A Short History of the Romanian Baptist Church of Nashville, Tennessee

The story of any church is, in its essence, a local and specific chapter in a global work of God gathering a people for Himself. It is the story of the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ being fulfilled: ‘Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ (Matthew 16:18)

The history of the Romanian Baptist Church of Nashville is such a testament to the faithfulness of God in the lives of men and women who carried their faith across oceans and generations. Its beginning is one of prayer, sacrifice, and a deep longing for a spiritual community where the Gospel could be preached and lived out. It is a story that stretches from the villages of Romania to the streets of Melbourne, from the churches of Chicago, Oregon, Ohio and Atlanta to the city of Nashville and the neighborhoods of Donelson and Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.

To understand how this church came to be, one must first consider the broader movements of history. The Romanian presence in America did not begin with a single event, but in a series of waves stretching back to the turn of the 20th century. The first major wave of Romanian immigrants arrived between 1895 and 1920, as thousands, mostly from the regions of Transylvania and Banat, sought economic opportunity in a new land. [12] These early immigrants brought their faith with them, establishing the first Romanian Baptist church in the United States in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1910. [13] Others followed in cities like Chicago, where the First Romanian Baptist Church was founded in 1914 and became one of the anchoring institutions of the Romanian evangelical community in America. [7] Subsequent waves of immigration followed throughout the 20th century: political refugees fleeing the rise of communism after World War II, and then a steady stream of those who managed to escape the totalitarian communist government throughout the Cold War. Under this oppressive system, evangelical Christians in Romania faced severe restrictions. Baptist pastors were monitored by the secret police, church gatherings were limited, and families who openly professed their faith risked losing their jobs, their homes, and their freedom. Each wave of immigrants who arrived in America brought believers who understood the cost of discipleship, people who knew what it meant to worship under pressure and who did not take the freedom to gather in Christ's name for granted. The final major wave began after 1989, with the fall of the communist regime. In the years that followed, thousands of Romanians left their homeland in search of a new life, and many of them settled in Nashville, Tennessee. Among them were men and women of deep faith, believers who carried the fire of the underground evangelical movement with them to America. [1] [4]

The specific spark for the Nashville church, however, was ignited from another Romanian community that had already put down deep roots in American soil. The First Romanian Baptist Church of Atlanta, founded in November 1984 by Pastor Martian Cocian, had become a spiritual hub for Romanians in the Southeast. [14] The Atlanta church itself had been born out of missionary vision. In 1982, brothers Otniel Simonca, Titi, and Cristi Cocian had traveled from Chicago to Atlanta to explore the possibility of planting a Romanian church there. By March 1984, the Simonca family had relocated from Chicago to Atlanta, and by that first Sunday of November, the first Romanian Baptist gathering in the state of Georgia had taken place. [14] Under the subsequent leadership of pastors Ted (Teofil) Cocian and Cristian Cocian, the Atlanta church grew and began looking outward. They connected with a Romanian family in Nashville, George and Valeria Alexandru. The Alexandru family came to faith and was baptized in Atlanta, and through them, the church saw an opportunity to plant a mission in middle Tennessee to reach other Romanian families who had settled in the area.

