A story you think you know—Soviet oppression, majestic cathedrals, and a single, monolithic “Russian Church”—isn’t the story you’ll hear today. With theologian and practitioner Dr. Johannes Reimer, we pull back the curtain on a spiritual landscape where underground resilience meets minority-language revival. From Siberian deportation villages and labour camps to St. Petersburg lecture halls and citywide evangelistic campaigns, Reimer’s journey connects the dots between history, theology, and the lived realities of people finding faith in their mother tongue.

In this episode we explore how forced unions and state oversight fractured evangelical life, why glasnost opened doors faster than churches could adapt, and how a strategic shift after 2000 moved mission beyond Russian-only congregations. Think Tatars worshiping in Tatar, Khanti reindeer herders singing in Khanti, and first-generation believers in Muslim-majority districts planting vibrant churches.

Alongside that, we examine Orthodoxy’s complex ecosystem—monasteries, revivalist circles, and a state-facing Moscow Patriarchate—while weighing the “Russian world” narrative that frames Moscow as a new “Third Rome” with Kyiv as a spiritual keystone. What emerges through this conversation is a map of faith that’s younger, more multilingual, and more local than headlines suggest. Brian and Johannes talk candidly about the line between ministry freedom and political speech, the thinness behind some grand facades, and the unexpected vitality of congregations that honour culture and language.

You can learn more about Dr. Reimer's work and find the published articles referenced in conversation on his website, and follow him through social media.

And please don't forget to share this episode and join the conversation on YouTube!

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