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The Journal of European Baptist Studies (JEBS) is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the International Baptist Theological Study Centre (IBTS) with its latest volume. The IBTS, previously known as the Seminary, was founded in 1949 and has since transformed its focus to supporting research at the doctoral level. JEBS reflects IBTS's research interests and theological exploration, covering topics such as Baptist identity, contextual missiology, practical theology, biblical studies, and historical research. The current issue includes articles on the role of the Bible in Baptist thinking, theological authority, the life and ministry of George Henry Borrow, racism in British Baptist churches, relief efforts in Ukraine, mission and ministry among the Bulgarian Roma, and faith-based peace building in Nigeria and Sierra Leone. JEBS serves as a platform for scholars to communicate and raise awareness of belonging to a wider academic community. [Extracted from the article]

The text includes three book reviews from the Journal of European Baptist Studies. The first review discusses church records that provide insight into the discernment processes of a Baptist congregation in Philadelphia, focusing on financial problems and difficulties in finding a suitable pastor. The second review discusses the Central and Eastern European Bible Commentary, which offers fresh insights by interpreting the books of the Bible from a geographically specific angle. The third review discusses The Church Beyond the Wall, a study that compares the theological perspectives of two Protestant theologians in East Germany during the Communist era. [Extracted from the article]

The aim of the present article is to give a general survey about Baptist history in Estonia, the northernmost of the three Baltic countries, between 1945 and 1989. This rather [...]

