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Volume 17, No. 3

Leadership Styles in Russian and Ukrainian Evangelical Seminaries

Igor Petrov

Editor’s note: For his dissertation on post-Soviet evangelical seminary leadership styles, Igor Petrov interviewed 41 stakeholders: 24 students, 13 teachers, and 4 leaders of three institutions: one in northwest Russia, one in northeast Ukraine, and one in southern Ukraine. Although the seminaries are not named, from the descriptions provided, the three institutions in St. Petersburg, Odessa, and Donetsk are among the best-known evangelical theological schools in the former Soviet Union, each with substantial residential campuses. The 13 faculty interviewed (eight male and five female) included 80 to 90 percent of full-time indigenous faculty at the three institutions.

The author’s interviews, conducted between February and April, 2004, sought to identify “assumptions and perceptions of students, teachers, and leaders within three evangelical schools regarding preferred leadership characteristics.” Petrov’s hope is that his research will discourage the continuation of authoritarian leadership styles in favor of leadership inspired by a spirit of “care, support, heart for others, servanthood, and love.” In researching leadership styles in Russian and Ukrainian evangelical seminaries, eight themes emerged with implications for the development of effective leadership in evangelical institutions.

Theme 1: Spiritual Characteristics

Humility is one of the most important parts of spirituality (duchovnost’) in a leader’s character and style. This emphasis upon humility stems from at least two sources: a desire for an Eastern Orthodox type of spirituality, deeply rooted in the Slavic mentality and well represented in Russian Orthodox Church history through the lives of saints and spiritual leaders, and a desire to restrict strong, authoritarian tendencies which are deeply imbedded in leadership styles in the former Soviet Union. Respondents strongly rebuked any kind of pride, using biblical references to support their position. Instead, they stressed trust in God in spite of changing situations, pressures, and uncertainties faced by evangelical schools in Russia and the Ukraine.

Leaders with a pastor’s and father’s heart and an attitude of spiritual servant hood will be respected and will be able to serve effectively in the evangelical school environment. Leaders who have a strong, caring relationship with a support group with whom they can share their burdens and pressures will be better able to sustain a healthy spiritual life and will be better able to guard against burnout.

Theme 2: Practical Skills and Personal Traits

Living in countries with high levels of corruption, respondents strongly emphasized the importance of honesty and sincerity in their leaders, especially in relationships, decision-making, and financial management. All of those interviewed emphasized so-called “soft” characteristics and personal traits of leaders: humility, understanding ,tender heartedness, kindness, attentiveness, love, and forgiving, tolerant spirit. Only a few respondents recommended such “hard” characteristics as decisiveness, courage, strength, strictness, and confidence. No one mentioned strong will or determination as desirable characteristics.

Russian respondents showed some preference for strong, and even strict leadership, while the majority of Ukrainian respondents preferred “soft “characteristics in leaders. All respondents strongly demonstrated a dislike for any form of ambition or career pursuit. This does not mean that school leaders never have ambition and never want to pursue careers. Rather, these characteristics are often strongly present, but well-disguised.

Theme 3: Relational Characteristics

The character and quality of relationships is very important within Russian and Ukrainian collectivist cultures, which emphasize building and maintaining deep personal ties and friendships. Since a respect for authority is strongly affirmed in Slavic cultures, leaders, by their example, play a very significant role in building relationships of trust, care, mutual support, and sincere fellowship. The primary means of teaching and learning throughout the ten centuries of Orthodox culture in Russia has been by example through relationships, narratives, ceremonies, and visual representation.(The Orthodox Church laid the foundation forth Russian and Ukrainian worldview, mentality, spirituality, arts, literature, architecture, music, and lifestyle.) An effective evangelical school leader will not reject this cultural and historical foundation, but rather, will learn to “ride the wave of culture”(A. Trompenaars and C. Hampden-Turner, Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Global Business, 2nd ed. [New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998]).

As regards undesirable relational characteristics in leaders, respondents identified arrogance, coldness, a top-down approach, and indifference tithe needs of co-workers and students. People do not like to be manipulated or used by leaders. Rather, people appreciate leaders who personally relate to them. Still, most Russian and Ukrainian respondents believe leaders deserve respect. The familiarity of “hey buddy” type relationships between leaders and followers is considered inappropriate.

