The Union of Christian Baptist Churches in Romania ( ro, Uniunea Bisericilor Creștin Baptiste din România) is a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. It is affiliated with the Romanian Evangelical Alliance and the

Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA account ...

. The headquarters is in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...

History

Origins

The first modern-era Baptists in Romania were of German extraction.

Karl Scharschmidt Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...

came to what is now southern Romania from

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

in 1856 and settled in

. Scharschmidt, a carpenter by trade, had been baptized by Johann Gerhard Oncken in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

in 1845. By 1863 enough converts had been made to form a church, and Oncken sent August Liebig to serve them as pastor. This church, the oldest Baptist church in Romania, in still in existence and meets on Popa Rusu Street (Bethany Baptist Church). Russian Baptist immigrants, mostly from the southern Ukraine, came to

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; bg, Добруджа, Dobrudzha or ''Dobrudža''; ro, Dobrogea, or ; tr, Dobruca) is a historical region in the Balkans that has been divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. I ...

around 1862 and founded a church in Cataloi in 1869. Hungarian Baptists formed a church in

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the A ...

in 1875.

Formation

Baptist witnesses did not enter Old Romania until the 20th century, and Orthodox opposition was strong. Nevertheless, a church was organized in Jegalia in 1909. An ethnic Romanian church was formed in Bucharest in 1912 by Constantin Adorian (1882-1954), a Romanian who had previously joined the German Baptist church in Bucharest. Adorian led in forming the Baptist Union of Romania in 1920. He met in June 1919 with Radu Tașcă, Vasile Berbecar, Teodor Sida and other baptist pastors from

Crișana Crișana ( hu, Körösvidék, german: Kreischgebiet) is a geographical and historical region in north-western Romania, named after the Criș (Körös) River and its three tributaries: the Crișul Alb, Crișul Negru, and Crișul Repede. In Rom ...

in Buteni to discuss the formation of a "Union of Romanian Baptist Communities". The organization was formally created in February 1920, when, after gaining approval from the authorities, a congress was held in the same location with representatives from baptist churches from all around the country. In 1921, it founded the Bucharest Baptist Theological Institute, which would later become the Faculty of Baptist Theology, affiliated to the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

. In 1930, the Union had 45,000 members. Before 1944, the legal status of evangelical groups such as the Baptists was not well-defined. Due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the military dictatorship of General Antonescu, laws were passed in 1942 and 1943 dissolving all religious associations in Romania. As a consequence, Baptists could not meet, worship or evangelize. On August 31, 1944, these laws were abrogated, and the Baptists (and others) could once again engage in religious activity legally. In 1948 Baptists were officially recognized by the state as a legal ''cult''. According to a denomination census released in 2022, it claimed 1,697 churches and 83,853 members. The members of the

Convention of the Hungarian Baptist Churches of Romania The Convention of the Hungarian Baptist Churches of Romania ( hu, Romániai Magyar Baptista Gyülekezetek Szövetsége; ro, Convenţia Bisericilor Creştine Baptiste Maghiare) is an organization of ethnic Hungarian Baptists in Romania within t ...

, a subgroup of the national Baptist Union, were counted separately and are 8,321 in 253 churches, making for a total of 92,174 members and 1,900 churches.

Calvinist-Arminian debate

Historically, the baptist churches in Romania were very much influenced by

calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...

. This was no surprise given the fact that the church had German roots. According to the Romanian

historiographer Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians hav ...

, Alexa Popovici, early baptists had a "Calvinist inclination". There is evidence to suggest that, at some point, calvinist

soteriology Soteriology (; el, σωτηρία ' "salvation" from σωτήρ ' "savior, preserver" and λόγος ' "study" or "word") is the study of religious doctrines of salvation. Salvation theory occupies a place of special significance in many religion ...

, including

double predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby ...

, was preached in some congregations in

. The liberal tendencies of the

Reformed Church Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

made some Hungarians switch to the baptist tradition which also contributed to the predominant calvinist view among Romanian baptists. However the church would experience a shift towards

arminianism Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Rem ...

during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relative ...

due to the founding of a formal

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

in collaboration with the

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...

and the theological influences of Edgar Young Mullins. The arminian position will remain the predominant view among Romanian baptists for much of the communist period. After the 1989 Revolution, the calvinist position would reemerge and gain popularity once again, although it would still remain a minority view.

Relation with the state

The

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular s ...

is a core doctrine in baptist tradition.

Funds

Out of the 18 officially recognised denominations in Romania, the Baptist Union is one of the only three which do not accept subsidies from the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

for the salaries of its ministers, believing that it is the deliberate duty of every believer to financially support the activities of his

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

. However, the Union accepts subsidies from the local authorities for the construction or reparation of its churches when their funds are insufficient. The church also runs its own

pension fund A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income. Pension funds typically have large amounts of money to invest and are the major investors in listed and priva ...

for its retired pastors.

Educational institutions

The Union has 8 theological high schools and 2 post-secondary non-tertiary educational institutions, as well as 2 tertiary institutions: The Baptist Theological Institute in

(accredited by the

) and the Emanuel University in

Oradea Oradea (, , ; german: Großwardein ; hu, Nagyvárad ) is a city in Romania, located in Crișana, a sub-region of Transylvania. The seat of Bihor County, Oradea is one of the most important economic, social and cultural centers in the western par ...

, Bihor. John H. Y. Briggs, ''A Dictionary of European Baptist Life and Thought'', Wipf and Stock Publishers, USA, 2009, p. 162

Notes

References

External links

Baptist Union of Romania - Official siteCultul Creștin Baptist - Uniunea Bisericilor Creștine BaptisteChristian Today - Official magazineMărturisirea de credință a Cultului Creștin BaptistStatutul de organizare și funcționare a Cultului Creștin Baptist
{{Authority control Baptist Christianity in Romania Christian organizations established in 1920 Baptist denominations in Europe Baptist denominations established in the 20th century Religious organizations based in Bucharest