Urban Ecclesiology: A Look at the Evangelical Christian Missionary Union in Russia

Along with some Southern Baptist missionaries serving in Russia, the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) in America has created a primary partnership with the Evangelical Christian Missionary Union (ECMU) in Russia. The C& MA has done so much so that the two are often confused as one and the same, but this is not necessarily the case. When you take a comparative look at the EMCU church planting practices of Great Commission Church in St. Petersburg, Russia, and its stated ECMU ecclesiology, a unique urban strategy appears. Since some of these ECMU missionaries are good friends of mine, I thought I would highlight their urban ecclesiological stance for a few posts. You may be asking, "Why don't you analyze your own Southern Baptist missionaries' ecclesiological stances or the position of the Russian Baptist Union?" A warranted question; and the answer is forthcoming.

            But as a example of ECMU’s urban church planting, Great Commission Church has been consistent both as to its own church planting theory espoused by C&MA and ECMU publications and faithful to biblical ecclesiology as outlined by Southern Baptist theologian John S. Hammett. Using Hammett’s ecclesiological model as a lever to evaluate the church planting practice of ECMU in terms of strengths and weaknesses, I can say that ECMU is being true both to its stated ecclesiology and biblical truth.  

            C&MA along with ECMU are currently planting new churches in seven key cities in Russia. Their main church planting goal is to start new missionary churches that will send “their own across town, across cultural boundaries, and… across borders, to touch lives with the Gospel of Christ.”[1] Based on the C&MA theological foundation of a “fourfold gospel”[2] of Jesus as Savior, sanctifier, healer, and coming king, ECMU’s main four ecclesiological initiatives involve planting churches in large and influential cities of Russia, creating outreach projects based on meeting needs of and providing service to the larger community, teaching their new churches to send and support their own missionaries, and training cross-cultural workers. If we examine ECMU’s urban strategy to describe their ecclesiological position, we can offer a critical analysis based on a Baptist ecclesiological viewpoint. I'll leave it up to you readers to make an interpretation as to whether you think their model is an ideal urban church planting ministry for ECMU in the Russian context.

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[1] The Alliance Russia Field, “Four Key Initiatives,” (2007), http://www.cmainrussia.org/go/four (accessed 8 July 2009).

[2] Christian and Missionary Alliance, “Fourfold Gospel,” (n.d.), http://www.cmalliance.org/about/beliefs

/fourfold-gospel (accessed 8 July 2009).