44 persons were baptized in St. Peterbrug

There happened a very remarkable and solemn event in the church of Evangelical Christians-Baptists of Saint-Petersburg in Poklonnaya Gora on the 27th of June. 44 persons were baptized.

The history of the church is very remarkable too. At the beginning of the 20th century there appeared a St. Trinity Orthodox church in Ozerki in Bolshaya Ozernaya street , built on the project of architect Tikhanov. The building belongs to the church of Evangelical Christians-Baptists since 1960. It was renovated in late 70-ties. The building is a typical building of an old-Russian style with the dome but without crosses on it. It is also called the "Prayer house on Poklonnaya Gora" (in fact the church is located not on the mountain but at the foot of the mountain, near the Verkhne-Suzdal lake).

Right before the start of the baptism the church prayed for a nice weather for that day. It was raining hard in St.Petersburg during several days already. The Lord answered prayers of His children and blessed the church with the sunny weather. About 1000 people came together on the beach of the Verkhneye Lake and expected the beginning of the service. Victor A. Avdeev, a preacher and Pastor Alexander A. Goryanin appealed to people with the words of exhortation to the new converts. Rev. Victor K. Sipko, Senior Pastor for the North-West region and the first Pastor of the church, and Rev. Maxim S. Staschak led the baptism. The service was held in a solemn and awe atmosphere accompanied by the joint choir under the leadership of Vladimir P. Kashalaba. The choir sang classic music of Russian composers and songs of Russian Baptists.

The choir "Majesty", singers from California and students from Master's College under the leadership of Paul Plew also took part at the service. Their singing was highly professional. But special about the choir was the fact that they sang songs of Russian and foreign composers in Russian, which listeners understood. They sang the folowing: "Praise" Rimsky-Korsakov,"You are the Light" Tom Fittke, "I love you Lord" Laurie Klein and other.

At the end of the service Rev. Victor Sipko said the prayer of thanks and thanked militia officers for feasible help to keep public order during such an important event. Master's College students gave CD discs with Christian songs in Russian to church members, visitors and all militia officers, who worked that day on the shore of the lake.

Heavens triumphed, people rejoiced in the Spirit of love and brotherly
fellowship!