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44William Fetler: The Thundering Evangelist
Albert W. Wardin, Nashville, CmA © Albert Wardin, 2012
William A. Fetler (1883-1957) was a Baptist minister, revivalist, mission director, editor, and writer. He was the most successful Baptist revivalist among Russians and Latvians in the Russian Empire and the Republic of Latvia. Fetler established the first non-denominational faith mission to reach Slavic people with the gospel.'Russians who heard him remembered him as «The Thunderer».[1]
Fetler was born Wilhelms Andreis Vettlers on July 15 (July 27, n.s.), 1883, in the small town of Talsi, Kurland (Kurzeme), Russia. When he moved into English circles, he became known as William Fetler. Much later in his career he changed his name to Basil A. Malof, the last name meaning in Russian, «insig-nificant,» based on John the Baptist's evaluation of himself in reference to Christ. His father, Andreis (Andrew), was a Latvian, while his mother, Margarita (Margaret) Bahtz, was a Baltic German. While still young, Fetler's father—a poor Baptist minister—moved the family to Tukums. Fetler completed high school here in 1898. He then moved fifty miles to Riga where he was a clerk and interpreter in the court of a justice of the peace, first as an assistant but then soon moving to die top position. Between 1899 and 1903 he served in rapid succession as clerk in a bicycle factory, clerk in a rubber factory, and an office manager in an iron and machine factory.
Shortly before his graduation, he experienced a religious conversion that made him a zealous evangelical Christian. In Riga he was far more interested in his Christian service in Baptist churches than in his secular work. He taught Sunday school, sang in the choir, distributed tracts, participated in the youth society, and at the age of sixteen preached his first ser-
Albert W. Wardin
is professor emeritus of history at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he taught 26 years, and a former president of the Southern Baptist Historical Society. He is author or editor of various historical works, including «Baptists Around the World: A Comprehensive Handbook» (1995). Dr. Wardin is a life-long Baptist. His grandparents came from Baptist families who migrated to the United States from East Prussia in Germany and the Ukraine.
[1] John Fetler, «Mission to Russia: The Missionary saga of Pastor William A. Fetler,» (MS), 222.
mon at a mission station. From 1902 to 1907 he attended Spurgeon's Pastors' College in London where he added English to the other three languages he already knew: Latvian, Russian, and German. While in England, he gained a firsthand acquaintance of the Welsh Revival and was greatly influenced by a study of Charles G. Finney's work, Lectures on Revivals of Religion. He conducted Russian services at the Sailors' Palace in the East End of London. At the first congress of the Baptist World Alliance in London in 1905, Fetler served as an interpreter for delegates from Russia.
Ministry in St. Petersburg
Although Fetler had planned to serve as a missionary in China, he went instead to Russia since the Edict of Toleration, issued in 1905, provided evangelical sectarians widi greater religious freedom. His sponsor was the Pioneer Mission, an independent Baptist mission society. He first planned to establish a mission center in Moscow but, after two months of revival work in his native Kurland, he accepted (in September 1907) an invitation to visit the small Latvian Baptist church in St. Petersburg. Because of his great success in preaching to the Russian population, he decided to remain in the city. He formed (in 1908) a Russian congregation, which in 1909 registered with the government and in early 1910 separated from the Latvian church.
By the fall of 1909 Fetler's work included thirteen stations, seven of which were in or near St. Petersburg. He extended his work as far as Novgorod, Arkhan-
gelsk, and Moscow. In 1912 he went to Riga where, after revival services, he established a congregation—Dom Golgotha— in a military church he purchased. Fetler was the first to establish Sunday schools among the Russians in St. Petersburg, and by May 1909 was sponsoring six of them with a staff of sixty to seventy teachers.
