Doing God’s Work in
God’s Way?
The Slavic Gospel Association and Polish Ecumenism
Peter
Nicholson
The report in the July issue of Bible League Quarterly concerning a
British missionary to Poland has drawn reactions from a number of
Church and mission leaders. Among these was a remark made by the
General Director of the Slavic Gospel Association, in correspondence to
Charles Soper. The Director wrote of a contact of his, a pastor in
Poland, who reported that the missionary in question is indeed open to
Roman Catholicism, and so of course would not send any of his young
people to the seminary concerned.
This remark prompted the author of the present article to send a
message to SGA’s Director, via Charles Soper, the text of which follows
here:
Dear
Brother [ ],
Having spent the last 15 years amongst evangelicals in Poland, I
am in a good position to comment on the state of the churches here.
Over these years, genuinely evangelical witness has dwindled to very
low levels. Tragic devastation of the Lord’s work has taken place,
brought about in large measure by the influence of external missionary
agencies, and in particular those from the UK.
You are, I believe, aware of Charles Soper’s web page concerning a
missionary sent by Carey Baptist Church:
http://www.strateias.org/wroclaw.htm.
This matter is only one example of the problem to which I refer. I
notice from the website of the Slavic Gospel Association that one of
your co-workers in Poland is Jacek Duda:
http://www.sga.org.uk/news_headlines/poland2.html.
Given Mr Duda’s very public support for the ecumenical
movement, I must say frankly that I do not understand what place he
could possibly have in the ministry of a mission like the Slavic Gospel
Association. I refer, for example, to his participation in an annual
ecumenical event, when he preached at a Roman Catholic
mass:
http://www.kosciol.pl/article.php/20060112104352979.
You will also have no difficulty in recognising him in this film, shot
at the ecumenical and liberal EST theological seminary in Wrocław
during its inauguration day as a degree-granting institution:
http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=e1106a6b5a135d8a7c9f.
A further matter I would like to raise with you is your support for
Tomasz Chyłka:
http://www.sga.org.uk/news_headlines/tomasz.html.
I am sure you are aware that Mr Chyłka serves on the Council of
the Church of Evangelical Christians, along with Mr Duda. A
significant proportion of Mr Chyłka’s congregation attended the
ecumenical ProChrist rallies held in Katowice, where I live, in April
2008 (I understand that Mr Chyłka himself did not attend, because
of other commitments, but that Mrs Chyłka was present at some of
the rallies). The rallies were strongly supported by prominent Roman
Catholic clergy, with the opening meeting being addressed by the
Metropolitan of Katowice, and a clear majority of the ‘spiritual
counsellors’ who served at these rallies were Roman Catholics. All of
this was well known in advance. ProChrist ‘evangelist’ Ulrich Parzany
preceded his altar-call each evening with very similar words: You have
to make Christ the centre of your life, and there are many ways to do
this. One of them is to go to your priest, to confession, confess your
sins, and you will receive Divine forgiveness.
On 13 July 2008 you were the guest preacher at Friston Baptist
Chapel:
http://www.fristonbaptistsuffolk.org.uk/130708/WSmylie2Samuel6130708.mp3.
In your morning sermon you made a number of interesting remarks with
which I wholeheartedly agree. For example, you spoke of the need to
ensure ‘the solemnity of worship’. You observed that there is a ‘trend
to be like the world’, while ‘the Church should be uniquely different
from the world’, and you drew a lesson from David’s use of the
Philistine’s cart to carry the Ark. You spoke of the great need for
‘dedicated men’, and that ‘God’s work must be done in God’s way’.
The members of Friston Baptist Chapel may have been given the
impression that it is just such ‘dedicated men’ whom the SGA supports.
I have never been to Friston Baptist Chapel, but I am absolutely
certain that their services of worship may rightly be described as
‘solemn’. What would the members say to Mr Chyłka’s very
enthusiastic use of worldly music forms in his ministry?
http://www.pszczyna.kech.pl/?p=p_9&sName=Events.
[NB – In December 2009 it was found that this page had been removed]
The sight of him sauntering about with his guitar during Sunday
services, in a manner more suited to an Elvis concert, would without
doubt cause further consternation at Friston. Mr Chyłka’s
continued enthusiasm for ProChrist may be seen in the latest issue of
his church magazine, where he features a new album released by pop
singer Beata Bednarz, which contains music inspired by the ProChrist
rallies:
http://www.pszczyna.kech.pl/files/kwiecien%202009.pdf.
I notice also your contacts with Krzysztof Osiecki:
http://www.sga.org.uk/news_headlines/eye_of_the_storm.html.
In 2007 I published a series of articles in the Internet about
evangelicals and the ecumenical movement. These articles contain
trenchant criticism of the ecumenically compromised Polish Baptist
Union and its attacks on evangelicals who, for solid Biblical reasons,
wish to remain outside the ecumenical movement. One of those who
contacted me following publication of the articles was Mr Osiecki.
You are aware, of course, that the church which Mr Osiecki pastors
is part of the Polish Baptist Union, and so part of the World Council
of Churches. Far from engaging in constructive criticism of my
articles, Mr Osiecki could apparently see nothing wrong in the
awful ecumenical compromise which is the linchpin of present-day Polish
Baptist policy, and all he had to say, in a terse e‑mail, was that
it is not possible that a foreigner could write such good Polish or
that I could be so well informed about the internal affairs of the
Polish Baptist Union, and so my articles were clearly written by
someone else and are therefore an ‘evident fraud and sin’.
Could you please clarify the position of the Slavic Gospel Association
on these matters?
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Peter Nicholson
This message was sent on 9 July 2009. When no reply was received,
Charles Soper sent a gentle reminder on 31 August 2009. The same
day, a very brief reply was received, in which the Director wrote that
‘some of the facts which your friend stated in his e-mail are
incorrect’, that the men concerned are ‘definitely opposed to
ecumenism’, and that ‘I don’t think there is any point in carrying on
the correspondence.’ On 1 September 2009 Peter Nicholson sent the
following e-mail to the Director:
Dear Brother [ ],
Thank you for your reply to my letter of 10 July 2009, which has been
passed to me by Charles Soper.
I would greatly regret sending you any information which was incorrect,
and so I would like to ask for your help. Could you please tell me
exactly which facts from my letter are incorrect? This would help me a
great deal in understanding the situation in Poland.
I would also appreciate help in understanding your claim that the men I
wrote about are ‘definitely opposed to ecumenism’. Could you please
send me details from their public teaching ministry of magazine
articles, sermons etc which demonstrate this? Mr Duda and Mr Chyłka
have unrestricted access to the magazine Głos Ewangelii, and the
sermons of all three men are available on the Internet.
Mr Duda sent me an e-mail in response to my articles on
7 September 2007. I replied the same day, but to date Mr Duda
has not sent any further response. Mr Osiecki sent an
e-mail to me on 16 September 2007 in which
he called my articles an ‘evident fraud and sin’. I replied the
same day, and to date have not heard any more from him. It is to you,
as General Director of the mission, that I have now turned. Please
do not cut off our correspondence at such a crucial moment in its
development.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Peter Nicholson
(A copy of google's cache)