Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ukraine - History

History

It's a little known fact that the Reformation came this far eastward, approximately 100 Reformed churches existed between 1570 - 1590. In the 1930s Canadian - Ukrainian missionaries revitalised the Reformed faith in Western Ukraine which was then occupied by Poland. They established the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. On Easter sunday 1925 the first Reformed worship was held in Kolomya. Separate German Reformed and Lurheran communities - the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg and Helvetic Confession - joined the presbyterian path the " Union of Reformed Communities". Before the invasion of the Red Army there were 35 churches in 5 districts and approximately 3000 members in cities like Coloma, Lviv, Rivne, Pzemysl, Stepan. The Ukrainian Evangelical Reformed Church had 18 ordained pastors. After the World War II. the Communist regime destroyed much of this work.

After breaking-up the Soviet Union short term PCA mission teams began working in various Ukrainian cities. Church planting team to shepherd the forming religious communities. The church in Odessa was first particularized in the history of the whole denomination. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Odessa received its 100 years old historic building in 1998. In the past the church community had been disbanded and the building was taken in the Communist times and converted to a puppet house, and later abandoned. The church building had been renovated by the church. The 1,300 square foot building was built in 1898, and seats 500. The weekly attendance is more than 100 and expanded in five various cities. This has become a center for church planter in Ukraine. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church was officially organised at a celebration service on April 16, 2008 in the Ukrainian city of Odessa.

The Belgorod Christian Clinic is a ministry of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Belgorod-Dnestrovsky. The Belgorod Presbyterian Church was the first local church planted by MTW missionaries in Ukraine.

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