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Growth of Protestantism in Russia (view source)
Revision as of 05:35, May 31, 2017
, 05:35, May 31, 2017no edit summary
A large number of missionaries operating presently operating in Russia are from [[Protestantism|Protestant]] denominations.<ref>US State Department Religious Freedom Report on Russia, 2006</ref>
A large number of missionaries operating presently operating in Russia are from [[Protestantism|Protestant]] denominations.<ref>US State Department Religious Freedom Report on Russia, 2006</ref>
In Siberia, long a land of dissenters and discontents, there are believed to be more Protestants in church on Sunday mornings than Russian Orthodox. On one recent visit to Khabarovsk, the second largest city of the Russian Far East, I went to a packed Baptist church, only a kilometer from a sparsely attended Russian Orthodox Cathedral. The massive Cathedral had been built with federal funds.<ref>[http://blogs.voanews.com/russia-watch/2013/07/30/is-russia-turning-protestant/ ''Russia Watch'', ''Is Russia Turning Protestant?''], 2014</ref>}}
In Siberia, long a land of dissenters and discontents, there are believed to be more Protestants in church on Sunday mornings than Russian Orthodox. On one recent visit to Khabarovsk, the second largest city of the Russian Far East, I went to a packed Baptist church, only a kilometer from a sparsely attended Russian Orthodox Cathedral. The massive Cathedral had been built with federal funds.<ref>[http://blogs.voanews.com/russia-watch/2013/07/30/is-russia-turning-protestant/ ''Russia Watch'', ''Is Russia Turning Protestant?''], 2014</ref>}}
In 2016, ''Christianity Today'' reported:
{{Cquote|Yesterday, Russia’s new anti-terrorism laws, [http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2016/june/no-evangelizing-outside-of-church-russia-proposes.html which restrict Christians from evangelizing] outside of their churches, went into effect.
The “Yarovaya package” requires missionaries to have permits, makes house churches illegal, and limits religious activity to registered church buildings, among other restrictions. Individuals who disobey could be fined up to $780, while organizations could be fined more than $15,000.
Forum 18 offers an analysis of the laws and their ramifications for Protestants and other non-Orthodox believers. World Watch Monitor compiled the worried reactions of Russian evangelical leaders and concerned observers.
The new laws will “create conditions for the repression of all Christians,” wrote Russia’s Baptist Council of Churches in an open letter. “Any person who mentions their religious view or reflections out loud or puts them in writing, without the relevant documents, could be accused of ‘illegal missionary activity.’”
Russia’s Protestant churches are concerned but not panicked, reports independent journalist and Russian Evangelical Alliance consultant William Yoder. With more than 1,000 Protestant house churches meeting in Moscow alone, cracking down to the letter of the law will not be easy. He wrote:
:Russian evangelicals have many decades of experience in dealing with a non-sympathetic state. There have also been frequent run-ins with the state since the mid-1990s. In fact, Belarus has had restrictive legislation very similar to the “Yarovaya Laws” in force since November 2002. Despite occasional incidents, non-registered Baptists and Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to meet there and Minsk’s highly-visible and Charismatic “New Life” congregation keeps on meeting—illegally—in a rebuilt cow barn. Humanitarian work and evangelistic efforts continue.
Far-flung Russia will hardly be more “successful” regarding implementation of its new laws. Konstantin Bendas, deputy head bishop of the “Associated Russian Union of Christians of Evangelical-Pentecostal Faith” (ROSKhVE), notes that over a thousand Pentecostal house groups are meeting alone in Moscow. Yet, sadly, a complex legislation of repression is now in place and could be put into practice if ever the need arises. That “need” would arise as a result of greatly-heightened East-West tensions—tensions which are also very much contingent upon Western behaviour. Western citizens can do something about this.<ref>[http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2016/july/russia-ban-evangelism-effect.html Russia's Ban on Evangelism Is Now in Effect], Christianity Today, 2016</ref>}}
== Evangelicalism and Russia ==
== Evangelicalism and Russia ==