Overview

Since the disintegration of the USSR many Russian Baptists have actively engaged in evangelism, church planting, and acts of social service. This book is a response to the need to critically evaluate the effectiveness of past mission efforts and their undergirding theology. In this detailed study, Dr Andrey Kravtsev combines historical and qualitative studies to outline the understanding of mission developed by Russian Baptists during the Soviet era when they were almost completely isolated from global missiological developments. First, Kravtsev identifies four key missiological concepts and uses them to analyze the history of mission theology in global evangelical mission movements and the Russian Baptists. He then interviewed thirty leaders from the Russian Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptists to find their view of these concepts, and their convictions of the need to reconsider traditional missiological views. From his findings, Dr Kravtsev suggests five themes for facilitating the transition of Russian Baptist mission theology from the late-Soviet model of eschatological escapism, to a holistic, missional evangelicalism. This book places evangelical mission in contemporary Russian socio-political and ideological contexts and provides an important contribution for leading churches to a renewed missionary encounter with culture.

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9781783687473

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Reviews

Since the dissolution of the Soviet empire in the early 1990s, churches in those lands have faced new opportunities and challenges, raising the need to examine afresh the nature and implications of Christian mission. Andrey Kravtsev provides readers with a timely and thorough examination of Russian Baptists' evolving understanding of mission and the various theological streams influencing that thinking. This case study offers insight and guidance for all who are seeking to biblically reexamine the mission of the church in a rapidly changing world. Craig Ott, PhD Professor of Mission and Intercultural Studies, Director, PhD Program in Intercultural Studies, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, USA This is a much-needed study on the mission theology of Russian Baptists. Today the Russian Baptist Union is involved in local and global mission, in spite of continuous struggles within and without. Their models of mission are well presented in this study in comparison to a wider mission understanding. The perspective on the different phases of mission thinking and praxis in Russia shows that there is still much to learn and to do. With the current changes in Russia and worldwide, Dr Andrey Kravtsev's call through this book to a holistic mission is a call that needs to be heard even beyond Russia. Therefore, this thorough piece of research is a must-read for all who are interested in missions in Russia and in the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It is an excellent book on mission with a helpful perspective and guidance on well-grounded mission theology and praxis. Peter Penner, DHabil Director of Advanced Studies, Euro-Asian Accrediting Association Professor for Mission and New Testament, Campus Danubia, Vienna, Austria

Since the dissolution of the Soviet empire in the early 1990s, churches in those lands have faced new opportunities and challenges, raising the need to examine afresh the nature and implications of Christian mission. Andrey Kravtsev provides readers with a timely and thorough examination of Russian Baptists' evolving understanding of mission and the various theological streams influencing that thinking. This case study offers insight and guidance for all who are seeking to biblically reexamine the mission of the church in a rapidly changing world. Craig Ott, PhD Professor of Mission and Intercultural Studies, Director, PhD Program in Intercultural Studies, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, USA This is a much-needed study on the mission theology of Russian Baptists. Today the Russian Baptist Union is involved in local and global mission, in spite of continuous struggles within and without. Their models of mission are well presented in this study in comparison to a wider mission understanding. The perspective on the different phases of mission thinking and praxis in Russia shows that there is still much to learn and to do. With the current changes in Russia and worldwide, Dr Andrey Kravtsev's call through this book to a holistic mission is a call that needs to be heard even beyond Russia. Therefore, this thorough piece of research is a must-read for all who are interested in missions in Russia and in the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It is an excellent book on mission with a helpful perspective and guidance on well-grounded mission theology and praxis. Peter Penner, DHabil Director of Advanced Studies, Euro-Asian Accrediting Association Professor for Mission and New Testament, Campus Danubia, Vienna, Austria

Author Information

ANDREY KRAVTSEV earned his PhD in Intercultural Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Illinois, USA. He previously served as a regional coordinator of theological education and President at the North Caucasus Bible Institute, Prokhladny, Russia. Dr Kravtsev currently directs an organization working to mobilize Slavic Christians for the work of evangelism and church planting. Before coming to Christ in the military he had previously been a bus driver, a coalminer, and a construction worker.

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