News 12

Ordination of Women in a Fundamentalist Congregation?

 

On January15-16, Pastor Suliko Osepaishvili and Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili made a visitation to West Georgia. They visited one of the poorest towns of the country – Ozurgeti.

 

A couple of years ago American sponsored fundamentalists took over the Second Baptist Church in this town. The congregation broke away from the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia. Very soon the congregation realized that they were trapped in the authoritarian infrastructure, but they were embarrassed to come back to the Church, since they had been warned about the danger by the Bishop Songulashvili and Pastor Merab Gaprindashvili, the General Secretary of the EBCG. Things started to deteriorate when the leader of the church declared that the women in the church have no right to participate in decision making process. 

 

One peculiar story caused members of the congregation to contact the leadership of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia.  A lady in her early fifties joined the congregation and declared that she wanted to be baptized by Bishop Songulashvili.

 

A delegation from the Ozurgeti congregation came to Tbilisi three times for help. They ultimately had to leave the building where they used to worship, since the present leader bought the building from the previous minister, who immigrated to Russia.

 

 At the return visit the Bishop had a lengthy conversation with the congregation. It was decided to accept them back to the Evangelical Baptist Church under the condition that they would reject fundamentalistic views about women.  Next day the Bishop baptized the lady in the ice cold river Ozurgeri and at the Eucharist service in the suburban village of Gurianta ordained 2 women and one young man.

 

“It was a revolutionary move in the life of this congregation.” says Bishop Malkhaz, “We celebrated the Eucharist together with the newly ordained as a sign of recognition of female ministry.”

 

For the time being the congregation meets at a rented place. The leadership of the EBCG will have to find out where to accommodate the congregation in the future.

 

 

Ecumenical Prayer

 

On February 4, the Ecumenical prayer was held at the Lutheran Church of Reconciliation. The liturgy of the service was adjusted to the Georgian reality by Bishop Malkhaz and the Roman Catholic Priest, Fr. Gabrielle Bragantiny. This year the theme of the service was:  “Jesus Christ the Only Foundation of the Church.”

 

Before the service started Baptist and Lutheran Bishops entered the sanctuary and offered prayers in memory of departed Prime Minister Zurab Zvania, who died the night before.

 

After the memorial prayer the procession of Armenian Apostolic, Baptist, Lutheran, Roman Catholic clergymen entered the sanctuary. They brought in front of the altar building blocks and arranged them into the form of cross. The cross made of blocks symbolized the foundation of all the churches – Jesus Christ.

 

The sermon was delivered by the Lutheran Bishop Andreas Stoekle. Then prayers and litanies were offered by representatives of Christian communities of Georgia. Armenian, Baptist, Lutheran and Roman Catholic choirs sung.

 

It was most interesting that during the service Basil Mkalavishvili called by mobile phone from prison. After having listened to the prayer by the phone, he assured his contact person that he was joining the prayer from the prison and he would pray during the service in his cell.

 

Fr. Basil Mkalavishvili used to be the most ardent opponent of the Ecumenical prayer. Two years ago he wrecked a similar Ecumenical service at the Cathedral Baptist church. Only little later, when the President of Georgia attended the Ecumenical service at the Cathedral Baptist church, he wrote:  “March 14^th will remain as a shameful stain in the history of Georgia. By attending the Ecumenical service Shevardnadze turned his back to the Orthodoxy. For participating in the Satanic gathering the Lord will punish Shevardnadze with deadly punishment, since he committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. He betrayed the Orthodoxy and accepted the Baptist faith. I have been told that Malkhaz Songulashvili was to baptize Shevardnadze at the Ecumenical gathering. When he is baptized as Baptist the President will flee the country to America.”

 

The same man two years later joins an ecumenical prayer from prison. “I told you, God has a sense of humor, have I not!” said Bishop Malkhaz.

 

 

Candle mass at the Cathedral Baptist Church

 

On February 6^th the feast of Presentation to the Temple was celebrated at the Cathedral Baptist Church. A huge procession of children and clergy entered the church with lighted candles. The entire congregation was also holding candles.

 

“As we hold these candles we remember Simon the elderly who was holding in his arm the baby Jesus, the true light of the world,” Bishop Malkhaz told the congregation.

 

The sermon was delivered by the Revd Karl Heinz Walter, who was introduced to the Cathedral again as “a father in Christ.”  The sermon was deep and meaningful. It addressed the responsibility of fathers and parents towards children and the youth.  The text he used was 1 John 2:12-14. After the service Revd Walter left the Cathedral in order to go to the Navtlugi Baptist Congregation in Tbilisi.

