Record of reception at the Council for Religious Cults under the USSR Council of Ministers of Bishop of the Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith A.I. Bidash

October 2, 2010 · Adam Bondaruk, Baptists, Victor Belykh, AUCECB, Persecution, Interview, KGB, Books, Unregistered Pentecostals, Nikolay Kotyakov, On Emigration, United Church of Evangelical Christians, Vestibule, Petr Saenko, Pentecostals, Religious Mafia, Slavik Radchuk, Contemporary Persecution, Security Services

October 25, 1956

Together with Bidash, his supporters for the organization of an independent union of “Pentecostals,” whom he had summoned in advance from various regions of the Ukrainian SSR without prior arrangement—just as he had done for himself—arrived at the Council: F.S. Romanenko, I.A. Levchuk, M.A. Novikov, I.I. Yankovsky, V.S. Shepel, K.S. Kruzhko, and I.V. Sizov (Moscow). These individuals had not been invited; they left the Council together with Bidash after his reception had concluded.

Zhidkov
Comrade Gostev, addressing Bidash, asks: What questions do you have for the Council?

Bidash: On October 20 of this year, we gave Y.I. Zhidkov our additional questions, concerning which we have differences with the AUCECB. We, said Bidash, cannot relate to the evangelical teaching in the same way the Baptists relate to it.

Comrade Gostev: Who is “we,” on whose behalf are you speaking? Then comrade Gostev speaks of the need to live in peace and friendship with all believers, as has been achieved in our country among believers of other religious cults.

Bidash: When signing the Moscow agreement in 1945 on the unification of the two unions (ECB and ECF), I told my brothers that not all the questions on which we then had differences could be resolved at one go; we assumed that some questions of a dogmatic nature that remained unresolved at that time would be settled and reconciled later. We agree to be together with the Baptists, but let them yield to us and give us the opportunity to conduct services the way we, the ECF, desire.

During our meeting with Y.I. Zhidkov and Karev, they told us in response that nothing would come of this. If, even after the AUCECB plenum scheduled for October 30 of this year, we do not obtain a positive result regarding our request, then we ask you to convene representatives of the ECF believers, or to convene us together with the Baptists; and if even after that we do not achieve the resolution of our request, then we ask that we be provided at least separate days in the prayer houses of the religious societies of the ECB for holding prayer meetings.

Comrade Gostev: You are an elderly man with extensive life experience and you know what regulations exist in our country regarding the activity of religious societies; nevertheless, upon leaving Vorkuta for your home, without yet having seen any of your co-religionists, you stopped along the way at the Council for Religious Affairs and began raising the question of forming an independent union of the ECF and of a schism with the ECB union. You evidently consider that you made a mistake when signing the 1945 agreement on the unification of the two unions.

Bidash: No, I do not consider that, but I regret that I was not able to defend the interests of the ECF believers to a greater extent than was achieved then.
Comrade Gostev: Explains to Bidash the negative and harmful consequences of the work he is conducting among Pentecostal believers together with certain of his supporters with the aim of organizing an independent Union of the ECF.

Bidash: Speaks of the religious dogmatics of the Pentecostals (the use by believers during the breaking of bread of unleavened bread and grape wine, foot washing, etc.), to which, Bidash declares, the Baptists object, forcing our believers to do foot washing at home, which, according to our creed, cannot be permitted. Moreover, for performing this ritual at home our believers were sometimes subjected to arrests. Bidash further says that because of the differences with the Baptists, our believers find no spiritual rest neither after work nor on weekends.

Comrade Gostev: Your striving to create an independent Union of the ECF will lead to nothing, and you have needlessly organized the arrival at the Council of eight of your supporters, about whom you said nothing when you arranged with us the time of your arrival for the reception.

Bidash: I did not invite them; they themselves came to Moscow and came here.

Comrade Gostev: How then did they learn your Moscow address where you are temporarily staying, and the day and hour when you were to be at the Council?

Bidash: I am very cautious in trusting people.

Comrade Gostev: Do you personally know all the persons who arrived at the Council with you?

Bidash: No, I do not know them all. I do not know the person who came from Moldavia. We pursue only the evangelical teaching and set no other goals before ourselves. While in the camps, I learned to understand people and their behavior.

Comrade Gostev: Our advice to you is this: to enter into contact with the AUCECB, to begin negotiations with Y.I. Zhidkov. You did the right thing in turning to the Baptist religious center, giving them your additional statement, in which the disputed questions are indicated, regarding which opinions should be exchanged in order to arrive at a common view as a result.
To your supporters who have arrived in Moscow, recommend that they disperse to their homes. We consider it impermissible for you to seek a schism with the ECB and to allow actions that violate the established order and legislation on religious cults, while disregarding your own patriotic standing. One must behave within the limits of legality and not organize people around oneself, many of whom you personally do not even know.
Maintain a course toward contact and rapprochement with the AUCECB. We will help so that you are heard in the AUCECB. We will not receive the other seven people who arrived at the Council with you, since they are interested in the same questions as you, as their main leader. We also want to warn you that in your actions you should not drop your patriotic standing either.
We recommend that you do not rally groups of people around yourself with organizational functions, but come to an agreement with the leadership of the AUCECB. We will recommend to Y.I. Zhidkov and other workers of the AUCECB that they invite you to the upcoming plenum of the Baptists.

Bidash: I would like for Romanenko to remain in Moscow for some time, with whom I intend to attend the plenum of the Baptists, where we will attempt to come to a final agreement on all the questions on which we have differences.

In conclusion, Bidash said: I am a believer, but I am losing faith in the possibility of full unification with the Baptists for those Pentecostal believers who disagree with their doctrine on certain issues.

Comrade Gostev: No need to be a fanatic and a pessimist.

At this point, Bidash’s reception was concluded.
Present at the reception was Council member P.A. Zadorozhny
Recorded by P.A. Zadorozhny

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