Unlike many Western cultures, in the former Soviet Union competitiveness in relationships is viewed negatively. Therefore, it follows that an effective leader will need to find ways to demonstrate and develop a spirit of cooperation, support, and servant hood. Ideal leaders will build God’s Kingdom, not their own personal “kingdoms.”

Theme 4: Approach to Decision-Making

Societies and cultures with strong collectivistic values seem more accepting of authoritarianism in their leaders than do more individualistic cultures. They are far quicker to allow leaders to make major organizational decisions. Part of the explanation may be found in a paradoxical feature of Slavic culture. As one respondent noted, “We want a strong leader, but at the same time, we rebel against a strong leader.” Russians historically have had to endure severe laws and at the same time have survived by regularly disregarding laws. “Why is our leadership’s authoritarian,” one respondent asked. “Because we do not follow our laws.” This dynamic is true in Russian and Ukrainian seminaries in which “the leader’s word happens to be the last word.”

 However, several recent examples in evangelical schools in Russia and Ukraine show that the formerly effective and mostly authoritarian decision making style no longer works so well. Seminary leaders will be more effective if they learn to share decision-making with a leadership team, as well as with school workers and the student body. Russian and Ukrainian respondents demonstrated contrasting attitudes towards leaders’ approach to decision making. The majority of St. Petersburg school respondents tended to support an authoritarian style of leadership, even idealizing authoritarianism. Several respondents fervently defended authoritarianism because it was said to eliminate anarchy, bring order, make organizational structure clear, and maintain proper subordination in relationships. In contrast, no Ukrainian respondents supported authoritarianism. Instead, they preferred to see decisions made by a leadership team. All Ukrainian respondents favored the development of a more democratic style of leadership in their schools.

Theme 5: The Leader’s Role in the Development of Vision

One respondent effectively summarized the leader’s role in casting vision. An effective school leader “understands the organization, foresees future developments, predicts challenges to come, and takes necessary steps to deal with these challenges.”

Theme 6: Styles of Motivation

Russian and Ukrainian church leaders generally practice less positive motivation compared to Western leaders, employing discipline and punishment too often. In general, people do not like authoritarian ways. Nor do they respond well to the use of manipulation as motivation. In the long run positive motivation—including encouragement, love, support, care, prayer, and financial support—produces better results than strict discipline, fear, and words of rebuke.

Biblical and spiritual motivations remain essential means of motivation in evangelical schools, especially in situations where financial rewards are limited. Leaders are best served – and serve best– who generate trust and show personal interest in faculty and students and empower them. In short, leaders in theological education lead best who employ reward more and punishment less.

Theme 7: Cultural and Social Factors Influencing Leadership Style

“An instinctive love-hate relationship to the Wests a historically rooted facet of Russian mentality” (Miriam Charter, “Theological Education for New Protestant Churches of Russia: Indigenous Judgments on the Appropriateness of Educational Methods and Styles,” Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1997, p. 206). Teachers and students in the St. Petersburg school were more critical of the indigenous approach to leadership and more positive about the Western approach because they had experienced good examples of Western leadership in their institution. In contrast, Odessa and Donetsk respondents tended to see positive characteristics in both Western and Eastern styles of leadership.

Russian and Ukrainian leaders pay close attention to relationships, which makes for better understanding and better cooperation between leaders and faculty. On the other hand, Eastern leaders benefit when they adopt such positive characteristics of Western practice as punctuality, attention to organization, realistic planning, and goal orientation. Eastern leaders who learn from Western leaders how to function in a democratic manner, how to be better organized, how to plan ahead, and how to build a better organizational structure, are able to model these characteristics for the benefit of new leaders and students. Finally, during conflict resolution the Western tendency to depend more on rational thinking and less on emotion has also been instructive for Russian and Ukrainian leaders.