With his ability to enter centers that Baptists had not as yet penetrated, the Russian Baptist Union gave Fetler its endorsement. In 1908 the Union selected him to be a candidate member of its Executive Committee, and in 1910 voted him to be one of its two vice-presidents. He also received significant support from aristocratic women of the Pashkovite movement. They provided him with meeting places and personal accommodations. One of them, Maria Yasnovsky, became both a member and treasurer of his Russian congregation. To obtain financial support, Fetler traveled in 1911 to England and then to the United States, where he attended the second congress of the Baptist World Alliance.
On Christmas Sunday 1911 (January 7, 1912, n.s.), Fetler dedicated his great tabernacle, Dom Evangeliya (House of the (Gospel).[2] It was the first evangelical sectarian house of worship built in the Russian capital. Its main sanctuary seated 2,000 and included a balcony on three sides and a second balcony opposite the pulpit. Fetler drew packed crowds. Along with the gospel singing and intense prayers, he gained an enthusiastic response from his vigorous preaching. Fetler was also a musician and would lead the singing in his services, train and lead his choirs, sing solos, or even accompany on
[2] For a history of the Dom Evangeliya, see Robert 164-65, March 1934, 44-5, and Paul D. Steeves, Fetler, «A Short History of the "Dom Evangelia" «Dom Evangliia,» The Modem Encyclopedia of in Petrograd,» Friend of Missions, December 1933, Religions in Russia and Eurasia, VII, 142-45.
the piano or organ. As a master linguist, he might use in one service three languages, including interpreting for guests. In ceaseless activity he conducted weekly Bible classes, lectures for students, midnight meetings for street people, and services for church members only.
In 1908 he established «The Spiritual and Useful Tract Society,» which sold Bibles, hymnals, tracts, and other literature. In 1909 he edited a periodical, Vera (Faith), which was followed in 1910 by a periodical of revival, Gost (The Guest). In 1912 he assumed the editorship of an established Latvian Baptist journal, Kristigs Wehstnesis (The Christian Messenger).
Although Fetler's primary interest was revivalism, he opened a dining hall, «Ebenezer,» and maintained a convalescent home for sick members of his congregation. Fetler joined an organization that opposed the drinking of alcohol and through his preaching attempted to convert drunkards. His congregation provided financial assistance for individuals who had been reclaimed from drink.
On Sunday, July 13, 1913 (n.s.), in the packed sanctuary of Dom Evangeliya, Fetler married Varvara (Barbara) Kova-levskaya (1890-1969). She was born in Grodno of Orthodox parents but, while a university student in the city, was converted under the ministry of Fetler. Their wedding day began with the morning service in which Fetler preached, baptized five candidates, and observed the Lord's Supper. With extended greetings that service finally ended at three o'clock. Another service followed at five, followed by the wedding at six o'clock. With Baptist offi-
cials giving four addresses and Fetler himself offering yet another, together with the refreshments that followed the wedding didn't end until at ten o'clock. The couple arrived the next day at Riga where, at the Golgotha Church in the evening, a sort of «second edition» of the wedding was held. Varvara proved to be an excellent partner in these mission endeavors, especially in translating Christian tracts and books from English into Russian. She became the mother of thirteen children, all of whom survived.131
Fetler's supporters in England were enthusiastic with his success and formed (in 1911) the Russian Evangelization Society, independent of the Pioneer Mission. He now took the dtle, «Superintendent to Russia.» But not all fellow Baptists were happy with his activity, particularly his fellow Latvians. The Latvian Baptists in St. Petersburg complained that they had not received any settlement from him for their contribution to his building program. In addition, a couple of Latvian Baptist pastors in Riga, concerned with his competition and emotional preaching and feeling he was too impulsive and strong-headed, strongly opposed him. Fetler and I. S. Prokhanov, the leader of the Evangelical Christians in St. Peters-burg—although at first cooperating—be-came rivals, each promoting his own program.
