Evangelical Christian Baptists of Georgia

Malkhaz Songulashvili is Associate Professor of Comparative Theology at Ilia State University and Metropolitan Bishop of Tbilisi for the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia. Dr. Songulashvili received the 2015 Shahbaz Bhatti Freedom Award, given to a person for his or her outstanding work in promoting religious and minority rights around the globe. He resides in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

Preface Introduction: Religion in Georgia and Baptists in Europe 1. The Setting for Religious Renewal in Georgia 2. The Early Activity of Georgian Evangelical Christians and Baptists (1919a1941) 3. The Formation of the Georgian ECBas Institutional Identity (1942a1989) 4. Evangelism in Post-Soviet Georgia 5. Reforms in the Life of the ECB Community Conclusion: The Missiological Experience of the ECB

This is by far the finest book on the evangelical movement in the former Soviet Union that I have ever read... In this formidable work, Songulashvili offers the most comprehensive study of the evangelical movement in Georgia yet to have appeared in the English language. -- Joshua T. Searle -- Studies in World Christianity This book is essential reading for Western Christians. -- Stephen Platten -- Church Times A significant addition to the field of Eastern European evangelical research. -- Toivo Pilli -- Baptistic Theologies More than an ethnographic or even a historical report, Songulashvili's vivid historical narrative highlights the centrality of God's mission in an indigenous culture, demonstrating how the triangle of church, mission, and culture have interacted to energize non-Western missionaries to 'go and make disciples of all nations.' -- Ashti Mamash -- Fides Et Historia Malkhaz Songulashvili's study of Georgian Evangelical Christian Baptists history and analysis of their attempts to change their mission paradigm, accommodating it more deeply to local Georgian culture, is a timely and helpful addition to the field. This pioneering analysis will no doubt be referred to for many years to come whether future authors agree or disagree with Songulashvili. -- Toivo Pilli -- Journal of Ecclesiastical History This remarkable history of Baptist witness in the Republic of Georgia is a superb work of scholarship that utilises key primary sources in Georgian, Russian, German and English in telling the story of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia from the beginning of its witness in 1867 to the present day. -- Brian Talbot -- Baptist Union of Scotland Songulashvili's book - with copious notes and appendices of documents - will be of interest to those studying Baptist history, the history of Georgia, religious communities in the region and the troubled independence period. -- Felix Corley -- SLAVONIC & EAST EUROPEAN REVIEW