Friends Of Poland

Philippians 3:13-14 : ‘Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, 14:I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.’

Introduction

Thank you for the invitation to share a paper with you as part of your May 2005 Pastor’s Conference. Many of you will have seen the Media Release that we have placed on the WBST web site about the invitation to me to serve as the next Rector of WBST. I have known the Seminary since it was just a few bricks in the forest. I first visited the site in 1992 and have visited Poland often since then, studying in the seminary, teaching there and representing the Baptist Union and Friends of Radosc (UK) at various conferences and assemblies. It is then a considerable honour to have been invited to serve as the Seminary’s next Rector. I am grateful to both the Polish Baptist Union Executive and the WBST Trustees for bthe honour and encouragement of this appointment. Poland is known the world over as a country where the Christian faith is loved and honoured and Polish Baptists have long been a part of the rich tapestry of Christian life here. I am looking forward enormously to sharing in God’s work in this country. I also wish to pay a personal tribute to Gustaw Cieslar here. He has been a good friend to me for over ten years now and so it is a special joy to follow him into the Rector’s seat. We all owe an enormous debt to Gustaw who has served us so well as the Rector at WBST of course for over ten years. He has helped to build the Seminary into a significant international Seminary known to Baptists and others all over the world. I am so pleased that he will continue to teach Practical Theology at the Seminary from time to time, even though he has now returned to the local pastorate as he wanted to. As some of you will be aware I intend to share the leadership of the Seminary with two experienced Polish Baptist leaders. The WBST Dean (Tadeusz Zielinski) and the WBST Administrator (Krystian Ber). Together we will seek to lead the Seminary in this next chapter of its development. I am looking forward very much to renewing old friendships when my wife Jane and I move to Poland this autumn and to meeting some of you for the first time. Please pray for us as we will be praying for you. Miroslaw has asked me to share something of my vision for the Seminary as I begin a new ministry there in October. Let me begin with a true story.

Some of you may remember the story of the remarkable Olympic athlete, John Akhwari from Tanzania. He finished the 1968 Mexico marathon race last, an hour or so behind the winner: Mamo Wolde from Ethiopia. He had fallen seriously during the race and his badly injured leg was sore and bleeding. Nonetheless he finished the race . A brazen television interviewer

asked him : ‘Why did you bother to carry on , with such a serious injury and no hope of coming anything but last?’ John Akhwari replied famously: “My country did not send me 7000 miles to Mexico to start a race ; they sent me 7000 miles to finish it!” I repeat: “My country did not send me 7000 miles to Mexico to start a race ; they sent me 7000 miles to finish it!” There is a message for us all there as Pastors. The Lord Jesus has called us to be His followers and to finish the race, not just begin it. Our call as Pastors is to be committed to the way of Jesus Christ our Master:

That is what our Lord did. May John Akhwaris’ example be an inspiration to us all as Pastors:

‘My Lord did not send me to start to serve Him here on earth and then give in when the going gets tough He sent me here to do good and to finish the course and then be ready for Heaven.’ In the words of 2 Timothy 4:7 may we all be able to say with Paul: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Which brings me on to….

Pastoral Formation

I have been a local church Pastor for over 25 years now and that is where my heart is. I continue to believe that the highest calling of all in Christian ministry is to be the Pastor of a local church. District and National Pastors, Seminary staff, para-church organisations and the various Baptist Federations and Conventions. All are there to serve you as Pastors and your churches. For it is in and through the local church that the most effective Christian mission takes place. The Risen Lord is a genius at campaign strategy. All over the world he has planted hundreds of thousands of communities of people who believe in Him to carry on His work. Local churches like yours and mine. Michael Green in his fine book Evangelism through the local church makes this point well: ‘…whenever Christianity has been at its most healthy, evangelism has stemmed from the local church, and has had a noticeable impact on the surrounding area… We need a thoughtful, sustained, relevant presentation of the Christian faith.’ [1] A new generation of biblically trained Pastors with mission in their lifeblood is always needed for this task …..in Poland as well as in the UK. That is what WBST is here for. WBST, please God, will continue to play a key part in training and preparing evangelical Christian leaders for ministry in Poland and elsewhere in Central Europe. From Baptist and other Evangelical Churches. The training and pastoral formation of Pastors able to begin the marathon of ministry and run the race well for Jesus Christ will be my priority as Rector. To help in this process, I will be drawing on nearly three decades of local pastoral work and wider church experience in teaching both pastoral and mission studies within WBST.

While studying at WBST for a time on sabbatical last year I read many of the works of one of America’s finest pastoral theologians: Eugene H Peterson. You will know him best as the translator of a contemporary version of the Bible : The Message. In one of his books – Working the Angles [2] - he reminds us that three pastoral acts are so basic, so critical that they determine the shape of everything else. They are praying, reading Scripture, and giving spiritual direction. If our patterns of ministry neglect any of these then our ministry ‘…is no longer given its shape by God. Working the angles is what gives shape and integrity to the daily work of pastors ands priests.’ [3] As Peterson puts it with characteristic bluntness: ‘Working the angles is what we do when no one else is watching. It is repetitive and often boring. It is blue collar and not dog collar work.’ [4] WBST is here to help us all do our core tasks as Pastors better. Praying, teaching the Bible and making disciples. For God is always watching!

A few weeks ago now I was walking in one of Warsaw’s many parks and saw a red squirrel. In the UK these are rare now. The grey squirrels are the dominant species. We have them in our garden here in St Albans. The industry of a squirrel is remarkable. They work especially hard in the autumn as they are gathering supplies to nourish and feed them during the harsh winter months. Listen you who have ears to hear! A Seminary education is like that. Here we learn the skills and tools of the trade. Old and New Testament studies. Church History. Baptist principles and practice. Doctrine. Mission, Evangelism and Pastoral Studies. Church Administration and Government. Here friendships are made that can last a lifetime. Here we are privileged to read and study the Word of God the Bible and prepare to teach its truth for the rest of our lives. A Seminary education is a privilege given to us by God. In the words of the Psalmist:

104: I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.

