Archbishop Jean Paul Gobel, and his successors Heiligenkreuz, Austria religious life. Understandably, the Georgian Orthodox invested great energy in reviving the Catholic faith Dr. Walter Sawatsky Church assumed a more prominent role in the in traditionally Catholic areas. In 1992 Archbishop Associated Mennonite life of Georgian society than others, but nobody Gobel brought two Stigmatini monks from Italy— Biblical Seminary, minded since other groups were also given freedom Giuseppe Passotto and Gabriel Bragantini. One was Elkhart, Indiana to develop their own ministries. One of the clear established in Tbilisi and one in Kutaisi to revive Mrs. Katya Smyslova symbols of this time of change was the publication church life. Both learned the Georgian language. In attorney at law, Moscow in 1989 of the first complete translation of the 2000 Giuseppe Passotto was consecrated in Rome as Bible since 1742, with the blessing of the Georgian the first Catholic bishop of Georgia. Mr. Lawrence Uzzell Orthodox Church and with the active participation of Armenian Apostolic and Lutheran Renewal International Religious the Evangelical Christian Baptist Church.1 Freedom Watch, In the Soviet era, the 300,000-strong ethnic Fishersville, Virginia Catholic Renewal Armenian community had only two churches in In the late 1980s, Roman Catholics had only one Georgia, both in Tbilisi. But after 1992, Armenian Dr. Alexander Zaichenko Gazeta Protestant, active church for the three Transcaucasian countries Apostolic church life was revived among ethnic Moscow of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Fr. Ian Armenians. Closed Armenian churches were Sezinski, a Polish priest, served all three countries reopened in South Georgia where there is a compact for almost two decades. In the late 1980s, the Armenian population in the region of Samtskhe- Catholic faith was revived in traditionally Catholic Javakheti. After the death of Romanian-born villages and towns, mostly in southern Georgia. Archbishop Gevork Seraidarian (1932-2002), who led After independence in 1992, a Vatican embassy was the Armenian Diocese in Georgia for almost 20 years, (continued on page 2)) C OVERING THE F ORMER S OVIET U NION AND C ENTRAL AND E A S TERN E U ROPE 6.23.2016.indd 1 6/23/16 10:54:22 AM Merging of Protestant and Orthodox (continued from page 1) a new bishop, Vazgen Mirzakhanian, was appointed Christian Baptist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran by the Catholicos of all Armenians, Karekin II. Church, the Jewish community, and Islam. In return, No active Lutheran Church was left in the Orthodox and the government asked these Georgia by the time of the collapse of the Soviet groups to lend their support to the Constitutional Union. The large Lutheran Church in Tbilisi was Agreement that was to grant the Orthodox Church blown up in 1945. Paul Tillich’s disciple Gert special privileges and rights. Subsequently, the Hummel, a professor of Saarland University, state provided a venue in Georgia’s Parliament for Saarbrüken, Germany, and honorary professor of negotiations between Orthodox and other traditional Tbilisi State University, began the revival of the religious communities. As a result of the negotiations, Lutheran Church among people of German ethnic individual common declarations were signed. background. Because of his and his wife’s tireless Ultimately, on 14 October 2001, the president and work, the Lutheran faith was revived and churches the patriarch signed the Constitutional Agreement at reestablished in Tbilisi (1992), Sukhumi (1995), Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta in the presence and Rustavi (1998). Hummel even sold his personal of leaders of traditional churches and religious property in Germany to build a new church on the groups, giving the Orthodox Church legal status in grounds of the old Lutheran cemetery, which was the Georgian Constitution and granting it a number returned to him by President Edward Shevardnadze’s of rights and privileges. Some Georgian lawyers special decree. maintained that, as a result, the Georgian government 2 Evangelical Christian Baptist Renewal was building a clerical state. But nobody would The story of the Evangelical Christian Baptists believe them. With the signing of the Constitutional (ECBs) in this period was entirely different from Agreement, religious nationalism was ascendant and the revivalist work of other Christian communities the Georgian Orthodox Church acquired legal means in Georgia. Its missiology would not allow it to to strengthen its position in Georgian society. concentrate on any particular ethno-linguistic- Georgian Folk Christianity geographical group. Instead, it worked with the Through the centuries, Georgians developed their entire Georgian population. Its primary concern was own cultural and folk Christianity, including the very the revival of the Christian faith and preaching the strange practice of animal sacrifice, which has not Gospel to those who had never heard it; evangelism always been compatible with institutional Orthodox became its priority. On the verge of the breakup faith. In the mountains of Georgia, people still of the Soviet Union, the congregations of the hold fast to their religious traditions and practices, Georgian Evangelical Christians-Baptists declared which parallel Orthodox Church life. These beliefs their independence from the All-Union Council and practices, which are especially strong in more of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (AUCECB). isolated mountain communities, are identified in Within two years, they had shortened their name to Georgia as mamapapebis rwmena (faith of the Evangelical Christian Evangelical Christian Baptist Church of Georgia. ancestors). Baptists worked The Rise of Religious Nationalism Faith in ancestors was also one of the main hard to return the The void left by the abolition of Communist challenges for Evangelical Christian Baptists, even religious character ideology in many parts of the Soviet Union was prior to the breakup of the Soviet Union. Evangelical filled by religion. Majority religions in all the former Christian Baptists worked hard to return the religious to the practices of Soviet republics made efforts to revive religious character to the practices of folkloric Christianity, folkloric Christianity. nationalism. In reaction to Soviet suppression, interpreting and reinterpreting them in the light of Georgian nationalism, as well, acquired strong the Christian Gospel. Inspired by folkloric