Protestantism in Ukraine
Encyclopedia
Protestants
in Ukraine
number about 600 to 700 thousand (2007), about 1% of the total population. 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". At present, the country is a key supplier of missionaries
and center of evangelical training and press printing for all the countries of former Soviet Union, where legal environment is not so favourable.
Compared to Protestants and Evangelicals in Western Europe and the United States, Ukrainian faithful are considered to be more conservative and traditional, practicing a form of strict moral asceticism
.
The earliest Protestants appeared in Ukraine in the 1530s and ‘40s. They were preceded by various pre-Reformation
movements, like the Bogomils and Hussite
s.
The first Protestant commune (Anabaptist
s) 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 17th century, the Socinians were reported to operate. In the 17th century, Protestantism spread from Volhynia
, Podlaskie, the Chełm region and western Ukrainian Galicia to Podillia, the Kiev
region, and southwestern Ukrainian Transcarpathia
.
Today the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists
Church has nearly 150,000 members, the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christians (Pentecostal
) claims about 105,000 members, and the Ukrainian Union of Seventh-day Adventist
s has nearly 40,000 members.
Some Ukrainian Protestants have emigrated to the United States and went on to take an important part in local social activities.
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
. 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.
Church is one of the oldest Protestant denominations, and Evangelical Christian Baptists are among the most active Christian confessions in Ukraine and the world.
In 16th-century Ukraine, there were Anabaptist
s often confused with Baptists.
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 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. Another reported revival was in the 1970s.
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.
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 Sacramento
, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania
.
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
.
Baptists organized the 1-st International Christian Theater Festival in Rivne
, which took place in July, 2007.
The famous political figure, second person of Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc Olexander Turchinov is reported to be a member of some Baptist
community.
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 influx of thousands of Germans to Ukrainian regions in the 19th century resulted in dramatic growth of the Lutheran Church but it appears that there was no significant influence within the local ethnic groups. The Lutheran Church of that era was governed by the Consistory office in St. Petersburg, Russia, which maintained quality records of births, marriages, and deaths from 1835 onwards.
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. 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 Kiev, Ternopil, Kremenets, Zaporizhzhia, Sevastopol, Simferopol and other places. In 2002 a pastoral center of the German Lutheran Church closed by Stalin's atheistic regime in 1938 reopened in Odessa
. On the same day, the sculpture of St. Paul, the church building and the organ were also consecrated there.
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.
came to the Russian Empire
, and from there to Ukraine, at the beginning of the 20th century. Pentecostals were preceded by the Molokan
s and Dukhobors, who prepared the ground for the movement's spread. Pentecostalism was brought to western Ukraine by emigrants who returned from the US. In 1920, the first organized communities appeared in Volyn, northwestern Ukrainian, and in 1924, the first Convention of Christians of the Holy Pentecost was held in Kremenchuk
, where a union of Pentecostal communities was established.
Ivan Voronaev
was among the first to introduce and expand the Pentecostal movement in Ukraine and Russia. The first Pentecostal church was established by him in Odessa
in 1920.
During the Soviet period, many leaders of the movement were persecuted and spent years in prisons and concentration camps. Pentecostals in mass numbers were given 20-25 year prison terms and many perished there, including Voronaev.
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.
One of the most widely known neopentecostal groups in Ukraine is "Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for all Nations
" headed by Nigerian pastor Sunday Adelaja
. The community holds mass gatherings and marches and takes an active part in local social life. The present mayor of Kiev
, Leonid Chernovetskyi
, and many members of his team belong to the "Embassy of God" commune.
s 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. 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 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 and prevention programs: numerous funds are invested to develop a worldwide net of medical centers, educational institutions, sanatorium
s, 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 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.
colonies appeared on the territory of Ukraine (then in the southwestern part of the Russian Empire) in 1789. The colonists descended from Dutch
and mainly Germanic Prussia
n Anabaptists. Among the earliest settlements were Chortitza
on the Dnieper River and Molotschna
(now Molochansk
), founded in 1803. 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 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 South Russia, ten thousand departed for the United States and eight thousand for Manitoba
.
