Tver, Central Russia -- What is Christmas without a Christmas tree -- that German tradition that made its way to Russia some 300 years ago and has become such a part of both Orthodox Christian and secular culture here?
But there is at least one small Protestant Christian community that takes its Biblical foundations so seriously that a tree and even the whole merry spirit of the holiday is a matter of debate -- if not controversy -- among its 70 members.
On Zavokzalnaya Ulitsa, among typical wooden houses with snow-covered gardens, one of Russia's four tiny Reformed communities made its home six years ago in a brick house it bought from a Gypsy clan.
Here, where the services are translated from the Dutch liturgy, the seemingly simple question of a Christmas tree caused Pastor Yevgeny Kashirsky to hesitate.
The Moscow Times Dec. 25, 2002 [âñÿ ñòàòüÿ]
