L a d u s h k i n – Nowhere am I welcomed more warmly than in the very conservative, unregistered Baptist communities of Russia. This applies to both Siberia and Kaliningrad region. Shortly after arriving at a church, a brother usually approaches the guest and asks about their identity and origin. Since I am from a conservative Mennonite family, the doors open quickly. This immediate questioning is certainly also for security reasons and is not motivated solely by hospitality. However, the subsequent invitation to lunch reaches far beyond security concerns. For someone who has been socialised in a church environment, it is far more pleasant to be approached and questioned than to be ignored.
My initial conclusion after attending such services: This traditional Baptist model is sustainable, it has a future. These communities are characterised by intact marriages and long rows of children. At least among the younger generations, there are as many men as women present. I was recently approached by a father with eight children, all under the age of 12. He proudly explained that three of them are learning the violin and two others the cello. A home orchestra appears to be in the making.
We may condemn a mission based on biological growth; it is certainly not ideal. Nevertheless, keeping one's own sheep in the fold is in itself a significant spiritual achievement today. Thousands of the more liberal, established congregations in the West are facing extinction.
What is the secret of the conservative Baptists' success?
A Sense of Ownership
After several decades of observing Russian Protestantism, one can conclude: "It is only yours if you have placed your own effort, sweat and pain into it." There are few shortcuts. If you haven't paid for it, it doesn't belong to you; it remains the property of the donor. Local congregations should think modestly and expand only as far as their own resources allow. Otherwise, they are likely to become someone else's church, controlled remotely from afar.
You can plop a finished church into the lap of locals, but when will they take possession of the property? People tend not to value donations. That was a fundamental strength of the church during the Soviet era: The local congregation truly belonged to its members.
We Westerners did not prioritise spiritual growth. It was more visible and measurable to construct buildings of bricks and mortar. Shaping Christian personalities is difficult and hard to measure. Our reasons were partly selfish: New foreign buildings quickly embellish a denomination's yearbook. But who will pay for the maintenance of these white elephants, these impressive structures, after the missionaries have left for greener pastures? I am thinking of examples from the Russian Caucasus. A model must be sustainable. One must not "cut a slice larger than one oneself can consume".
Of course, there were also promising hybrid variants. Much German money flowed into the registered Baptist church in Kaliningrad's Ulitsa Gagarina, which was consecrated in 1998. But the leadership, the hard work and sweat were of local origin.
The Universal Priesthood
As Anabaptists, unregistered Baptists practise a "priesthood of all believers". The tasks of a congregation are carried out by many unpaid volunteers – a prerequisite for the growth of any Christian community. Leadership is essentially a meritocracy: Leadership positions are filled by those who have worked their way up from within. Few leaders are brought in from the outside. Studying theology does not automatically give one the right to be a pastor.
Since it involves human beings, this model is not perfect either. Even within their own Baptist ranks, one occasionally hears of spiritual arrogance.
For these Baptists, ethnicity is one glue holding the community together. This fundamental loyalty withstands even the most boring sermons and endures even when the pastor's wife could not win any charm contest. Members remain loyal – often for life – even when there is no ordained pastor on location. Elsewhere, new believers tend to wander from church to church in search of the most flamboyant preacher or the most pleasing music.
Unintended Prophecy
Russia's unregistered Baptists can be unforgiving and narrow-minded. They tend to avoid other denominations and interdenominational contacts. Unlike many Ukrainians, however, they are not torn apart and compromised by the demands of current foreign policy. In Russia, they consider themselves apolitical; they have other priorities. This makes them candidates for promoting reconciliation among Baptists. Like the Amish in North America, their prophetic impact seems unintentional. Perhaps an unintended prophetic impact is the most convincing - it results from a broader theological conviction.
Christian Music
Unregistered Baptists do not hold worship services; they continue to prefer traditional Christian music. They refuse to submit to the insubstantial contemporary music that constantly celebrates monarchism and the omnipotence of God. Their lyrics come from the 19th century and earlier. The lyrics have clear, specific themes that can accompany believers throughout their lives.
The church music I grew up with in Florida over half a century ago is what I hear most often today among Russia's conservative Baptists. "Pesni Khristian", their most common hymnbook, was published in Germany in 2018. It contains four-part harmony and 31 songs by the US-American Fanny Crosby (1820–1915). Another 229 songs involve Ivan Prokhanov (1869–1935), a father of the Russian Baptist movement.