During the Soviet
period, many Mennonites were persecuted, sent into exile as "kulaks", imprisoned and executed as "enemies of the people", and suffered from hunger and diseases. Between eight and nine thousand Mennonite men were arrested during the Great Terror
, which began in autumn 1936 and ended by late 1938.
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.
written during the 1520s and 1530s. By 2007, it had 105 communities, 55 ministers and 105 churches. 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 faithful are ethnic Hungarians. 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).
The Church is a member of World Alliance of Reformed Churches
and by some estimations involves about 140,000 parishioners.
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).
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
. By some estimations, 40,000 persons from Sub-Carpathia perished between Fall 1944 (when the Soviet Army invaded the territory) and 1956.
, Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate, Seventh-day Adventist Union Conference. Later they were joined by Lutheran community, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
, Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
, Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine. The Organization has four branches in Kiev
, 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.
In 2005, it distributed 174,721 copies of the Bible
and 159,626 copies of the New Testament
.
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
number about 600 to 700 thousand (2007), about 1% of the total population. Nearly all traditional Protestant denominations are represented in the country. According to Christianity Today
Christianity Today
Christianity Today is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, Illinois. It is the flagship publication of its parent company Christianity Today International, claiming circulation figures of 140,000 and readership of 290,000...
magazine, Ukraine has become not just the "Bible Belt" of Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, but a "hub of evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
church life, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, and missions". At present, the country is a key supplier of missionaries
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
and center of evangelical training and press printing for all the countries of former Soviet Union, where legal environment is not so favourable.
Compared to Protestants and Evangelicals in Western Europe and the United States, Ukrainian faithful are considered to be more conservative and traditional, practicing a form of strict moral asceticism
Asceticism
Asceticism describes a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from various sorts of worldly pleasures often with the aim of pursuing religious and spiritual goals...
.
The earliest Protestants appeared in Ukraine in the 1530s and ‘40s. They were preceded by various pre-Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
movements, like the Bogomils and Hussite
Hussite
The Hussites were a Christian movement following the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus , who became one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation...
s.
The first Protestant commune (Anabaptist
Anabaptist
Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....
s) 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 17th century, the Socinians were reported to operate. In the 17th century, Protestantism spread from Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
, Podlaskie, the Chełm region and western Ukrainian Galicia to Podillia, the Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
region, and southwestern Ukrainian Transcarpathia
Carpathian Ruthenia
Carpathian Ruthenia is a region in Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast , with smaller parts in easternmost Slovakia , Poland's Lemkovyna and Romanian Maramureş.It is...
.
Today the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists
Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine
Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine aka All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists '; ; is a union of Baptists in Ukraine. It is the largest protestant union in Ukraine.-History:...
Church has nearly 150,000 members, the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christians (Pentecostal
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
) claims about 105,000 members, and the Ukrainian Union of Seventh-day Adventist
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
s has nearly 40,000 members.
Some Ukrainian Protestants have emigrated to the United States and went on to take an important part in local social activities.
Franklin Graham
William Franklin Graham III , known publicly as Franklin Graham, is an American Christian evangelist and missionary. He is the president and CEO of both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the international Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse.He currently lives in Boone,...
, was held on July 6–8, 2007, and gathered more than 40,000 Ukrainians at the Olympic National Stadium in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. 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
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
, and the United States. Satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
transmission of the festival was organized in 75 halls in the majority regions of Ukraine.
Baptists
The BaptistBaptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Church is one of the oldest Protestant denominations, and Evangelical Christian Baptists are among the most active Christian confessions in Ukraine and the world.
In 16th-century Ukraine, there were Anabaptist
Anabaptist
Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....
s often confused with Baptists.
The first Baptist baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
(or "baptism by faith" of adult people) in Ukraine took place in 1864 on the river Ingul in the Yelizavetgrad region (now Kirovohrad
Kirovohrad
Kirovohrad , formerly Yelisavetgrad, is a city in central Ukraine. It is located on the Inhul River. It is a motorway junction. Pop. 239,400 ....
region), in a German
History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union
The German minority in Russia and the Soviet Union was created from several sources and in several waves. The 1914 census puts the number of Germans living in Russian Empire at 2,416,290. In 1989, the German population of the Soviet Union was roughly 2 million. In the 2002 Russian census, 597,212...