Fetler was a strong proponent of religious liberty and issued (in 1910) a booklet titled, Svoboda sovesti i veroterpimost (Freedom of the Conscience and Toleration), which provided information on sectarian rights. Fellow Baptists turned to
[3] For Barbara Fetler's conversion, see Varvara Freeman, August 15, 1913, 622, and in his book,
Fetler, «My Conversion» The Gospel in Russia, Wonders of Grace in Russia (Riga: The Revival
January, 1914, 6-7. For the Fetler wedding, see the Press, 1926), 181-185. account by A. McCaig in Baptist Times and
Fetler for assistance before the government, and he frequently went to the authorities on their or his own behalf. He did not shrink from defending Baptists against false charges. Sometimes alone, at other times with fellow Baptists, he would go personally to the proper ministry to protest regulations—either already in effect or being proposed—which Baptists felt were oppressive. He was so bold in his approach that some fellow evangelicals felt he was too audacious, if not fanatical.
Because of his prominence and success, Orthodox leaders condemned him and the press attacked him. From time to time authorities brought charges against him, some of which were quite serious; others were merely petty. In 1909 authorities arrested him for preaching illegally in Moscow and placed him under police supervision for a number of years. This forced him to borrow money for bail from Baptists abroad, but also provided an opportunity for him to travel abroad in 1911. In early 1914 he faced the charge of slander against the Orthodox Church.
Upon die outbreak of the First World War in 1914, authorities charged him with being a German agent. In November the police arrested him and ordered that he be sent to Siberia. With concern for the health of his wife and three-month old son, Fetler appealed to go abroad instead. With the prayers of his church and the influence of highly placed friends, the Cabinet of the Ministers of State granted his request.
An American interlude
After spending about five months in Sweden, in May 1915 Fetler arrived in the United States. Supported by American
Baptists, he began work among Russian Baptists, with New York City serving as his. center. Within a short time he was able to form this work into a Russian Baptist Union. In addition, he helped establish «The Gospel Committee for Work Among Russian War Prisoners,» of which he became director. In January 1917 he became dean of a Russian Bible Institute in New York City—newly established by the American Baptist Home Mission Society.
With political changes in Russia in 1917, Fetler planned to return to his native land. However, his plans took a radical change of direction when, instead, he decided to resign from the Institute and form (in Philadelphia) his own Russian Bible and Educational Institute and his own non-denominational faith mission— the Russian Missionary Society. He charged the American Baptists with harboring theological liberalism—which had become a growing concern with him—and with having failed to require the board of the Institute to adopt a doctrinal statement of the fundamentals of the faith. In a rejoinder to Fetler's charges, Charles A. Brooks (a superintendent of the American Baptist Home Mission Society for urban and foreign-language missions) claimed Fetler's charges of liberalism were unfounded that and the true problem was Fetler's «incompatibility of temperament.» Fetler's actions were also fueled by his disappointment over the Northern Baptist Convention's refusal to support his plans for evangelization in Russia following an appeal he made to the convention at its meeting in Cleveland. By heading his own training school he broke his ties with Northern Baptist leadership, and by forming his own mission society he superseded die Russian Evangelization So-
ciety that had earlier supported him. This meant that, as had been the case in St. Petersburg, he now could be his own man, independent of any denominational authority and controlling his own school and mission society. He would look for support from the fundamentalist commu-nity.M
In a remarkably short time Fetler gained enough Financial support to open (by the end of 1917) his Bible and Educational Institute in Philadelphia with 128 students, some of whom were women. Most of the students were born in Russia and now sought training to serve abroad in their native country. The school included four buildings, with a prayer tower on the main building. Fetler, his family, and the student body lived on the premises. The faculty included, besides Fetler, Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Neprash and J. J. Vins, (Wiens), who had served in Russia. Fetler put a great emphasis on Bible study and prayer, with prayer meetings lasting at dmes throughout the night.
