Protestantism in Ukraine
Protestants in Ukraine number about 600,000 to 700,000 (2007), about 2% of the total population.[according to whom?] Nearly all traditional Protestant denominations are represented in the country. According to Christianity Today magazine, Ukraine has become not just the "Bible Belt" of Eastern Europe, but a "hub of evangelical church life, education, and missions".[2] At present, the country is a key supplier of missionaries and a center of evangelical training and press printing for all the countries of the former Soviet Union, where the legal environment is not so favourable.[2]
Compared to Protestants and Evangelicals in Western Europe and the United States, believers in Ukraine are considered to be more conservative and traditional. For most Western Evangelicals their way of life reflects a form of strict moral asceticism.[2]
The earliest Protestants appeared in Ukraine in the 1530s and ’40s. They were preceded by various pre-
The first Protestant commune (
Today the
Due to the
Baptists
The
In 16th-century Ukraine, German
The first Baptist
From the 1920s, Evangelical Christians and Baptists were prohibited
In the period after the Second World War, baptists and other Protestant believers in the USSR (Pentecostals, Adventists etc.) were compulsively sent to mental hospitals, endured trials and prisons (often for refusal to enter military service). Some were even deprived of their parent rights.[7]
Some part of the baptists (as well as other Protestants groups of Ukraine) in last decades of 20th century emigrated to USA and Canada. After the collapse of the USSR, migration and interaction with Western churches increased. At present, there are large Ukrainian baptist communities in
Nearly 90% of Baptists in Ukraine are united in the All-Ukraine Union of the Association of Evangelical Baptists (AUU AEB), established in 1994 at the 22nd Convention of the ECB of Ukraine. Today, the union includes 3 seminaries, 2 universities and 15 bible colleges. The union is engaged in publishing activity and has an extended mass media network. The AUU AEB is governed by a council composed of senior presbyters (bishops) of regional associations headed by the president of the council. In 1990—2006 the council was headed by Hryhorii Komendant. From May 2006 it has been headed by Viacheslav Nesteruk. The union closely cooperates with Ukrainian Baptists in the diaspora. The AUU AEB is a member of the European Baptist Federation and the Baptist World Alliance.[6]
Baptists organized the 1-st International Christian Theater Festival in Rivne, which took place in July, 2007.[9]
Former acting
Lutherans
The Ukrainian Lutheran Church (The Ukrainian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession) was founded in 1926. It was active in western Ukraine until 1939 and had twenty-five communities and many missions. The church had a seminary and a publishing house in Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk), published the newspapers Stiah (Banner), Prozry (See the light) and Novii Svit (New World).
During the Soviet epoch, the ULC was persecuted and church property was confiscated.[11] Many of the believers and pastors were oppressed, and some were forced to emigrate.
Since Ukraine became independent in 1991, ULC communities have renewed their activities in Kyiv, Ternopil, Kremenets, Zaporizhzhia, Sevastopol, Simferopol and other places.
By 2007, the Ukrainian Lutheran Church conducted its ministry in 25 congregations and 11 mission stations all over the country, having about 2500 parishioners served by 22 national pastors and 2 missionaries from the USA.
There is also a German Evangelical Lutheran Church (GELC) in Ukraine.
Pentecostals
During the Soviet period, many leaders of the movement were persecuted and spent years in prisons and concentration camps.[13] Pentecostals in mass numbers were given 20-25 year prison terms and many perished there, including Voronaev.[7]
The All-Ukraine Union of Christians of the Evangelical Faith-Pentecostals was revived in 1990. It incorporated Pentecostal communities from the All-USSR Association of the ECB, independently registered and unregistered churches, and missions.
The official press outlets of the AUU CEFP are the magazines "Blahovisnyk" (Announcer of Good News), "Yevanhelskyi holos" (Evangelical voice), and "Yevanhelyst" (Evangelist). Individual communities publish their own periodicals. Pentecostals are known for their radio and TV programs.
The missions "Holos nadii" (Voice of Hope) in Lutsk, "Vozmozhnost" (Ability) in Mariupol, and "Dobryi Samarianyn" (Good Samaritan) in Rivne are involved in active missionary activities.
There are nearly 20 Bible seminaries, institutes, and schools.[13]
One of the most widely known
Reformed
At the end of the 16th century approximately 100
In the 1920s
In the 1990s the reformed heritage was further revitalized by Dutch missionaries, who renewed Reformed churches in Kyiv, Rivne, Stepan, Zakarpatia. The Evangelical Reformed Church in Ukraine has 7 congregations today. The Evangelical Reformed Seminary was also founded in Kyiv to train pastors.