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
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
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
Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipropetrovsk or Dnepropetrovsk formerly Yekaterinoslav is Ukraine's third largest city with one million inhabitants. It is located southeast of Ukraine's capital Kiev on the Dnieper River, in the south-central region of the country...
).
From the 1920s, Evangelical Christians and Baptists were prohibited 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. Another reported revival was in the 1970s.
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.
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 Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
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
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
, 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
European Baptist Federation
The European Baptist Federation is a federation of 51 Baptist associations and is one of six regional fellowships in the Baptist World Alliance. The EBF was founded in Ruschlikon, Switzerland, in 1949. It lays a great deal of emphasis on human rights, religious liberty and aid programs. The...
and the Baptist World Alliance
Baptist World Alliance
The Baptist World Alliance is a worldwide alliance of Baptist churches and organizations, formed in 1905 at Exeter Hall in London during the first Baptist World Congress.-History:...
.
Baptists organized the 1-st International Christian Theater Festival in Rivne
Rivne
Rivne or Rovno is a historic city in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Rivne Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Rivne Raion within the oblast...
, which took place in July, 2007.
The famous political figure, second person of Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc Olexander Turchinov is reported to be a member of some Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
community.
Lutherans
Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
has been known in Ukraine since the mid-16th century in Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
, Galicia, Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Podillia and Pobuzhzha. Certain members of the gentry (the Radzyvil family) were Lutherans. The influx of thousands of Germans to Ukrainian regions in the 19th century resulted in dramatic growth of the Lutheran Church but it appears that there was no significant influence within the local ethnic groups. The Lutheran Church of that era was governed by the Consistory office in St. Petersburg, Russia, which maintained quality records of births, marriages, and deaths from 1835 onwards.
The Ukrainian Lutheran Church
Ukrainian Lutheran Church
The Ukrainian Lutheran Church or ULC is a Christian denomination of the Lutheran tradition based in the eastern European country of Ukraine...
(The Ukrainian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession
Augsburg Confession
The Augsburg Confession, also known as the "Augustana" from its Latin name, Confessio Augustana, is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Lutheran reformation...
) 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
Ivano-Frankivsk
Ivano-Frankivsk is a historic city located in the western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast, municipality....
), 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. 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 Kiev, Ternopil, Kremenets, Zaporizhzhia, Sevastopol, Simferopol and other places. In 2002 a pastoral center of the German Lutheran Church closed by Stalin's atheistic regime in 1938 reopened in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
. On the same day, the sculpture of St. Paul, the church building and the organ were also consecrated there.
By 2007, the Ukrainian Lutheran Church
Ukrainian Lutheran Church
The Ukrainian Lutheran Church or ULC is a Christian denomination of the Lutheran tradition based in the eastern European country of Ukraine...
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
PentecostalismPentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
came to the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, and from there to Ukraine, at the beginning of the 20th century. Pentecostals were preceded by the Molokan
Molokan
Molokans are sectarian Christians who evolved from "Spiritual Christian" Russian peasants that refused to obey the Russian Orthodox Church, beginning in the 17th century...
s and Dukhobors, who prepared the ground for the movement's spread. Pentecostalism was brought to western Ukraine by emigrants who returned from the US. In 1920, the first organized communities appeared in Volyn, northwestern Ukrainian, and in 1924, the first Convention of Christians of the Holy Pentecost was held in Kremenchuk
Kremenchuk
Kremenchuk is an important industrial city in the Poltava Oblast of central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Kremenchutskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is located on the banks of Dnieper River.-History:Kremenchuk was...
, where a union of Pentecostal communities was established.
Ivan Voronaev
Ivan Voronaev
Ivan Yefimovitch Voronaev – leader and founder of Pentecostal movement in Russia, Ukraine and the former USSR. He was born about 1885 in Orenburg....
was among the first to introduce and expand the Pentecostal movement in Ukraine and Russia. The first Pentecostal church was established by him in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
in 1920.
During the Soviet period, many leaders of the movement were persecuted and spent years in prisons and concentration camps. Pentecostals in mass numbers were given 20-25 year prison terms and many perished there, including Voronaev.
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
Lutsk
Lutsk is a city located by the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of the surrounding Lutskyi Raion within the oblast...
