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Volume 20, No. 1

Book Review: Patriarch Kyrill. Freedom and Responsibility: A Search for Harmony – Human Rights and Personal Dignity, London: Darton, Longman & Todd and the Publishing House of the Moscow Patriarchate, 2011.

Editor’s note: Following is the full text of a review published in abridged form in The Times (London) 4 May 2011. Used with permission.

The meteoric rise to high office of a Russian priest in Soviet times had only one meaning: collaboration with the KGB. It also helped to have a relative who was the formidable Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad. So Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev, with his new monastic name of Kyrill, became rector of the Leningrad Theological Academy at the age of 28 in 1974, younger than some of his students. In the same year he was appointed a member of the Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches (Geneva). Three years later he was a bishop.

However, Communist authorities could make a mistake—and often did—in a sphere where they had little competence: control of the Russian Orthodox Church. Kyrill soon shone as a man of immense talent, both academic and entrepreneurial. He began to exercise influence in Leningrad, and so (many people believed) the authorities prevailed upon the weak Patriarch Pimen to sideline him to provincial Smolensk, where he flourished. He honed his skills and built a new power base, but also retained his position as head of the Department of Foreign Relations in Moscow, according him worldwide recognition as a leading figure in international church affairs. After the collapse of Communism he established a theological seminary, a school for training female choir directors, rebuilt his cathedral, and—not without some irony—regained the episcopal palace, previously the KGB’s headquarters.

Metropolitan Kyrill’s election as Patriarch of Moscow, head of the Russian Church worldwide, in January 2009 was inevitable. There was no other candidate of remotely his caliber. Therefore, the appearance of a book by him, for the first time in English, is significant. This collection of speeches and published articles is, however, a major disappointment.

Darton, Longman & Todd, the British half of the enterprise, seems to have taken over, unedited, a text provided by the co-publisher, the Moscow Patriarchate. Little thought has been given to presentation to a Western audience of a fascinating and challenging biography. The Bishop of London has written a page-long foreword, alluding to the Patriarch’s “acute intelligence,” but warning that the book “will infuriate many of the high priests of ‘universal values’.”

More important is the content. Many readers will look for enlightenment on a topic of importance in Russian affairs: in what direction would the new Patriarch—the strongest since the death of Tikhon in 1925—take the Church? But there can be no answers, as the most recent article dates from 2008, the year before his election.

Whether or not one agrees with the main thrust of the Patriarch’s arguments, he is a greater—and I think a subtler—man than he presents himself in this selection. There are no sermons, making him appear to be a man obsessed by a semi-political agenda: traditional Russian values are superior to those proclaimed in the “liberal” West, which has betrayed its Christian heritage. Except for the Roman Catholic Church, that is.

Patriarch Kyrill, of course, has every right—indeed, the duty—to proclaim the traditional values of Russian Orthodoxy and in this he will find support on a wider front, too, in promoting a vision of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Vatican as co-guardians of Christian tradition. He agreed with Pope Benedict on this in a talk they had the day after the latter’s enthronement: “We can join with Catholics in defending Christian values,” he writes. The Patriarch seems to have had a change of heart since his earlier criticism of Catholic expansion in Russia.

He aims his scattergun indiscriminately, targeting Protestantism in the broadest of terms. Again, the Patriarch has the right to a point of view, but the crudeness with which he formulates his thoughts is unworthy of the leader of one of the world’s largest churches. Acceptance of the ordination of women and of gay marriages is allegedly part of one mind-set (p. 6). The banning of public Christmas trees in California is only another expression of the attitude which encourages euthanasia and produces a political party in the Netherlands which lobbies for the legalization of pedophilia. Condemning homosexuality is a leitmotif of the book, and I counted no fewer than 11 instances.

The Patriarch’s scathing attacks against Western liberal society seem to blind him to shortcomings in his own country and its values. There is no attempt to examine the controversial role the Moscow Patriarchate played during the Communist period. He claims that “In those days only the Church and cultural worlds were able to create their own space, free from spiritual diktat,” which is the opposite of the truth. Worse than that, he nowhere mentions the realities of Russian society—corruption, the murder of journalists, Putin’s clawing back of democratic freedoms, the refusal to engage in any kind of dialogue over the status of Muslim Chechnya—while proclaiming Russia’s progress towards “real democracy” (p. 110). This is a shame because Patriarch Kyrill’s sermons, as his track record in Smolensk demonstrates, reveal a different man, caring for his own society.

Within the Russian Orthodox Church itself, both at home and worldwide, much reconciliation needs to be done, and it is unlikely that this can be undertaken without a thorough examination of the role of the Church during the Communist period, especially its political compromises. Those such as Father Gleb Yakunin who have called for this are treated as pariahs. Disappointingly, though, in this book the new Patriarch fails in his “search for harmony” (his subtitle), appearing to sit on a throne, seeing nothing at his feet, while finding much to his dislike in the wider world. ♦

Michael Bourdeaux is the founder and president of Keston Institute, Oxford, England.

Editor’s note: Following is the full text of a review published in abridged form in The Times (London) 4 May 2011. Used with permission.