In 1991, a small group of these Romanian believers began gathering informally in Nashville for prayer and the study of the Bible. There was no building, no budget, and no formal structure. There was simply a shared conviction that God was calling them to worship together in their heart language and to build one another up in the faith. The church in Atlanta encouraged this missionary work, sending a seasoned Baptist pastor who resided there with his family to travel regularly to Nashville to nurture the small group. That desire for a formal church became a reality in 1992 when the First Baptist Church of Donelson, a local Nashville congregation founded in 1912, stepped forward to sponsor the Romanian mission. [15] This act of generosity gave the small group a place to meet and a foundation on which to build. The mission was placed under the leadership of Brother Gheorghe Scanteie, who faithfully guided the fellowship through its earliest days. His willingness to lead this work during its most fragile stage should not be overlooked; he was the first shepherd of this flock, and his service laid the groundwork for everything that followed. [1] Very instrumental in the establishing of the church were also two men from Donelson First Baptist. Dr. Roy Fisher, the senior pastor, with his distinct British accent, offered constant encouragement and mentoring to the young Romanian fellowship, providing the kind of pastoral support that gave the mission credibility and confidence in its earliest and most uncertain days. Pastor Gordon Donahoe, also of the Donelson church, played a pivotal role in what would follow. Learning of a young church planter serving in Australia, Donahoe picked up the phone and called Mark Hobafcovich in Melbourne to ask him to consider coming to Nashville to help establish the Romanian church. Unable to figure out the time difference, the call came literally in the middle of the night in Melbourne, but by God's providence it was a call that would shape the future of the Nashville mission. Even before Hobafcovich arrived, the work was already being initiated by believers from other established Romanian communities across the country. Lazar Gruita and his family came from Chicago, a city with deep Romanian Baptist roots, where the First Romanian Baptist Church had been established as far back as 1914. [7] Beniamin Teodosiu and his family relocated from Ohio, where he had been working as an engineer. The willingness of these families to uproot their lives and move to a city where the work was just beginning speaks to the seriousness with which the Romanian Baptist community took the call to plant and grow churches.

In August 1993, Brother Mark Hobafcovich arrived in Nashville with his family, answering the call that had come through Pastor Donahoe, and in November of that year they held their first public worship service. [1] [2] Hobafcovich was born in Bozovici, Romania, and had grown up in an evangelical Baptist family that endured oppression under the communist regime. In 1980, at the age of twenty, he and six friends risked imprisonment and even death to slip over the border into neighboring Yugoslavia. [4] Even after crossing, freedom was not immediate. He spent about two months of waiting before finally being granted refugee status and settling in Australia. [4] It was in Melbourne, shortly after his arrival, that God reached out to him in a way he did not expect. A member of a local Romanian-speaking church had gone to the refugee resettlement office and asked if there were any new Romanian refugees. That man showed up at the door of Hobafcovich and his friends on the first day of their arrival, a Sunday morning and invited them to church. Hobafcovich, who had grown up knowing about God but had never made a personal commitment to follow Him, accepted the invitation. Surrounded by the love of his new church family and still processing the events of his escape, he gave his heart to the Lord. "I thought freedom comes by changing governments," he later said, "but the real freedom is in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. And from that day on, my life took a different turn altogether." [4] He was discipled at the First Romanian Baptist Church of Melbourne, and it was there that he met Christine, whom he married in 1985. He went on to attend seminary in Brisbane, Australia, where he planted his first church, a work that began simply as a Bible study and grew to include new believers by baptism. After seminary, he served on staff at his home church in Melbourne. It was after about nine months there that the call came from Nashville. [4] He and Christine responded in faith, even though there was no salary and no established church waiting for them. He later recalled, "We realized so vividly that this was God's will for us... both of us knew 100 percent, without a doubt, that this was where God wanted us to be." [4] With Hobafcovich now in Nashville, more families followed, drawn by the growing work and the opportunity to be part of something God was building. In 1994, Laurentiu Branza and his family moved from Chicago to join the mission. Dimitrie Maralescu and his family also came from Chicago. Samuel Tranca and his family moved from Oregon, and John Moga and his family came from Ohio. Brother Samuel Stan and his family relocated from Oregon to Nashville during this time. Brother Stan had been serving as a missionary on the Warm Springs Native-American Reservation, a work he was ordained into and which the author of this history had the privilege of witnessing firsthand. [17] The Fiscu families followed, relocating from Chicago: Danny Fiscu and his family, Octavian Fiscu and his family, and Eugenia Fiscu. The Avram Dudar family also relocated from Oregon to Nashville to give a helping hand in the work of the kingdom. Of great help in the initial stages were the longtime residents of Nashville, the Nick Coman family and the Gherghescu family. Other families also moved to Nashville during this period and were instrumental in the establishing of the church. Each of these families played a vital role, and their sacrifice and faithfulness helped turn a small mission into a lasting congregation.

