Three hundred and twenty-five new student pastors from 12 former Soviet republics have gathered at Zaoksky Seminary south of Moscow to begin the first stage of what Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders in the region are calling a revolutionary approach to mission. “This is a historic day,” said Artur Stele, president of the Adventist Church in the Euro-Asia region, at a June 13 ceremony marking the start of a three-month period of intensive study for the students.

Adventist Church leaders in the Euro-Asia region have set a goal of establishing 300 new Adventist congregations within the next two years. Unlike many Christian churches, which depend heavily on clergy for leadership, the new congregations will be structured around small groups of members who are actively involved in evangelism, preaching, and community service.

The student pastors come from countries including Ukraine, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. Seventy-five percent of the students are age 30 or under. Thirty-six percent are 25 years or younger.

Some participants found out about the program just weeks or days before training was due to begin, says Rebecca Scoggins, associate communication director for the Adventist Church in Euro-Asia.  And yet they made the life-changing decision to become pastors, quitting their jobs and leaving their families for the summer, “because they were asked, and because they felt that they were needed,” she says.

Twelve of the students marched into the auditorium carrying the national flags of the countries they represent.

“It was a moving example of how a shared faith can overcome barriers raised by cultural or political differences,” says Scoggins. “Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, these flags are not seen together anymore. Some of these countries are at war with each other, fighting about borders, religion, or politics.  And yet these future pastors walked into the auditorium as friends and will spend the rest of the summer training together.”

The training curriculum will cover basic theology, small-group leadership methods, and contextualization, or making Christian beliefs understandable and relevant to people from different cultures. After graduation the pastors will return to their home countries to begin the work of establishing new congregations. For the first two years, they will also receive on-the-job training from an experienced Adventist pastor in the region.