Theme 8: Biblical and Theological Insights That Provide Guidelines for Building Leaders

The majority of respondents employed Scripture to best characterize spiritual traits needed in a leader. In particular, biblical examples were cited to stress the need for leaders with humility, wisdom, and pastor’s heart for people. Respondents cited several biblical figures as examples of effective leaders, including Jesus, Paul, Moses, Joshua, David, and Joseph. Interestingly, respondents rarely cited Bible verses describing strong leadership characteristics such as courage and decisiveness. They did not describe the strong spiritual warrior for Christ dressed and equipped for battle. Rather, “soft “characteristics of biblical leaders were commended including kindness, humility, spiritual depth, and a caring heart.

Perestroika in Evangelical Schools

A number of evangelical schools in the former Soviet Union are in the process of redefining their school goals and objectives. They are also considering substantive changes in school structure and curricula. Several institutions are seeking to adjust their educational approach in order to respond to the challenges of a changing economy. Increasingly, evangelical schools are seeking to bring their educational programs directly to students in churches via various forms of distance learning 

Edited excerpts published with permission from IgorPetrov, “Leadership Styles in Russian and Ukrainian Evangelical Schools,” Ph.D. dissertation, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 2007.

Igor Petrov serves as distance education coordinator for Trinity Bible College, Kursk,Russia.

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Volume 17, No. 3

Post-Soviet Protestant Missions in Central Asia

Andrew Christian van Gorder

Editor’s note: The first portion of this article was published in the previous issue of the East-West Church & Ministry Report 17 (Spring 2009): 3-4.

Outreach through Education

In addition to humanitarian and medical ministry, another focus of mission organizations working in Central Asia has been education. In 1990, the Southern Baptist International Service Corps (ISC) began placing church volunteers in two-year teaching assignments in Central Asia. Some groups, such as Open Doors International, have organized training seminars examining the nature and history of Muslim- Christian interaction. Others have organized short-term educational programs (S.T.E.P. seminars) addressing such themes as leadership training, biblical studies, the Qur’an, and theological education for parishioners. In addition, Bible Mission International (BMI) sponsors a Missionaries in Training (MIT) Program which enables Central Asians to establish their own mission organizations to other Central Asian republics. Missionaries have also established schools for both their own and local children. The Association of Christian Schools in Central Asia (ACSA) has opened elementary and primary schools, educational summer camps, educational clubs, and after-school programs, along with children’s homes and orphanages. The major concentration of efforts has been in northern Kyrgyzstan, but these educational programs are also underway in other parts of Kyrgyzstan, as well as in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.1 U.S.-based Teach Overseas.org also works in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, providing English language teachers who use their instruction as a “starting point for deeper conversations about life and faith.”2

Some universities and other educational programs within Central Asia are designed to host visitors who are learning various Central Asian languages. Missionaries have been instrumental in either organizing or participating in a host of linguistic study centers designed for the study of Central Asian languages.

Outreach through Economic Development

In addition to growing educational resources, increasing global economic interdependence is also creating new business opportunities in Central Asia. Kazakhstan, for example, is working extensively with a number of large, multinational oil companies such as Chevron to develop the enormous Tengiz oil fields. A number of Protestant missionary organizations in North America and the United Kingdom – including Frontiers, People International, and Interserve – are involved in job-placement programs for “tentmaker” missionaries willing to serve in Central Asia.

A pressing need exists for business educators who will assist Central Asian nations in economic development. Related to this are opportunities for teachers of English, the international language of business. After 1991, one of the first acts of newly independent Uzbekistan was to encourage the widespread teaching of English.

Outreach through Christian Media

Christian media also have been a means of outreach in Central Asia. Christian television programming is broadcast into the region via satellite. In October 2002, Finnish-based International Religious Radio and Television (IRR/ TV), the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Russia, and Campus Crusade for Christ jointly launched a Christian Radio and Television Association in Central Asia. IRR/TV sponsored a media mission conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan, which included over 80 missionaries from across Central Asia.3 In addition, a number of Central Asians have received further training in media evangelism in Moscow. Radio traditionally has been a major means of Christian outreach to restricted access countries. Producers of Christian programming in Central Asian languages include the Far Eastern Broadcasting Company (FEBC), Evangeliums Rundfunk/TransWorld Radio (TWR), and HCJB  World Radio. Many Central Asians who would never read a Christian book or attend a Christian service will listen to a Christian broadcast. Christian radio ministries report that they receive many letters asking for follow-up literature. These requests are forwarded to Christians living in Central Asia who mail personal responses to each inquirer.4

Some missionaries have shown the Jesus Film produced by Campus Crusade for Christ. Other evangelistic productions as well have been translated into the major languages of Central Asia.5 Such films have been aired on some local television stations which suffer from a shortage of programming in given language. Television stations within Central Asia have, at times, benefited from technical assistance provided by expatriate Christians. Certain  Churches have established video libraries as a way to encourage their congregants. In addition, pastors have distributed cassette tapes and videos for training.