The meteoric rise to high office of a Russian priest in Soviet times had only one meaning: collaboration with the KGB. It also helped to have a relative who was the formidable Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad. So Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev, with his new monastic name of Kyrill, became rector of the Leningrad Theological Academy at the age of 28 in 1974, younger than some of his students. In the same year he was appointed a member of the Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches (Geneva). Three years later he was a bishop.

However, Communist authorities could make a mistake—and often did—in a sphere where they had little competence: control of the Russian Orthodox Church. Kyrill soon shone as a man of immense talent, both academic and entrepreneurial. He began to exercise influence in Leningrad, and so (many people believed) the authorities prevailed upon the weak Patriarch Pimen to sideline him to provincial Smolensk, where he flourished. He honed his skills and built a new power base, but also retained his position as head of the Department of Foreign Relations in Moscow, according him worldwide recognition as a leading figure in international church affairs. After the collapse of Communism he established a theological seminary, a school for training female choir directors, rebuilt his cathedral, and—not without some irony—regained the episcopal palace, previously the KGB’s headquarters.

Metropolitan Kyrill’s election as Patriarch of Moscow, head of the Russian Church worldwide, in January 2009 was inevitable. There was no other candidate of remotely his caliber. Therefore, the appearance of a book by him, for the first time in English, is significant. This collection of speeches and published articles is, however, a major disappointment.

Darton, Longman & Todd, the British half of the enterprise, seems to have taken over, unedited, a text provided by the co-publisher, the Moscow Patriarchate. Little thought has been given to presentation to a Western audience of a fascinating and challenging biography. The Bishop of London has written a page-long foreword, alluding to the Patriarch’s “acute intelligence,” but warning that the book “will infuriate many of the high priests of ‘universal values’.”

More important is the content. Many readers will look for enlightenment on a topic of importance in Russian affairs: in what direction would the new Patriarch—the strongest since the death of Tikhon in 1925—take the Church? But there can be no answers, as the most recent article dates from 2008, the year before his election.

Whether or not one agrees with the main thrust of the Patriarch’s arguments, he is a greater—and I think a subtler—man than he presents himself in this selection. There are no sermons, making him appear to be a man obsessed by a semi-political agenda: traditional Russian values are superior to those proclaimed in the “liberal” West, which has betrayed its Christian heritage. Except for the Roman Catholic Church, that is.

Patriarch Kyrill, of course, has every right—indeed, the duty—to proclaim the traditional values of Russian Orthodoxy and in this he will find support on a wider front, too, in promoting a vision of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Vatican as co-guardians of Christian tradition. He agreed with Pope Benedict on this in a talk they had the day after the latter’s enthronement: “We can join with Catholics in defending Christian values,” he writes. The Patriarch seems to have had a change of heart since his earlier criticism of Catholic expansion in Russia.

He aims his scattergun indiscriminately, targeting Protestantism in the broadest of terms. Again, the Patriarch has the right to a point of view, but the crudeness with which he formulates his thoughts is unworthy of the leader of one of the world’s largest churches. Acceptance of the ordination of women and of gay marriages is allegedly part of one mind-set (p. 6). The banning of public Christmas trees in California is only another expression of the attitude which encourages euthanasia and produces a political party in the Netherlands which lobbies for the legalization of pedophilia. Condemning homosexuality is a leitmotif of the book, and I counted no fewer than 11 instances.

The Patriarch’s scathing attacks against Western liberal society seem to blind him to shortcomings in his own country and its values. There is no attempt to examine the controversial role the Moscow Patriarchate played during the Communist period. He claims that “In those days only the Church and cultural worlds were able to create their own space, free from spiritual diktat,” which is the opposite of the truth. Worse than that, he nowhere mentions the realities of Russian society—corruption, the murder of journalists, Putin’s clawing back of democratic freedoms, the refusal to engage in any kind of dialogue over the status of Muslim Chechnya—while proclaiming Russia’s progress towards “real democracy” (p. 110). This is a shame because Patriarch Kyrill’s sermons, as his track record in Smolensk demonstrates, reveal a different man, caring for his own society.

Within the Russian Orthodox Church itself, both at home and worldwide, much reconciliation needs to be done, and it is unlikely that this can be undertaken without a thorough examination of the role of the Church during the Communist period, especially its political compromises. Those such as Father Gleb Yakunin who have called for this are treated as pariahs. Disappointingly, though, in this book the new Patriarch fails in his “search for harmony” (his subtitle), appearing to sit on a throne, seeing nothing at his feet, while finding much to his dislike in the wider world. ♦

Michael Bourdeaux is the founder and president of Keston Institute, Oxford, England.

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Volume 20, No. 1

Christianity and Folk Religions in Romania

Florin Paul Botica

Editor’s Note: The first half of this article was published in the previous issue of the East-West Church and Ministry Report 19 (Fall 2011): 12-14.