Over the next nine years, from 1993 to 2002, the Romanian mission grew by God's grace into a fully organized church, with new people being baptized and believers being encouraged in their faith. What made this season of ministry distinctive was its cross-cultural character. From the beginning, it was more than a Romanian church; it became a place where people from a variety of backgrounds found belonging. The Gospel was preached to all who came through the doors, and people were baptized, discipled, and equipped for ministry regardless of where they came from. The church welcomed not only Romanians but also Anglo-Americans, Hispanics, and African-Americans. [2] Many sermons were delivered in both Romanian and English to accommodate the diverse church community. Visitors who walked through the door found a congregation that was serious about Scripture, warm in fellowship, and genuinely open to anyone seeking Christ. This was a church where the Great Commission was lived out in its fullest sense, where believers were maturing in their walk with Christ and being sent out for the sake of His Kingdom.

In 1995, the Nashville Baptist Association invited Hobafcovich to serve as their language missions director, and later as church extension director, roles he fulfilled while continuing to serve the Romanian church. [4] In 1997, he was called by the North American Mission Board (NAMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention to serve in a national role. He transitioned to this new position full-time in 2002, eventually serving for over three decades as the National Director of Multiethnic Evangelism and Training. [4] [5] [6] By God's grace, the Lord opened doors for ministry far beyond Nashville. He later told the story of his journey in a book titled "Defector: A True Story of Tyranny, Liberty and Purpose," published in 2016. [3] The seeds that had been planted in Nashville, through the faithfulness of so many, continued to bear fruit in ways that only God could have orchestrated.

When Hobafcovich stepped down from the Nashville church in 2002, the congregation he left behind was a thriving, organized body of believers. The transition that followed was handled with care. Brother John Moga, a man who had been discipled, trained, and ordained for the Lord's work by the church itself, stepped in as interim pastor. [1] His service provided stability at a critical moment, and the fact that the church had raised up a leader from within its own ranks speaks to the depth of its discipleship ministry. Brother Beniamin Teodosiu, who was also ordained by the church into the Christian ministry, helped during this time in preaching and teaching. In 2003, the church chose Brother Titus Pasca as its leader. Brother Pasca had come to Nashville from Chicago in 2002, continuing the long-standing connection between the two cities. [1] His leadership helped the church navigate the period before calling its next shepherd in 2004, Brother Ciprian Balta. [1] Pastor Balta served faithfully for three years, shepherding the congregation through its ongoing growth, before answering a call to ministry in Romania in 2007, a decision reflecting the global vision that has always characterized the church. [1] [8] The congregation wasted no time, electing Brother Timotei Miu as its new pastor that same month. [1] Pastor Miu, a man with a true shepherd's heart, led the church faithfully through its next season of life. His ministry was marked by a deep commitment to the teaching of God’s Word and a personal dedication to shepherding believers toward spiritual maturity. Under his care, the church remained a place where people were not just taught the Bible, but were also genuinely growing in their faith and being equipped to serve Christ in their daily lives. [1] [9]

Following Pastor Miu, the church was served by Pastor Lucian Rad, who continued the church's ministry until 2024. [1] In 2024, the church called its current pastor, Samuel Stan, to lead the congregation into its next chapter. His journey to the pastorate was a unique testament to the cross-cultural heart of the Gospel. Having previously served as a missionary to the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Native-American Reservation in Oregon, his leadership continues the church's long legacy of ministry. [16] The church also continued to raise up leaders from within, and in February 2026, Brother Laurentiu Branza, who had moved from Chicago to join the work in 1994, was ordained as a deacon to minister in the church and serve the community. His ordination, more than three decades after he first arrived to support the mission, is a powerful reminder of the long faithfulness that has characterized this congregation from its beginning.

Pastoral Leadership Timeline

Pastor Gheorghe Scanteie served as the Founding Mission Leader from 1992 to 1993. Mark Hobafcovich served as Pastor from 1993 to 2002, leading the work from mission to church. John Moga served as Interim Pastor from 2002 to 2003. Titus Pasca served as Church Leader from 2003 to 2004. Ciprian Balta served as Pastor from 2004 to 2007. Timotei Miu served as Pastor from 2007 to approximately the mid-2010s. Lucian Rad served as Pastor from approximately the mid-2010s to 2024. Samuel Stan has served as Pastor from 2024 to the present.

