Christian Evangelical Church of Romania
Encyclopedia
The Christian Evangelical Church of Romania is a Plymouth Brethren
Protestant denomination, one of Romania
's eighteen officially recognised religious denominations.
missionaries active in Romania in the late 19th century, a group of "free Christians" was founded in Bucharest
in 1899. Initially, members were foreign residents of the capital city; they were later joined by Romanian converts. Also known as "Darbyites
" after John Nelson Darby
, the British
19th century founder of their theological current, the group was considered unlawful in the 1920s and was accused of spreading communist ideas. In 1933, the Romanian state recognised them as a religious association, the Christian Evangelicals. In 1939, they were compelled by the National Renaissance Front
regime to merge with the Christians of the Scriptures or Tudorites. The Christian Evangelical Church was thus formed, with two branches: branch I, which practised believer's baptism
, and branch II, which employed infant baptism
. (The difference stemmed from the tradition whence each emerged: Plymouth Brethren and Romanian Orthodox
, respectively.)
Banned under the World War II
-era regime of Ion Antonescu
, in 1946, the Evangelical Christians were recognised as a religious body by the Romanian state, having once again merged with the Tudorites and a splinter group called "Christians" centred at Ploieşti
. In 1950, soon after the advent of the Communist regime
, the Christian Evangelicals had 600 churches; a large number of smaller ones were officially closed following a state ruling that they must have at least twenty members, but many of them probably continued to meet quietly. In the late 1970s, the group claimed to have nearly 400 churches, a number of which awaited official registration, and around 55,000 members. A number of scholars suggest a figure of 120,000, but this is likely based on Tudorite support within the Orthodox Church and also includes a considerable number who had not formally transferred their membership and thus were not listed as members. By the 1980s, there was a full-time secretary and a three-member executive committee in Bucharest, although there was a great deal of ambiguity regarding the committee's authority. The church, like its neo-Protestant counterparts, received no state aid, supporting itself entirely from member contributions. Members also had social concerns, supporting a ninety-member leprosy community. Doctrinally, the church was closest to the Baptist
s, with whom it shared a pension programme. It had relationships with Brethren churches in California, Canada, Czechoslovakia, England, Germany, Hungary and Switzerland. In a display of support for their colleagues, representatives from these foreign communities attended the peace conferences allegedly sponsored by the Romanian religious communities in the 1980s.
The church had occasional difficulties with the Communist state. Its entire leadership was dismissed in 1984 for failing to exercise the required supervision over its assemblies regarding unofficial religious services. Local and regional officials of the Department of Religious Affairs viewed as responsible for allowing these unofficial gatherings to take place were also fired. Church officials were indicted for failing to expel members who had been convicted of illegal Bible distribution. The Department of Religious Affairs intervened and appointed the church's new leadership. Following the 1989 Revolution
and the fall of the regime, the two branches split, ostensibly over the issue of baptism, with the second becoming the Evangelical Church of Romania
.
proclaimed religious toleration
for Christians in 313 AD. They thus seek a restoration of early Christianity
and recognise no hierarchy other than the "headship of Christ". Their focus is on the supreme importance of inner religious life; perceiving the world to be corrupt, they look forward to the premillennial
era. The church stresses a strong focus on the Bible and spontaneous divine leading in its services rather than carefully orchestrated worship. Romanian Orthodox theologian Petru Deheleanu noted doctrinal similarities to the Tudorites and the Baptists.
According to the 2002 census, the church had 46,029 members, making up 0.2% of the population; it was the country's 11th largest recognised religious body. There is no hierarchy; instead, the church is completely reliant on a lay ministry. Bible readings and expositions, prayers and fervent singing are a feature of services. There is a spontaneity that leads to considerable member participation, and individual churches express a strong measure of autonomy. At the local level, each church or "gathering" has at least twenty adult members and is led by two to five "elders" or presbyters, who also function as preachers of the Gospel. As of 2008, there were 678 churches and 724 preachers. In 1994, a new structure, the zonal community, was introduced. There are sixteen of these, led by a brethren assembly that elects a leadership committee and is itself elected by the general conference. At the national level, the Union of Christian Evangelical Churches is led by a national brethren assembly that elects the permanent leadership, a president and two vice-presidents. The union's highest body is the quadrennial general conference, which elects the national brethren assembly and confirms the union's permanent leadership.
