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Protestants in Ukraine

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Protestants in Ukraine constitute about 600 - 700 thousands (2007), about 1% of the total population. Nearly all traditional Protestant denominations are presented in the country.

The earliest Protestants appeared in Ukraine in the 1530s and ‘40s. They were preceded by various pre-Reformation movements, like the Bogomils and Hussites.

The first Protestant commune (Anabaptists) was established in Volodymyr-Volynsk in 1536. In the 1540s, primarily among the nobles, Lutherans, then Calvinists and some others began their activity. In the first half of the 17-th century, the Socinians were reported to operate. In the 17-th century, Protestantism spread from Volyn, Pidliashshia, the Kholm region and western Ukrainian Halychyna to Podillia, the Kyiv region, and southwestern Ukrainian Transcarpathia. [1]

Today the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptist Church involves nearly 130,000 members, the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christians (Pentecostal) unites about 90,000 members, and the Ukrainian Union of Seventh-day Adventists has nearly 40,000 members.[2]

Some part of the Ukrainian Protestants emigrated to the United States and took an important part in local social activities.[3]

File:Festivalofhope.jpeg
Festival of Hope in Ukraine

The Protestant Festival of Hope, with the participation of evangelist Franklin Graham, was held on July 6-8, 2007, and gathered more than 40.000 Ukrainians at the Olympic National Stadium in Kiev.[4] Guests of the festival were able to hear testimonies of faith by well-known athletes, evangelical activists, and civil leaders. There were musical groups of various genres from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, and the United States. Satellite transmission of the festival was organized in 75 halls in the majority regions of Ukraine.[5]

Baptists

See main article Baptists in Ukraine.

The Baptist Church is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Ukraine. For example, as early as in 16th-century Ukraine, there were Anabaptists, the predecessors of today's Baptists.[6]

The first Baptist baptism (or "baptism by faith" of adult people) in Ukraine took place in 1864 on the river Ingul in the Yelizavetgrad region (now Kirovohrad region), in a German settlement. In 1867, the first Baptist communities were organized in that area. From there, the trend spread to the south of Ukraine and then to other regions as well. One of the first Baptist communities was registered in Kiev in 1907, and in 1908 the First All-Russian Convention of Baptists was held there. Than All-Russian Union of Baptists was established in the town of Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipropetrovsk).

From the 1920s, Evangelical Christians and Baptists were prohibited[6] in Soviet Ukraine. To some extent, they were revived during and after World War II. In 1944, Baptists and Evangelical Christians united in the Church of Evangelical Christian Baptists (ECB). They were later joined by other smaller Baptist and Evangelical trends. At the end of the 1950s, 75% of the believers of the All-USSR Council of ECB lived in Ukraine.

In the 1970s, another revival began. Today, Evangelical Christian Baptists are among the most active Christian confessions in Ukraine and the world.

Some part of the baptists (as well as other Protestants groups of Ukraine) in last decades of XX 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 Sacramento[7][8], Philadelphia[9] and Pennsylvania[9].

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.[10]

Lutherans

Saint Catherine Lutheran Church in Dnipropetrovsk

See main article Ukrainian Lutheran Church.

Lutheranism has been known in Ukraine since the mid-16th century in Volhynia, Galicia, Kiev, Podillia and Pobuzhzha. Certain members of the gentry (the Radzyvil family) were 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 repressed, and some were forced to emigrate.[12]

Since the independence period in Ukraine (from 1991), ULC communities have renewed their activities in Kiev, Ternopil, Kremenets, Zaporizhzhia, Sevastopol, Simferopol and other places.[11]

There is also a German Evangelical Lutheran Church (GELC) in Ukraine.

Pentecostals

Pentecostalism came to the Russian Empire, and from there to Ukraine, at the beginning of the 20th century. Pentecostals were preceded by the Molokans and Dukhobors, who prepared the ground for the movement spread. Pentecostalism was brought to western Ukraine by emigrants who returned from the US. In 1920, the first organized communities appeared in northwestern Ukrainian Volyn, and in 1924, the first Convention of Christians of the Holy Pentecost was held in Kremenchuk, where a union of Pentecostal communities was etsablished.

During the Soviet time, many leaders of the movement were persecuted and spent years in Soviet prisons and concentration camps.[13][12]

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]

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 (SDA). In 1898, L. Konrad became head of the European Conference of Adventists. In 1906, SDA communities were officially recognized in than Russian Empire. All SDA organizations were liquidated by the Soviet regime in 1931.[14]

The SDA movement renewed its activities in 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 a seminary of the SDA in Kiev. 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[15] and prevention programs[16]: numerous funds are invested to develop a worldwide net of medical centers, educational institutions,[17] sanatoriums, and so on. The Adventist Medical Association of Ukraine involves nearly 700 qualified medical workers. There is also an international medical center in Kiev 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 SDA, it is involved in social activities, helps victims of natural disasters and the Chernobyl disaster.