, "Vozmozhnost" (Ability) in Mariupol
Mariupol
Mariupol , formerly known as Zhdanov , is a port city in southeastern Ukraine. It is located on the coast of the Azov Sea, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Mariupol is the largest city in Priazovye - a geographical region around Azov Sea, divided by Russia and Ukraine - and is also a popular sea...
, and "Dobryi Samarianyn" (Good Samaritan) in Rivne
Rivne
Rivne or Rovno is a historic city in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Rivne Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Rivne Raion within the oblast...
are involved in active missionary activities.
There are nearly 20 Bible seminaries, institutes, and schools.
One of the most widely known neopentecostal groups in Ukraine is "Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for all Nations
Embassy of God
Embassy of God is a Charismatic Protestant church and parachurch organization in Kiev, Ukraine. It was founded and is led by pastor Sunday Adelaja, who is an immigrant from Nigeria...
" headed by Nigerian pastor Sunday Adelaja
Sunday Adelaja
Sunday Adelaja is the founder and senior pastor of the Embassy of God, an evangelical-charismatic megachurch in Kiev, Ukraine. He immigrated to the USSR and Belarus as a scholarship student from Nigeria in 1986 to study journalism...
. The community holds mass gatherings and marches and takes an active part in local social life. The present mayor of Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Leonid Chernovetskyi
Leonid Chernovetskyi
Leonid Mykhaylovych Chernovetskyi is the incumbent Mayor of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. Before his political career, he was a successful businessman, founder and controlling stakeholder of the Pravex Group and Pravex Bank, one of the largest banks in Ukraine.-Biography:Chernovetskyi quit school...
, and many members of his team belong to the "Embassy of God" commune.
Seventh-day Adventists
The Seventh-day AdventistSeventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
s appeared in 1847 in southwestern Ukraine's region near Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi is the administrative center of Chernivtsi Oblast in southwestern Ukraine. The city is situated on the upper course of the River Prut, a tributary of the Danube, in the northern part of the historic region of Bukovina, which is currently divided between Romania and Ukraine...
. In 1876, the first small group of believers was formed in Rivne
Rivne
Rivne or Rovno is a historic city in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Rivne Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Rivne Raion within the oblast...
region. In 1886, a group of people was baptized in Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
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. Ukraine-born leader of the Seventh-day Adventist movement of the Soviet Union Vladimir Shelkov
Vladimir Shelkov
Vladimir Shelkov was a Christian preacher and Seventh-day Adventist leader in the former Soviet Union. He headed the Church of True and Free Seventh-day Adventists, which rejected any government interference in the activities....
(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 Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. 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, sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
s, 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
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
, Kovel
Kovel
Kovel is a city located in the Volyn Oblast , in northwestern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Kovelskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast. The current estimated population is around 65,777.Kovel gives its name to one of the...
, Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
and a sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
in Mykolaiv
Mykolaiv
Mykolaiv , also known as Nikolayev , is a city in southern Ukraine, administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv is the main ship building center of the Black Sea, and, arguably, the whole Eastern Europe.-Name of city:...
.
The Adventist Organization for Help and Development
Adventist Development and Relief Agency
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency International is a humanitarian agency operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church for the purpose of providing individual and community development and disaster relief...
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
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
.
There are also groups of Reformed Adventists
Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement
The Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement is a Protestant Christian denomination, part of the Sabbatarian adventist movement, and formed as the result of a schism within the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Europe during World War I over the position its leadership took on proper Sabbath observance...
, the Advent Christian Church
Advent Christian Church
The Advent Christian Church is a "first-day" body of Adventist Christians founded on the teachings of William Miller.- William Miller :Though the first Advent Christian Association was founded in Salem, Massachusetts in 1860, the church's formation is rooted in the adventist teachings began by...
, and the Church of God (Seventh Day) operating in Ukraine.
Mennonites
The first MennoniteMennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
colonies appeared on the territory of Ukraine (then in the southwestern part of the Russian Empire) in 1789. The colonists descended from Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
and mainly Germanic Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n Anabaptists. Among the earliest settlements were Chortitza
Chortitza
Chortitza Colony was a Russian Mennonite settlement northwest of Khortytsia Island and is now part of Zaporizhia, Ukraine. Chortitza was founded in 1789 by...
on the Dnieper River and Molotschna
Molotschna
Molotschna Colony was a Russian Mennonite settlement in what is now Zaporizhia Oblast in Ukraine. Today is called Molochansk with a population of under 10,000. The settlement is named after the Molochna River which forms its western boundary. Today the land mostly falls within the Tokmatskyi and...
