BAPTIST WORLD ALLIANCE

INFORMATION SERVICE

Wendy Ryan, Director Communications Division

Denton Lotz General Secretary

September 24, 2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GEORGIA BIBLE BURNINGS SPURS UNIFIED RELIGIOUS ACTIONS (by Wendy Ryan)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BWA) – Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili, Pastor of the Central Baptist Church, Tbilisi, Georgia, and President of the Evangelical Baptist Church there, told an audience at the Baptist World Alliance on Friday, September 20, that the burning of the Bibles at the Baptist warehouse last February 3 by a group of people led by a dissident Orthodox priest has brought not only the Christians, but other religious communities together to fight for religious liberty in their country.

Here on a visit to the United States State Department to discuss religious freedom concerns, Songulashvili said while the Constitution of Georgia does guarantee full freedom of religion there is much opposition from the Orthodox Church.

Songulashvili explained some of the reasons why his church and the Baptists in particular have been singled out for harassment. While Christianity was introduced in 337 AD, Baptist work of 132 years is by their religious standards relatively new. Also he says, Central Baptist Church has decided to be very involved in what he described as “the ills and pains of society” and, “to engage the society.” They believe it is God’s will for the Church to be part of national life. This has given it great visibility but has also caused difficulty with the Orthodox Church.

Songulashvili said that before the breakup of the Soviet Union some 11 years ago there used to be harmony but now the tensions are very prominent.

He showed a video of the Bible burning on Easter Sunday. In the video one sees the defrocked Georgian Orthodox priest, Basil Mkalavishvili, telling national TV that the Bibles and Christian literature being burned is “poisoning our nation.”

Among the group participating in the destruction of the Bibles are older women normally associated with the faith of the church. As Mkalavishvili poured kerosene on the flames they chanted The Lord’s Prayer. In the background he denounces Baptists as sectarians. He says, “No Baptists, Jehovah Witnesses, Pentecostals. We are the true Orthodox faith.”

Out of the incident has come a new law for religious freedom from the government and in the video one also sees the priest burning a copy of the draft of the law that would give religious liberty to all.

So far there has been no arrest in the Bible burning incident and the Baptist Bishop reports there have also been raids on other evangelical churches. They have organized a group of men to defend churches from further attack.

He says that Baptists are accused of all kinds of things including sacrifice of children, but the reputation of the Baptist churches is growing and the work that is done with the refugees, mentally ill and the children has all gained recognition in the state.

The Baptist Bishop thanked the BWA for helping to raise awareness on the issue. At that time the BWA denounced the book burning. “How can a modern state endure if it is not able to control fanatics who in the name of religion burn books and destroy churches?” said Denton Lotz, BWA General Secretary, who wrote both the US and Georgia government on the matter.

“We need to pray,” said Lotz, “that the Holy Spirit will bring Baptists together so that we can work for religious freedom in places like Georgia.”