Heritage Column for February 2, 2006
By Fred Anderson
There was a time—50 years ago—when Americans and Russians were not the closest of friends. And then along came Theodore Floyd Adams, whose very touch and presence changed the way some within the two nations regarded each other.
In July 1955 Theodore Adams, the popular and influential pastor of the First Baptist Church of Richmond, was elected president of the Baptist World Alliance at the Golden Jubilee Congress in London. Immediately after the Congress, Adams and three other Baptist ministers made a preaching tour in Russia. They traveled 3,500 miles within Russia and Adams preached 18 times in 15 different Baptist churches. Everywhere the visiting Baptists went, they were enthusiastically received.
Adams had visited Russia 21 years earlier, in 1934, and he observed many changes. One of the most striking differences was an obvious “upsurge of religion.” The earlier leaders, Lenin and Stalin, had assumed that religion would die out with the older generation; but following Stalin’s death, there was a renewed interest among Russians of all ages. In 1955 there were some 500,000 Baptists attending 5,400 registered churches.
Adams explained: “Freedom of religion as we know it is not found in the Soviet Union. People are free to worship within their church buildings and to discuss their religion within their homes. Wherever we went, the Baptist churches were crowded with some 200 to 2,000 persons attending and wherever we preached there were more people standing than sitting.”
Adams became the first Protestant minister to administer communion in Russia since the Bolshevik Revolution. Another encouraging sign was the permission received for Russian Baptists to print 25,000 Bibles.
The other ministers on the trip were Arnold T. Ohrn, general secretary of the BWA; V. Carney Hargroves, then of Philadelphia and president of the American Baptist Convention (now American Baptist Churches U.S.A); and Joseph H. Jackson, a pastor from Chicago who was president of the National Baptist Convention. Jackson was a black man and the very presence of a black Baptist made a powerful statement to the Russians.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch gave a full page of coverage to the Russian trip, with photographs showing the standing-room-only congregation in the Moscow Baptist Church. Another photograph showed the delegation eating in a Russian home.
When Adams returned home, he found that Americans were hungry to know more about life in the Soviet Union. In October, the Richmond pastor spoke on the “Frontiers of Faith” national television program on NBC. His topic was “Religion Behind the Iron Curtain.”
Adams felt that he must explain himself. “I am utterly opposed to communism and its teachings, political, economic and religious. It is atheistic and contrary to much that is dearer to me than life itself. Yet I welcomed this chance to visit the Soviet Union in the hope that our visit would promote understanding and good will between the Christians of two countries and peace between the two nations on whom the peace of the world depends.”
He shared some of the cultural and religious differences. “The government insists there must be no baptism before the age of 18 and the churches ask all applicants for baptism to wait at least a year to prove the genuineness of their faith and the worthiness of their lives. No member of a Russian Baptist church is allowed either to drink or smoke. When the day of baptism does come, there is great joy in the hearts of the new believer and his family.”
Adams felt that there was “a tremendous responsibility” upon the Baptists “for ours is the only major Christian denomination with a large constituency both in the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Ours is the opportunity and responsibility to help build bridges of understanding between our countries that will strengthen our faith, foster evangelism and promote peace on earth.”
In May 1956, it was turnabout. Several Russian Baptists visited Richmond. Of course, they visited Adams’ church, where they spoke in worship services. They also toured a school built by Baptists, the University of Richmond, and met with President George M. Modlin, himself a Baptist deacon at First Baptist. The visitors especially enjoyed walking through an American supermarket and hardware store. They had a meal of Southern fried chicken, Smithfield ham and candied yams.
Adams took them to visit River Road and Sunset Hills Baptist churches, “two churches sponsored by First Baptist which began as chapels and are now independent religious bodies.” On May 27, the delegation attended the open house at the new Northminster Baptist Church, where the Russian leader, Jakov Zhidkov, president of their All-Union Council, told the congregation, “We’re taking every opportunity to come closer to the Christians of the United States.”
The day the Russian Baptists visited the Richmond Baptists may not have gone down in world history books, but it did make an impression on both sides at the time. It was proof—like the hymn Baptists like to sing—that “in Christ there is no east or west but one great fellowship of love thro’ out the whole wide earth.”
Fred Anderson may be contacted at P.O. Box 34, University of Richmond, VA 23173.