Russia’s Protestant churches are adapting to the country’s Orthodox, nationalist, and collectivist culture in their style of worship, architecture, and reconstruction of an indigenous Russian past for themselves, write Eugene Zaitsev and Dmitrii Fokin in the Journal of Church and State (online in May). The authors do not specifically mention Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its more hyper-nationalistic turn since then, or the increased restrictions on religious groups that are outside the “historic religions” of the nation—Orthodoxy, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, and Catholicism. But they write that Russian Protestants “are beginning to understand that their future in Russia…will depend on how they approach the resolution” of the conflict between individualism and collectivist traditions. This can be seen in the way that Protestant historians have recently been tracing their roots not mainly to European and American churches and denominations but back to native Russian spiritual movements, such as the “spiritual Christians” (Dukhobors and Molokans) and other syncretistic “folk Protestants” who were often called schismatics and heretics by the Russian Orthodox Church. Other Protestant leaders and historians acknowledge the contributions of Western missionaries but claim that there was also an evangelical impulse among Orthodox leaders.
Lutheran Church of St. Catherine, Saint Petersburg, Russia (source: Wkiwand).
These Russian spiritual claims by Protestants are a way to counter the monopoly of the Orthodox Church. At the same time, Protestant churches have sought to contextualize their faith, even as they believe they have a contribution to make to Russia different to that of Orthodoxy. They do this by introducing “certain elements of Orthodox ritual, including decorating the halls of worship, using candles, donning special liturgical robes, and even wearing a cross,” Zaitsev and Fokin write. Protestant churches are attempting to model their buildings after the Orthodox style. While such “low” Protestants as Baptists and Adventists may be more reserved in adopting such a style, Lutherans, Methodists and even the younger charismatic movements have gone further in absorbing Russian Orthodox spirituality and liturgy into their religious practices. “In fact, the most consistent application of an ideology of ‘Russianess’ in Russian Protestantism is carried out by the Association of Christian Churches (ACC), which unites dozens of Protestant (mostly Pentecostal) communities throughout Russia,” Zaitsev and Fokin write.
(Journal of Church and State, https://academic.oup.com/jcs)