A Calvinist Baptist missionary from the USA complained a few years ago: "No one is more stubborn than the Unregistered. You can't convince them of anything; they stick to doing and thinking as they always have." At least that makes them immune to remote control. They place preservation ahead of innovation.
Profile
The loss of profile is the death knell for any denomination. When life outside and inside become indistinguishable, the reasons for belonging disappear and faith is left to chance. Faith needs a dividing line or a "fence"; unregistered Baptists and religious orders agree on this one. It is no coincidence that monks wear robes and unregistered Baptist women – as a rule – wear headscarves. Their men rarely wear ties.
These conservative Baptists live in a sociological bubble, while liberals or one-time evangelicals tend to adapt to the secular surroundings. In my hometown of Sarasota/Florida, one of about 25 Mennonite congregations still belongs to the mainstream, essentially liberal "Mennonite Church USA". That congregation is small and consists mainly of older people. A historic, established Baptist congregation in central London proclaims at the entrance its commitment to people of non-traditional sexual orientation. The number of participants is around 30. This congregation certainly has a profile, but it is a highly controversial one.
Despite home-grown obstacles, the Unregistered remain strongly interested in mission. Their rehabilitation work among addicts extends far beyond ethnic boundaries. In recent decades, one can note a row of quiet, single men attending services in many Baptist and Pentecostal churches in Russia. These are clients from their rehabilitation centres. One example among many: In Yasnaya Polyana (formerly Trakhenen) in the east of the Kaliningrad region, an unregistered congregation offers dental treatment to needy and physically-disabled schoolchildren.
Unregistered Baptists violate at least one basic rule of missiology: Their bait (their style) tastes better to the angler than to the fish. However, it can be argued that the Holy Spirit, in conjunction with love, overcomes such shortcomings.
Disadvantages
The hurdles for a seeker exploring the Christian faith are high. The average Russian must overcome emotional barriers before daring to attend a conservative Baptist service. This leaves room for a low-threshold and anonymous approach, as practised by many Lutheran circles.
A sad example: Recently, about a dozen members of a small, non-Baptist congregation in Kaliningrad region appeared at a church service with fake prescriptions for medication. They were hoping for a donation from the promised Western visitors. But even this spectacle should not only be lamented: At least the spiritually weak came, and the Gospel could be shared with them. The same applies to a "rescue mission" in North America: Soup is only served at the end of an extended church service. This situation is far from ideal, but it is "better than nothing".
Members of conservative groups such as the Unregistered have limited career opportunities. They are sceptical of formal education, as it promotes social integration and encourages students to disappear into mainstream society. However, there are exceptions: In Kaliningrad region, there is at least one young female doctor among the Unregistered.
Since the model of the Unregistered is strongly ethnic in nature, it cannot be easily duplicated or reproduced. It is based on the centuries-old trials and tribulations of past generations. Since it builds on a historical heritage, it cannot be recreated from scratch.
Preserving the Good
Even if it cannot be completely reproduced, parts of the Unregistered bubble are worth emulating. Personal responsibility, trust in one's own abilities and resources, sustainability and the priesthood of all can also be applied elsewhere.
The world's decentralised and non-institutional house communities have a promising future, for example in China and even in Russia. They are progressing in small steps and are therefore sustainable and reproducible. I once attended a house community service in Colorado/USA. The pastor tried to preach a sermon, but in the end, the sermon consisted mostly of comments from the supposed listeners. The needy among those present were clearly there of their own free will – their parents had not sent them. That is the essence of a true church community.
And yet a word of caution: This article has argued pragmatically; it has dealt with the question of "what works". That makes the article incomplete. A more important question regards the beliefs and practices which the Messiah expects from his followers. What does he require of us, what should we believe and do? Success and growth are not the primary criteria. One can conclude, for example, that the Jehovah's Witnesses have a sustainable community.
There are also a few television-friendly "mega-churches" in Russia. They demonstrate sustainability, but that is another matter. The current crisis is most acute in the traditional church community located somewhere between the extremes.
Incidentally, ten years ago there were at least 20,000 unregistered Baptists on Russian soil, but this number has been growing rapidly since then. In the four decades after 1970, so many had emigrated to the West that the church renamed itself the "International Union of Churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists" (IUCECB). Founded in 1961, the "Initiativniki" already had 155,000 members within the USSR five years later. Currently, the worldwide membership exceeds 80,000 adults.