But back to the marathon illustration. The challenge to us all as Pastors is to be still running the good race and fighting the good fight ten years, twenty years, thirty years after our seminary training. Of course. It is my hope that WBST can become even more of a Resource Centre for evangelical Pastors in ministry who want to keep on studying; a place you will feel that you can come to for study and training events; for refresher courses and – perhaps – for counselling as you work for Christ on the front-line of mission. A t Seminary should not just be there for those in the early years of ministerial formation. It can be a resource too for Pastors throughout their ministries. And for children’s and youth workers and church deacons and elders too. I hope to continue and develop this vision for WBST during my time of service as the Seminary’s Rector. Again continuing Gustaw’s good work here.

Theological Education

But as well as ongoing ministerial formation – from Start to Finish – a Baptist Seminary must also be at the forefront of theological education. It is good to see so many students, full or part-time, studying for their fully accredited Theology Degrees here at WBST. It is good to talk with others planning to go on to further Masters studies through , for example, the Warsaw Academy. I commend the WBST web-site to you if you have not visited it. It is a joy to read there about the wide experience of the teaching staff here at the Seminary and to realise how many fine Baptist academics and teachers our Polish Baptist Union has. In England we have a saying: “ you are punching above your weight”. For a small Baptist Union – the UK one has 140,000 members for example! – the Polish Baptist Union is certainly punching above its weight in theological circles. The outstanding work of Konstanty Wiazowksi over several decades culminating in his acclaimed Systematic Theology volume is a case in point. The first two editions of the WBST Journal, which I understand, have been widely read outside of Baptist circles too is another. In a European Union where religious diversity, respect for human rights and freedoms and a pluralist society is increasingly the norm it is important that Polish Baptists play our part well in all the new opportunities these times give us. We are one important voice in contemporary Poland. Then let us make sure that we all use our throats well!

One of the ways we can do this is through producing quality Protestant theology articles and journals, books and papers. The Catholic theological world is a vast and important one. But it is not all there is. My own postgraduate research at present through Spurgeon’s College London concerns what happens to minority faith communities in majority Catholic populations. I am comparing and contrasting the Anabaptist movements of the C16th with the Latin American base community movements of the late C20th. It is a fascinating subject and one that has all kind so resonances for Baptist life in Poland too. Here is one example. Did you know that in the late C16th there was a thriving evangelical Baptist movement in Poland? Not all of them were Arians! Reading Stanislas Lubieniecki’s History of the Polish Reformation [5] is fascinating. What we are trying to do now in Poland the first Baptists were doing then: seeking new ways of worship and being Church, appealing for the Church to get back to the teaching of the Bible and helping Christians to live as true disciples. This need is as strong in the Poland – and UK - of the C21st as ever it was in the Reformation period.

By appointing an English –speaking Rector WBST is saying that Polish Baptists too recognise that much good theology and Christian literature is coming from the American/English-speaking world in this new century. And that, as Christians, we want to key into and learn from it. My vision for WBST is of a Seminary finding its place in the international Baptist world as well as in its Polish setting. One of the things I hope to make possible, under God, is increasing access to the English –speaking theological world and to some of its fine speakers and teachers . Another initiative already begun by Gustaw of course. And in case this worries some of you. Relax! Polish will, of course, remain the main teaching language at WBST. But not exclusively. A working knowledge of English is important for many students and Pastors today. Especially those prepared to look to the global Baptist family for teaching and inspiration and not just the Central European ones. While I as an English Pastor am working hard at my Polish language studies, I very much hope that more Polish Pastors will be working hard at their English too. Poland and England need each other in more ways than one!

This paper is not the place to go into the financial needs of WBST. The Seminary lives on faith. Like you have to in your churches. I have seen the accounts. I know this to be true! One way that we may be able to make some progress here is by making this complex a holiday and study base for Baptists - and other Evangelicals - wishing to study and / or tour Poland and to see places such as Warsaw, Gdansk, Krakow and Oswiecim. There is considerable interest still in Poand and its history and cities and people among Christians the world over. I have visited the IBTS in Prague and seen the way that this kind of approach has been integrated with the ongoing study and life of the community there. It is my hope that by encouraging more Christian visitors from abroad - again continuing the good work Gustaw and the staff at WBST have already begun – we may help to put WBST even more firmly on the map over the rest of this decade.

Finally

In closing it is General Election time in the UK! Last night I chaired a meeting with many of the local candidates here in St Albans. By the time you all meet the result will be known. One thing this process has reminded me of is how easy it is to dream dreams and make promises. Politicians are full of it – in the UK and Poland! Making the dreams a reality is far harder. God’s Word teaches us that without Christ we can achieve nothing of eternal value: John 15:4: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” That is true for all of us in ministry. It is certainly the way I will be approaching this new ministry among you when Jane and I move to Warsaw to live in the Rector’s Apartment in September. Please pray for us as we will pray for you.

Revd Michael I Bochenski

St Albans

May 2005

[1] Michael Green, Evangelism through the local church (London: Hodder and Stoughton 1990) Preface ix

[2] Working the Angles – the shape of pastoral integrity (Eerdmans 1987)

[3] ibid 4

[4] ibid 12

[5] Stanislas Lubieniecki, History of the Polish Reformation and nine related documents. (translated and interpreted by George Hunston Williams, Minneapolis: Fortress Press 1995)