 

After the Eucharist children were invited to come for blessing and anointing with holy oil. Youth of the Cathedral had prepared tiny gifts for the children, but they were not enough since there were 180 children while gifts were only for 70. Those who did not get the gifts that Sunday were assured that next Sunday they would get them.

Bishop Malkhaz rushed to the Navtlugi Baptist congregation after the service as well.

 

 

Reconciliation in Navtlugi Baptist Church

 

 “I was shocked to see Malkhaz enter the Church being fully robed in clerical vestments” said the Revd Karl Heinz Walter, who was accompanied by the Revd Merab Gaprindashvili at the service of the Navtlugi Baptist Church on Sunday, February 6^th.

 

Navtlugi Baptist Church is the second largest Baptist congregation in Tbilisi.  It broke away from the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia a few years ago over the issue of reforms under the leadership of the Presiding Bishop in Georgia. The Navtlugi Church was particularly against liturgical vestments.

 

The presiding Bishop was not invited to the church for a number of years. A small group of the leadership had tried to keep the local congregation in ignorance about the changes in the life of the EBC of Georgia. The Revd Karl Heinz Walter visited the congregation after being asked to represent the Baptist Church in Bremerhaven, Germany, which has been supporting the Navtlugi Church for several years in partnership.

 

The situation in the congregation was already tense when the Bishop entered the church. But the sermon by Revd Karl Heinz Walter about the Christian Unity and questions the members of the congregation were able to ask, did pave the way to the reconciliation.  The Bishop gave a long speech about the power of reconciliation. He made reference to his experience of an unconditional reconciliation with his enemies including two Orthodox clergymen. Then he asked the congregation and the acting pastor whether they were ready for reconciliation. Nobody objected. Then he gave his right hand of reconciliation to the Pastor of the Navtlugi Baptist Church.  There were tears, hugs and kisses. The tense atmosphere changed into a friendly one. At the end the Revd Karl Heinz Walter asked the Bishop and the Pastor to kneel before the congregation for prayer and blessing. After the service all leaders of the EBCG and the local congregation had a reconciliation meal together at the place of Guram Kumelashvili, the late minister of the Navtlugi Baptist Church.

 

Only in the beginning of this year 5 broken away congregations came back to the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia. “We should declare the 2005 as a year of reconciliation” commented the Bishop.” We had patiently waited for that day. We were certain it would come. After the reconciliation it is very important that those congregations learn how to exercise freedom in Christ. Unfortunately they had been deprived of this basic Christian principle for a very long period.”

 

 

Presentation of the new Georgian New Testament. 

 

On February 8, at the National Library of Georgia the offical presentation of a new translation of the Modern Georgian New Testament took place. The translation was carried out by Professor Zurab Kiknadze and Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili.

 

The presentation was attended by the Lord Mayor of Tbilisi, the Minister of Education, the Public Defender of Georgia and other dignitaries. The presentation was a very important occasion in the life of the Georgian Bible Society, yet it was overshadowed by the recent death of the Prime Minister Zurab Zvania.

 

 

Visit with the Bishop of Wakefield

 

From February 21 to 28 Bishop Malkhaz paid a return visit to the Rt. Revd Stephen Platten, the Lord Bishop of Wakefield. “I was met at the Manchester Airport and driven to the Community of Resurrection.  That was my 42^nd birthday. I spent the day in silence and prayer with the Brotherhood of Resurrection.” says Bishop Malkhaz in his report.

 

He spent a couple of days in the Community. Before leaving for the Bishop’s Lodge he gave an icon of St. James to the community.

Bishop Malkhaz was warmly welcomed by the Bishop of Wakefield and his family. He visited Norwich Cathedral as well and preached there two times.

 

“The visit was very important for us. We will maintain our link with the Norwich Cathedral. At the same time we will be building up relations with the Wakefield diocese.”

A delegation from Wakefield will visit Georgia in November.

 

 

“Beacon of hope in Georgia”

 

On February 26 the “Times”, which has a circulation of one million copies, published an article by Canon Michael Bourdeaux about the Bishop of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia.   “Bravery that offers beacon of hope in Georgia” is the title of the article.

 

Canon Michael Bourdeaux is a famous expert of the East European church. He was a prophetic voice in the period when the church was persecuted by the communists. He is a founder and the president of Keston Institute, Oxford.

 

“Malkhaz Songulashvili is perhaps the most remarkable figure in Georgian church life today, a beacon of hope for the future.” writes Canon Bourdeaux.