III. Kathairo Discipleship

Churches in Romania, in their efforts to disciple their members, use several methods such as catechesis classes for the young and for new members, as well as Bible and topical studies dealing with a variety of issues. However, I discovered by interviewing church leaders that no specific discipleship ministries have been developed to address folk beliefs and practices. A solution I would propose may be called kathairo discipleship. The Greek word kathairo means to purge, clean, and wash. In non-biblical texts this word was used by farmers for washing grain (William McDonald and Arthur L. Farstad, The Believer’s Bible Commentary [Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999], 134). One biblical example may be found in John 15:1-2; “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, purges, and cleans, (kathairo) so that it will be even more fruitful.” Kathairo discipleship studies would help split-level Christians experience God’s cleansing from dependence upon folk beliefs and cures.

Romanian church leaders need to master biblical teachings that reject folk beliefs and practices. Scripture clearly condemns casting spells (Deuteronomy 18:11; Micah 5:12), witchcraft (Deuteronomy 18:10; Micah 5:12; II Kings 21:6), magic (Ezekiel 13:8; Acts 19:19), communing with the dead (Deuteronomy 18:11), mediums and spiritists (Leviticus 19:31, 20:6, and 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:11; I Chronicles 10:13; II Kings 21:6 and 23:24), divination (Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy 18:14; Isaiah 2:6; Nahum 3:4; Zachariah 10:2), and sorcery (Leviticus 19:26; Deuteronomy 18:10; II Kings 21:5-6; Nahum 3:4; Malachi 3:5; Acts 13:8-10; Galatians 5:19; Revelation 21:8 and 22:15). In addition to these Bible passages, Prayers for Overcoming Black Magic, Spells, Evil Eyes and Enemies by Nicolae State-Burlusi, and The Bible and the Occult: Witchcraft, Wizards, Sorcery, Spiritualism, Paganism, and Psychics by David E. Pratte, available at http://www.gospelway.com/religiousgroups/witchcraft, can serve as the basis for a detailed Bible study for discipling believers in overcoming folk practices and beliefs.

IV. Contextualized Worship and Mission

Romanian Orthodox Patriarch Daniel understands the need for change. A scholar educated in Switzerland as well as a church leader, he is very knowledgeable about the importance of critical contextualization as a tool for mission. In addition, renowned priest and scholar Ion Bria, who served as the Romanian Orthodox Church representative to the World Council of Churches, continuously challenged his church to initiate change in a relevant way. Several years before his death, Bria wrote:

A collection of prayers should be developed, keeping in mind the special needs of contemporary society. Beyond this, new forms of worship should be developed for mobile populations, travelers, children, and young people in industry, foreigners, refugees, and non-Christians in the vicinity of our congregations—all of whom have no permanent roots….To make parish worship more comprehensible and inviting to young people, special services or catechetical explanation could precede the liturgy (The Liturgy after the Liturgy [Geneva: WCC Publications, 1996]: 28-36).

Romanian churches that will contextualize their worship services and their ministries will help many split-level Christians become genuine followers of Christ who will be dedicated and active members of their local churches.

V. Leadership Training

Another step necessary in addressing the issue of split-level Christianity in Romania is specific missiological training for local church leaders. In Romania 60 percent of pastors were trained during Communism when schools and seminaries were poorly equipped and lacked trained professors. This is especially true in the field of missiology and the contextualization of the gospel.

Since the collapse of Communism in 1989, priests, pastors, and other church leaders have had increased opportunities to update their training. For example, many evangelical ministers have studied in West European and North American seminaries. Many have obtained master’s and doctoral degrees in biblical and theological studies, but few have sought advanced training in missiology. One exception, Baptist pastor and leader Vasile Talos, received his doctoral degree from the E. Stanley Jones School of Mission and Evangelism at Asbury Theological Seminary. He is having a tremendous influence on other ministers and future leaders in Romania in the field of missiology, specifically in regard to leadership, church growth, and evangelism. The Good News Baptist Church that Pastor Talos planted in downtown Bucharest is an effective New Testament Christian community that can serve as a model for other Romanian churches.

Rev. Talos has taken major steps to help update training in the field of church growth and evangelism, teaching seminars in different regional churches and has invited scholars including George Hunter and Ron Crandall from Asbury Theological Seminary and Samuel Kamaleson from World Vision to hold training seminars for Romanian evangelical leaders. Due to these efforts, as well as the efforts of other pastors and leaders, Romanian church leaders are better trained and more effective in leading their churches to reach the unchurched.

Many Orthodox and Catholic priests have also studied abroad during the last decade or have received additional training in local conferences and seminars. For example, in June 2007 the Romanian Orthodox Church held a seminar in Arad in western Romania addressing “The Ministry of the Church in a Post-Modern Romania.” Romanian Orthodox Patriarch Daniel, who is very mission-minded, encourages priests to pursue additional training. The Patriarch has founded a mission institute called Trinitas in order to train priests in the field of mission and evangelism, and he has invited Samuel Kamaleson of World Vision on several occasions to lead training seminars for Orthodox priests in Moldova.

These various initiatives have been excellent. However, with a heavy heart I have to say that, unfortunately, they have not addressed the issue of split-level Christianity. Pastor Talos has shared with this author that no training conference or seminar he has attended has specifically addressed the need to overcome folk beliefs. Nor is he aware of discipleship studies being taught in local churches that relate Bible teachings regarding the occult and other folk beliefs (Talos, 15 June 2007).

