MOSCOW — At a meeting Feb. 23 in Moscow, Alexei Vasilevich Smirnov was elected secretary and head of the Public Council.
Although Smirnov is pastor of a congregation belonging to the Association of Brethren Congregations in Dedovsk near Moscow, he has also served as director of the pastors department of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists since 2006.
He will lead this umbrella organization of 10 church unions of Baptist tradition — most of which departed from the All-Union Council of Evangelical Christians-Baptists following the USSR’s demise.
At the same meeting Feb. 23, Vera Yurevna Katko, who stems from the underground Initiativniki movement, was named the council’s first-ever secretary for communication.
Smirnov stressed that even though the official structures will remain at a minimum, these 10 church unions will strive to present a unified form and appearance to the outside world.
Valentin Vasilizhenko, who had served as the council’s secretary since its inception in 2006, explained after the meeting, “We in the council will be speaking of each other as brothers, for we are not adversaries. We form a common front and accept each other just as we are.”
The Public Council sees itself as a common platform for dialogue and for achieving consensus, which it says is badly needed among these church unions.
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