History in Faces

Brother Nikita Rodionov was elected as a chairman at the first convention in 1928. Later, the chairman became the brother of A. Nicholaus. Data about these brothers did not survive.

The brother of A. Nicholaus became the chairman.

2nd convention - Association became known as the Russian Baptist Association of California (Russian Baptist Association of California). Yakov F. Pryhodych was elected as the Chairman, Peter Pavlyuk was first secretary and then in the same year he became the President. His picture is presented on the left.

It is known that they were devoted ministers and preachers of the Word of God.

Ivan Aksenevich Kmeta was elected Chairman at the fourth convention in 1941 and was in office until November 1947. During that period he was also a presbyter of the church, "Bethany" in Los Angeles.

Brother Kmeta was a remarkable person. He had a university degree, a doctoral degree in philosophy, also, he was a gifted poet. By nature he was a gentle and kind man.

During the time of his leadership, the Association for the most part was focused on missionary work, the development of women's small groups, and the publishing of the "God's vineyard" newsletter.

Brother P. Potlov was elected Chairman at the 10th convention, which took place in 1947. He has been in office for two years, while brother G.F. Kondratiev was a secretary.

At the same convention the Association’s constitution was ratified.

Brother Peter Pavlyuk was again elected President for the Association at the 12th convention in 1948. He was in this position for two years.

Brother P. Kuyshnerov was elected Secretary of the Committee.

Joseph T. Parfenov was elected President of the Association at the 13th convention in 1950. Before that he was a member the "Bethany" church in Los Angeles, where he served as a pastor for some time. He was a humble and meek brother, dedicated to Christ and the preaching of the gospel.

Secretary of the Committee was still brother P. Kushnerov.

Brother P. Potlov was elected President of the Association at the 16th convention in 1953 for the second time. During that time he was pastor of "Hillside Baptist Church" in San Francisco.

He was the head of a very talented musical family. Everyone in his family was able to sing: he, his wife, who had a wonderful alto, and their children. They not only sang in his church, but at all the conventiones.

Brother P. Potlov was Chairman for six years.

Brother V. Gusaruk was elected President of the Association at the 22nd convention in 1959. He was an outstanding minister, missionary, who was persecuted in Europe for preaching the gospel to the war victims. He and his wife were educators. Together with their four children they had come from Poland.

V. Gusaruk was a presbyter of the "Bethany" church in Los Angeles, but later opened his own very successful radio ministry. He and his wife were actively helping persecuted Christians in Russia.

Brother Gusaruk was Chairman for three years.

P.V. Potlov and A.F. Kuzichev were two candidates who were nominated to the presidency at the report-electoral 25th convention in 1962. Both got an equal number of votes. The position had to be decided by the draw. Elder brother, F.D. Efimov was entrusted to do the draw. After a heartfelt prayer to the Lord to indicate a person, he pulled out a note with the name of his brother Potlov.

At the same convention it was decided to join the Union Pacific to the Russian-American Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists of America.

Brother Gusaruk was Chairman for three years.

Brother A.F. Kuzichev was elected President at 27th convention in 1964.

Brother Kuzichev was a man devoted solely to the work of God and studying the Bible. He had the gift of a teacher and missionary spirit. Until the last days of his life he taught Adults Sunday School at the Church of Hollywood. At the same time he continued his missionary work among the Jews inviting them to his home Bible study group.

Brother A.F. Yefimov was elected President in 1968 on the 31st convention and has been in this position until 1973. Secretary of the Committee was the brother of S.S. Abramov.

There was a reelection of the Association’s Committee at the 36th convention In 1973, and brother F.P. Karpets was the elected President. He remained in that post until 1983. K. Kuzmenkov was elected Secretary of the Committee.

Brother J. Vlasyuk was elected President at 46th convention in 1983.

At the 47th convention in 1984 brother Karpets again was elected Chairman of the Association. He remained in that post until 1987.

Brother A.F. Kuzichev replaced F.P. Karpets as the President. It happened at the 50th convention in 1987.

Brother F.P. Karpets for the third time was elected President at the 53rd convention in 1990.

55th convention of 1992 was report-elected. Brother of A.F. Efimov became the Chairman. He has been in office for four years.

Brother N. Martynchuk was elected Chairman at the 59th convention in 1996. He was in that post until 2002.

At the 62nd convention in 2002, brother V. Tsvirinko was elected President of the Association. In the period 2002-2004 his deputies were P.M. Khakimov and N.T. Martynchuk. In the period 2004-2006 his deputies were P.F. Kunda and M.F. Tyannikov.

This period was marked by the formation of the structure of departments, such as the Department of Education, Department of Children's Sunday School, Missionary Department, the Spiritual and Stewardship Department. The financial department had been reorganized and greatly improved.

Emphasis was placed in service on the mutual accountability of all staff from the Association of the Chairman of the Union and ending with the heads of all departments.

One of the highlights of this period was a fire in the autumn of 2003 in the office of the newspaper "Our Days", which was located in an office building of the Union. As a result of the fire the building fell into disrepair and had to be demolished. In its place were built three buildings: two duplexes that are rented out, and a large building for the office of the Association. What was initially perceived as a disaster (fire), later turned into a blessing for the Association, as the union now has a new duplexes and office.

Also, the 75th anniversary of the Association was solemnly marked in the year 2003.

Brother N. Bugriyev, was elected Chairman at the 69th convention in 2006 and held the office till 2014.

This brother, whose heart burns with compassion for the lost, has organized many mission trips to Russia and participated in many himself.

During this period began to actively develop missionary work in Mexico, Europe, Russia and other countries. In order to ensure financial contributions to the missionary service, under the auspices of the Association, they bought the building for him which was called the Pacific Thrift Store. At the same time Sierra Pines Camp has been bought.

At the 77^th PCSBA Convention in 2014, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Tsvirinko was elected again as a chairman of the Association.

In order to be more involved in local churches live and activities, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich and his wife moved from their home in Fresno into a rented house in West Sacramento. During his service time, Vyacheslav had to deal with complicated issues regarding neighbors and tenants of the duplex owned by the Association.  Nevertheless, he devoted all his time to church ministry and Association administration. He created an efficient system of distributing newsletters and contributed greatly to the publication of the Association Directory which contains the contact information of associated employees, churches, partners as well as other unions. He worked hard on Association's Bylaws, and brought it into compliance with current legislation.

As 79th Convention's election commission began to collect suggestions from churches about a new Association President candidates,  Vyacheslav refused to run for another term, as he and his wife decided to temporarily move to Moldova, with the aim of teaching at various Christian universities in Europe.