Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists of Russia - Soviet Era

Soviet Era

After the Soviet government came to power, they attempted to weaken the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church by encouraging Baptist and Methodist missionaries. However, when the missionaries began to help their members by administering welfare programs and building homes, the government clamped down. Laws passed in April 1929 declared that "the activity of all religious units be confined to the exercise of religion, and be not permitted any economic or cultural work which exceeds the limits of their ministry to the spiritual needs of Soviet citizens" and prevented churches being used by anyone outside the community served. In July 1929 Russian Baptists conducted a mass and total Baptism in the Moscow River, a month after the Soviet Congress had passed a resolution limiting religious propaganda. The official press reported negatively on the event. In June 1942, at the height of the second world war, a plea came from the 4,000,000 Russian Baptist for Christians in the U.S. and Great Britain to pray for Russia's victory. The number may have been exaggerated, but indicated that the Baptist church was strong.

In 1944 the Union of Evangelical Christians and the Russian Baptist Union became the All-Union of the Evangelical Christians-Baptists, and later added the Pentecostals by government pressure.

Estonian baptists were also pressured to join the Russian Baptist Union; the government's interest in uniting these denominations was perceived by the faith communities as an attempt to control them better and to provoke them to fight each other (there were theological differences about infant vs. adult baptism among the churches forming this union, and other doctrinal issues that provoked disagreement), and thus make it easier for the government to liquidate their communities with greater ease. Churches that failed to cooperate in forming this union could be closed down by the government.

Despite the differences and theological disagreements, many of these churches came to recognize the need to cooperate with each other in the hostile atheistic society and tried to build friendship between their communities.

In the summer of 1946 Louie De Votie Newton, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention of the USA was invited by Joseph Stalin to visit Russia on a five-week tour and to investigate the status of its 2,000,000 Baptists. He reported that the churches were open seven days a week, carrying on highly active programs of religious instruction, culture and recreation.

Baptists were depicted in Soviet propaganda as being dangerous and unintelligent . The goal of the Soviet government was to root out all religion and churches were considered enemies of the people. At the same time, churches played an important role by cooperating with the state on an international level by giving a positive depiction of Soviet society. Promoting the peace movement was included in this role. The period during the war and afterwards was very leninent on most religions in Soviet history (relatively speaking), however, beginning in the late 1950s the state began to more aggressively attack religion. Christians ( including baptists and all others) were isolated from public life and the mass media as well as the education system, which was filled with atheistic propaganda.

Administrative harassment with baptist churches occurred; such as refusing permission to move to a new prayerhouse by claiming that the new building was not sanitary (even though the old building that they were then confined too was even less sanitary). The KGB collected agents from different Christian churches; however, it may have had difficulties in recruiting agents from baptists and similar evangelical churches; a fourth department KGB report from 1956 said in reference to them

a special psychological approach is needed to recruit sectarians, among whom there are many religious fanatics.

Christians (baptists included) could be expelled from a university, and had difficulties finding a job if they were open about their faith. Christian youth work and work among children was forbidden, churches were required to pay higher electricity rates, pastors could not receive state pension and churches were forbidden from doing social work. Evangelism occurred illegally. Baptists used 'revival weeks' as a means of public outreach due to the harsh conditions that forbade open evangelism; music was also an especially important tool of evangelization.

Once Khrushchev's heightened attack on religion began in the late 1950s, many baptist activities were shut down.

In 1959 an article in the official organ Izvestia said that "The Baptists and other evangelical sects mislead people with high-flown words, and try to divert them from industrious life, from the enlightened happenings of our great era. They try to disrupt Soviet morality". In 1960 leaders of the Russian Baptists claimed a membership of 3,000,000.

Baptists were required to study the Soviet constitution.

In 1950s, some Christians were unhappy, that church leaders were compliant with state anti-church policies, and even collaborating with them. So, some people started to express views, that church should be separate from the influence of the state. At first, such Christians were silenced or persecuted, but their numbers grew and in 1961, the new movement started, which subsequently was called "unregistered baptists". State started to persecute leaders and pastors involved in the new movement and many were jailed and sent to work camps, however government was never able to stop that movement and it still sustained to our days. Most important distinctions of "unregistered baptists" in 1960-1970s were:

• they were independent from the state in all church matters (in contrast to the "registered", who at some point, in order to baptise someone had to get permission from the state officials)
• they were not registering their churches with the state (so, that where they got their name)
• they organized print houses and printed Bibles, song books and other literature. This activity was illegal in Soviet Union
• they organized ministry for prisoners and their relatives, where they supported prisoners and their families. Members of "registered" churches was prohibited even to pray in church about prisoners, since officially nobody in Soviet Union were persecuted because of faith.

In our days, since Soviet Union doesn't exists any more, the major difference between "registered" and "unregistered" baptists, is the incline of "registered" baptist towards more liberal theology and practice, such as acceptance of Calvinistic doctrines, modern music and arts.

In the last decades of Soviet history, many youth began to take an increasing interest in learning about religion, to the dislike of the state. In the 1970s many baptist churches began organizing illegal youth camps. In 1984 Billy Graham visited the Soviet Union and entered baptist churches.