Romanian translations of several essential English-language books would be helpful, including Paul Hiebert, R. Daniel Shaw, and Tite Tienou’s Understanding Folk Religion, three studies by Paul Hiebert: Anthropological Insights for Missionaries, Incarnational Ministry, and Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues. Translations of Robert Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies, Stephen Bevans, Model of Contextual Theology, and Dean Flemming, Contextualization in the New Testament, would also provide essential help for Romanian church leaders facing the challenge of Christian syncretism.

VI. Theological Education

Just as there is a specific need to train church leaders to deal with the issue of split-level Christianity and to address it biblically through critical contextualization, so there is a similar need in the field of theological education in schools preparing future priests and pastors. Romanian Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants all place heavy emphasis upon theological education in their colleges, seminaries, and universities. Unfortunately, no courses in the curricula of any of their institutions deal specifically with folk religions, the issue of split-level Christianity, the field of contextual theology, or even the larger field of missiology.

The strongest Romanian Baptist institution of higher education, Emmanuel University in Oradea, offers majors in pastoral theology, social work, music, management studies, theology, and social work. However, Emmanuel offers no course dealing with the issue of split-level Christianity or the importance of critical contextualization in mission and evangelism. This author’s brother, Aurelian Botica, an Old Testament languages professor at Emmanuel with a master’s in theology from Asbury Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Hebrew Union College, nevertheless sees the need for courses in missiology in Romanian theological seminaries: “I realize our students would benefit more if they could take courses dealing with the more missional aspects of Christian life and ministry” (28 July 2009).

Babes Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca is the most diversified institution of higher education in Romania. Enrolling over 12,000 students in 55 majors, it offers master’s and doctoral degrees in theology for priests and pastors in its School of Reformed Theology, School of Orthodox Theology, School of Romano-Catholic Theology, and School of Greco-Catholic Theology. However, only two courses in the curricula, biblical anthropology and theology and culture, seem to be related to the field of missiology. Romanian theological schools and seminaries need to provide specific courses dealing with folk religions, the issue of split-level Christianity, and the larger field of missiology in order to facilitate better contextualization of the Christian message.

VII. Ecumenical Cooperation

Another means of addressing split-level Christianity in Romania centers on improved ecumenical dialogue and cooperation among Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches. For centuries Catholic-Orthodox antagonism had a serious negative influence on the population. Many Romanians lost hope in the church, turning as a result to folk religions in times of need and hardship. Later, Catholic and Orthodox persecution of Protestants reinforced many Romanians’ lack of confidence in the church.

In contrast, in the first decade of the 21st century Romanian churches cooperated on several major projects, including prison, hospital, and orphanage outreach; help for the poor, homeless, and street children; and religious instruction in public schools. From time to time ecumenical conferences foster common understanding, dialogue, and further cooperation. For example, a seminar on “The Ecumenical Movement in the Twentieth Century: The Role of Theology in Ecumenical Thought and Life in Romania” was held in the city of Iasi in northeastern Romania, 27-30 April 1998.

In Summary

This study has identified the range of folk beliefs and practices present, not only within Romanian culture at large, but also as a component of a Romanian Christian-folk religion syncretism. Biblical injunctions against folk religion also are delineated. Based on interviews with over 80 Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant believers, the research suggests the considerable extent to which folk beliefs undermine Christian values and practice in Romania today.

Finally, the study provides recommendations for overcoming split-level Christian syncretism in the Romanian context: I. biblically based de-contextualization and re-contextualization of folk customs; II. comprehensive, holistic evangelism addressing material and emotional as well as spiritual needs; III. thorough-going discipleship; IV. contextualized worship and mission; V. leadership training; VI. theological education; and VII. ecumenical cooperation. ♦

Edited excerpts published with permission from Florin Paul Botica, “Toward Addressing Split-Level Christianity: A Study of the Interaction Between Christianity and Folk Religions in Romania,” Ph.D. dissertation, Asbury Theological Seminary, 2010.

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Volume 20, No. 1

New Strategies for Church Planting in Romania

Vasile A. Talos

Baptist-Pentecostal Comparisons

According to national polls, between 1992 and 2002, the total number of Baptists in Romania increased by 15.7 percent (from 109,824 to 126,639) and Pentecostals by 46.9 percent (from 220,824 to 324,824) in the context of a decrease in the Romanian population by 5.2 percent (Constantin Cuciuc, Religiozitatea Populatiei din România la începutul Mileniului 3 [Bucharest: Editura Gnosis, 2005], 11). The more rapid growth of Pentecostal churches could be largely due to the fact that Pentecostals have large families, with 4 to 11 children. The text from I Timothy 2:15 is interpreted literally, in the sense that women shall be saved in childbearing.

During Communism, trained pastors represented the most important asset for Baptist churches, while Pentecostal churches relied heavily on small prayer groups. Due to this practice, Pentecostal churches involved massive numbers of lay people in ministry and developed a missionary mentality in the process.

