wfn.org | New Russian rule targets foreign religious workers

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

August 13, 1998	Contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York      {479}

By United Methodist News Service

A new Russian visa regulation is expected to have a negative affect on
the denomination's foreign workers there, according to the United
Methodist bishop in Moscow. 

Bishop Ruediger Minor told United Methodist News Service that the
Russian Foreign Ministry had confirmed the new rule - that foreign
religious workers now are only permitted a 3-month double-entry visa
which must be renewed outside the country -  and said it would apply to
United Methodists.

"It would mean for most of us to leave the country four times instead of
one time per year to acquire a new visa, consuming time and finances,"
Minor wrote in an  e-mail received Aug. 12. 

Minor is a German citizen. Because he travels frequently in and out of
Russia, the change from a multiple to double-entry visa could mean more
than four visa renewals a year.

Luckily, Minor and his wife Gerlinde had just received new one-year
multiple-entry visas just before the regulation took effect. That gives
them a year before having to deal with the changes personally. "I have
been learning during the last seven years of my ministry to this country
that a lot can happen within a year," he added.

The Rev. R. Bruce Weaver, coordinator of the Russia Initiative for the
United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, said "We are
struggling...as to how our missionaries are going to work with that
(regulation)."

 He added there is no way of knowing exactly what to expect until they
receive a copy of the law or until a visa comes up for renewal.

At least 15,000 Russians have joined the United Methodist Church during
the 1990s. The Board of Global Ministries currently has 10 missionaries
in the country. 

Last fall, the Russian parliament passed a "religious freedom" law that
threatened to bring broad new restrictions on most groups outside the
Russian Orthodox Church. Weaver -- who most recently was in Russia July
26-Aug. 3 - said the only major effect of that law so far is on property
leasing.

Because of the strict rules about leasing properties to religious
groups, some United Methodist groups meeting in public spaces have had
to give up leases and move to private apartments, he explained.

On the positive side, the law has "heightened the sense of urgency," for
Russian United Methodist leaders, leading to a renewed commitment to
evangelism. "This has really made them recognize this is serious
business," Weaver said.

As a result, the number of United Methodist congregations and
fellowships currently stands at 49, up from 35 at the end of 1997.

# # #

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/