Outreach through Christian Literature

Christian literature is not abundantly available in the various languages of Central Asia. And the distribution of this material, when it is available, is not always done in a systematic way. For example, 10,000 copies of a Tajik translation of the Bible were printed, but only handfuls were distributed. Some evangelical groups organize programs in Central Asia in which individuals, often in response to radio programs, come to churches or neutral sites to participate in simple evangelistic Bible studies.6Some Central Asian Christians may still not have Bibles available in their own languages. Organizations like Open Doors International remain active in distributing Bibles and other Christian materials in Central Asia. Immediately after the fall of the Soviet Union, a host of Central Asian countries shifted from the Cyrillic to the Roman alphabet, which has affected the publication

and distribution of the Bible and other religious literature. To this day, some specific dialects remain without their own written language. This  is the reason that a number of Bible translation organizations are active in Central Asia, including Slaviska Missionen (Bromma, Sweden), People International (Tunbridge Wells, England), the International Bible Society (Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Stockholm, Sweden), and Wycliffe Bible Translators (Dallas, Texas). A long tradition of Bible translation characterizes Christian mission efforts within the region. Uzbeks gained access to a translation of the Bible in their own language in1913, but it was in an Arabic script that was not used under Soviet rule. A recent translation of the Bible into Tajik improves on an earlier version, while revisions to translations of the Bible continue in both the major and minor languages of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.

Short-Term Missions

A number of Western ministries sponsor short term missions in Central Asia. One group that works exclusively in this region, People International, organizes short-term programs that focus on evangelism or service projects.7 Open Doors International (Whitney, Oxon, England), Youth With a Mission (Amsterdam, The Netherlands),and U.S. Southern Baptists also sponsor short-term missions in Central Asia. Unfortunately, many of these initiatives do not adhere to the Lausanne mandate to exercise cultural sensitivity and do not link such efforts with long-term, indigenous programs and objectives. Some short-term ventures barge into the situation offering answers, instead of humbly listening and asking questions. Other groups distribute money, physical goods, and resources in ways that are indiscriminate and inappropriate.

Sister-Church Partnerships

Several Protestant mission organizations working in Central Asia are active in linking Eastern and Western congregations in sister-church partnerships. First Baptist Church of Wood way, a mega church in Waco, Texas, has developed prayer groups within its congregation which not only pray for Central Asian Christians, but also have organized repeated visits to the region, with some members even moving to Central Asia and living there for years at a time.8

In Conclusion

Christians in Central Asia continue to adapt to changing social context. In spite of difficulties andlarge-scale out-migration, Christianity remains visible presence in contemporary Central Asia. AsChristians become increasingly adept at relating to the  questions their Muslim neighbors have about their presence in society, they will become better able not only to maintain but also to increase their level of influence. Toward this goal, Christians from around the world can offer encouragement without imposing their own critical expectations on Central Asians. F

Notes:

Edited excerpts reprinted with permission from A. Christian van Gorder, Muslim-Christian Relations in Central Asia (London: Routledge, 2008).

A. Christian van Gorder is professor of religion, arts, and sciences, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.

1 acsa.narod.ru/indextest.htm

2 http://www.teachoverseas.org/locations kazakhstan.html.

3 http://www.irrtv.org/training.html.

4 http://www.twr.org/index.php?option=content & task=view&id=59&Itemid=77.

5Campus Crusade for Chirst; Gospel Recordings International.

6 More information is available from the Bible League, http://www.bibleleague.org/persecuted/ asiapers.php.

7 http://www.gopeople.org/faqs.php.