To gain recruits and support for missions in Russia, Fetler, together with Jesse W. Brooks of the Chicago Tract Society, organized the «First General Conference for the Evangelization of Russia» at the Moody Tabernacle in Chicago in June 1918. The event gained broad endorsement from the fundamentalist community, and large crowds attended. Besides the response of volunteers, the conference brought in funds for the travel expenses of recruits, a gospel tent, and also clothing for destitute believers abroad. In a party of twenty-five missionaries, Fetler and
his family left America on the ship Olympia on November 30, 1920.[5]
On the European continent
The mission party arrived in England where they received a warm welcome from evangelical believers. Fetler divided his party into three groups for work respecd-vely in Poland, Soviet Russia, and Bessarabia in Romania. While in England, he transformed the Russian Evangelization Society into the British Section of his own society. Fetler, with the help of others, established a conference center—Slavan-ka—in England, which was independent of the mission.
Fetler established his headquarters in Berlin where he began mission work among Russians and formed a Bible school, serving as dean from 1920 to 1921. He established his next headquarters in Warsaw, Poland, opened an orphanage for girls in a villa near the city, and began extensive mission activity among Russians and Ukrainians in the eastern part of the country.
In 1923 he returned to Latvia, making Riga his major headquarters. There he operated his own «Revival Press,» published a number of periodicals, and established a Missionary Training Institute (that included Russian and Latvian departments), and which continued from 1925 to 1928. In 1927 he built, in a working-class area, a large «Salvation Temple,» topped with a prayer tower and seating 2,000. The auditorium was further enlarged in 1933. He spent eleven months
M For Fetler's break with the Russian Bible Insti- vember 29, 1917, 1531-33.
tute, see Fetler's account, «Why I Resigned From [5] The addresses of the First General Conference
the New York Russian Training School and Why I for die Evangelization of Russia were pub-lished in
Am Still in the United States,» and Charles A. Jesse W. Brooks, ed., Good News for Russia (Chi-Brooks's rejoinder, «Mr. Fetler and the Russian cago: The Bible Institute Colportage Association),
Bible Institute,» in The Watchman-Examiner, No- 1918).
in the United States raising money for its construction. The Temple adjoined the headquarters building, which also housed the training institute.
In the meantime, some of his missionaries were able to cross and even recross into Soviet Russia. He sent financial assistance to them as well as to other evangelical pastors in this country. In 1925 the Russian Missionary society claimed to support 142 missionaries residing in twelve countries, most working in Latvia, Poland, and the Soviet Union.
Criticism and conflict
In spite of his success in mobilizing support for missions in Russia and elsewhere, Fetler continued to face cridcs. One reason for this was Fetler's operation as an independent, working outside regular denominational channels. In 1920 Baptist leaders at the London Conference devised a mandate system and comity for work in Europe. Stronger Baptist bodies—pardcu-larly Northern and Southern Baptists in the U.S.A. and Baptist unions in Great Britain and Sweden—were assigned various countries or territories in Europe to which they would render special assistance among its Baptist population. It was also understood that Baptists in each country were to operate in one Baptist union and relate exclusively to its sponsor.^1 Due to his support from independent fundamentalists and his own society, Fetler was outside this framework— as
was also I. S. Prochanov of the Soviet Union, who continued to operate his own Evangelical Christian Union and eventually turned to the Disciples of Christ for support. Baptist leaders were also uncomfortable with Fetler's dogmatic fundamentalism, the emotionalism in his services, his ties with Pentecostals, and his lack of accountability outside of himself.
In 1925 J.H. Rushbrooke of the Baptist World Alliance—together with Everett Gill, European representative of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, and W. O. Lewis, European representative of the American Bapdst Foreign Mission Society-signed a statement that criticized Fetler for causing disunity in Baptist ranks, for his close associationwith the Pentecostal movement besides «other divisive and fanatical excesses,» for the small amount of his mission funds utilized in Russia, and for the lack of confidence of the Baptist and Evangelical Christians leaders in Russia.[7]
His relations with many Latvian Baptists also were not good. The Latvian Baptist Union refused to seat Fetler as a delegate, and in 1926, after a second refusal, Fetler formed his own Second Baptist Union. The schism of the two unions was not healed until Fetler left Latvia in 1934. At the time of the congress of the Baptist World Alliance in Toronto in 1928, Russian Baptist leaders and Fetler met at the Jarvis Street Baptist Church to discuss their differences.!81 Russian Baptists crit-
[6] For material °n the L°nd°n ^nferen^ see Mission Society, Correspondence.
