Date: 30 March 2010
I woke up early (as usual – and to the disdain of my friend, Marc Hooks) as the train was still making its way through the country to St. Petersburg. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon and dashed in between the trees as we continued down the tracks. It appeared to be a beautiful morning, and we had another hour before we arrived at the station. It was at this moment that hoped that the blue sky would continue throughout the day.
The train pulled in at around 9:00am. Marc and I immediately noticed that it was much colder than in Moscow. The sky was white with cloud cover and the chill in the air was heavy. Our friend, Clint, met us at the station and guided us through the metro to our first stop of the day, McDonald’s. I enjoy McD’s at breakfast than at any other time. I worked at McD for 3 years, and my favorite shift was morning shift, and I was in charge of making biscuits. According to my manager, I baked the best biscuits that she had ever tasted. However, they don’t know biscuits here, so everything is served on english muffins. I digress.
Our first video shoot was at Central Baptist Church in St. Petersburg with the pastor there. When it comes to understanding the history of the Baptist Church in Russia, one must start with this church. Nearly all of the Baptist churches in Russia (that aren’t new church plants) can be traced back to Central Baptist Church.
We trudged from the Metro over a snow/slush covered walkway with our heavy, equipment laden packs to the church, which at first glance neither appeared “Baptist” nor “Central”. The church building has similar elements (like an “onion-shaped dome” on top) to an Orthodox church. In fact, at one time, it was an Orthodox church. Evidently, the Soviet government desired their former location in the “center” of St. Petersburg. Around 1960, the government was successful in occupying that location, but provided this “new” property complete with a (run-down) Russian Orthodox chapel somewhere on the outskirts of town.
For the past 40 years, Central Baptist Church has met in this location in a formerly remote place nearly out of the city in a formerly Orthodox church building. Now, the area around Central Baptist Church has experienced a boom of new people, buildings, and houses. Despite the government’s efforts, the church thrived and is continuing to thrive to this day. Evidently, the Russian Orthodox want their property and building back.
The sanctuary had large boards on the walls that explain church history in general, as well as their specific church history. The photos and information kept there was amazing. We met the pastor there, and video-taped a long interview in the sanctuary of the church. We then shot a few more scenes to make the video work together. This video was to be about the history of Baptists in Russia for Engage Russia.
Our next stop was lunch. We made our way back up the snow/slush path that skirted along a lake. There were still several ice fishermen on the lake. That should explain how cold it still was in St. Petersburg. Rostik’s (KFC)was nearby, so we settled on that.
Lunch ended and we headed towards the center of town to video our second interview. Or subject concerned Russian Orthodoxy, and our interviewee has a Master’s Degree in the subject. He also served as our translator for the previous interview. We decided to shoot this section near the most famous Orthodox cathedral in St. Petersburg, the “Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood.”
This cathedral is reminiscent of St. Basil’s Cathedral on Red Square in Moscow in architecture. The colors were not as bright, but the detail work on the building was amazing. The church is located next to one of the many canals in St. Petersburg on the location where in 1881 Czar Alexander II was mortally wounded in the last of a series of assassination attempts. His son, Czar Alexander III, commissioned the church to be built there. It took 24 years to build and was funded almost entirely by the “royal family.”
Our hostess was busy in the kitchen cooking up something with one of the best aromas imaginable. The host of the house was out doing other things and wouldn’t return until late that night. Fairly soon, dinner was served to Marc, Clint, and myself. This meal included a cream of broccoli soup and was followed by some of the best sweet & sour chicken I have EVER (and I don’t use that lightly) tasted. It was all I could do to save room for a mint brownie.
Marc needed to get some editing done for the “Special Edition” Engage Russia video we shot the day before and get it uploaded. I remember talking through a couple things when I heard Marc say, “Just go to bed!” Evidently, I was sitting there snoring. Anyway, it was just enough of an evening nap for me to stay up for our host to arrive home and stay up beyond midnight chatting with him. Marc got the video uploaded and I went to bed.
If the previous day was emotionally draining, this day was physically exhausting. Our packs felt like lead when we finally were able to put them down in the apartment. We learned quite a bit about Russian Orthodoxy and about Baptist History in Russia. It is amazing to research history that is hundreds of years old (when our own country is just over 200 years old). There is such a rich history here. Traditions run deep in the culture and their religion.
Pray for the Russian people. A deep history is great, but if traditions lose meaning, then the people fall into a “works” mentality. Pray for the continued work of Baptist churches and specifically Central Baptist Church as they minister to those around them and lead more to Christ as a result. Pray that they not be content in being the “Mother Baptist Church”, but continue to desire to plant other churches in the area and in various parts of Russia.
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