There are also groups of Reformed Adventists, the Adventist Christian Church, and the Church of God (of the Seventh Day) operating in Ukraine.[14]

Mennonites

See also: Russian Mennonite.

First Mennonite colonies appeared on the territory of Ukraine (than south of the Russian Empire) since 1789. The colonists descended from Dutch and mainly Germanic Prussian Anabaptists. Among the earliest settlements were Chortitza on the Dnipro river and founded in 1803 Molotschna (present Molochansk).[18] Later in 1802 some Mennonite communities moved from Central Europe to Volhynia. Swiss Mennonites of Amish descent from Galicia settled near Dubno in 1815. Other Galician Mennonites lived near Lemberg (Lviv).

After the 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 for schools to use the German language, which they believed was necessary for maintaining their cultural and religious identity. Between 1874 and 1880, of the approximately 45,000 Mennonites in South Russia, ten thousand departed for the United States and eight thousand for Manitoba.

During the time of the Soviet Union communist regime, many Mennonites were persecuted, sent into exile as "kulaks", imprisoned and executed as "enemies of the people", suffered from hunger and diseases.[19] From 8,000 to 9,000 Mennonite men were arrested only during the time of "Great Terror", which began in the autumn of 1936 and ended by late 1938. [19]

After the collapse of the USSR Mennonites renewed their official activities in Ukraine. Various Mennonite businessmen, scientists, scholars, tourism specialists, church and relief workers, and others, have been operating in the country.[20]

Sub-Carpathian Reformed Church

See main article Sub-Carpathian Reformed Church.

The Sub-Carpathian Reformed Church (SCRC) declares its foundations on the works of Zwingli and Calvin written during the 1520s and 1530s. By 2007, it had 105 communities, 55 ministers and 105 churches.[21] SCRC is considered to be the oldest Protestant community in Ukraine (first group of Reformers appeared in Sub-Carpathia in 1530s) and the only Church of the Calvinist tradition. The majority of the SCRC faithfull are ethnic Hungarians.[21] 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).[21]

The Church is a member of World Alliance of Reformed Churches and by some estimations involves about 140,000 parishioners.[22]

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).[23]

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.[22] By some estimations, 40,000 persons from Sub-Carpathia perished between Fall 1944 (when the Soviet Army invaded the territory) and 1956.[22]

Ukrainian Bible Society

See main article 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), Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate, Seventh Day Adventist Union Conference. Later they were joined by Lutheran community, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine.[24] The Organization has four branches in Kyiv, Kherson, Kharkiv and Lviv and special department for Bible translation into Ukrainian language.

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.[25]

In 2005, it distributed 174,721 copies of the Bible and 159,626 copies of the New Testament.[26]

The known history of the Bible translation into Ukrainian began in 16th century with Peresopnytsia Gospels, which included only four Gospels of the New Testament. Later in 17-19th centuries, when the Ukrainian territory was a part of the Russian Empire, several other translations were made secretly because of the Russian Government restrictions on Ukrainian language [27][28]. At present there are several translations of Holy Scripture into Ukrainian:

See also

References

  1. ^ RISU Portal on Protestantism
  2. ^ Religious-Information Service of Ukraine
  3. ^ Baptist Press
  4. ^ The Festival of Hope Ukraine
  5. ^ American Gathers Thousands of Evangelicals in Kyiv, by RISU News
  6. ^ a b c Baptists in RISU Portal
  7. ^ ADDRESSES OF SLAVIC CHURCHES IN SACRAMENTO CALIFORNIA
  8. ^ http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/1999/419913.shtml Ukraine Weekly News]
  9. ^ a b Maidan News
  10. ^ RISU Portal News
  11. ^ a b RISU on Lutherans in Ukraine
  12. ^ a b Keston Institute and the Defence of Persecuted Christians in the USSR
  13. ^ a b RISU on Pentecostals
  14. ^ a b RISU on Adventists
  15. ^ Adventists Health Center in Carpathian Mountains
  16. ^ Ukraine: Adventist Youth Leaders Adopt Anti-drug Message
  17. ^ Adventists News Network
  18. ^ 200-th Anniversary of Mennonites in Ukraine
  19. ^ a b Crimes of Communism against Ukraine and its people
  20. ^ Mennonite Central Committee
  21. ^ a b c The Sub-Carpathian Reformed Church in RISU Catalog
  22. ^ a b c László Medgyessy, "At the Great Divide", The Hungarian Quarterly, vol. 42, no. 161, Spring 2001.
  23. ^ Administration of Zakarpatska Oblast
  24. ^ Ukrainian Bible Society
  25. ^ First Bible Day to be Officially Celebrated in Ukraine, by RISU
  26. ^ Bible Society work in Ukraine
  27. ^ Ukrainian Bible Society, History of Bible Translations
  28. ^ Marta Onufriv, Ukrainska Pravda
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