8 Erich Bridges, “Pioneering Path for Others – Church Sends Nucleus to Central Asia, “Baptist

Press News, 13 October 2005; http://www.bpnews. net/bpnews.asp?ID=21847

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Volume 17, No. 3

Elnura, A Kyrgyz Christian

David W. Montgomery

In Central Asia new non-Orthodox Christian groups have proved to be a source of tension as they gain converts from Islam. The numbers of these new Christians, whose denominational affiliations include Baptist, Seventh-day Adventist, Pentecostal, and non-denominational Protestant, are not large relative to the broader culture of self-proclaiming Muslims. But the perception is that these Christian groups pose a threat to a cultural understanding of Islam that has not included a tradition of religious pluralism.

Elnura is a young Kyrgyz girl who became interested in Christianity through regular visits to her Christian missionary neighbors who, according to her, offered the message of a “God of forgiveness and love” rather than a “God of fear.”1 Russian  Orthodoxy did not appeal to her because she was Kyrgyz, and she saw Orthodoxy as the faith of Russians and Islam as the faith of Kyrgyz. That the missionaries she met were Kyrgyz piqued her curiosity, and in secrecy she accepted their invitation to learn more about Christianity.

When her father learned about her visits to their neighbors, he was furious and banned her from seeing them again. He immediately sent her to a mosque to begin regular studies with the imam. The response of Elnura’s father was curious only because he was not a practicing Muslim and had never been to a mosque. His conviction was that his ethnicity belonged to Islam, and he feared that if his daughter became Christian, she would lose her Kyrgyz identity. New Christian converts challenge the conception of a mono-religious culture. They confront a population that will increasingly have to address the issue of religious pluralism, as well as the problem posed by what one defines as ethnic and what another defines as religious. Elnura’s Kyrgyz identity means that she should be Muslim, and her conversion is seen as a threat to the community. The reality is, however, that Elnura, far from being an aberration, is one among a growing number of examples of religious diversity in Central Asia.2 F

 Notes:

1Some foreign Christian missionaries believe that the conversion rate in Central Asia has come to a plateau, which they explain as an aspect of new Christians trying to reclaim the culture that was at times discarded during the conversion process. This cultural reclamation is seen in people who, for example, define themselves as both Kyrgyz and Christian and use traditional symbols in worship, such as the cross patterns common in the shyrdak  (traditional Kyrgyz felt carpet).

2 For more on the conversion of Kyrgyz to Christianity, see Alyona Faletskaya, “Identity Among the Kyrgyz: Moving Tent Towards Christ or Christianity,” master’s thesis, Department of Anthropology, American University in Central Asia, 2005.

David W. Montgomery is assistant professor of anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Edited excerpt reprinted with permission from David W. Montgomery, “Namaz, Wishing Trees, and Vodka: The Diversity of Everyday Religious Life in Central Asia,” in Everyday Life in Central Asia, Past and Present, edited by Jeff Sahadeo and Russell Zanca (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007), 366 and 37

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Volume 17, No. 3

Christians in Central Asia

Sebastien Peyrouse

Christians in Central Asia constitute a unique case, having been subject to Soviet state atheism and constituting a religious minority in a Muslim region.1 The five post-Soviet Muslim republics of Central Asia count many Christian minorities – Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant, with the latter group including Lutherans, Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, Pentecostals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Presbyterians, and members of Charismatic churches.

Editor’s note: While the present article classifies Jehovah’s Witnesses as Protestant Christians, most churches consider Jehovah’s Witnesses outside Christian ranks on the basis of this movement’s denial of the divinity of Christ.

Unlike religious communities of the Near and Middle East, Christians in Central Asia consist primarily of Europeans – mainly Russians, Germans, Poles, Armenians, and Greeks. At present, large Russian communities exist in Kazakhstan (4,500,000), Kyrgyzstan (600,000), and Uzbekistan (at least 500,000), with tens of thousands in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.2 Over the last three decades their numbers have considerably decreased, as have those of other Europeans. Ukrainians number 500,000 in Kazakhstan, 100,000 in Uzbekistan, and 50,000 in Kyrgyzstan. A 1999 census recorded 47,000 Poles in Kazakhstan, which contains as well 111,000 Belarusians and 353,000 Germans. The communities exist in far smaller numbers in other republics.

