The issue of the best place to train pastors came to my attention first when I was a missionary in Russia. There are some common complaints voiced
in Russia regarding the lack of Russian leadership, such as the lack of young
men in church in general, the expense related to receiving education, the lack
of opportunity for seminary training, the western leaning of modern theological
institutes, or the overall rejection of formal academic training by local
churches. In the US in the previous decade, there was an upward trend in enrollment in
seminaries and bible colleges (especially considering the bachelor's level). “After 20 years
without a net increase, enrollment at 118 Bible colleges climbed 1 percent in
2008 and 3 percent in 2009.” [1] But in Russia, the trend is reversed. Over
the past decade, student enrollment in both bible colleges and seminaries has
fallen drastically.[2] This could be perhaps
because of the strong dependence on western financial support that has tapered
off in recent years. At Moscow Baptist Theological Seminary, for example, “Since
2004 the seminary has been run in collaboration with Russian Leadership
Ministries (RLM) in the United States, which provides 90 percent of the support
for its needs.”[3] Moreover this financial issue is exacerbated by
the fact that the average Russian student may expect to earn a monthly salary
equivalent to two hundred dollars[4] while the average cost of seminary is twice that
amount.[5] Because of poor economic conditions, most Russian
churches could not afford a full-time pastor.[6]
There
is a truly disproportionate under-representation of men in Russian Baptist
churches. Mark Harris notes,
A great deal of this problem can be
traced to WWII, when a major percentage of the
Russian male population died.
During communist times, preachers were considered to be "active
believers" and therefore dangerous to the regime. Being a preacher was
risky, and many spent time in prison for it.[7]
Because of the leftover negative
attitudes about non-Orthodox religious expressions, a “minute number of men
were supported for ministry, and the vast majority of preachers held full-time
jobs elsewhere.”[8] Under the communist
regime, each person filled a government-directed vocation whereby she
contributed her part back into society. Communists, therefore, “viewed any man
receiving his salary from religious work as a parasite on society.”[9]
Under communism, even the most basic educational opportunities were often withheld
from Baptist adherents.
As a result, “few
methods of formal training were thus available to preachers. There was a course
offered in an extension school, but apparently few took the course. Therefore,
by necessity, informal training was the dominant method.”[10] This
problem is further complicated when local Baptist churches in Russia harbor
animosity toward seminaries or bible colleges or refuse to re-integrate
seminary graduates back into their local church life.[11]
This is important, because evangelical institutes have been established. The
first Evangelical Bible School was instituted in St. Petersburg in 1913.
According to Peter Penner, former rector of St. Petersburg Christian
University,
its operation was disrupted in 1914
when the First World War and later the Russian revolution put an abrupt end to
most religious activity, irrespective of denominational affiliation. From
1925-1929 the school was able to continue with a one year programme preparing pastors
and preachers for the Evangelical Christians and Baptist churches.[12]
Within the Russian mindset,
education is necessary. However, many Russian students
“tend
to see education as a way to gain prestige, and the receiving of some sort of
diploma will become the basic issue for them.”[13]
It is for this reason that there are some recent
initiatives “to seek public recognition for church leaders, and
in the opinion of many this is dangerous to the spiritual training of young
Russian men and women.”[14] However,
this had tended to lead toward the adoption of any western approach most
readily available. Harris notes that “Russian training programs have been
heavily dependent on Western teachers, and this has had some negative effects
on the attitudes of Russian pastors and students.”[15]
This is in conflict to Russian Baptist identity as Penner notes, “evangelicals
in the [Former Soviet Union] are not a more or less contextualized continuation
of western culture and history. They are a reform movement that grew out of the
Russian Orthodox Church.”[16]
Western models and methods for theological
education have come under public fire in recent years in Russia. Noting the
“lack of systematic teaching in the [Russian Baptist] Church,” Alexander
Negrov, current rector of St. Petersburg Christian University, claims that
Russian evangelicals have not made adequate progress toward localized
theological inquiry.[17]
Penner cites persecution as a possible cause, noting that Baptists “were
persecuted by the Russian Orthodox Church and the Czarist regime, then
persecution came from the side of the Soviet communist ideology.”[18] Under
persecution a theology of suffering did indeed develop as did
a
Bible oriented theology which helped them to survive as a movement, but which
is not explicitly formulated. Cultural and historical elements have caused the
Bible to become the foundation of all theological thinking for the evangelicals
in the [Former Soviet Union], while the hermeneutic key for the interpretation
of Scripture is their experience and the specific context.[19]
[1] G. Jeffrey MacDonald, “Seminary: Not Just for
Pastors,” Christian Century 127 (Jan
26, 2010): 12-13. Cited 21 February 2010. Online:
http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=8155.
[2] Hunter Baker,
“Is Church Attendance Declining?” Christianity
Today (November 2007): n.p. Cited 6 March 2010. Online:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/novemberweb-only/145-42.0.html.
[3] “History of the Moscow Theological Seminary of
Evangelical Christian-Baptists,” n.p. [cited 12 February 2010]. Online:
http://www.moscowseminary.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32
&Itemid=57.
[4] “Average Monthly Earnings Hit All-Time High in
Russia,” Pravda, August 4, 2005. n.p.
[cited 11 February 2010]. Online:
http://english.pravda.ru/russia/04-08-2005/8687-salary-0.
[5] According to Sasha
Tsoutserov, Director of the
Moscow Evangelical Christian Seminary, “The cost of training a student at the Moscow Seminary is an equivalent
of US$4,000 per year (full ride).” Quote on “Sponsors,” n.p. [citied 12
February 2010]. Online: http://www.moscowseminary.ru/en/sponsors/sponsors.htm.
[6] Mark Harris, “Toward an Understanding of Russian
Baptist Preaching,” Paper Presented to
Mission Consulting Group, (Pasadena, Calif.: Mission Consulting Group,
1996), 7.
[7] Ibid.
[8]Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid, 8.
[11] Throughout the past twelve years, this writer has
personally witnessed the refusal of some local Baptist churches to accept or
ordain graduates from Moscow Baptist Theological Seminary, even if those
graduates were originally from the congregation. Various reasons were cited in
associational meetings throughout the years 1998 – 2002, the most frequent of
which was the fear that seminary training was dangerously outside the theology
of the local church.
[12] Peter Penner, “Contextual Theological Education among
Post-Soviet Protestants: Case Study 1: The Development of a Masters Degree at
St Petersburg Christian University,” Transformation
18:2 (2001), 124.
[13] Mark Harris, “Proposal,” 2.
[14] Ibid, 9.
[15]Ibid, 10.
[16] Peter Penner, “Contextual Theological Education,”
116.
[17] Alexander I. Negrov and Miriam Charter, “Why is There
No Russian ‘Protestant’ Theology in Russia? A Personal Outcry,” Religion in Eastern Europe 17 (1997),
33.
[18] Peter Penner, “Contextual Theological Education,”
121.
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