The church runs the university-level Timotheus Theological Institute in Bucharest and five Bible schools. Since 1949, it has edited Calea Credinţei ("The Path of Faith"), as well as the magazine Ecouri creştine ("Christian Echoes"), expressing its pietistic orientation to life. It has also published a number of theological works. Since 1990, it has run some forty associations and foundations. These involve most church members, and among their activities are teaching, orphanages, kindergartens and relief work. Also since that time, the church has re-established links with evangelical churches outside Romania, and joint projects have included evangelisation, exchanges of Biblical studies and charitable activities.
Plymouth Brethren
The Plymouth Brethren is a conservative, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s. Although the group is notable for not taking any official "church name" to itself, and not having an official clergy or liturgy, the title "The Brethren," is...
Protestant denomination, one of Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
's eighteen officially recognised religious denominations.
History
Under the influence of foreign Plymouth BrethrenPlymouth Brethren
The Plymouth Brethren is a conservative, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s. Although the group is notable for not taking any official "church name" to itself, and not having an official clergy or liturgy, the title "The Brethren," is...
missionaries active in Romania in the late 19th century, a group of "free Christians" was founded in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
in 1899. Initially, members were foreign residents of the capital city; they were later joined by Romanian converts. Also known as "Darbyites
Exclusive Brethren
The Exclusive Brethren are a subset of the Christian evangelical movement generally described as the Plymouth Brethren. They are distinguished from the Open Brethren from whom they separated in 1848....
" after John Nelson Darby
John Nelson Darby
John Nelson Darby was an Anglo-Irish evangelist, and an influential figure among the original Plymouth Brethren. He is considered to be the father of modern Dispensationalism. He produced a translation of the Bible based on the Hebrew and Greek texts called The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation...
, the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
19th century founder of their theological current, the group was considered unlawful in the 1920s and was accused of spreading communist ideas. In 1933, the Romanian state recognised them as a religious association, the Christian Evangelicals. In 1939, they were compelled by the National Renaissance Front
National Renaissance Front
The National Renaissance Front was a fascist Romanian political party created by King Carol II in 1938 as the single monopoly party of government following his decision to ban all other political parties and suspend the 1923 Constitution, and the passing of the 1938 Constitution of Romania...
regime to merge with the Christians of the Scriptures or Tudorites. The Christian Evangelical Church was thus formed, with two branches: branch I, which practised believer's baptism
Believer's baptism
Believer's baptism is the Christian practice of baptism as this is understood by many Protestant churches, particularly those that descend from the Anabaptist tradition...
, and branch II, which employed infant baptism
Infant baptism
Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. In theological discussions, the practice is sometimes referred to as paedobaptism or pedobaptism from the Greek pais meaning "child." The practice is sometimes contrasted with what is called "believer's baptism", or...
. (The difference stemmed from the tradition whence each emerged: Plymouth Brethren and Romanian Orthodox
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
, respectively.)
Banned under the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
-era regime of Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...
, in 1946, the Evangelical Christians were recognised as a religious body by the Romanian state, having once again merged with the Tudorites and a splinter group called "Christians" centred at Ploieşti
Ploiesti
Ploiești is the county seat of Prahova County and lies in the historical region of Wallachia in Romania. The city is located north of Bucharest....
