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New Ministry Methods Needed as Russia Gets Tough
CHICAGO, IL (May 23, 2006) - With the Russian government increasingly placing
restrictions on evangelism, churches will need to build different bridges to
share the gospel, says Leonid Regheta, a project missionary for the Evangelical
Covenant Church who lives in St. Petersburg.
Regheta says those bridges include connecting with members of the Russian
Orthodox Church and helping young evangelical churches develop ministries.
Russian Minister of Justice Yury Chaika announced earlier this year that he
will seek legislation curbing what he calls "illegal missionary activity."
Chaika has not defined his intentions, but the government already has denied the
re-licensing of New Life Radio in Magadan, which many Covenanters support. The
station's parent company, Christian Radio for Russia, is appealing the
decision.
Government action may codify an anti-missions mindset that has been growing
over the last two decades. "There has been a notable rise in making things
difficult for evangelicals," Regheta says. He notes, for example, that landlords
frequently have denied use of buildings by religious groups.
The actions by the government and others are a backlash against the
freewheeling missionary activity of the early 1990s as the Soviet Union was
crumbling, says Regheta. Religious groups of every persuasion moved into the
country hoping to fill a spiritual vacuum.
"Russians said 'yes' to a lot of cults because they didn't have discernment,"
Regheta says, explaining that they had not developed that ability under several
generations of Communist rule.
By the late 1990s, "The Russian people were saying they heard the talk, but
they were asking, 'Where's the walk?' " Regheta says. Experiences with cults
also have embittered many Russians, he adds. "In the media, there is virtual
hysteria about the Jehovah's Witnesses."
At the same time, the Orthodox Church was using its contacts in the
government to curb missionary activity, which they see as an incursion of
religion mixed with national identity. The church has promoted the idea that "To
be Russian is to be Orthodox," Regheta says.
Regheta has been working to develop positive relationships with the church.
He has been welcomed by "progressive Orthodox clergy" and by the bishop of the
region.
Despite widespread animosity, "There are many people who are hungering for
the word of God," Regheta says. The hunger continues to create opportunities for
Covenanters to spread the Gospel. Much of that opportunity comes from working
with existing churches, most of which are new. Eighty percent of evangelical
churches were planted within the last 15 years.
Covenant expertise in camping has helped to start a new ministry in Vologda,
says Regheta, who notes that such ministry is a "new thing" in the country.
Creekside Covenant Church in Redmond, Washington, already has sent teams to
help. Offerings taken at Covenant camps in the United States this summer will
help fund that program. Other Covenant congregations are becoming involved in
camping ministries and helping with orphanages.
A Covenant theology of leadership also has an opportunity to be a guide for
future ministry, Regheta says. As the Russian government has been for millennia,
church ministers often are authoritarian and even dictatorial. Covenanters also
could influence who is ordained in a country where women ministers are rare.
"There are people who appreciate our openness to women in ministry," Regheta
says.
Discipleship "has not existed at all," says Regheta. He believes the
Covenant's commitment to growing disciples could impact Russian evangelicals and
the growth of the church for years to come.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