When planting new churches, Baptists rely primarily upon pastors and church planters who travel back and forth to unevangelized villages and towns. Rural Baptist churches are in decline not only because young people are migrating to cities, but because their pastors usually live in cities and visit these churches only on weekends. Pentecostals, however, have one or two families move to a village that has no evangelical church with the goal of becoming integrated into village life.

In planting churches, Baptists are not always successful in reproducing the liturgy of urban mother churches. For example, Holy Trinity Baptist Church in Bucharest sent Aurel Cojoc to spread the gospel in nearby Fundulea. He gathered people in a private house for Bible reading, answering people’s questions, and prayer. In about two years more than 20 people received Jesus Christ and were baptized. When attendance grew to over 30 people, the mother church built a chapel. Pastor Cojoc started to introduce a worship service on the pattern of the mother church, but church attendance soon started to decline. Despite the missionary’s efforts, church attendance in Fundulea diminished to about five people.

Pastor Vasile Tamas from Cluj-Napoca had a similar experience. Every week the pastor and two other Christians went to a nearby village and gathered people in a small group for prayer and Bible reading. They prayed, answered people’s questions, and taught them the Bible and Christian songs. Very soon more than 40 people received Jesus and were baptized. Soon after that, Pastor Tamas organized traditional Baptist worship services and provided a chapel. However, following the chapel dedication, the church stopped growing and no new believers were baptized in the following three years. Unfortunately, such experiences have been repeated many times in Romanian Baptist church planting.

In contrast, Pentecostals have used a simpler worship format based on prayer and discussions about problems faced by villagers. Moreover, in rural southern and eastern Romania, locals appreciate Pentecostal songs inspired by folk music, while Baptist churches typically use American and German songs translated into Romanian. In the Moldavian region of Romania villagers have been more deeply moved by folk-inspired Christian ballads than by band music from Baptist churches in Transylvania or contemporary Christian music from Bucharest.

Pentecostal churches allow for greater administrative flexibility than do Baptist churches. Thus, small Pentecostal prayer groups multiply easily at the grass roots level, and ordinary people are more involved in serving in the church. In addition, the several branches of Pentecostals in Romania allow for different ways of doing church, in contrast to greater conformity in Baptist structure and worship. Pentecostals stress the gifts of the Holy Spirit for all believers, whereas Baptists rely on a small number of ordained and lay ministers. The field research in this study focused on three churches from three major cities in Romania. Their senior pastors, lay leaders, and church members were interviewed. These churches were selected because they were attempting to employ new ways of doing church.

Holy Trinity Baptist Church of Braila

Josef Stefanuti has been the pastor of Braila Baptist Church since 1974.The city of Braila was a Communist stronghold before 1989, while today it represents a very traditional Orthodox area. Pastor Stefanuti has a vision for a mature church with a holistic ministry and a strong impact locally, nationally, and internationally. He believes that a church’s ministry has to fulfill the physical, social, educational, cultural, and spiritual needs of people.

Putting this philosophy of ministry into practice, Holy Trinity Baptist Church built House of Hope Orphanage, Diakonia Medical Clinic, and a youth center for social, cultural, sport, and spiritual activities. Also, Holy Trinity built a new sanctuary with 1,200 seats, one of the most impressive buildings in the city, and a Bible college for training church planters. In addition, the church has developed communal projects for elderly people and brings medical teams from the United States throughout the year. During the Christmas and Easter seasons, Holy Trinity organizes Christian concerts advertised throughout the city featuring the finest and best known Romanian choirs, singers, and artists. During the summer, the church organizes Christian youth rallies on the shore of the Danube River. Teams of short-term missionaries from the United States are also involved in these events. Pastor Stefanuti declared:

I looked at the needs of this city and I was shaken by the dramatic reality in the orphanages. My wife grew up in an orphanage, so she knows how these kids feel. We as a church need to show Christ’s love to this city through the ministries that we do among the people. Thus, I proposed a model for taking care of these children, a model that could be followed by others in the city. We were able to build an orphanage for 50 children called the House of Hope. We built it with the help of churches from the U.S. At the inauguration of the orphanage, the American ambassador told the city’s mayor: “This is what I want to see in Romania, people who work together for the good of others.” House of Hope not only offers care for orphans, it also helps parents who are on the verge of abandoning their children because of their economic circumstances.

The second project was Diaconia Medical Clinic. “We want people to know we care,” Pastor Stefanuti said. “We want to show people Jesus’ love by providing quality medical care.” To date, the clinic has served more than 10,000 patients. It has been able to penetrate all levels of society as people from all walks of life seek care there because of the quality of tests as well as the competence of the staff. Among those who have received medical care at this clinic are Braila’s vice-mayor, the police chief, the mother of a former finance minister, professors, judges, prosecutors, politicians, and other important individuals. “The judge who fined me in 1985 because I was distributing Bibles is now one of the clinic’s patients,” Pastor Stefanuti shared. The clinic is now self-supporting even with approximately ten percent of patients receiving free medical care and medicines. It is involved in the education of people who live in the city of Braila as well as the surrounding villages in regard to diet and drug dependence (alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs). Together with the Braila Red Cross Chapter, clinic doctors have given free tests for blood sugar and blood pressure.

