Title: Towards the Effectiveness of the Missionary Activity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Moscow: A Comparative Study of Church and Society
Abstract: The socio-cultural dynamics of urban life posits additional challenges for a Christian community in the cities (Bakke 2002:33).There is no universal recipe for successful mission endeavor in big cities.What works in other settings may not prove successful in urban areas.The problem may not only lie within the methods used to approach urban population but also on the demands that people in the city put on the church.In highly individualistic societies, one cannot expect people to come to the church just because of duty or societal culture.Rather, where there is great diversity of religious institutions and practices, people are not in a hurry to make choices that depend on personal criteria and preferences.This study seeks to assess two entities-the church and society-to note the demands and expectations of the population and how they are reflected in the reality of the church.The first part of this study looks at public opinion in urban areas concerning spiritual issues and the church itself.The second part seeks to analyze church life and practices to better understand the spiritual and missional dynamics as well as how successfully public expectations were met by the church. The Context of the StudyThis research article is a summary of a 5-year study which began in September 2012 and ended in the spring of 2017.I joined the research team in 2013.My colleagues Leonty Gunko and Dmitry Fokin conducted the first part of the project; however, we worked together to accomplish the second part.