The Ohio Independent Baptist, April 1962

waits five years ... but roves L J)J f ()R. , 0 / 'E: 7,/,e fc>l- 1<> ' ' i11~ c1rt1,· le <1ppt!t1rell 111 " '/ /1e l .t <1tlt r P(.>,t a11<I "T/1c 1\f e<li11 <1 , e,11111e /" , t! l' t', 1 t I),' : tall. l~an ~l edina, Ohio pa tor ha, ,, n hi fight again t Kreml in ntr 11 d lerg} men \\ ho nee in- 'lt1ded Ied1na unt.. a a topping place during a \\hirlwind tour of the L nited tat . r a ne\\" paper in June of 1956 tlrried P age 1 torie on 1etropolitan ik lai and even other oviet cleric \\ ho \\ ere i iting the U nited tate at the invitation of the ational Coun il of Churche . e ille in 1edina County, wa included in the itinerary. H eading the delegation of Ru ion Orthodox Church official wa ikolai the ec– ond ranking prelate in Ru ia. ikolai, who died la t D ecember, received a warm welcome to Medina Count 1·. Alone in voicing thundering oppo ition to the Metropolitan and hi group wa the Rev. R. K enneth mel er p astor of the Fir t Bapti t Church. ikolai wa a communi t secret agent the Medina p astor claimed. The Rev. Mr. Smel er wa a one-man force of oppo ition in the country. H e wa heavily o utnumbered in hi view and wa unable to mu ter help in a propo ed demon tration again t ikolai. On a warm unny June day in 1956 the Ru ian drove into Seville. ac– companied by a tional Council of Church ho ts and new men from all Yr ire ervices and major dailie . Effort to link ikolai to the R ed ecret agent network had virtually no ucce . e\.ille resident gave a warm wel– come to the Soviet delegation a a– t ional Council publicists billed ikolai and h1 band ·'Rus ian clergymen free of Communi t influence.' ' Thwarted in his attempt to have anti-. ikolai demonstrators on hand for the Seville visit> the Rev. Mr. Smelser bowed up as a spectator. A _, 1kolai made a brief addre s on PAGE 6, APR IL, 1962 • ga,nst • uss,an arges the la\\-n of eville' -1 ir t Pre b)- teri J n hL1rch , the Iedina pa tor turtl ed new men and the Ru ian by a dramatic action. Walking through the crowd . Rev. mel er tood a t the left of ikolai pointed hi f inger at the 64-year-old prela te and ,aid: " You are a red agent .' ' Onl y one picture wa ever taken of the brief incident for cameramen were unprepared for the denounce– ment cene. The picture appearing on thi page h a never before been in print. Tour arranger quickly hu tled Nikol ai' group in ide the church and then plit up to have lunch in variou .. Seville home . On the n a tional scene, a few other Me tropolita n Niko lai clergymen ( n10 t1 y fundamcnta]1 t ha red Rev. mel er· beliefs concern- ;ng ikolai' Red affilia tions. ot until recently wa ikolai of- ficially branded a Red agent by na– tional publication . When h e died , at 69, the ew York Herald Tribune wrote: ·· ikola i igned a declara tion of un– conditional loyalty to the Soviet power . . . the Communi t used him well a a pearhead for peace propa– ganda drive .' ' Ju t prior to ikolai' death, Life Magazine labeled him a " ecret agent of long tanding." Rev. mel er m ade the ame ac– cu ation five year earlier. He pointed hi finger at Nikolai, but no one want– ed to li ten b,ack in June of 1956. REV. R. KENNETH SMELSER The OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST