Is Georgian Baptist Hospitality really the best?
“Eastern European Baptists can learn a lot from Georgian Baptists,” said the Revd Tony Peck, General Secretary elect of the European Baptist Federation after a three days visit to Tbilisi, Georgia. The visit of the EBF leadership to Georgia took place from 27 to 29 March. The delegation was made up by the President of the European, the Revd. Billy Tarranger, the General Secretary Elect of the EBF, the Revd Tony Peak, the Chairman of the Finance Committee of the EBF Mr. Jan Saethre and the Chief Editor of the German Baptist magazine “Die Gemeinde”, the Revd Frank Fornacon.
Georgian Baptists had been asked by the EBF President to organize the visit in such a way that the visitors would be given an opportunity to explore both the religious life of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia and the Georgian culture in general. “In order to meet the requirements Georgian hosts had to be very cruel,” says Bishop Malkhaz, “We had to squeeze a lot of things into two and a half days.”
Our guests arrived on Saturday Morning at Tbilisi Airport. After having had a few hours of rest the guests and their hosts were on the way to Gori. First they visited a small Baptist congregation in Gori, literally under the Shadow of Stalin’s memorial home Museum. The guests were welcomed by the local minister, the Revd Nukri Lashauri. After the worship and the Eucharist the congregation offered a fellowship meal. After the meal the guests visited Stalin’s home and museum. The rest of the day was pent in sightseeing. On their way to Tbilisi the guests and hosts stopped in a village to anoint a sick member of the church and had supper.
The next morning the guests attended the Russian and Georgian congregations at the Cathedral Baptist church. They were given an opportunity to experience two absolutely different Baptist services. The Russian Baptist congregation, which is the oldest Russian Baptist in church in the world, is still very traditional in old Baptist manner, while the Georgian Baptist congregation is highly liturgical and reformed. The EBF President preached at the Russian church. The General Secretary preached at the Georgian congregation. “Why should I preach to the Russian congregation with 150 members attending and the General Secretary to the Georgian congregation with 600 members attending?” asked jokingly President Taranger. “Because it is much harder to preach to Russians” was the answer.
After the service the guests were invited to join the pilgrimage to the mountain of St John the Baptist, overlooking the capital city. During the pilgrimage the guests were given opportunity to get to know members of the liturgical commission of the Cathedral Church. In the evening the guests had a meeting with representatives of the Georgian society.
The guests spent the last day visiting social projects of the Church, meeting with the leadership of the Church and doing more sightseeing in Tbilisi and Mtskheta,. In the evening a farewell party was given in Mtskheta, the old capital of Georgia. There was genuine fellowship around the table. Local Bishops and key ministers proposed traditional Georgian toasts. There was a lot of laughter, singing and dancing. Little Thedo Bajadze of the liturgical dance group danced for guests and had them dance.
“I have been to 61 countries in the world” said Mr. Saethre at the farewell dinner, “but I have never experienced anything like Georgian hospitality”.
“The visit was very important for the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia. The European Baptist leaders were given an opportunity to get to know the life and witness of Baptists of Georgia. They were given an opportunity to find out whether all the rumors in Europe about Georgian Baptists are true.” commented the Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia. “The guests had heard a lot of nasty things about us, due to the reforms that the church has been carried out for the last eight years.”
For the Revd. Merab Gaprindashvili, General Secretary of the ECB of Georgia, the visit of the EBF leadership was an important affirmation of the ministry of Georgian Baptists. “I have been convinced once again that the direction the Georgian Baptists have chosen is right,” says the General Secretary, “I think the guests did see clearly that people for us are most important. This is what makes us to be sensitive to the local culture of Georgia.”
All the guests were truly impressed by the reforms of the church. “You are carrying out a massive experiment in contextualization the ministry of the church. Your Bishop is a God’s gift to you.” maintained the Revd Tony Peck at the farewell dinner.
Liturgical Dancers will represent Georgia at the BWA Centennial Congress
Liturgical dancers of the Cathedral Baptist church were invited by the Revd. Tony Peck to the Centennial celebration of the Baptist World Alliance in the year 2005. The Revd Peck is responsible for the musical program of the Congress.
“If we manage to have the girls in Birmingham next year, Georgia will be well represented at the occasion” said the Revd. Peck in conversation with Georgian Baptist ministers. The theme of the Congress is: “Jesus Christ the Living Water.” The liturgical dancers have already started thinking on a special dance on the theme. “We may need to use different elements of dancing art to make the dance appealing and meaningful.” says Lika Gudishvili, the leaders of the group.
There is a problem of funding the trip of the liturgical dancers to the United Kingdom. The Congress does not have any budget for that. The Revd. Peck and Bishop Malkhaz agreed to approach a Baptist Church in Norwich for financial assistance for the group. The minister of the church, the Revd David Milner, has been supportive of the Baptist Church in Georgia as part of Norwich Cathedral – Tbilisi Baptist Cathedral partnership.
Tastiest Dinner
It is already the third time that the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia observes the Week of Ecology in Lenten period. In the first year only a dozen people participated in the week. In the second year the number of participants went up to 50. This year the number has went up to 200 people. “It has been a remarkable experience to be involved in the week of Ecology.” reported at the Cathedral Church the director of the week, Mrs. Lala Khutsishvili. “This is because the love for the nature was taught in the church by our bishop. After the daily work we broke the bred and enjoyed the fellowship. We had only cheese and bread, yet I had never had such tasty diner before.”
During the Week of Ecology members of the Church plant trees (this year they planted 200 rare kinds of Caucasian oak trees), cleanse ecologically contaminated streets and places in the capital city, and work in gardens and parks.
The Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia still remains the only Christian church in the country that is concerned about environmental issues. “I am rather proud of my church since its it the only church which cares for the nature and ecology, yet I would very much like to see other churches being involved in this ministry as well”, said Mrs. Khutsishvili.
The Renegade Prisoner Refuses to Accept a Forgiving Visitor
Before the Passion Week the Presiding Bishop of the EBC visited the Ortachala Prison in Tbilisi. He was accompanied by two leading persons in prison ministries, Mrs. Nana Kakabadza and Gela Nikoleishvili. Bishop Malkhaz was keen to see Basil Mkalavishvil, the renegade Orthodox priest, who was responsible for numerous attacks on religious groups including Baptists.
Mrs. Nana Kakabadze did the negotiation while Bishop Malkhaz was waiting at the gate. After lengthy conversation Mkalavishvili refused to see the Bishop. “He thinks it will be humiliating for him to be visited in prison by the Bishop whom he had fought against for a number of years” said Nana Kakabadze after the conversation with Basil Mkalavishvili. In the conversation with her the prisoner exclaimed “What shell my people think if I meet the Bishop”.
“I simply wanted to see the prisoner before the Passion Week and forgive him personally what he had done to us. I am sorry we could not have a talk,” commented Bishop Malkhaz, “I may try to see him again after the Passion Week.
Missing Links for Maundy Thursday
This day is one of the three most special days in the liturgical life of Baptists of Georgia. Every Baptist tries to be a part of the service in order to participate in the Lord’s Supper. At the Cathedral Baptist Church there is always a very high service that day.
This year the service was more moving and meaningful. The liturgical group had after 7 years of work finalized the liturgy of the Maundy Thursday. “I had always had a feeling that something was missing from the Maundy Thursday liturgy.” says Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili, head of liturgical commission. “The harmony between theological and esthetic aspects was missing before. This year I am satisfied with the liturgical work done by Mrs. Ala Kavtaradze. She has certainly brought to the liturgy a few missing links.”
Both Ala Kavtaradze and her 16 years old son Sandro have been very committed and creative members of the liturgical commission of the Church. Ala has graduated from the Tbilisi State University. She combines her liturgical responsibilities with the ministry for handicapped children. Along with a group of 15 people she takes care of children in government run orphanages. She is one of most gifted liturgists of the Church. “When you are writing up a liturgy it is very important to look for the most efficient ways to communicate the message. The liturgy has to help people to draw nearer to God.” says Ala, “Liturgical work is very rewarding. Before writing anything I start reading and thinking. Than you get a vision how to do things.”
Ala was asked to work on the liturgy of Maundy Thursday before the Lent started. “Maundy Thursday is like the last lesson of Christ.” she commented, “He gave the lesson to the disciples after spending more than three years with them. For me it is the lesson Jesus gave personally for me. It’s a living example for me as to how I should love my neighbor.”
During the liturgy the Bishop washed feet to 12 people seating around the altar. Among the 12 there were men and women, children and youth, ordained and laymen. Before the feet washing the Bishop did the litany about serving others being antifonically responded by entire congregation. A similar litany about loving each other was offered before the Eucharist as well.
There was one more innovation in the Liturgy. It was sung and chanted. The tunes for both, chanting and singing, were produced by the composer of the Church, Mr. Ramaz Kemularia. The text of the Eucharist was taken from John the Chrisostom’s liturgy, translated into modern Georgian and adopted by Bishop Malkhaz. The Orthodox Church in Georgia is still using the old Georgian translation of the Liturgy which is not comprehensive to modern Georgians any longer. “The melody of the chant is not old. We do not simply copy older chanting tunes. We offer a new one.” says Ramaz Kemularia, the composer. “It was not an easy job to do chanting in a new way” says the Bishop, who had to do chanting during the liturgy, “we need to work hard to improve the sung Eucharistic liturgy, which we will be using at very special services.”