Charies A. Brooks and J. H. Rushbrooke, Baptist m For the conference between Fetler and Russian
Work in Europe (London: Baptist Union Publica- Baptist leaders in Toronto, see «Interview of Rus-
tion Department, 1920), and Cornell Goerner, sian Delegation Held in Jarvis St. Baptist Church,
Hands Across the Sea (Nashville: Convention Toronto, July 2nd, 1928,» typed MS, 66 pp., at
Press, 1961), 61-64. Jarvis Street Baptist Church and a copy at die
[71 J. H. Rushbrooke, Everett Gi!l, and W. O. Lewis, Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives,
A declaration regarding the Russian Missionary Nashville TN Society, January 3, 1925, American Baptist Foreign
icized Fetler for ignoring the Union in Financing individual pastors and sending his own workers. In addition, they felt his strong anti-Communist statements (which, incidentally, barred his entrance into Soviet Russia) and his ties with the Russian emigrant community in the West also placed diem in jeopardy. On their part, the Soviets linked Fetler with capitalists and the White Guards and claimed that his missionaries were not simply preachers, but men who entered secredy to organize and lead the sects.
Fetler, furthermore, experienced a number of problems with his boards— particularly in America—where two of them resigned and a third one, headed by E. E. Shields (brother of the Baptist fundamentalist leader in Toronto, T. T. Shields) repudiated Fetler's leadership. The Shields controversy, which erupted in 1929, brought forth charges and counter-charges in the periodicals of the two sides with booklets issued against each other. Although Fetler held on to his British organization, he lost his American headquarters in Chicago. Besides the effects of the controversies, the Great Depression brought additional difficulties.
Another challenge arose with the closing of his Field in Soviet Russia because of Stalin's anti-religious campaign. Authorities arrested and exiled missionary pastors supported by Fetler, with at least two of them escaping the country. In 1933 Fetler requested the removal of his name as general director of the mission and a twelve-month leave. In 1936 he resigned entirely from the organization to become an independent missionary.
Fetler now entered into a special prison ministry in Latvia and continued his publishing interests.
Although he continued to travel to and from Riga, he moved his family to other areas. In 1934 they settled in Amsterdam and then temporarily made their home in Sweden. He formed his thirteen children—ten boys and three girls—into the «Fetler Family Band,» which toured throughout Europe as a vocal and instrumental group. Sensing a coming crisis in Latvia with die approach of the Second World War, he left for America in 1939 to attend the Baptist World Alliance in Atlanta. With the war and concomitant the Soviet occupation of Latvia, he decided to remain in the United States.
Fetler's younger brother, Robert, succeeded him as pastor of the Salvation Temple. Earlier Robert had served as a missionary in China under the China Inland Mission and as pastor of the Dom Golgotha in Riga. Following the Soviet occupation of Latvia, authorities deported him and his family to Siberia in June 1941. Robert died almost immediately and was buried in the Solikamsk labor camp. Elsewhere in Siberia, the two sons would die, one in 1941 and the other in 1943, while the wife and three daughters in another part of Siberia would sur-vive.[9]
Return to America
In America, Fetler continued his organization and promotional work, spending much time away from home on mission trips. Throughout the many years of moving from country to country and with a
[9] For the fate of Robert Fetler and his family, see «Margarita (Fetler) Kamyzova's Story,» typed MS, 35 pp., copies in possession of Mary Fetler Miller,
Arlington, VA., and die author. Kamyzova was one of Robert Fetler's surviving daughters who was interviewed in 1989 in Siberia.
large family, Barbara Fetler admirably managed to keep the: family together while continuing to supporting William in his work. The Fetler Family Band now toured extensively across the United States.
