Russian Churches Get 'Disciple' Bible Study Translation
A UMNS FEATURE
By Kathy L. Gilbert
THE DREAM OF OFFERING a Bible study to the people of Russia started in a classroom at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo., when a student from Siberia asked Bishop Richard B. Wilke, author of Disciple, to kneel and pray with her.
That prayer has been answered with the arrival in Russia of Disciple, a Bible study produced by the United Methodist Publishing House.
The Russian seminary student had prayed that her people could experience the same transforming power of the Bible study that she had known in the United States.
Bringing the Bible study to Russia has also been the dream of Bishop Ruediger R. Minor, who leads the United Methodist Church there.
"I have heard over many years from all levels of the United Methodist Church in the U.S. as well from other places (such as Germany) about the good work Disciple is doing for churches and individual Christians," he says. "We were looking for an effective tool to spread Biblical knowledge in Russia, and we felt that Disciple might be helpful since it had shown its capacity in different cultures already."
Funds for the translation and training of Russian pastors came as the answer to another prayer from Wilke.
In a meeting with Minor during the 2000 General Conference, the denomination's highest legislative assembly, Wilke promised he would come up with the funds needed to translate the Bible study and train leaders in Russia. The United Methodist Church has more than 2,000 full members and more than 1,000 adult preparatory members in Russia, plus a community of about 10,000 people who are in connection with the church, Minor says.
"I left that meeting without any idea how I would come up with the money," Wilke says, laughing. At that moment, he ran into Joe Whittemore, lay leader for the North Georgia conference.
"The Lord put us together," Whittemore says. His board of laity was seeking a project, and the idea seemed like a perfect opportunity, he says. The North Georgia board of laity raised $54,000 to fund the project. The United Methodist Publishing House published the Bible study and provided training for two Russian pastors in the United States. The study was translated by the Rev. Elena Stepanova, who works with Prison #2 in Ekaterinburg, Russia, and Church of the Return, which includes both a prison and a free-world congregation. Prison inmates dubbed tapes into Russian for the project.
Whittemore and his wife, Pat, along with Wilke and his wife, Julia, traveled to Moscow for the June 25-28 training session.
"The first session was a complete success," Minor says. "We had persons present from all Russian regions where the United Methodist Church is working, including the Far East, 4,000 miles from Moscow, as well as from Ukraine and Kazakhstan."
Under the Disciple system, the 40 people attending the Moscow session are now equipped to lead the Bible study in their local congregations.
"Regional and local Disciple Bible studies will begin this fall. Since many of the Methodist churches have started as Bible study groups, we will use Disciple as a tool for this ongoing evangelistic work," Minor says.
"It was really an interesting time to have been a part of this and to see what we can do when we all come together," Whittemore says. "Disciple has the possibility of having the type of impact in Russia it's had in North Georgia and throughout the U.S."
While excited about their first Bible study in their own language, Russian United Methodists expressed some of the same apprehensions of church people in the United States when Disciple was introduced, Whittemore says. "Some pastors were concerned about laity teaching Bible studies, while others were concerned about individuals dominating discussions [in study sessions] and about the time commitment [participants have to make].
"It was deja vu," Whittemore says.
A joy of the trip was connecting with United Methodists across cultural and national lines, Whittemore says. "We attended worship service on Sunday morning at one of the churches É and they literally just came up to us and hugged us. It was a wonderful occasion to be able to meet fellow Methodists in their church, and they seemed to be so appreciative."
During the training session, Whittemore was able to address the group and tell "about the warmness with which this whole idea has been received in North Georgia. There's just a genuine interest, concern and love for Russian United Methodists by the people in Georgia."
Gilbert is a news writer in United Methodist News Service's Nashville, Tenn., office.
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