Other Christian groups include Koreans, numbering 160,000 in Uzbekistan and close to 100,000 in Kazakhstan in 1999; Greeks, recorded at 10,000 in Uzbekistan; and Christian Tatars, the largest group consisting of 248,000 in Kazakhstan. A small Armenian minority numbers 42,000 in Uzbekistan at present, and 40,000 in Turkmenistan in 1995. In the post-Soviet era, Christian – particularly Protestant – missionary activity among Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, and others has led to an increasing number of converts.

Christians After Independence

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Christians in Central Asia have had to confront two important phenomena: the extensive emigration of European populations and the arrival of new missionary movements. European out-migration from Central Asia, which began in the 1970s, peaked between 1992 and 1995, as European populations, acutely aware of their minority status, feared reduced power in the newly independent states and experienced increased economic difficulties. Half the European population, those with the means or the will, left.

This emigration posed a major challenge to Christians in Central Asia who saw many of their religious communities evaporate. The case of Lutherans is instructive. In Kazakhstan, heavy German out-migration led to the closing of several Lutheran churches; others are now dominated by non-Germans. Likewise in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, long-established Lutheran communities disappeared, weakened by competition from other Protestant denominations. Some relatively dynamic communities, such as those in large cities or in northern Kazakhstan, where the majority of the population is of European descent, managed to subsist, whereas groups situated in areas mainly peopled with Central Asians progressively died out. In the central Kazakhstani regions of Kzylorda and Zhezkazgan, Lutheran communities consist uniquely of seniors, driving the church to consider measures to stop the hemorrhaging.

Proselytism and Conversions

Most Christian movements, except Orthodox, Uniate, and Armenian churches, use new conditions of religious freedom to proselytize. Missionaries from the West and from South Korea, as well as from congregations operating in Central Asia since Soviet times, have been working in the region since perestroika and independence. These efforts are seen as crucial tools for congregations to find new followers and reach necessary levels to be allowed to register with the state.

Christian missionaries feel that most Central Asian Muslims practice a tolerant and traditional Islam, sometimes without theological grounding; these factors, they believe, ease these believers’ transition to Christianity. This perception is especially strong in areas of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan that were Islamized much later, in the 18th century as compared to the 8th century for the oasis areas of Central Asia. Missionary movements are also driven by the biblical imperative to share the gospel with all peoples. This view has provoked conflict with Muslim leaders, who see all non- European locals as de facto Muslims rather than potential Christians.

Religion as an Expression of Minority Identity in Central Asia

Individuals use religion as an expression of their minority feeling. As such, religion constitutes an important element of Christian daily life.3 Orthodox leaders have sought to exploit the national factor to gain support from Russians, who now must face a new status as cultural and political minorities. The link between religion, church, and nationality grows increasingly important as the more conservative republics in Central Asia – Turkmenistan, and, to a lesser extent, Uzbekistan – have progressively excluded European cultural expressions and no longer broadcast Russian television programs. In Kazakhstan, Russians have used the church to solidify a national identity in a different manner: the Orthodox Church claims the northern Kazakh steppes as a Russian “home.”

Emigration to “home” republics has strengthened the combination of ethnicity and religion in some cases, linking both to movement and territory, but has weakened it in others; for example, the Baptist Church has now replaced ethnic affiliations with the understanding that the gospel knows no ethnic boundaries. Other Christian churches and groups have tried to blend national allegiances and multiethnic configurations: Catholicism celebrates services in several languages, and the Baptist and Adventist churches have formed subgroups for locals (Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Uyghurs) in order to mitigate their concerns of entering a European denomination.

Russian Orthodox Versus Other Christian Churches

The Orthodox Church seeks simultaneously to justify its predominance over other Christian movements in Central Asia and to assert its presence as equal to Islam. Church leaders argue that every Russian is inherently connected to eastern Christianity, with “Russian” and “Orthodox” used as virtual synonyms. Orthodox leaders consider the entire post-Soviet space their canonical territory, which gives them right of preeminence over all other churches today.4 This preeminence extends to non-Russians as well, who are also considered to be “automatically” Orthodox. Two exceptions exist: non-Slavs whose culture is bound to another religion  (Islam in Central Asia and Azerbaijan and the Armenian and Georgian Christian churches for their respective populations), and those whose nationality is culturally linked to a church situated beyond the borders of the former USSR (Catholic Poles and Protestant Germans, for example). Yet Orthodoxy argues that activities of these churches should be limited, and they should not have the right to proselytize. Russians who convert to a denomination different from Orthodox Christianity are strongly criticized. Non-Orthodox Christian churches, not surprisingly, are strongly critical of this approach, and argue in particular in Central Asia that the Orthodox Church is unable to meet the spiritual needs of all non-Muslim believers.

