wfn.org | Dreaming big for United Methodist Center in Moscow

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

Oct. 11, 2000 News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.     10-71BP{467}

NOTE:  Photographs are available for use with this story.  

By Sue Calvin*

MOSCOW (UMNS) -- Peeling paint, leaky ceilings, sagging floors and patched
plumbing do not deter the dream of Bishop Ruediger Minor and the Rev. Tobias
Dietze for a United Methodist Center in the heart of Moscow.  

Walking carefully through the facility, recently purchased by the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries with a grant from the Millennium Fund,
the two men envision how the 16,500 square feet will be used for seminary
classrooms, offices for the bishop and others, a worship area and dormitory
space. Although acutely aware of the need for major renovation of the
building, they are convinced that the dream will be a reality within the
next several months.

Their dream is shared by countless United Methodist individuals and
congregations who, through their prayers and gifts, support the Russia
United Methodist Seminary and the 88 Methodist congregations in Russia. 

In 1995, the United Methodist Church founded the seminary to train pastors
to serve the growing church in post-communist Union Russia. The school has
an average enrollment of 25 students, and 24 seminary graduates are now
working in churches throughout Russia's 11 time zones.  Students are
currently cramped into a rented facility of just 1,000 square feet, which
also houses office space for Minor, bishop of the church's Eurasia Area;
Dietze, seminary administrator; a secretary's work area; a classroom; and a
library. 

In 1999, the seminary's advisory committee launched a capital campaign to
raise $2 million for renovating the building and establishing an endowment.
Minor chairs the campaign, with Bishop Marion Edwards of the Raleigh (N.C.)
Area serving as honorary chairman, and the Rev. Donald E. Messer of Denver
serving as executive coordinator. Messer also chairs the advisory committee,
which consists of representatives from the Board of Global Ministries, the
churchwide Board of Higher Education and Ministry, the United Methodist
Publishing House board and seven U.S. seminaries. The committee, in
consultation with Minor, Dietze and the Rev. Yelena Stepanova, a Russian
pastor, has responsibility for recruiting visiting faculty and interpreting
the seminary's financial needs.

Returning from a recent consultation in Moscow, Messer said he is confident
that the goal will be surpassed and the renovated building will meet the
physical needs of the seminary.

"In a few short years, the seminary has flourished beyond original
expectations, despite a Russian society which is experiencing major change
and growing pains," Messer said. "God's grace is abundantly present in our
efforts to train religious leaders for the growing interest in Methodism in
Russia. Each gift to the campaign is a contribution toward spiritual renewal
in Russia."

Conferences, congregations and individuals are responding generously to the
need, Messer said.  The campaign provides opportunities for donors to name
specific sections of the building, for churches to be designated Partnership
Congregations and for individuals to be designated Friends of the Seminary.
	
Getting a building remodeled in Russia requires numerous bureaucratic steps,
so the exact date for renovation is unknown. In the meantime, funds are
being raised so that when the opportunity arises for transforming the old
kindergarten building into a new church center and seminary, the project may
proceed rapidly. 

Financial support for the Russia United Methodist Theological Seminary
Building Fund may be marked for Advance No. 012173-8AN and sent to the
United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, Attn: Dr. Peter Siegfried, 475
Riverside Drive, New York, New York 10115.  	

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*Calvin, a free-lance writer, resides in Denver.  

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United Methodist News Service
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