The Estonian Baptist Preachers’ Seminary was established in 1922, with help from British and American Baptists. However, this significant moment in the story of Estonian Baptist education was preceded by the experiences of preachers who had studied abroad, in addition to local selfstudy interests and short Bible courses. The Seminary was renamed in 1932 and became the Estonian Baptist Theological Seminary. The article argues that theological education continued to be a part of Estonian Baptist identity that found its expression even throughout Communist times, when atheistic powers closed the seminary and it was impossible to offer formal theological education. Instead, Baptist leaders organised informal study groups in different regions of the country, encouraged reading, and offered the possibility to pass exams individually, based on literature they studied. They also found ways to send some students to study theology abroad during the Communist era. The article pays attention to correspondence courses, 1956–1960, that were organised by the Evangelical Christian and Baptist union leadership, after oral permission from the Commissioner of Religious Affairs. Even if this attempt proved to be short-lived, it helped to produce study materials that were used until the 1990s. Besides this, the article argues that informal friendship circles functioned as learning contexts. These circles were more flexible than study opportunities prepared by the union leadership, and their agenda was defined by the participants. The theological seminary of the 1920s and 1930s continued to bear fruit during Communist times, when a number of graduates faithfully served local churches, despite external pressures. Keeping theological education alive during these years paved the way for re-establishing the seminary in 1989. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the life and ministry of Ilse Katvel (1906–1987), a female preacher. She was influenced by pietistic Lutheranism, holiness movement ideas, and Estonian free church spirituality. In 1934, she joined the Evangelical Christian Free Church in Narva, which had grown out of the Blue Cross movement in the area. After moving to the Saaremaa Island in 1944, she became a deacon and co-elder in a Pentecostal-background church in Valjala, which was part of the Union of Evangelical Christians Baptists. Katvel became an influential Bible teacher who was invited to preach all across Estonia. The article argues that Katvel’s spiritual disciplines resemble the mystical-devotional lifestyle practised in different Christian traditions, including in Medieval piety – a commitment to work and prayer, fasting, living modestly, remaining unmarried, receiving food gifts, as well as being generous, and taking care of people in need. She and a group of like-minded „sisters“ devoted themselves to prayer, including prayers for healing. This group had an experiential openness to the work of the Holy Spirit. Katvel contemplated the relations between creation and the Creator, and images from nature helped her interpret spiritual realities. Cooperating with Christians from different denominational backgrounds and preaching both in Lutheran and free churches, she highlighted the unifying element of spirituality, focusing on Christ-centredness and lived-out sanctification, which is present in a wide range of Christian traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the use of the concepts kogudus (Eng congregation) and kogukond (Eng community) in Estonian Christian tradition and present-day society. The etymology of these words is explored as well as their use in Estonian Bible translations and theology to assist in understanding changes in use of these terms – for example the shift towards preferring community instead of congregation or church. Also, relations between religious fellowship and the wider society are described, thus bringing into discussion the sociological dimension. The latter argues that a Christian congregation, as a relations-building network, is itself a community operating in a wider social framework. Historically, kogudus has denoted a crowd or people, though the Christian meaning – a congregation gathered for worship or members of a local church – has also been strongly present. Kogukond is found to be in wider use in the Estonian language only since the 19th century, partly in relation with administrative changes, referring mainly to inhabitants of a local community or parish. The authors argue that even if these two words have been intertwined in their meaning, the synonymous or near-synonymous use of these concepts is a recent development. Some new church plants refer to their Sunday worship and discussion group as kogukond, reserving the word kogudus for a more abstract Christian fellowship, often including several communities. This may be a result of focus on missional contextualization, as kogukond is more neutral while kogudus has become a part of sacral language. The article concludes that the linguistic, religious and sociological use of these concepts is closely linked and awareness of these aspects helps to make clear the changes in the use of these words, and in related practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, covering the years 1919-1949, focuses on the early development of Tartu Saalem church, a community which officially began in 1919 as a group of revivalist believers who found it hard to fit into the existing ecclesial landscape. In the 1930s, the church joined the Union of Estonian free revivalist believers, and in 1946, under Soviet pressures, merged with a local Pentecostal church, and joined the Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists.The movement was from being a closed community towards careful cooperation with other churches, from authoritative leadership towards ways of collective decision making. However, strong leaders, such as Johannes Joonas and Paul Himma, played an important role all through the years under investigation. After 1946 the Saalem church entered a phase of relatively balanced spirituality, with a less emotional style of public prayer and a desire to be rooted in Biblical teaching. Using archive materials the author also gives an account of this free church's relations with the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The West Coast Revival in Estonia in the last quarter of the nineteenth century prepared the ground for the emergence of Baptist and Revivalist Free churches (Est. priikogudused). Recently, the Revival has been studied from the perspective of cultural anthropology, focusing on the conflict with traditional churches, and paying attention to the emotional - even ecstatic - phenomena. The present article argues that the main contribution of the Revival was the introduction of a new ecclesial pattern - a congregational way of being a church, with emphasis on repentance and spiritual renewal, an ethical lifestyle, and a simple interpretation of the Bible. The awakened moved towards separation from the Lutheran and Orthodox churches. Starting in Coastal Swedish communities in the 1870s, the Revival spread to Estonian-speaking areas. Drawing from the Moravian Brethren spirituality and Swedish neo-pietism, the awakened took responsibility for their spiritual life and initiative in congregational decisions, which increased their selfconfidence and sense of identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the challenges of contextualisation for the European Baptistic Ecclesiology, in participating in worship of God and providing services to God's mission. Topics discussed include changes to the religious culture of Baptist in Europe, influences of ethnic churches in Europe and issues of religious identity among European Baptists. It also emphasizes on the importance of secondary theology for self-understanding of the Baptist Church.

