The All-Russian Union of Evangelical Christians (Russian: Всероссийский союз евангельских христиан; renamed, no earlier than 1923 and no later than 1925, the All-Union Council of Evangelical Christians), abbreviated AUEC, was the centralized organization of the Evangelical Christians (Prokhanovites) on the territory of the Russian Empire / Soviet Union.
It existed from 1911 to October 1944 (with a break due to self-dissolution from May 1930 to 23 August 1931). It was abolished on 27 October 1944 as a result of the merger of the Evangelical Christians with the Baptists. On the basis of the AUEC, the AUCECB — the All-Union Council of Evangelical Christians and Baptists — was created.
In 1911 it joined the Baptist World Alliance, and the leader of the AUEC, I. S. Prokhanov, was elected one of the ten vice-presidents of the Baptist World Alliance during the Second Baptist World Congress (Philadelphia, USA, 1911) and remained in that post until 1928.
The AUEC's official publications were the journal Khristianin (The Christian) and the newspaper Utrennyaya Zvezda (Morning Star).
Until 1931 the AUEC's chancery was located in Saint Petersburg (Petrograd, Leningrad); from 1931 it was in Moscow.
Background
In the 1870s a "spiritual awakening" began among the Saint Petersburg aristocracy, sparked by the preaching of the English missionary Lord Granville Radstock, who had been invited to Russia by E. I. Chertkova. Among Baron Radstock's followers were Princess N. F. Lieven, V. F. Gagarina, Count A. P. Bobrinsky, Count M. M. Korf, Colonel V. A. Pashkov, the widow of an aide-de-camp general E. I. Chertkova, Yu. D. Zasetskaya, and others.. Prayer meetings organized by Radstock continued even during his absences from Russia, and were joined by both nobles and townspeople of non-aristocratic origin.
Initially the movement was ecumenical, including Orthodox Christians, Lutherans, and members of other confessions. Stundists, Baptists, and representatives of Russian spiritual Christianity (chiefly the Molokans) were regarded as brethren in Christ. Given the negative attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church and the administrative and criminal persecution of the tsarist government, the Pashkovite movement gradually distanced itself from Orthodoxy and over time increasingly took the form of a separate evangelical denomination.
In the first decade of the 20th century, Ivan Stepanovich Prokhanov, previously baptized in a Baptist church, emerged as the leader of the movement. In 1906–1908 Prokhanov, together with a group of like-minded people, attempted to create the Russian Evangelical Union, which was meant to unite believers of different confessions "who professed the basic evangelical dogmas." Although the Russian Evangelical Union was formally established, it proved unviable, uniting only a few dozen believers. One of the main reasons was the position of some Baptist leaders, who pointed to the doctrinal vagueness of the UnionMazayev A. M. "On Petersburg 'Freedom.'" Baptist [Baptist], No. 11, 1909, pp. 14–15. and the inevitable contradictions involved in creating an interdenominational organizationBalikhin F. P. "My Trip Abroad," Baptist [Baptist], No. 1, 1907, pp. 19–20..
Prokhanov then began working to create the All-Russian Union of Evangelical Christians — a confessional organization of the Evangelical Christians (Pashkovites) that united believers not at the level of individuals but at the level of local churches and groups. In September 1909 he convened the first All-Russian Congress of Evangelical Christians, which had an advisory character. The actual charter and the doctrine of the All-Russian Union of Evangelical Christians were adopted at the second congress in December 1910 – January 1911.
Structure The supreme governing body of the AUEC was the All-Russian (later All-Union) Congress of Evangelical Christians. Between congresses, leadership was exercised by the AUEC Council, headed by a chairman. The Council had specialized departments (missionary work, publishing, etc.)
Territorial departments were established in the regions, such as the Far Eastern Department of the AUEC, the Siberian Department of the AUEC, and others, as well as smaller regional, oblast, district, and area departments.
By 1931, for example, the Council consisted of five members (chairman, deputy chairman, treasurer, secretary, and a Council member); three candidate members of the Council and a three-person Audit Commission were also elected.
Specialized departments were established under the Council. For example, in 1922 the following existed:
Department of Spiritual Affairs (responsible for spiritual work) Organizational Department (handled the structural and organizational matters of the Union and its territorial departments) Civil Department (handled relations with government authorities and other secular organizations) Educational Department Music and Singing Department Department of Welfare and Material Assistance Household Department Financial Department.Utrennyaya Zvezda [Morning Star], Nos. 3–4–5, 1922, p. 3
Leadership
Chairmen 1911–1931 — I. S. Prokhanov (honorary chairman from 1931)
1931–1938 — Ya. I. Zhidkov
1938–1944 — M. A. Orlov
Deputy chairmen 1911–1922 (at least) — G. M. Matveyev
1924–1931 — Ya. I. Zhidkov
1926 — V. I. Bykov
from 1931 — A. L. Andreyev
Secretaries 1926–1931 — P. S. Kapalygin
1931–1935 — A. V. Karev
1931–1938 — M. A. Orlov
Membership numbers The Union itself did not publish data on the number of church members.
According to information from the Department of Spiritual Affairs of Foreign Confessions of the Russian Empire's Ministry of Internal Affairs, collected through the governors, by 1 January 1912 the total number of "sectarians" in Russia was 399,565. Evangelical Christians were fewer in number than the Voskresniki Molokans (about 134,000), the Baptists (Stundists) (about 115,000), and the Mennonites (about 36,000); there were 30,716 of them counted.Slovo Istiny [The Word of Truth], 1914, No. 48, p. 566
According to a report by AUEC deputy chairman Ya. I. Zhidkov at the 10th All-Union Congress of Evangelical Christians, the number of congregations belonging to the Union grew from 87 in 1909 to 2,500 in 1926.