(now Molochansk
Molochansk
Molochansk is a city in Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine. It is located at around . Molochna River flows through the city.Molochansk was founded in 1804 by Dutch Mennonite settlers who were invited to settle on the vast steppes of the czar's Russian empire. They called the new village "Halbstadt"...
), founded in 1803. In 1802, some Mennonite communities moved from Central Europe to Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
. Swiss Mennonites of Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
descent from Galicia settled near Dubno
Dubno
Dubno is a city located on the Ikva River in the Rivne Oblast of western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Dubno Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast...
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 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 South Russia, ten thousand departed for the United States and eight thousand for Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
.
During the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
period, many Mennonites were persecuted, sent into exile as "kulaks", imprisoned and executed as "enemies of the people", and suffered from hunger and diseases. Between eight and nine thousand Mennonite men were arrested during the Great Terror
Great Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
, which began in autumn 1936 and ended by late 1938.
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.
Sub-Carpathian Reformed Church
The Sub-Carpathian Reformed Church (SCRC) declares its foundations on the works of Zwingli and CalvinJohn Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
written during the 1520s and 1530s. By 2007, it had 105 communities, 55 ministers and 105 churches. 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 faithful are ethnic Hungarians. The Church promoted the establishment of three specialized secondary schools (teaching additional religious and theological subjects), has its specialized charitable
Charity (practice)
The practice of charity means the voluntary giving of help to those in need who are not related to the giver.- Etymology :The word "charity" entered the English language through the Old French word "charité" which was derived from the Latin "caritas".Originally in Latin the word caritas meant...
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).
The Church is a member of World Alliance of Reformed Churches
World Alliance of Reformed Churches
The World Alliance of Reformed Churches is a fellowship of more than 200 churches with roots in the 16th-century Reformation, and particularly in the theology of John Calvin...
and by some estimations involves about 140,000 parishioners.
Several church buildings of reformers are well-known historical monuments and tourist attractions to Zakarpattya
Zakarpattia Oblast
The Zakarpattia Oblast is an administrative oblast located in southwestern Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Uzhhorod...
, namely a stone Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
church in Muzhievo, a Gothic church in Chetfolvo (15th century), a Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
church in Chetfolvo, and a Gothic church in Novoselytsia
Novoselytsia
Novoselytsia or Noua Suliță is a city in Chernivtsi Oblast of Ukraine. Population is 8,400 ....
(Beken).
Leaders and members of the Sub-Carpathian Reformed Church were persecuted by the communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
authorities in the Soviet Union and were sent to Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
labour camps in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. By some estimations, 40,000 persons from Sub-Carpathia perished between Fall 1944 (when the Soviet Army invaded the territory) and 1956.
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 ChurchUkrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainska Hreko-Katolytska Tserkva), is the largest Eastern Rite Catholic sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Pope...
, Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate, Seventh-day Adventist Union Conference. Later they were joined by Lutheran community, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church is one of the three major Orthodox Churches in Ukraine. Close to ten percent of the Christian population claim to be members of the UAOC. The other Churches are the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kiev Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Russophile Orthodox...
, Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is an autonomous Church of Eastern Orthodoxy in Ukraine, under the ecclesiastic jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate...
, Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine. The Organization has four branches in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Kherson
Kherson
Kherson is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry...
, Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
and Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
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.
In 2005, it distributed 174,721 copies of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
and 159,626 copies of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
.
See also
- Evangelical Baptist Union of UkraineEvangelical Baptist Union of UkraineEvangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine aka All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists '; ; is a union of Baptists in Ukraine. It is the largest protestant union in Ukraine.-History:...
- History of Christianity in UkraineHistory of Christianity in UkraineThe History of Christianity in Ukraine dates back to the earliest centuries of the apostolic church. It has remained the dominant religion in the country since its acceptance in 988 by Vladimir the Great , who instated it as the state religion of Kievan Rus', a medieval East Slavic state.Although...
External links
- Ukrainian Bible Society (Ukrainian)