Mary Raber
Women’s Roles: Rigidity and Flexibility
University of Chicago sociologist Louis Wirth (1897-1952) maintained that in any human society the issues that are never discussed are the most important, because they are the ones regarded as already settled. Thus, it would appear that the place of women in Ukrainian Baptist churches is clearly understood by all because, surprisingly, it is little talked about—at least publicly. Generally, when the topic of women in the church is discussed, the discourse reinforces what many Westerners would consider a highly traditional status quo. Weddings, for example, are an occasion for pastors to outline the respective duties of marriage partners, frequently with particular stress laid on the wife’s duty to obey, rather than the husband’s calling to serve and cherish. Likewise, church-sponsored events on International Women’s Day (8 March), often serve to honor women and to warn them not to move out of their sphere.
Yet, in practice, the boundaries of that sphere in the Russo-Ukrainian evangelical movement have been remarkably flexible. Throughout a history that dates back to the mid-nineteenth century, women have served ably (and often at great personal cost) as sisters of mercy, literature colporteurs, administrators, traveling evangelists, editors, Sunday school teachers, cross-cultural missionaries, authors, choir directors, deaconesses, preachers, and radio broadcasters. During times of deep crisis, while male leaders were imprisoned, exiled, or killed, women held churches together and actively interceded on behalf of prisoners of conscience, both male and female. (An excellent, nuanced study of women’s roles during Soviet times is Nadezhda Beliakova and Miriam Dobson, Zhenshchiny v evangel’skikh obshchinakh poslevoennogo SSSR, 1940-1980 gg. [Women in Evangelical Congregations of the Postwar U.S.S.R., 1940-1980]; Moscow: Indrik, 2015.)
The main exception is the exclusion of women from the ordained ministry. Women do not serve formally in Ukrainian Baptist churches as pastors or teaching elders, although in some places there are women entrusted with a teaching function. Nor are women enrolled in theological education programs that prepare specifically for those vocations, although usually they attend many of the same classes as their male counterparts. On the other hand, Ukrainian Baptist women apparently do not aspire to ordination either. “I’ve never asked why I can’t be a pastor,” says one woman with a theological education. “Baptists don’t do that [i.e., ordain women], although Charismatics might.” Since Ukrainian independence was declared in 1991, that overall picture—active Christian service for many women, except for ordained ministry—has remained largely unchanged. Generally, women are free to participate in various kinds of service unless they are told not to, directly or indirectly. Naturally, inconsistencies exist, often depending on the attitudes of the men surrounding them, but the ambiguities are noted quietly, not aired publicly. Little in the way of an articulate feminist challenge has emerged.
Speaking Up in Church and Head Coverings
To be sure, the last 25 years have altered some practices. Previously, based on a strict interpretation of 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 concerning women keeping silent in church, a Ukrainian Baptist woman would probably not have spoken up at a congregational meeting, but would have relied on her husband to ask questions or make statements in public. These days, in most churches, she can ask her own question, although she may not chair the meeting.
Other changes have affected the sensitive matter of women’s dress. In Soviet times, short hair and makeup were unknown, and even wedding rings were taboo in some congregations. A pastor may still reprimand a woman if he thinks her attire is inappropriate. Yet here and there the kosynka, the artfully folded square of translucent material that married Baptist women sometimes wore as a head covering all the time, and certainly at prayer and public worship, has been quietly discarded. In some urban congregations women freely attend worship dressed in pants, with recognition either that this is a healthy adaptation to modern times or a sad loss of decorum.
The greatest change in the role of women since Ukrainian independence relates to the growth in ministry opportunities that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union. New avenues of service have emerged that previously were non-existent. Two examples are theological education and compassionate ministry.
Natalia Svistun and Christian Education
Natalia Svistun, who chairs the Christian education faculty of Odessa Theological Seminary, remembers that semi-underground Bible school courses were organized in the late 1980s for men only. She volunteered for a job in the kitchen, ostensibly to help fix the daily midday meal for the students, but actually to sneak into the back row and listen to the lectures. Eventually her interest and that of others was noted, and women were included in the Bible school program with a separate stream for those interested in Sunday school ministry.
