Language provided little barrier when the Samford University A Cappella Choir found a missions opportunity through their music in an attempt to open doors for Baptists in Russia.
“I wanted to arrange performances in leading concert venues to broaden Baptist visibility in Russia into segments of culture and society often unreached by Baptists and other evangelical witness,” said Milburn Price, dean of the Samford School of Music.
“This approach is a nontraditional way to engage in missions,… one that has the potential to broaden evangelical witness to segments of the population often untouched initially by more traditional missions approaches. It involves planting seeds that can be nurtured for later harvest,” said Price, who involved the LOGOS Choir in order to gain exposure for the Russian Baptist ensemble.
The LOGOS Choir is composed of Russian Baptist church musicians from the region. The combined choris performed a choral concerto by Dmitri Bortninanski. Russia is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth this year.
The A Cappella Choir concerts at Central and Second Baptist churches in Moscow were part of a 10-day tour of Russia at the invitation of the nation’s Ministry of Culture. Central Baptist is reportedly the only evangelical church in Russia that continued functioning during a major part of the Communist regime.
The invitation came after officials heard the choir’s recent CD, “O Magnum Mysterium: The Life of Jesus in Choral Music.”
A tour highlight was the choir’s performance at Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow. The concert was attended by prominent musical figures and leading government officials, including Minister of Culture Alexander Demchenko.
A crew from the Russian Cultural Television Network (similar to PBS) filmed a portion of the concert and interviewed Price. The feature aired the following evening on nationwide television.
“We were told that we were the first Baptist group to perform in that facility,” said Price.
“It was truly a unique experience, singing with a Russian choir and performing in concert halls that are so famous, especially knowing the history and the people who have performed there before,” said Seth Hix, a graduate student who is minister of music at Hillview Baptist Church, Birmingham.
The choir also gave two concerts in St. Petersburg.
(SU)
Share with others: