Baptists in Ukraine

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House of Good News in Vinnytsia - the largest Baptist church in Ukraine
House of Good News - Baptist Church in Kiev
Baptist Church in Donetsk
Baptist Church in Switlodolynske

The beginnings of the Baptists in Ukraine go back to the second half of the 19th century. One of the starting points for its creation were German Baptists who settled in Volhynia around 1859 and five years later founded two communities in Horstschick and Solotschin.

The Baptists are the largest Protestant denominational family in Ukraine . About 90 percent of them belong to the Pan-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christian Baptist Congregations . Your Ukrainian name is: Всеукраїнський союз церков євангельських християн-баптистів (abbreviated ВСЦ ЕХБ ), its Russian : Всеукраинский союз церквей евангельских христиан-баптистов (abbreviated ВСЦ ЕХБ ) ( English : All-Ukrainian Union of Associations of Evangelical Christian Baptists , abbreviated : AUU AECB). Another Baptist group has in the Brotherhood of Independent Baptist churches and ministries in Ukraine (English: Brotherhood of Independent Baptist Churches and Ministries of Ukraine ) together. There are also a number of non-aligned local churches , including some that go back to missionary work by Korean Baptists.

history

Three interrelated movements are now considered to be the historical starting points of Ukrainian Baptism. From 1859 German Baptists who came from Poland settled in Volhynia and founded two churches there in May 1864. One was in Horstschick , the other in Solochin . A third also German-speaking Baptist congregation was constituted in Neudorf in 1866 (today: Karmanova ). The missionaries Gottfried F. Alf (1831–1898) and a little later Karl K. Ondra (1839–1887) were significantly involved in the founding and development work.

A second starting point was a revival movement initiated by the Lutheran Pietist Eduard Wüst within Mennonite colonies, which led to the formation of so-called Mennonite Brethren Congregations. Baptist literature from Oncken's book and treatise trade in Hamburg , the study of some Mennonite preachers at the Baptist missionary seminar in Hamburg and, last but not least, a missionary trip undertaken by Johann Gerhard Oncken to southern Russia in 1869 led to the fact that the Brethren adopted a number of Baptist principles, including the Baptism of immersion . During his trip, Oncken formed a Baptist church in Old Danzig with 41 members , which grew to 144 members within the same year.

The third starting point for the emergence of Ukrainian Baptism was stundism , which was also pietistically influenced and , from 1860, found its followers among Ukrainian farm workers. 1869 a member of took Mennonite Brethren Church in one of these farm workers, the believers' baptism . This baptism was the beginning of the so-called Stundo-Baptism , which soon developed into a decisive movement in southern Russia and beyond.

As early as October 1874, an independent regional association was founded in the "spacious schoolhouse" in Old Danzig, which was initially called the South-West Russian and Bulgarian Association and later, after the Bulgarian congregations had joined the Baptists in Austria , the South Russian Association was renamed. The first chairman was the craftsman missionary August Liebig .

By the October Revolution of 1917, the Baptists had spread so much, despite the persecution suffered in the Tsarist Empire, that the Pan-Ukrainian Baptist Union was founded in Kiev as early as 1918 . By 1928, the Union hosted five national congresses. In 1926 the company published its own Baptist magazine. From 1930 onwards major waves of persecution began in the Soviet Union, from which the Ukrainian Baptists in particular suffered. The Kiev Baptist headquarters had to cease its work under the pressure of events, which in fact amounted to the dissolution of the Union.

Church policy in the Soviet Union changed with the Great Patriotic War . Under state pressure, all Soviet Baptists and Evangelical Christians united in October 1944 to form the Union of Evangelical Christians and Baptists (EChB). The seat of the Federation was Moscow. A year later, parts of the Russian Pentecostal movement also joined, whereupon the federation changed its name to All Union Council of Evangelical Christians -Baptists (AUR of the EChB). The Ukrainian Baptists, however, knew how to maintain a certain independence despite the centralization. So they had their own state elder and other responsible employees in various supraregional work areas.

Before Ukraine gained state independence in 1991, there were efforts in Ukrainian Baptism to establish its own national Baptist Union. In 1989, a Christian magazine was therefore founded, which appeared in both Ukrainian and Russian. In 1992 the Pan-Ukrainian Baptist Union was founded , in which the vast majority of the Ukrainian Baptist congregations came together. In the years following its foundation, Baptists experienced rapid growth. In 1993 alone, more than 100 new churches were founded. Today there are 10 parishes in Kiev, the seat of the Union.

In 1993, another much smaller Baptist association was formed in Ukraine called the Brotherhood of Independent Baptist Congregations and Ministries. However, there are now good contacts and regular consultations between the two groups.

Organization and statistics

While the Brotherhood of Independent Ukrainian Baptist Congregations does not belong to any international church federation , the Pan-Ukrainian Union is a member church of the European Baptist Federation and through this also a member of the Baptist World Federation . Within the European Baptist Union it is the church with the largest number of members.

The seat of the Pan-Ukrainian Baptist Union is the Ukrainian capital Kiev . The spiritual direction of the community federation is in the hands of a council composed of the senior elders of the regional associations. It is headed by a president, his deputy and an executive secretary. A synod meets every four years. Its members are pastors and other senior staff from the regional associations and institutions. One of the tasks of the Synod is to accompany the work of the Council and to decide on questions of faith and principle.

The over 2,800 congregations and branches work together in 25 regional associations. Among them - and thus also in the Union - are five diaspora associations of Ukrainian Baptist congregations in the USA , Canada , Australia , South America ( Argentina / Paraguay ) and Portugal . The Union of Ukrainian Baptists has around 150,000 baptized believers . If you add family members and friends who have not (yet) been baptized, this number has to be doubled.

The Brotherhood of Independent Ukrainian Baptist Congregations was founded in 1993. It comprises more than 100 local congregations with around 11,000 members. Also since 1993 there has been a missionary work initiated by the Baptist Union of South Korea, which has led to a number of church planting among Koreans living in Ukraine. In addition, there are various independent or “alliance-free” Baptist churches. In 2009 the Brotherhood , the Korean Mission and the Independents were organized in a total of around 250 congregations. There are no sources for more precise statistical information.

Facilities

The Baptists in Ukraine run two universities (Kiev, Donetsk ), three theological seminaries and 15 regional Bible schools .

literature

  • Albert W. Wardin: Baptists around the World. A Comprehensive Handbook , Nashville (Tennessee) 1995, ISBN 0-8054-1076-7 , pp. 232-233.
  • Historical Commission of the Federation of Taufgesinnter Congregations (Ed.): History of the Baptists in Southern Russia (reprint of the work written by Johannes Pritzkau in 1913 (see p. 173)), Situation 1999, ISBN 3-927767-52-2 .
  • Donald N. Miller: In the Midst of Wolves. A history of German Baptists in Volhynia from 1863 to 1943 , Portland (Oregon) 2000, ISBN 0-9700542-0-3 .
  • Ian M. Randall: Communities of Conviction. Baptist Beginnings in Europe , Schwarzenfeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-937896-78-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU): Baptists ( Memento of November 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Albert W. Wardin (Ed.): Baptists around the World, A comprehensive Handbook , Nashville (Tennessee) 1995, p. 232.
  3. ↑ Donald N. Miller: In The Midst of Wolves. A History of German Baptists in Volhynia, Russia, 1863-1943 , Portland, Oregon 2000; P. 37, 225, 284.
  4. ^ Historical Commission of the Federation of Taufgesinnter Congregations (ed.): History of the Baptists in Southern Russia (reprint of the work written by Johannes Pritzkau in 1913), Situation 1999, p. 75 f.
  5. ↑ Albert W. Wardin (Ed.): Baptists around the World, A comprehensive Handbook , Nashville (Tennessee) 1995, p. 232 f.
  6. ↑ For Oncken's missionary trip to southern Russia see Günter Balders: Theurer Bruder Oncken. The life of Johann Gerhard Oncken in pictures and documents , Kassel 1978, p. 136 f.
  7. ^ Günter Balders: Dear Brother Oncken. The life of Johann Gerhard Oncken in pictures and documents , Kassel 1978, p. 136.
  8. ↑ Historical Commission of the Federation of Baptized Churches (ed.): History of the Baptists in Southern Russia (reprint of the work written by Johannes Pritzkau in 1913), Situation 1999, pp. 80 - 87 ( The foundation of our association )
  9. ↑ Albert W. Wardin (Ed.): Baptists around the World, A comprehensive Handbook , Nashville (Tennessee) 1995, p. 233.
  10. ↑ Albert W. Wardin (Ed.): Baptists around the World, A comprehensive Handbook , Nashville (Tennessee) 1995, p. 233.
  11. ↑ Albert W. Wardin (Ed.): Baptists around the World, A comprehensive Handbook , Nashville (Tennessee) 1995, p. 233.
  12. ^ European Baptist Federation: Member Unions (Ukraine) ; accessed on February 28, 2014.
  13. ↑ Baptist World Aliance: About us (Member Organizations) ( Memento of the original from February 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; accessed on February 28, 2014.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bwanet.org
  14. ↑ Internet presence of the Pan-Ukrainian Baptist Union : Structure of the Union ; accessed on March 1, 2014.
  15. ^ Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU): Baptists ( Memento of November 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 1, 2014.
  16. ↑ RISU statistics: 2009 ( Memento from March 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (see the information under Other Associations of Evangelical Christian Baptists and Evangelical Christians ), accessed on March 1, 2014.
  17. ↑ Internet presence of the Christian University of Kiev ; accessed on March 1, 2014.
  18. ↑ Website of the Donetsk Christian University ; accessed on March 1, 2014.
  19. ^ Religious Information Service Ukraine (RISU): Baptism ; accessed on March 1, 2014.