Worldview Course Fortifies Students’ Philosophy of Ministry

HopeRussia Seminary third year student Andrey Skriabin pastors the Evangelical Church of Prokopyevsk, a town in the Kemorovo Oblast (Southern Siberia).  Pastor Andrey recently completed Blake Purcell’s seminary course God is Russian which teaches a biblical worldview based on historical examples from influential Christians in Russian culture and arts.  The course was a game-changer for Andrey:

Rev. Andrey Skriabin says:

“The course God is Russian has changed my attitude toward life and ministry! In our denomination (Pentecostal), the sole purpose of the Christian life is to preach the gospel in order to save people, and none of the world’s other problems matter to us. Why care about nature, animals or ecology? Why try to participate in political or social life? Why try to change anything if the only thing is to save people, and if this world is going to pass away anyway?

This was my perception of the Christian life, but the worldview course has removed the blinders from my eyes, broadening both my approach to ministry and how I teach the Scriptures to my congregation.  Now I understand that God has an eternal plan for his creation and that the Bible has a single Christ-centered plot because Jesus is the Lord of history.  After recently finishing the course, I have already preached several sermons about our calling to bring Christ’s restoration to God’s whole creation and society at large as well as to individuals. In personal conversations, I urge parishioners to continue their studies, participate in social projects, and read Russian literature. The bottom line is that this course has opened up a huge new field of joyful activity for me and my congregation, based on the solid foundation of the Scriptures.”