In 1940 Fetler poured his energies into forming the «Russian Gospel Movement» for Russian evangelization. However, in 1944, he turned to the establishment of the «Russian Bible Society,» appropriating the historic name of the society formed in 1812. For headquarters the new society acquired the former Italian embassy in Washington, D.C. and operated with a full staff, including field secretaries. Its primary promotional publication until 1947 was Russia Calling, which after a break was replaced in 1950 by Bibles for Russia, a name that was changed in the mid-1950s to the Bible Journal. In 1946 Fetler became an American citizen, and at the same time, to identity more closely with Slavic people, he changed his name to «Basil Malof,» which he formerly had used as a pen name.
Fetler continued in his mission work until die very end of his life. Much of his energy was now spent on preparing a Russian Bible in new type to be printed on copper matrices, a project he was unable to complete before his death. With his health began to fail, and refusing to heed the advice of his doctor, he spoke on August 11,1957, at three services in Winnipeg, Canada. On his return home to Berkeley, California, he was forced to take an airplane. He died on August 15th from a heart attack while undergoing treatment in the hospital. He was seventy-four years of age, having completed almost to the day fifty years of service to Russian missions from the time he returned to Russia as a young man of twenty-four years.
Conclusion
Theology: Fetler was fundamentalist in theology. With his emphasis on revivalism, the filling of the Holy Spirit, and a practical perfectionism with its stress on living a victorious Christian life, he was a disciple of Charles G. Finney. Although he never engaged in a special healing ministry, his services included praying for the sick. Because of services with a Pentecostal atmosphere and his close ties with a number of Pentecostals, he was charged with being Pentecostal, an allegation he denied.
Significance: During his career Fetler was a controversial Figure, with supporters praising his accomplishments and detractors vilified him. He was an accomplished revivalist and a powerful speaker, and helped to spread the evangelical faith in Russia and Latvia in spite of many political vicissitudes. Fetler was a pioneer in independent mission work separate from any denominational agency. He formed several significant Baptist churches. He was without a peer in promotional activity and the ability to raise funds. He led an exemplary family life (although often away from the family on mission trips) and left practically no estate, giving everything he had to his mission cause.
In spite of his accomplishments and commitment to the mission cause, his zeal and boldness at times outweighed good judgment, undermined relationships, and brought conflict. Cridcs claimed that as a person he was too self-willed and impetuous to take the advice of others, as a leader he would not cooperate unless he had full control, and as an adminisuator he was poor in business affairs. In spite of criticism and opposition and the closing of Russia as a field for mis-
sionaries, he persevered against all obstacles. To the end he maintained a loyal following.
Communist authorities closed Dom Evangeliya in St. Petersburg and die Sal-vadon Temple in Riga, merging their congregations with other groups. Dom Golgotha in Riga, however, survived die Communist period. In St. Petersburg in 1989, a new Dom Evangeliya (at a different site) was opened. In Riga the government returned the Salvation Temple to the Bapdsts in 1992. It now houses Russian and Latvian congregations.
In 1951 the British branch of the Russian Missionary Society became part of the Slavic and Baltic Missionary Society, which in turn merged with the European Christian Mission in 1977. The American section apparently ceased in the 1960s. The Russian Bible Society continues as an active organization with headquarters in Asheville, North Carolina. It continues to publish the Bible Journal.
As of 2006, ten of Fetler's thirteen children were still living as were the three daughters of Robert Fetler. Many of William Fetler's children had distinguished careers in education, music, or journalism. Seven of them became university professors, with six earning doctoral degrees. The second son, Timothy, was a composer and director and taught both philosophy and music.[10] Four of the children were present in Riga at the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Salvation Temple in 2002.
Fetler's reputation as Baptist leader and a mission organizer is today somewhat in eclipse, but has not been forgotten in various religious and scholarly circles.
[if] For information on Timothy Fetler and other Fetler children, see Anaheim, CA, Melodyland Messenger, April, 1973, i.
