The Fall 2009 Intensive Course

The early Fall in Russia is one of the most beautiful and lovely of seasons. The middle of September is still part of our vacation time when many people go to the Black Sea and its beaches, enjoying the soft rays of the sun and the calm waves of the sea. Nevertheless, 10 godly men joined together in St. Petersburg for two weeks to study the Word of the Lord during our latest Intensive course session.
In this session, the Biblical Theological Seminary of St. Petersburg prepared four classes in very practical areas of life and ministry. “Marriage covenant” and “Child rearing” were taught by Rev. John Mahon – the founder and director of Grace Community International (www.gciweb.org). During our classes he shared his deep knowledge and the results of his many years of experience as father, pastor and family counselor.

Rev. Oleg Volkov, the Pastor of Annunciation Presbyterian Church of Pushkin, Russia, taught the students on the Law of God. Having spent nearly 8 years in a Russian prison, he knows full well the difference between the punishing arm of the state and the disciplining hand of the Lord. Using the Bible as a background for his doctrinal teaching, Pastor Oleg delivered many concrete examples of the lawful means that God gives us for transforming the family, church and society, and that He fully intends that “His will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10).

The final lecture for our intensive course students was on liturgy. Rev. Alexander von Schmidt used as a textbook for his lectures, Jeffrey J. Meyers’s “The Lord’s service: The Grace of Covenant Renewal Worship”, which has recently been translated into Russian by SRS’s own Natalia Mironova . An additional blessing of this class was the privilege to talk with the author himself. Using Skype to connect us over the internet (over 9 time zones and 6000 miles of distance) students were able to hear Rev. Meyers’ thoughts on his wonderful book and the challenges of liturgical renewal.

Rev. John Mahon is teaching on marriage