After participation in the service the Revd. Gregory Levinetz of the Russian Baptist Church could not hide his excitement. “I did not anticipate anything like this” he kept saying. Later on he was asked to make comments about the liturgy of Maundy Thursday for the web site. ”I liked the sung liturgy very much. Most Georgians will have no problem to understand the language of such liturgy. I wholeheartedly support this kind of liturgical development.” The Revd. Levinetz, who is a minister of a traditional Russian Baptist Church, thinks that the next generation of Baptists in his church will be open to similar liturgical reforms.
Mel Gibson’s film a part of Good Friday’s Celebration
On April 9th an Ecumenical procession of the cross was organized by representatives of all Christian communities of Georgia. The procession started at 9 a.m. at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Dormition and went through old streets of Tbilisi stopping and making pilgrimages at main churches of different Christian denominations, except the Orthodox Church. The cross was carried by the Roman Catholic Bishop Guizeppe Pazzotto, the Lutheran Pastor Gary Azikov, the Armenian Apostolic priest Fr. Egishe and the Baptist Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili, the Baptist General Secretary Merab Gaprindashvili, the Georgian Orthodox Archpriest Basil Kobakhidze and Priest Zaza Tevzadze. At the later stage of the procession, the Minister of Education, Mr. Alexander Lomaia, and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Mr. Petre Mamradze and the Orthodox Bishop Christopher joined the procession at the Cathedral Baptist Church.
The procession ended at the Cathedral Baptist Church where Mel Gibson’s film “The Passion of Christ” was shown for the first time in Georgia. After the film a prayer service was held to mark the death of Christ at 3 p.m.
“We are so used to say ‘Christ was crucified for us’ but we do not realize what kind of death it was. It was very difficult to watch the film,” said the Orthodox Bishop at the prayer service right after the movie show.
That day more than one thousand people attended the Cathedral Baptist Church. Among those who attended were people representing different churches, religious communities, and members of the Georgian civil society, writers, professors, students and children.
Easter 2004
Easter Celebration is always the peak of the liturgical year of the Church. The main vigil service at the Cathedral Baptist Church started Saturday 11:30 p.m. and went on till Sunday 10 a.m.
The overnight service included the Evangelical Mass with the Bishop’s Easter Sermon, a baptismal service, Easter drama, Easter festival, Easter Morning Prayer and breakfast. Hundreds of people attend the vigil from different parts of the country.
The ages of the baptismal candidates were quite different. The oldest was in her late 70-ies and the Bishop had hard time in baptizing her. She was scared of the water which was almost ice cold. Ultimately the Bishop had to baptize her by pouring the water. The youngest candidate was a tiny little girl, Salome, 11 years old.
“After our Good Friday service, when I was greeting the people at the gate of the Church, a girl shook my hand and told me: “a baptismal candidate wants to speak to you, will you listen to her?” remembers Bishop Malkhaz, “Yes I will. Who is that?’ I asked. “That’s me,” answered the same infant voice. I was about to say: “You are too young to be baptized, little girl,” but immediately I remembered what I had preached about believer’s baptism and abstained from saying that. Some time later in my office, I was convinced by the girl that she was ready to be baptized. I am certain Salome is going to be a committed Christian.
“This year’s celebration was magnificent. I am very happy with the celebration. Easter Morning Breakfast and Prayer in the mountains were tremendous. The whether was very cooperative? Everything was very well organized,” commented Lika and Tika Gudishvili, liturgical dancers. The place where the final things took place was really chosen well. We were looking over the capital city. The sun was slowly rising in the morning mist. The view from the mountain was absolutely gorgeous. People were brought to this place from the Cathedral by buses.
Orthodox Bishop Zanon of Dmanisy looks for an Excuse
On Monday April 12, Bishop Zenon of Dmanisy was a guest of the morning program of the Rustavi 2, the most popular TV channel in Georgia. Along with other questions Bishop Zanon was asked, why the Orthodox Church remained inactive during the Revolution of Roses. “Could not you do something like the Baptists did, when they kept delivering hot chocolate and rolls of bread to the demonstrators?”
The Bishop did not know how to answer the question. Ultimately he found an excuse. “The Revolution happened so quickly that when I got from Dmanisy, it was already over.” was the Bishop’s answer. The distance between Tbilisi and Dmanisy should not be more than 70 kilometers. The excuse was taken as a joke.
The participation of the Baptist Church in the revolution is still very often discussed in the Georgian society. Some think it was a very risky and but a noble step to take. Some think the Church should not get involved in that. Some criticize the Baptist Bishop for dragging his church into politics. “I think we had to be with our people in those days. We realized it was risky to be involved in the non violence revolution but we could not do otherwise. We belong to this country and these people.” commented the Baptist Bishop after the Revolution.