The church has moved twice since its founding. It began meeting at the First Baptist Church of Donelson on Lebanon Pike, a congregation that itself had been founded in 1912 and had a long history of supporting mission work in the Donelson community. [15] The Romanian church later occupied a former bank building at 2520 Lebanon Pike, just steps from the Donelson church that had first sponsored them. It has since relocated to its current home at 6829 Lebanon Road in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. [1] [10] It is affiliated with the Romanian Baptist Association of the USA and Canada, the Nashville Baptist Association, the Tennessee Baptist Convention, and the Southern Baptist Convention. [1] [11]

The story of the Romanian Baptist Church of Nashville is, at its heart, a story about the faithfulness of God. It began with a handful of believers praying in a living room and grew into a thriving, cross-cultural congregation that has sent out leaders and impacted its community for decades. It is a story of pastors who gave sacrificially, of families who uprooted their lives to support a work they believed in, and of a sponsoring church that opened its doors when it mattered most. Every prayer, every gesture of benevolence, every financial support, every song and every sermon, every meal prepared — all were instrumental in the establishing of the church and the growth of the kingdom for the glory of God. It is a story that continues to be written, not just in the lives of its members in Nashville, but in the ministries they have influenced across the nation and around the world. As the church looks to the future it does so with the same conviction that sparked its beginning: that Jesus Christ is building His church, and that their role is to be a faithful part of that great work, for the growth of His Kingdom and for the glory of God alone.

Sources:

[1] Biserici.us (http://biserici.us/), "Biserica Baptista Romana din Nashville," https://biserici.us/dir/tn-nsv-biserica-baptista-romana-din-nashville/

[2] Mark Hobafcovich, "About," personal website, https://www.markhobafcovich.com/about

[3] Mark Hobafcovich, "Defector: A True Story of Tyranny, Liberty and Purpose," Elevate, 2016, https://amzn.to/40exeQT

[4] James Dotson, "Romanian refugee now helping others meet Christ in their 'heart language'," Baptist Press, March 17, 2004, https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/romanian-refugee-now-helping-others-meet-christ-in-their-heart-language/

[5] Christian Index, "Commentary: Standing with our persecuted brothers and sisters," October 22, 2025, https://christianindex.org/stories/commentary-standing-with-our-persecuted-brothers-and-sisters,104449

[6] Adam Miller, "'A new blaze' sought by Romanian pastors," Baptist Press, May 25, 2010, https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/a-new-blaze-sought-by-romanian-pastors/

[7] First Romanian Baptist Church of Chicago, "History," https://www.firstrbc-chicago.org/history/

[8] Ellipsis Church, "About Us," https://ellipsischurch.ie/about-us/

[9] The Pointe Church, "Leadership," https://mtjulietchurch.com/leadership

[10] J.R. Lind, "Walk a Mile: Donelson," Nashville Scene, April 15, 2021, https://www.nashvillescene.com/in_print/walk-a-mile-donelson/article_b475c58a-5d4b-5fc2-8bbc-31da185580cc.html

[11] Nashville Baptist Association, "Romanian Baptist Church," https://nashvillebaptists.com/church/romanian-baptist-church/

[12] "Romanian Americans," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Americans

[13] "Romanian Americans - History, Modern era," Everyculture.com (http://everyculture.com/), https://www.everyculture.com/multi/Pa-Sp/Romanian-Americans.html

[14] First Romanian Baptist Church of Atlanta, "Our History," https://frbcatlanta.com/en/about/our-history/

[15] Donelson First Baptist Church, "The 2024 Donelson First Vision," https://donelsonfirst.com/blog/the-2024-donelson-first-vision

[16] Samuel Stan, LinkedIn Profile, https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-stan-a2b5b049/

[17] Author's personal recollection.

-

Mark Hobafcovich