Christian Missionary Activity and Islam

Missionaries have continued their activities in Central Asia despite hostility from Orthodoxy and Islam. Missionaries use various tactics to proselytize, knocking on doors or meeting people in the streets in republics where such activity is authorized, or through humanitarian aid or various activities including foreign language or computer lessons, sporting activities, and summer camps for underprivileged children. Christians have also constructed large church buildings to attract individuals who may be seeking new spiritual values. Muslim clergy across the region have reacted with hostility to the appearance of foreign Christian missions and to conversions among “their” local population. The mufti of Tajikistan, for example, declared that “it is intolerable that a Muslim leaves his religion.”5 Kyrgyz mosques have circulated petitions demanding a halt to all missionary activity, including that of Baptists, Adventists, and other Protestant denominations.6 And in Kazakhstan Muslims have tried to prevent Protestant movements from organizing summer camps. Throughout Central Asia a conversion to Christianity is considered treason and can cause tensions in the new convert’s social and family circles. F

Editor’s note: The conclusion of this article will be published in the next issue of the East-West Church & Ministry Report.

Notes

1 For Christianity in Central Asia after World War II, see Sebastien Peyrouse, Des chrétiens entre athéisme et islam. Regards sur la question religieuse en Asie centrale soviétique et post-soviétique (Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose, 2003).

2 Considering the absence of serious religious sociological studies in Central Asia, I do not give figures on believers, nor their national distribution. I prefer to give the figures of nationalities that constitute the majority of Christian believers, even though these figures should be considered cautiously. Sources for these figures include: Kratkie itogi perepisi nadeleniia 1999 goda v respublike Kazahstan (Almaty: Agentstvo respubliki Kazahstan po statistike, 1999); N. E. Masanov, Z. B. Abylhozhin, I. V. Erofeeva, A. N. Alekseenko, G.S. Baratova, Istoriia Kazahstana, narody i kul’tury (Almaty: Dajk-press, 2001); Etnicheskii atlas Uzbekistana (Tashkent, Fond Sodeistviia, 2002); C. Poujol, Dictionnaire de l’Asie centrale (Paris:Ellipses, 2001); Pal Kolstoe, Russians in the Former Soviet Republics (London: Hurst & Company,1995); Marlene Laruelle and Sebastien Peyrouse,Les Russes du Kazakhstan. Identités nationales etnouveaux Etats dans l’espace post-soviétique (Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose, 2004).

3 Sebastien Peyrouse, “Christianity and Nationality in Soviet and Post-Soviet Central Asia: Mutual Intrusions and Instrumentalizations,” Nationalities Papers 32 (September 2004), 651-74.

4 G. Stricker, “Die Missveständnisse häufen sich . . .,” Glaube in der Zweiten Welt, July/August 1995, 21; Stricker, “Fear of Proselytism: the Russian Orthodox Church Sets Itself Against Catholicism,” Religion, State and Society No. 2 (1998), 155-65.

5 F. Sharifzad, “Islam – ne politiki,” Nauka i religiia No. 11 (1994), 32.

6 These petitions were not only aiming at new movements such as the Unification Church of Reverend Moon, but at all Protestant denominations (Baptists and Adventists, for example); Glaube in der Zweiten Welt No. 718 (1992), 5-6.

Edited excerpts reprinted with permission from Sebastien Peyrouse, “Christians as the Main Religious Minority in Central Asia” in Everyday Life in Central Asia, Past and Present edited by Jeff Sahadeo and Russell Zanca (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007), 371-83.

Sebastien Peyrouse is senior research fellow, the Central Asia and Caucasus Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, and an associate scholar at the Institute for International and Strategic Research, Paris, France.