Bible school systematized her knowledge, but like other women in that first generation of Sunday school teachers, Svistun was already largely self-taught. As a widow with sons who found it hard to sit still, she had had to find ways to engage them in church life. Not only that, but in an era when children were officially forbidden to attend church, Christian families banded together to provide instruction and activities. Bible study was disguised as New Year celebrations, May Day picnics, and birthday parties.
Today Sunday school, summer camps, day camps, and all manner of special events for children and youth are an acknowledged part of church life. These crucial ministries, especially among younger children, are regarded as the province of women, although Svistun is working to encourage more men to participate. Since the 1990s she has edited curricula for Sunday schools and camps, largely planned and written by women. During the last two years Svistun has also developed a certificate program in women’s ministry at Odessa Seminary. Other women as well have made a significant contribution to theological education in the former Soviet Union. Besides Christian education, they have taught church history, Greek and Hebrew, spiritual formation, counseling, Christian leadership, and other disciplines. Some have served as deans and librarians.
Since independence Baptist women have also enjoyed greater opportunities in compassionate ministries. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the social services infrastructure collapsed as well, putting extreme stress on children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups. In many places churches established children’s shelters, rehabilitation programs for alcoholics and drug addicts, home care for the elderly, and any number of other projects, sometimes surprisingly ambitious. Often women took the lead.
Odessa’s Choose Life Women’s Center
In Odessa, a particularly significant example is the Women’s Center “Vyberi zhizn’” [Choose Life], based on an American prototype. The center educates, counsels, and assists pregnant women and women who have undergone abortions. Its very existence signals an important departure for Baptists who have tended to live in isolation from wider Ukrainian society. As people who have been intentionally marginalized, they have also sometimes marginalized themselves and thus have not always identified with their neighbors’ concerns. Previously, helping women who are facing an unplanned pregnancy or who have had abortions would not have been possible—nor would it have registered as an opportunity for service among Ukrainian Baptists. Indeed, the center’s opening was carefully prepared by an American woman doctor who helped organize Baptist pastors’ conferences on the subject of abortion and pastoral counseling.
The center now relies on approximately 50 women volunteers from several Christian confessions. They serve in a range of capacities, from trained counselors to providing custodial services. In the process they have been drawn into the midst of painful and delicate issues. It is a highly necessary ministry, as abortion is the default method of birth control in Ukraine. According to the center’s Ukrainian director, Liubov’ Abramova, it is not unknown for some clients to have had as many as 30 abortions. The spiritual and emotional needs of these women, the economic issues that face them and their families, and the frequently related problem of domestic violence, are only beginning to be addressed.
Ambiguity Remains
Thus, significant changes have come about for Baptist women since Ukrainian independence. At the same time, just as in the Soviet era and in the tsarist empire before that, ambiguity remains. Most church members are women, yet they are not always acknowledged as stakeholders or decision makers. Recently, when the members of a somewhat more progressive congregation assembled for a meeting with their area senior presbyter, he bluntly asked the pastor, “Why are all these sisters [women] here?” The presbyter had expected to confer with men only.
While women may carry a great deal of responsibility, they may not always be recognized for it. In one city a woman led the way in bringing together donors and developing a system for distributing food and clothing among people displaced by the war in eastern Ukraine. But the local male church leadership presented it to journalists as their own doing. One respected woman activist confided, “Frequently I’ve put forth ideas that were initially ignored, but later were accepted, and the credit was taken by men. Still, I think it’s more important to have the idea realized than to have my name on it.” In other words, for many Ukrainian Baptist women, the freedom to take part in ministry—and they have ample opportunity to do so—takes priority over feminist goals. This may change in the future, but at this point in time at least, it is not much discussed, which must mean it is very important.
Mary Raber, a service worker sponsored by Mennonite Mission Network (Elkhart, Indiana), teaches at Odessa Theological Seminary, Odessa, Ukraine.