Presbyterian missionaries of the
Sub-Carpathian Reformed Church
The Sub-Carpathian Reformed Church (SCRC) declares its foundations on the works of Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin written during the 1520s and 1530s. By 2007, it had 105 communities, 55 ministers and 105 churches.[14] SCRC is considered to be the oldest Protestant community in Ukraine (first group of Reformers appeared in Sub-Carpathia in the 1530s) and, prior to the American Presbyterian missions, the only church of the Calvinist tradition. The majority of the SCRC faithful are ethnic Hungarians.[14] The Church promoted the establishment of three specialized secondary schools (teaching additional religious and theological subjects), has its specialized charitable foundation, publishes a quarterly journal "Mission" (with 500 copies). Pastoral leaders are educated and trained mainly in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia (Sub-Carpathia borders on various countries, and Romanians, Hungarians, Slovaks and other ethnic groups live there, in addition to Ukrainians).[14]
The Church is a member of World Alliance of Reformed Churches and by some estimations involves about 140,000 parishioners.[15]
Several church buildings of reformers are well-known historical monuments and tourist attractions to Zakarpattya, namely a stone Gothic church in Muzhievo, a Gothic church in Chetfolvo (15th century), a Baroque church in Chetfolvo, and a Gothic church in Novoselytsia (Beken).[16]
Leaders and members of the Sub-Carpathian Reformed Church were persecuted by the Communist authorities in the Soviet Union and were sent to Gulag labour camps in Siberia.[15] By some estimations, 40,000 persons from Sub-Carpathia perished between Fall 1944 (when the Soviet Army invaded the territory) and 1956.[15]
Seventh-day Adventists
The Seventh-day Adventists appeared in 1847 in southwestern Ukraine's region near Chernivtsi. In 1876, the first small group of believers was formed in Rivne region. In 1886, a group of people was baptized in Crimea by Pastor Lui Konrad, who founded the first community of Seventh-day Adventists. In 1898, L. Konrad became head of the European Conference of Adventists. In 1906, Adventist communities were officially recognized in than Russian Empire. All Adventist organizations were liquidated by the Soviet regime in 1931.[17] Ukraine-born leader of the Seventh-day Adventist movement of the Soviet Union Vladimir Shelkov (1895–1980) spent almost all his life from 1931 in imprisonment and died in Yakutia camp.
The Adventist movement renewed its activities in the late 1980s. The currently operating Ukrainian Union Conference (UUC) consists of eight regional conferences. The UUC-SDA has been headed by Volodymyr Krupskyi since 1998. There is an Adventist seminary in Kyiv. Adventists publish two newspapers and four magazines, including the magazine Oznaky chasu (Signs of the time) as the main outlet.
The Adventist church pays special attention to medical and prevention programs: numerous funds are invested to develop a worldwide net of medical centers, educational institutions, sanatoriums, and so on. The Adventist Medical Association of Ukraine involves nearly 700 qualified medical workers. There is also an international medical center in Kyiv with branches in Poltava, Kovel, Lviv and a sanatorium in Mykolaiv.
The Adventist Organization for Help and Development has been presented in Ukraine since 1985. Established by the Adventist church, it is involved in social activities, helps victims of natural disasters and the Chernobyl disaster.
There are also groups of Reformed Adventists, the Advent Christian Church, and the Church of God (Seventh Day) operating in Ukraine.[17]
Mennonites
The first
After the imperial Russian government announced a russification plan that would end all special privileges by 1880, Mennonites were particularly alarmed at the possibility of losing their exemption from military service and their right to German-language education, which they believed was necessary for maintaining their cultural and religious identity. Between 1874 and 1880, of the approximately 45,000 Mennonites in Ukraine, ten thousand departed for the United States (mostly to California) and eight thousand for Manitoba, Canada.
During the
After the collapse of the
Ukrainian Bible Society
The Bible Society in Ukraine began its work in 1815 as a network of several affiliates to Russian Bible Society. After a long period of Soviet regime restrictions, the Ukrainian Bible Society was created in 1991. Among its initiators were the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptist Church, the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christians (Pentecostal),
The Ukrainian Bible Society is an active supporter of the official celebration of the Day of the Bible since 2004, when the Bible Day was celebrated for the first time in Ukraine. In all countries of the world, the Day of the Bible is celebrated on the last Sunday of October.[21]
In 2005, it distributed 174,721 copies of Ukrainian Bibles and 159,626 copies of Ukrainian New Testaments.
See also
- Byzantine Rite Lutheranism
- Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine
- Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ukraine
- History of Christianity in Ukraine
- Ukrainian Lutheran Church
References
- ^ Report of the Ministry of Culture "about sitiaton and tendencies of development of religious situation and the state-confessional relationships in Ukraine in 2011
- ^ a b c "Eastern Europe's Evangelical Hub", Christianity Today magazine, January 2008
- ^ Religious Information Service of Ukraine on Protestantism
- ^ Structure of the Union, All-Ukrainian Union of Associations of Evangelical Christians Baptists official web-site
- ^ Ukrainian Baptists rebuild homes devastated by Katrina, Baptist Press, September 2006
- ^ a b c Baptists in Religious Information Service of Ukraine Portal
- ^ a b L.Alexeeva, chapter 13, Memorial Society Page, in Russian
- ^ a b All Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Fellowship Leaders meet with Ukrainian World Congress President, Maidan News, July 2007
- ^ "Baptists Co-organize 1st International Christian Theater Festival in Rivne", Religious Information Service of Ukraine Portal News, July 2007.
- ^ "Baptist Pastor, Oleksandr Turchynov, Named Acting President of Ukraine; Christians Thank God for Peace". The Christian Post. February 25, 2014.
- ^ a b Religious Information Service of Ukraine on Lutherans
- ^ German Lutheran Church Reopens In Odesa, RISU News 2002
- ^ a b Religious Information Service of Ukraine on Pentecostals
- ^ a b c The Sub-Carpathian Reformed Church in RISU Catalog
- ^ a b c László Medgyessy, "At the Great Divide" Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, The Hungarian Quarterly, vol. 42, no. 161, Spring 2001.
- ^ Administration of Zakarpatska Oblast site
- ^ a b Religious Information Service of Ukraine on Adventists
- ^ "Canadian Ambassador Speaks on 200th Anniversary of Mennonites in Ukraine", RISU News, June 2004.
- ^ a b Crimes of Communism against Ukraine and its people, ArtUkraine site
- ^ The Mennonite Centre in Ukraine, Mennonite Central Committee site
- ^ First Bible Day to be Officially Celebrated in Ukraine, by RISU
External links
- Ukrainian Bible Society (Ukrainian)