L a d u s h k i n -- Kaliningrad's Baptists are on the upswing. That's the assessment of Nikolay Vladimirovich Kazakov, since March 2024, senior pastor of the city's "Peace Church." With roughly 300 adult participants and 200 children, this congregation in Ulitsa Gagarina 18 remains by far the largest Baptist congregation in the exclave. In an interview at the end of March, the pastor stated, "Many, many (German-Russians) are returning to Russia - and not only Baptists." As a specialist for installing gas in new flats, he had already seen in 2018, without exact figures, that a very significant number of flats were being purchased by people from Germany. Speaking about Protestant families, he explained, "These families are afraid of losing their children. In schools, children are being re-educated; the new gender issue remains alien to us." He knows of instances in which families have fled to Russia out of fear. The author's conclusion: Apart from militant "sects," religious minorities tend to be left alone more in Russia than in many other places.
The pastor admitted that quite a few returnees have dual citizenship or are endeavoring to obtain an additional Russian passport. My comment: The Kaliningrad region often serves as a second home. Those who completely renounce German citizenship run the risk of losing the blessings of the German welfare state. For some, commuting is therefore the order of the day. But Kazakov also knows a very successful businesswoman who decided to return to Russia after a quarter of a century in Germany - mainly because of the gender issue.
For Nikolay Vladimirovich, friendship between Russians and Ukrainians is the most obvious of truths. Although both were born in Kyrgyzstan, the pastor is considered a "pure" Russian, while his wife, Oksana, is a "pure" Ukrainian. It has not yet occurred to either of them that this should be a problem. As a Baptist of classic conviction, the pastor is not prepared to take sides in the current armed conflict: "Politics is not our business. Let the state deal with state matters. It is our task to pray for peace. Our politics is prayer." Who, apart from us believers, takes the task of praying seriously? But he adds, "Everyone suffers from the conflict. We strive for peace; we want everything to end as quickly as possible. We experience the pain of division. People are suffering on both sides."
Kazakov also endeavors to achieve peace in the church. Despite minor theological differences, he describes relations with the unregistered Baptists in Ulitsa Deshneva 18 as cordial. Since in Kaliningrad only the unregistered Baptists - known as the "Council of Churches" in Russian - have a center for addicts, the congregation in Gagarina recently referred a young man to this center. Pastor Kasakov likes the Bible-based rehab work of the "Unregistered."
The congregation understands hospitality. Although it has guest rooms on its premises, they were not needed for a youth conference attended by 150 at the end of March 2025. All guests were accommodated privately.
Opportunities for witnessing continue to exist. Panels explaining the Christian faith were recently set up in a major local shopping center. In recent weeks, the congregation founded a new music ensemble.
What dreams does the senior pastor still harbor? "We want to expand the kingdom of God; we desire to familiarize people with the Word of God. The Word of God must once again be recognized as the highest authority. Tradition and politics distract us." Young people are looking for experiences; they are beguiled, for example, by smartphones. "Prayer and the Word are taking a back seat. We have to get back to the basics."
Biographical Information
Nikolay Kasakov did not grow up in a religious family. Born in 1975, he grew up with 10 other siblings in the southern Kyrgyz town of Kadamjay. It was not until 1997 that he converted; a sister's bout with cancer had brought the entire family closer to the faith. This sister then passed away in 2007. After moving to the capital, Bishkek, he and Oksana married in 1999. A year later, the couple had a daughter, who now lives with her husband in Kyrgyzstan. Nikolay was ordained a deacon in Bishkek in 2007 and became a pastor in 2011. A year later, the family moved to Kaliningrad. He immediately started as an assistant pastor at the new location.
The lead pastor is a trained welder; until 2024, he worked as such and as a window setter in Kaliningrad. Now, as a full-time pastor without a secular position, he can pursue his studies at Moscow Baptist Theological Seminary, mainly by distance learning. He has also been a student at the Peace Church's long-time Bible school.
Anatoly Krikun, who was born in 1946 and hails from the Zhitomir region of Ukraine, was the senior pastor of this congregation from 1996 to 2024. Under his direction, the Peace Church had been completed in 1998 with additional support from Germany. Krikun remains senior pastor for the entire exclave.
The "Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists" (RUECB) has four other small congregations in the Kaliningrad region.
Originally from the webpage "Wyoder.de"
CCD reprinted with permission