The Youth Center was envisioned as a bridge connecting Diaconia, House of Hope, and the church. Young people cared for by Diaconia and House of Hope are invited first to the Youth Center and from there to the church. The Youth Center offers computer training courses, youth meetings, and various discussion groups. Non-Christian youngsters play tennis with the young people from the church. Here is the testimony of a young man reached through Diaconia and the Youth Center Ministries:

I came to the Diaconia Clinic for dental care. There, someone recommended that I go to the Youth Center so I can learn Christian songs and how to pray. I also went to the church. I stayed there for about 10 minutes as I did not understand the sermon. I was doing the same thing in the Orthodox church which I was visiting from time to time. At the Youth Center, however, the situation was different. As I continued to go there, the young people were very friendly and eventually they invited me to play in a drama during the worship service. That day I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior and now belong to this church.

Because of its social actions, Braila Baptist Church has become known not only in the city but all the way to the President of Romania. “The President of Romania has recently congratulated us for our humanitarian work. The press has also published several articles about our ministries as well as about our partners from the U.S.,” Pastor Stefanuti declared.

“The church building project was a step of faith,” Pastor Stefanuti said. “We did not have the money. All we could accomplish with our money was to dig a large hole in the ground. We prayed that God would send people from outside to help us and He provided.” However, Pastor Stefanuti acknowledges some mistakes in his approach and in church people’s attitude. Between 1990 and 1997 their focus was on building the sanctuary. “Unintentionally, I placed projects before people,” Pastor Stefanuti admitted. All that time the church did not grow. Since 1990 the membership of Braila Baptist Church has increased from 320 members to 445 members in 2007.

Social Impact

Braila Baptist Church attained a huge visibility in the city due to its efficient social programs, its fruitful partnership with American Christians, and its impressive facilities. Its partnership with evangelical churches and Christians from the United States made it possible for the church to accomplish much more than could have been attained by local resources only.

However, relying heavily on financial support from abroad creates problems. “It is difficult now to find volunteers in the church when we have so many full time employees in all these programs,” a board member explained. About 70 percent of new converts come through the ministry and through the influence of the Diakonia Medical Clinic. Most others are reached through special evangelistic events organized with help provided by short-term mission teams from the United States.

Pastor Stefanuti admits that church members are falling behind in all these efforts, while only a few are fully involved in the task of reaching the city. He is now concerned that most church members do not share the gospel and do not invite people to the church. They are hesitant to welcome new people and some of them have an unfriendly attitude toward lost people. He would like to focus on motivating church members to keep up with what is going on. Pastor Stefanuti’s vision, faith, heart, and entrepreneurial gifts make him a leader difficult to reproduce.

In February 2008, however, the church experienced a struggle due to a divergent opinion among leaders and church members in regard to U.S. church involvement in their mission. As a result, Assistant Pastor Marius Mezin started a second Baptist church in Braila. Editor’s note: Josef Stefanuti died in 2010. Today, the second Baptist church in Braila employs contemporary worship while the mother church, Holy Trinity Baptist, is more traditional in its form of worship.

General Insights

Several church growth insights may be gleaned from the life and mission of this church. First, a visionary leader challenged the status quo. Second, a church started to fulfill its mission when it moved to the streets of the city to serve people. Also, a church created opportunities for evangelism through ministering to people’s felt needs, and in turn created evangelistic opportunities for churches even in a hostile environment. Third, church leaders must keep a balance between successful programs and the vitality of the congregation as a whole. Pastor Stefanuti admits: “We gain visibility due to our social programs, but we do not penetrate the society due to the lack of dedicated people in the church.” ♦

Edited excerpts published with permission from Vasili Alexandru Talos, “Church in the Apostolic Spirit: A Strategy for Building Indigenous Apostolic Congregations in the Cultural Context of Eastern Orthodox and Post-Communist Romania,” Doctor of Missiology, Asbury Theological Seminary, 2008.

Editor’s note: The concluding portion of this article will be published in the next issue of the East-West Church and Ministry Report 20 (Spring 2012).

Vasile Alexandru Talos is pastor of Good News Baptist Church, Bucharest, Romania.

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Volume 20, No. 1

Mere Christianity: Teaching Ethics in Ukrainian Public Schools

Mary Raber

Editor’s note: The first portion of this article was published in the previous issue of the East-West Church and Ministry Report 19 (Fall 2011):1-3.

Promoting Respect for Others

Its practitioners point out that Christian ethics instruction is not Sunday school. Proselytizing is not allowed: “We can give people the keys to their salvation, but we cannot force the lock,” Zhukovskyy observes. Instruction excludes doctrine, prayer, and visits to churches for the purpose of worship. In other words, the vision of the curriculum is to present “mere Christianity” for the formation of morals with no single confession dominating. “Its value is that children get acquainted with the absolute, unchanging ethical teaching of Scripture,” states Sannikova. “Whether they accept it or not is their choice; acquaintance with it is the main thing.”