Adam Podin (1862-1941) was an Estonian Baptist pastor with Latvian roots. He represented a wider pan-evangelical spirituality, influenced by principles expressed by the Evangelical Alliance and European holiness movements. The article argues, based on the biography of Podin, that not only was the early Estonian Baptist movement influenced by German Baptists and Scandinavian pietism but it also had links to the pan-evangelical dimension. The Estonian Baptist life, at the end of the 19th century and in the beginning of the 20th century, was not limited to confessional and denominational identity, but included broader evangelical vision, which emphasised evangelical conversion experience and social ministry as well as cooperation with like-minded partners. Podin energetically worked in the following areas: he was pastor of Keila Baptist Church; he systematically preached in prisons, both in Tsarist Russia and later in Estonia; he initiated and developed evangelical compassion ministry in Estonian lepers' homes; from 1922 to 1938 he worked as director of Estonian Baptist Theological Seminary; and, last but not least, he acted as a liaison for the Evangelical Alliance. Podin's social ministry was supported by the Evangelical Alliance as well as by individual donations from Britain and America. In 1931, Podin was awarded with the medal of the Estonian Red Cross. Podin's international links and pan-evangelical spirituality helped Estonian Baptists to broaden their view of mission and social awareness. Additionally, Podin made Estonian evangelicals better known on the international scale -- especially through his reports to the Evangelical Alliance as well as by his personal contacts. Podin's ministry belongs to both the Estonian Free Church history and the history of Estonian social work. Adam Podin died on 24th November 1941 and he is buried in Keila at Karjak'la Cemetery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hillar Palias (prior to 1940 his name was Gottfried-Georg Palias) (1896- 1969) was an Estonian Baptist pastor. Before 1940 he pursued a military career in the Tapa Armoured Train Regiment, being awarded the rank of Captain in 1936. While working as an army officer he also preached at Tapa Baptist Church and fulfilled other pastoral duties. In 1940-1941 he was for a short period in the Soviet Army, before allowing himself to be imprisoned by German troops in autumn 1941, after which he was a prisoner of war camp for seven or eight months. he military and ministerial sides in his life mean that he represents a rather extraordinary identity combination, at least in Estonian Free Church history. Hillar Palias was not ordained, however until 1949, in Sweden. He had emigrated with his family to Sweden in 1944 towards the end of the Second World War. In his earlier years he had been influenced by the German General and evangelist Georg von Viebahn, and Viebahn's writings probably helped Palias to find peace between his military and ministerial identities. In Sweden, serving an Estonian Baptist congregation in Stockholm and beyond, he helped to organise church life and co-ordinated social ministries for Estonian refugees. In 1951 he moved to Toronto, Canada, and in 1956 he was elected an assistant pastor of the Estonian Baptist Church in Toronto. Being influenced by the spirituality of the holiness movements, he was engaged in a sincere striving for a deeper personal experience of sanctification. In Stockholm and Toronto he devoted himself to Christian ministry: besides preaching and other ministerial duties he gave much time to pastoral counselling and visiting sick and elderly people. With his balanced character, Palias helped to create an atmosphere of trust and security among Estonian refugees. Hillar Palias belongs to Estonian cultural and church history, both as an army officer and as a pietistically-minded Baptist pastor who served both in Estonia and abroad. In addition, his biography is one example of many Estonian life-stories that were deeply affected by the political storms of the Second World War and its aftermath. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the historical perspective of Christians as citizens of a persecuting state. It claims that the issue of how Christians as citizens associate to an unfriendly or persecuting is as old as the story of Christianity itself. It notes that Christian loyalty was often interpreted by the Roman state authorities as disloyalty to their state during the first centuries. The author concludes that Christians have faced physical and psychological suffering in a persecuting environment.

At the end of the nineteenth and at the beginning of the twentieth century, Estonian Baptists were convinced that theological education should directly serve the church's mission work. After Estonia had received its political independence in 1918, Baptists began to dream of their own theological seminary, which existed — with substantial help from American and British Baptists — from 1922–1940. In the 1930s, attempts were made to raise the academic level of the seminary training. However, Baptist theological training was not self-evident or guaranteed. During the Soviet years, all formal avenues of offering theological education were prohibited. In spite of this, the leaders of Estonian Evangelical Christians-Baptists found informal ways of organising and encouraging pastoral training: semi-illegal distance courses, informal study groups, and self-instruction. Only in 1989, during the period of political and religious liberation in the Soviet Union, was the Baptist theological seminary reestablished in Estonia, and a goal was set to offer a four-year theological programme. Estonian Baptists continue to make efforts to keep in balance the academic and ecclesial demands on theological education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the Baptist history in Estonia. The remarkable union of evangelical Christians-Baptists and the relationship between the state and baptist churches were taken into account. The union was founded in 1945 with several free church traditions. According to outstanding preacher and pastor of the Estonian Evangelical Christians Free Church Johannes Laks, after the second world war, all religious societies were prescribed to join the union thus, all churches were suppressed. Theological education was developed through the outreach efforts of the Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists of Estonia.