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BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMCONNECTION STAFF

The Russian United Methodist Church has a great membership in the United States, according to Bishop Hans V?xby, episcopal leader of the Eurasia Area. He spoke to more than 40 people who gathered at Faith UMC in Rockville to learn about how they can help create a viable United Methodist presence in Russia.

V?xby

Most of those gathered, from Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., had spent time working with some of the 105 Russian congregations, many of which have existed for less than a decade and are struggling to make it through another year.

As they gathered to discuss the Russia Initiative, the participants shared stories of ministry in a land where more than 140 million people live stretched out over 11 time zones in a culture in which the Russian Orthodox Church claims 100 percent of the country's Christians as its own.

Since the fall of the former Soviet Union and the reestablishment of The United Methodist Church there, the challenges presented by the Russian Orthodox Church have become less obvious, but perhaps more pervasive, V?xby said.

In addition, the popular culture has changed. 'When the Soviet system collapsed, people were enthusiastic. They went to church,' V?xby said. 'That time has gone. Russia has jumped out of communism right into materialism. The attitude is different. The curiosity wave is over.'

According to Dmitry Isakovsky, an immigrant who graduated from Moscow Theological Seminary and is now serving as an intern at Grace Russian UMC in Washington, D.C., United Methodism in Russia is still in its infancy, and people are learning how to be the church in a setting where they can't be sure the space they worship in will be available to them from one Sunday to the next.

Everything is so expensive in Russia that most congregations are forced to lease space. If their ministry becomes too visible, rates for that space often double or triple. Bel Air UMC has been trying for several years to help a congregation buy a worship space. But before each deal is closed, the price skyrockets. 'They're moving backwards, back into being a house church,' one woman at the Initiative meeting shared.

Approximately 38 of the churches in Russia need more financial support to pay their pastors and keep their doors open, V?xby reported. In the past, the General Board of Global Ministries would have provided assistance in the form of grants. That is no longer the case, he said.

In March, the board's Russia Initiative issued an emergency appeal for $240,000 above the anticipated 2004 income to assure that pastors in Russia are paid.

'Effective Jan. 1, 2005, if a Eurasian church does not have support or is under-funded by a sister congregation, we will no longer be able to guarantee a salary for the pastor or to guarantee that the church doors will remain open,' Global Ministries officials said in a press release.

MELISSA LAUBER/UMCONNECTION

Participants at the April 28 Russia Initiative meeting worship together before learning about the church's challenges in Russia.

The almost-completed Russian Theological Seminary in Moscow is also experiencing financial difficulties and the General Board of Higher Education and Board of Global Ministries are putting together a strategy to provide the approximately $350,000 needed to complete and furnish the building and the $160,000 in annual operating expenses.

V?xby urged the churches in the United States to become more connectional in assisting the struggling congregations in Russia. 'God has blessed Russia with you; and God has blessed you with the ability to give,' he said, stressing that money is not the only gift needed. 'People in Russia are saying, 'give us more of the Lord.' We must put first things first. I pray our hearts are big enough.'

V?xby, a native of Sweden, was elected to lead the Eurasian United Methodist Area, made up of Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and other sections of central Asia, Feb. 11. A former bishop of the Nordic and Baltic area, his first objective is to learn Russian.

'I am a learner,' he said.

The new bishop from Eurasia cautioned that while some see the Russian church as being in its infancy, he sees it as a teenager, with all the challenges that brings. 'You can't tell a 14-year-old what to do,' he said. 'We've learned to walk. We're now transitioning from dependency to interdependency.'

The biggest challenge, V?xby said, will be for churches to bring vital piety and evangelism together with social action and acts of mercy and justice. Both are needed, he said. 'Our challenge is to be Wesleyan in Russia. There should be no polarization, choosing between preaching the Gospel or social action. Wesley never even thought of dividing them.'