The program is also geared to promoting respect for the religion and worldview of others, a valuable outcome in a multi-cultural and multi-confessional society. Sannikova also works at overcoming stereotypes with her students at the Odessa Institute for Post-graduate Pedagogical Education where she teaches Christian ethics methods. For example, she discourages the use of the word “sectarian” and insists that all confessions be discussed with respect. “We’re pedagogues,” she says. “We need to encourage dialogue. If we teachers will learn to do this, the children will follow.”

Voluntary and Popular

Furthermore, Christian ethics is not a required subject, but an approved elective, offered in all Ukrainian public schools at the request of parents. Four interested families in a village and eight in a city are sufficient to give the subject space in the schedule. Any child may attend with parents’ written permission.1 The elective status is prized. “As soon as you make Christian ethics a requirement, it loses its appeal,” Sannikova claims.

Thus, the mechanism for the systematic teaching of Christian ethics in Ukrainian public schools is presently in place. The courses are popular and appreciated. Anecdotal evidence indicates the children’s behavior and relationships have improved where the classes have been implemented, besides providing a rare forum for educators and others to overcome religious barriers. Students who choose the elective participate in a national Bible knowledge “Olympiad” held annually, and recognition is given for the best Christian ethics teacher.

Threats and Shortcomings

Yet ambiguities remain. The creation of a curriculum without a confessional slant is a remarkable accomplishment, but it is not universally supported. The politically powerful Moscow Patriarchate promotes the introduction of a basic Orthodox catechism, Zakon Bozhiy [The Law of God], as a national requirement. Significantly, their representative withdrew from participation in inter-confessional curriculum groups in April 2010. Some fear that President Victor Yanukovich favors the Moscow Patriarchate and has appointed officials to the Ministry of Education who will bypass the carefully constructed inter-confessional Christian ethics structure and eventually dismantle it. Meanwhile, in places where Greek Catholicism predominates, moral education in the schools goes hand-in-hand with church-based religious instruction and a confessionally neutral approach may be considered superfluous.

Moreover, Christian ethics has not been implemented everywhere. Many parents are not even aware that the subject exists as an option for their children. Some school directors may simply ignore the Christian ethics elective because of the extra work of assigning a teacher, or out of a sense of caution, or perhaps because of lingering Soviet-era anti-religious attitudes, or because they fear potential conflict. However, Anna Solomina, a teacher in Kyiv, blames indifference and lack of unity among Christians for hindering the implementation of Christian ethics: “We have failed to recognize God’s mercy for Ukraine….This has been available since 2005. By now we should already have Christian ethics in all the schools.”2

Christian Ethics as Life Choices Education

At about the same time that Tetiana Sannikova was starting to teach biblical ethics to Odessa fifth graders, Nadiia Malicheva, trained as an artist, was visiting high school classes in Kyiv to talk to teenagers about making wise decisions. Like many Ukrainian women, Malicheva had undergone an abortion that caused her great physical and spiritual suffering, and she wanted to help others avoid her experience: “I didn’t want to scare them, but teach them how to think.” In addition to abortion, she addressed narcotics, alcohol, and other topics, connecting each issue to biblical principles. Eventually she collected information on 60 themes, which became the basis for teaching materials now prepared and distributed by Nove Zhittia [New life], a “cultural-educational center” with affiliates in several major cities.3 Malicheva is one of the forerunners of professional and volunteer teachers who entered public schools in increasing numbers during the 2000s to give instruction in stanovlenie lichnosti, that is, character formation, or life choices education. Like many others, Olena Prokhorenko became involved because of a direct call for help from a school director who was overwhelmed by the complex and dangerous issues her pupils faced. “I started with drugs and alcohol,” Prokhorenko remembers. “Then I tackled pre-marital sex, abortion, HIV-AIDS, and getting along with parents.”

Some schools rely on doctors and other professionals to speak on such topics from a strictly informational perspective, but because of their morally based approach, some teachers refer to life choices education as “Christian ethics” in a kind of shorthand. The national Christian ethics curriculum touches on the same issues, but from the standpoint of developing a framework for a comprehensive moral system and with direct reference to the Bible. Life choices education is more immediate, focusing on the needs of young people to confront serious day-to-day challenges. Here the emphasis is on presenting clear, reliable information from a moral perspective that may or may not be directly identified as Christian.

Examples of Life Choices Instruction

Prokhorenko, a member of a Charismatic church, and her Orthodox colleague, Svitlana Lopata, are employed by Charitable Fund “Good Shepherd Shelter” in Makiivka (Donets’k Province). Their original assignment was to maintain contact with children who had lived briefly at the organization’s shelter before being permanently assigned to state-run boarding schools (internats). Now, besides teaching life choices in the internats, they present regular classes at numerous area middle schools and have also given seminars to local government officials and parents. “It helps that we’re identified with a social service organization,” Prokhorenko observes. “If we said we were from a church, we couldn’t get in.”