Activities
Congresses To resolve the most important matters of doctrine, missionary work, education, and the internal life of the churches, both All-Russian (All-Union) and territorial congresses were held. The frequency of congresses depended on several factors, chief among them the authorities' willingness to tolerate them. Under favorable external conditions, All-Russian (All-Union) congresses were held annually. In total, 11 All-Russian (All-Union) congresses were held (one of them held jointly by the two unions, the AUEC and the Union of Russian Baptists).
+ All-Russian (All-Union) Congresses of Evangelical ChristiansTable compiled from Mitskevich A. I. — History of Evangelical Christians-Baptists, Moscow, Russian Union of ECB, 2007 No. Date Location Delegates Main agenda items 1 14–24 September 1909 Petersburg 24 Founding of the Bible Institute; establishment of a day of prayer for Christian unity 2 28 December 1910 – 4 January 1911 Petersburg 47 Adoption of the Union's Charter and the "Prokhanovite" confession of faith. Founding of Bible courses 3 31 December 1911 – 4 January 1912 Petersburg 91 Organization of youth circles; questions of intensifying persecution; matters of doctrine 4 17–25 May 1917 Petrograd More than 100 Creation of the Christian-Democratic Party "Voskreseniye" (Resurrection); questions of unity with the Baptists 5 25 December 1917 – 1 January 1918 Moscow 94 Missionary work; questions of internal church life 6 12–18 October 1919 Petrograd Up to 90 Missionary work (election of 50 evangelists); questions of the Christian press; unity with the Baptists 7 27 May – 7 June 1920 Moscow 150 International mission (sending evangelists to China and India, and to the national minorities of Russia); merger with the Union of Baptists; opening of Bible courses; conditions for the ordination of presbyters Joint with the Baptists 1–4 June 1920 Moscow 120 Merger of the two unions (in fact never carried out) 8 1–10 December 1921 Petrograd 142 Election of evangelists; famine relief; unity with the Baptists; on the Bible Institute; on restrictions of religious freedom; on ordination 9 1–10 September 1923 Petrograd 303 Renunciation of Christian pacifism; unity with the Baptists 10 30 November – 6 December 1926 Leningrad 350 Questions of pacifism and duties to the state; unity with the Baptists; Christian labor organizations; spiritual upbringing
Evangelism The AUEC placed great importance on evangelism. In addition to calling on believers to preach the Gospel, the AUEC maintained salaried evangelists supported by the Union. Evangelists funded by the Union were elected at the All-Russian (All-Union) Congress; evangelists of the AUEC's territorial departments were elected by territorial congresses.
By 1928, each of the AUEC's territorial departments employed up to 10 evangelists, and in addition the AUEC itself supported about 100 evangelists.
Publishing activities Under the aegis of the AUEC, periodicals were published — the newspaper Utrennyaya Zvezda (Morning Star, 1910–1922), the journal Khristianin (The Christian, 1905–1928) and its supplements — Bratsky Listok (Brotherly Leaflet), Molodoy Vinogradnik (Young Vineyard), and Detsky Drug (Children's Friend) — as well as the journal Seyatel (The Sower). The Far Eastern Department of the AUEC published its own journal, Slovo i Zhizn (Word and Life, 1921–1922), in Vladivostok.
In addition, the AUEC published theological books and pamphlets (for example, I. V. Kargel's book Svet iz Teni Budushchikh Blag [Light from the Shadow of Future Blessings]), reference works on religious legislation, poetry and song collections, and calendars.
In 1925–1927 the AUEC managed to print 25,000 copies of the Bible, 20,000 copies of the New Testament, and 15,000 copies of a Symphony (Bible concordance).
Training of ministers From 1905, on the proposal of I. S. Prokhanov, six-week courses for preachers were periodically held.
In 1912 the AUEC Council received permission to open two-year Bible courses in Petersburg. Students were recruited the following year and the courses opened, but were interrupted by the First World War.Karetnikova M. S. — "The Great Organizer and Dreamer." Mirt [Myrtle] newspaper, No. 2(27), 2001
In 1924 Prokhanov organized one-off nine-month courses in Leningrad, at the House of Salvation, and in 1925 permanent courses opened, with a dormitory for students and apartments for teachers. These courses existed until 1929, when they were disbanded by the authorities during the Stalinist offensive against religion. By that time the courses had trained 400 preachers.
Temporary suspension of activities
Amid intensifying persecution of religion in the USSR, in May 1930 a resolution of the expanded Presidium of the AUEC suspended the Union's activities. AUEC members moved to other work — some to secular occupations, some to ministry within congregations.
A year later, however, on 23 August 1931, at an All-Union conference of Evangelical Christians held in Moscow, a decision was made to petition for the resumption of the Union's activities. Official activity of the AUEC thus continued, though there was no question of work on the former scale. During this period, in the words of religious scholar L. N. Mitrokhin, the AUEC, "despite periodic arrests of the leadership and interruptions in its work, nevertheless continued to eke out a miserable existence."Mitrokhin L. N. Baptizm: Istoriya i Sovremennost. Filosofsko-Sotsiologicheskiye Ocherki [Baptism: History and Modernity. Philosophical and Sociological Essays]. St. Petersburg: RKhGI, 1997. P. 396
End of activities