From Seminary to Secular

Students at the Seventh-Day Adventist seminary in Zaosky enjoy mashed potatoes, bean soup and a stew at the school's vegetarian cafeteria. PHOTO: Lila Arzua

For years Seventh-Day Adventists tried to open a seminary in Moscow to no avail. The Soviets simply wouldn't allow them in the city, or its suburbs.

But when Communism began to crumble in the late 1980s, the Soviets finally granted the Adventists permission to open a campus in the remote village of Zaoksky, 80 miles south of Moscow.

"It became a blessing," said Artur Stele, a former dean of the seminary who now presides over the Euro-Asian division of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. "From year to year we were buying small houses and growing."

What seemed at first to be exile has turned out to be a boon for believers, who opened Zaoksky Seminary in 1987. Empty tracts have grown into a quiet college town, where the faith has thrived and largely sidestepped the religious controversies of the urban centers.

Yet while the education at the seminary has helped both men and women grow closer to God, it has not necessarily helped them seek employment in the secular world.

"You never know how much information you give them they can really apply in their profession," said Stele's wife Galina, a former theology professor. "We have many young people who do not become pastors."

Beginning this September, the Seventh-Day Adventist institution will expand with a course of studies for young people who want a Christian education and a secular degree. This fall term about two dozen students are expected to enroll in the economics program at the newly opened Zaoksky College of Arts and Sciences. The course of studies will be the first of what church officials hope to develop as a full-fledged sister school for those who wish to study in a Christian environment, but not necessarily become pastors.

While the Zaoksky seminary also offers instruction in agriculture and accounting, the College will eventually provide state-certified training in economics, language and social work, according to seminary president Eugene V. Zaitsev, a teacher at the school since it was founded. In his office hangs a 10-year-old map projecting the location of a dozen seminary buildings, most of which have since become reality.

Dormitories for men, women, married students and faculty dot the hills. A farming tract is used to help train future pastors on cultivation techniques, and teach them how to feed their flocks. The Adventist publishing house distributes religious, educational and health texts all over the world, especially Israel, and brings in crucial revenue. A primary and secondary school enrolls 150 students, both children of seminary staff and members of the local community.

The success of the sect is unusual for the prevailing religious climate in Russia, where Jehovah's Witnesses have been put on trial, Salvation Army has been banned and other evangelical groups face constant barriers to worship.

And while Adventism had gained greater acceptance in Russia than most other non-Orthodox Christian sects, the Adventist faith and its lifestyle are still viewed as unusual in the former Soviet Union, where smoking, drinking and hearty eating is common. Unlike most Russians, Adventists eschew cigarettes and alcohol, avoid meat - and go to church on Saturdays rather than Sundays.

But Adventism has a long history in Russia. Russia was the first non-Protestant country where believers brought the faith. Missionaries from Finland arrived in St. Petersburg in 1886, just 26 years after the faith was founded in North America. Now 120,000 members of the church occupy countries of the former Soviet Union - 45,000 in Russia and 60,000 in the Ukraine.

Enrollment at the seminary reflects the growth. Its first year, the seminary had fewer than 30 students in its classes. Today about 300 students, men and women study religion or music there.

Each day begins with a devotional service before students rush to their scheduled classes. In a class called New Testament I, one professor lectures on how to lead small group discussions on the Epistles. In the electronic media room, students review the video of a school play based on the life of Ivan III and prepare a soundtrack to accompany a montage of memorable backstage moments.

The ten students enrolled in Professor Natalia Lozovskaya's harmony, history and music theory course are women. Class one morning begins with a three-part harmony rendition of Psalm 69 arranged by one of the students. The students then settle in at their desks to go over homework and discuss a lesson about how to organize a choir.

At lunchtime students grab a quick meal at the school's vegetarian cafeteria -
vegetables and rice are typical fare for the health-conscious Adventists. Some then delve into their volunteer requirement, 15 hours per term, mostly served among the surrounding town's elderly residents. Some students hold on-campus jobs to help with the $2000 it costs for tuition, food and lodging at the seminary, although many future pastors receive support from their home church with the expectation that they will return to minister there.

In the evenings, students at Zaoksky retire to dormitory rooms stacked with three or four bunk beds, where they listen to the radio and study. One girls' bedroom featured stuffed animals and posters of singer Enrique Iglesias and soccer stud David Beckham on the wall, and the song "Hotel California" playing softly in the background.

Many students consider their time in Zaoksky to be an oasis from the difficult economic times prevailing throughout Russia. While the curriculum is demanding, the isolated community provides a sanctuary for young people who might otherwise be laboring in strenuous jobs or searching for a job.

While a smattering of non-Adventists are now enrolled in the seminary, he expects the college will draw more students of other faiths. Most students at the seminary come from families with an established Adventist tradition, and a number converted to the faith as adolescents.

Zaitsev forecasts that in the College, at least one-fifth of the student body will be non-Adventists - at least when they arrive.

School officials hope that the new College will bear fruit as the seminary has, and Eugene Zaitsev predicts that the joint institutions will become a true university in five years.

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