. In 1950, soon after the advent of the Communist regime
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
, the Christian Evangelicals had 600 churches; a large number of smaller ones were officially closed following a state ruling that they must have at least twenty members, but many of them probably continued to meet quietly. In the late 1970s, the group claimed to have nearly 400 churches, a number of which awaited official registration, and around 55,000 members. A number of scholars suggest a figure of 120,000, but this is likely based on Tudorite support within the Orthodox Church and also includes a considerable number who had not formally transferred their membership and thus were not listed as members. By the 1980s, there was a full-time secretary and a three-member executive committee in Bucharest, although there was a great deal of ambiguity regarding the committee's authority. The church, like its neo-Protestant counterparts, received no state aid, supporting itself entirely from member contributions. Members also had social concerns, supporting a ninety-member leprosy community. Doctrinally, the church was closest to the Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
s, with whom it shared a pension programme. It had relationships with Brethren churches in California, Canada, Czechoslovakia, England, Germany, Hungary and Switzerland. In a display of support for their colleagues, representatives from these foreign communities attended the peace conferences allegedly sponsored by the Romanian religious communities in the 1980s.
The church had occasional difficulties with the Communist state. Its entire leadership was dismissed in 1984 for failing to exercise the required supervision over its assemblies regarding unofficial religious services. Local and regional officials of the Department of Religious Affairs viewed as responsible for allowing these unofficial gatherings to take place were also fired. Church officials were indicted for failing to expel members who had been convicted of illegal Bible distribution. The Department of Religious Affairs intervened and appointed the church's new leadership. Following the 1989 Revolution
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
and the fall of the regime, the two branches split, ostensibly over the issue of baptism, with the second becoming the Evangelical Church of Romania
Evangelical Church of Romania
The Evangelical Church of Romania , a Protestant denomination, is one of Romania's eighteen officially recognised religious denominations.-History:...
.
Beliefs and organisation
Members see as their forerunners those who thought the church had lost its ability to preach the Gospel after Constantine the Great's Edict of MilanEdict of Milan
The Edict of Milan was a letter signed by emperors Constantine I and Licinius that proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire...
proclaimed religious toleration
Religious toleration
Toleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...
for Christians in 313 AD. They thus seek a restoration of early Christianity
Early Christianity
Early Christianity is generally considered as Christianity before 325. The New Testament's Book of Acts and Epistle to the Galatians records that the first Christian community was centered in Jerusalem and its leaders included James, Peter and John....
and recognise no hierarchy other than the "headship of Christ". Their focus is on the supreme importance of inner religious life; perceiving the world to be corrupt, they look forward to the premillennial
Premillennialism
Premillennialism in Christian end-times theology is the belief that Jesus will literally and physically be on the earth for his millennial reign, at his second coming. The doctrine is called premillennialism because it holds that Jesus’ physical return to earth will occur prior to the inauguration...
era. The church stresses a strong focus on the Bible and spontaneous divine leading in its services rather than carefully orchestrated worship. Romanian Orthodox theologian Petru Deheleanu noted doctrinal similarities to the Tudorites and the Baptists.
According to the 2002 census, the church had 46,029 members, making up 0.2% of the population; it was the country's 11th largest recognised religious body. There is no hierarchy; instead, the church is completely reliant on a lay ministry. Bible readings and expositions, prayers and fervent singing are a feature of services. There is a spontaneity that leads to considerable member participation, and individual churches express a strong measure of autonomy. At the local level, each church or "gathering" has at least twenty adult members and is led by two to five "elders" or presbyters, who also function as preachers of the Gospel. As of 2008, there were 678 churches and 724 preachers. In 1994, a new structure, the zonal community, was introduced. There are sixteen of these, led by a brethren assembly that elects a leadership committee and is itself elected by the general conference. At the national level, the Union of Christian Evangelical Churches is led by a national brethren assembly that elects the permanent leadership, a president and two vice-presidents. The union's highest body is the quadrennial general conference, which elects the national brethren assembly and confirms the union's permanent leadership.
The church runs the university-level Timotheus Theological Institute in Bucharest and five Bible schools. Since 1949, it has edited Calea Credinţei ("The Path of Faith"), as well as the magazine Ecouri creştine ("Christian Echoes"), expressing its pietistic orientation to life. It has also published a number of theological works. Since 1990, it has run some forty associations and foundations. These involve most church members, and among their activities are teaching, orphanages, kindergartens and relief work. Also since that time, the church has re-established links with evangelical churches outside Romania, and joint projects have included evangelisation, exchanges of Biblical studies and charitable activities.