Baptists, Adventists, Greek Catholics, and others are doing similar work around the country with good results, but because they are working in public schools their church affiliation is downplayed. If a teacher has been engaged to lecture on AIDS prevention, for example, he or she must do that competently without reference to faith. Yet conveying the basics of Christian morality in a non-intrusive, informational way is not ruled out. Much depends on an individual teacher’s relationships with school administrators and pupils. “As trust develops,” Prokhorenko says, “I add more biblical material.” Occasionally, when she is challenged by Orthodox laypeople, her partner Lopata takes the lead. In general, however, no matter what their confession, life choices teachers are able to agree on “mere Christianity,” acknowledging that truth is in Christ and that schoolchildren desperately need clear information and a moral structure for making decisions.

Through life choices education young people sometimes ask to study the Bible or seek further opportunities to explore a Christian worldview. In order to accommodate them, Nove Zhittia offers clubs or discussion groups outside of school. For eight years the Christian youth club, Tvoia perspektiva [Your Perspective] in eastern Ukraine, headed by Viacheslav Khalanskiy, has organized a summer camp around Christian worldview themes. Many of the participants first became interested in the camp through contact with life choices teachers. Several times a year Tvoia perspektiva brings together interested teachers, students, parents, church leaders, government officials, and others for day-long seminars on character formation, sexual morality, family relationships, and Resources and Networking

Obviously, teaching life choices/Christian ethics demands considerable tact, skill, and knowledge. “You can’t just stand up there and lecture,” warns Prokhorenko, “If you do, none of these kids will listen to you. You have to be able to get their attention.” Fortunately, many resources have been developed for teachers in Ukraine since the 1990s. No central clearing house exists for information nor, rather surprisingly, any standardized requirements for teacher competence or even curriculum, although many teaching materials have been approved by the Ministry of Education. Instead, individuals and organizations seem to manage to locate each other through word of mouth or specialized seminars offered around the country.

Many volunteer teachers valiantly continue to collect their own material, drawing on newspapers, popular films, internet, and classical literature. As mentioned above, Nadiia Malicheva teamed up with professional educators to create comprehensive lesson plans illustrated with DVDs of film clips, slide shows, and music. Often teachers make use of translated materials from international organizations that provide teaching resources on specific issues, such as those offered by AIDS Care Education and Training (ACET).5

Nove Zhittia, ACET, and others also sponsor regular training seminars for educators in order to introduce resources, practice teaching, and discuss problems. The international organization Hope in Education (http://hopeineducation.com) presents seminars on the integration of a Christian worldview into the educational process. Confessional lines are frequently crossed. Baptists might attend a training program on HIV-AIDS at a Charismatic church, or an Orthodox priest might address a gathering of teachers held at an evangelical theological school.

Conclusion

The websites of numerous organizations working in the area of Christian ethics in Ukraine usually include positive testimonies from students, teachers, and school administrators concerning the usefulness of a given program or resource. Most groups conduct some kind of informal assessment of their work, and seminar participants almost always fill out evaluation forms. Some school administrators have noticed an improvement in children’s attitudes and behavior where Christian ethics is taught. However, to my knowledge, no formal study has yet been made documenting the long-term results of teaching Christian ethics in Ukraine. Nevertheless, even without hard statistical evidence, the consensus is that such courses can only help. Whether they will continue depends on the wisdom, commitment, and goodwill of people at all levels of the educational process.

Of the two broad Christian ethics trends, the national inter-confessional curriculum is more vulnerable to dismantling because of its public character, its dependence on government policy, and the plain hard work of maintaining relationships among various confessions. Life choices education with a Christian perspective is probably more sustainable because of its informality. It is locally based, draws on a wide variety of resources, and meets an undeniable need. The development of a national life choices curriculum might be advisable, but it could end up stifling the role of Christian volunteers. On the other hand, greater efficiency and unity among life choices practitioners are probably needed to consistently deliver quality moral education to schools countrywide.

Before he was crucified, Jesus prayed for believers that “all may be one” (John 17:21). Without doubt, that prayer will be fulfilled in the future Kingdom. In the meantime, however, in the Ukrainian context, a truly inclusive Christian ethics curriculum and the consistent witness of teachers of all confessions may be some of the best evidence for the Holy Spirit’s presence. These social projects offer genuine hope for the formation of moral values among the young and also create space for much-needed inter-confessional dialogue. Incidents of religiously motivated violence have occurred in Ukraine since independence, but if the country continues to be spared the armed conflict that has crippled other countries, perhaps future historians will point to instruction in Christian ethics as one of the mitigating factors. ♦

Notes:

1 Alternatives are philosophical ethics, which takes a secular approach, and religious ethics, which explores the moral values of other religions besides Christianity.

2 Quoted from a presentation at a conference on spiritual-moral education held in Odessa, 17-18 March 2011.

3 Based on notes from a presentation and personal conversation at a conference on spiritual-moral education held in Odessa, 17-18 March 2011. Nove Zhittia may be accessed at www.nlc.org.ua.

4 Information on Tvoia perspektiva may be accessed at http:///www.mxk.artangel.org.ua.

5 Available at http://acet.org.ua.

Mary Raber, from St. Louis, Missouri, has spent 16 years in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Presently she is a service worker with Mennonite Mission Network based in Odessa, Ukraine, teaching church history and other subjects at Odessa Seminary, Donetsk Christian University, and other theological schools in Ukraine, Russia, and Armenia