Bibliography. No one has written a comprehensive or critical biography of Fetler, but five books exist, all written by admirers, which provide helpful material. The volumes by R. S. Latimer, With Christ in Russia (London, 1910) and J.A. Packer, Among the Heretics of Europe (London, etc., 1912) include graphic accounts of Fetler's work in St. Petersburg. The work by Archibald McCaig, Wonders of Grace in Russia (Riga, 1926), draws on the author's numerous visits between 1913 and 1925 to Fetler's field of ministry. The book by Oswald A. Blumit and Oswald J. Smith, Sentenced to Siberia (Washington, D.C., 1940) is clearly a promotional work, rather disjointed with a misleading tide, and omits, by and large, his career with the Russian Missionary Society. The fifth work, A Man in a Hurry, by James A. Stewart (Asheville, 1968), is much better written but plays up only the positive aspects of Fetler's ministry.
For an extensive listing of bibliographical references to William Fetler and the Russian Missionary Society, see the indexes in Albert W. Wardin, Jr., Evangelical Sectarianism in the Russian Empire and the USSR: A Bibliographic Guide (Landham, Md. And London, 1995). Fetler himself wrote numerous articles, tracts, and other works in English, Russian, and Latvian. A number of his articles are in three of the periodicals he edited, Vera, Cost, and Kristigs Wehstnesis. Baptist and other evangelical periodicals as well as those of the Russian Missionary Society include numbers of articles on his life and work. Some of Fetler's important works in English are: The Stundist in Siberian Exile and Other Poems (London and Chicago, 1922); The Marvelous Results of Work Among Russian War Prisoners (Chicago, n.d.); How I Discovered Modernism Among
American Baptists, and Why I Founded the Russian Missionary Society (Chicago, 1924); and On Fundamentals of Revival oris There No Balm in Gilead? (London and Toronto, 1930). Fetler's wife, Barbara Malof-Fetler, wrote a memoir, «Out of the Early Dawn of The Russian Bible Society,» a manuscript of 24 typed pages. One of Fetler's sons, Andrew, a professor of English
literature, published The Travelers (Boston, 1965), a novel that was a parody of his father's work. Another son, John, a journalist, wrote after 1989 a manuscript of 226 typed pages, which was translated into Russian, «Mission to Russia: The Missionary Saga of Pastor William A. Fetler,» an account of Fetler's multifaceted activity and evangelistic accomplishments.
Bibliography
Brooks, C.A., and Rushbrooke, J.H., Baptist Work in Europe (London: Baptist Union Publication Department, 1920).
Brooks, J.W., ed., Good News for Russia (Chicago: The Bible Institute Colportage Association), 1918).
Fetler, R., «A Short History of the "Dora Evan-gelia" in Petrograd,» Friend of Missions, Dec. 1933, Mar. 1934.
Fetler, V., «My Conversion», The Gospel in Russia, Jan. 1914, pp. 6-7.
Fetler, W., «Why I Resigned From the New York Russian Training School and Why I Am Still in the United States,» and Charles A. Brooks's rejoinder, «Mr. Fetler and the Russian Bible Institute,» The Watchman-Examiner, Nov. 29, 1917, pp. 1531-1533.
Goerner, C., Hands Across the Sea (Nashville: Convention Press, 1961).
«Margarita (Fetler) Kamyzova's Story,» typed MS, 35 pp.
McCaig, A., Wonders of Grace in Russia (Riga: The Revival Press, 1926).
«Interview of Russian Delegation Held in Jarvis St. Baptist Church, Toronto, July 2nd, 1928,» typed MS, 66 pp.
J. H. Rushbrooke, Everett Gill, and W. O. Lewis, «A declaration regarding the Russian Missionary Society», Jan. 3, 1925, American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, Correspondence.
Steeves, P.D., ed., «Dom Evangliia,» The Modern Encyclopedia of Religions in Russia and Eurasia, 7 vols. (Gulf Breeze, Florida: Academic International Press, 1988), vol. VII, pp. 142-145.
