“Oral History as a Window into the “Lived Religion” of Evangelical Women in Soviet Siberia

In the Soviet Union, evangelical believers—particularly Baptists, Mennonites, and Pentecostals—shared the same four tenets of biblicism, crucicentrism, conversionism, and activism as their coreligionists around the world. They also shared similar justifications for female submission. Most historical work on Protestants in the former Soviet Union has focused primarily on the story of male leaders or of congregations more generally. Yet evangelical women, who made up close to 80 percent of their church membership in the late Soviet period (thereby belying such an androcentric portrayal of Protestant history), remained a visible and vibrant part of their religious communities. This poster will argue the importance of oral history in tapping into the “lived religion” of evangelical women in the late Soviet period. It will utilize photos and artifacts gathered during the 41 oral history interviews I conducted with 38 women and 14 men from evangelical churches in seven municipalities in Siberia. By briefly exploring such themes as the spiritual influence of mothers and grandmothers; the significance of music, poetry, and spiritual journals in the theological development of evangelical women and their congregations; women’s leadership of their congregations “from within”; and the ways faith influenced their lives in the Soviet workplace, this poster will demonstrate the vital role evangelical women played in maintaining their religious communities within a secularist state convinced such communities would (or should) wither away.