|
Protestants in Ukraine number about 600 to 700 thousand (2007), about 2% 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".〔''"Eastern Europe's Evangelical Hub", Christianity Today magazine, January 2008''〕 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.〔 Compared to Protestants and Evangelicals in Western Europe and the United States, the faithful in Ukraine 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 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 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.〔''Religious Information Service of Ukraine on Protestantism''〕 Today the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists Church has nearly 150,000 members,〔''Structure of the Union, All-Ukrainian Union of Associations of Evangelical Christians Baptists official web-site''〕 the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christians (Pentecostal) claims about 105,000 members, and the Ukrainian Union of Seventh-day Adventists 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.〔''Ukrainian Baptists rebuild homes devastated by Katrina, Baptist Press, September 2006''〕 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. ==Baptists== (詳細はBaptist 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 Anabaptists〔''Baptists in Religious Information Service of Ukraine Portal''〕 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.〔''L.Alexeeva, chapter 13, Memorial Society Page, in Russian''〕 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〔''All Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Fellowship Leaders meet with Ukrainian World Congress President, Maidan News, July 2007''〕 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.〔''"Baptists Co-organize 1st International Christian Theater Festival in Rivne", Religious Information Service of Ukraine Portal News, July 2007.''〕 Former acting President of Ukraine and Chairman of Ukraine's parliament Oleksandr Turchynov, is a publicly acknowledged member of a Baptist church where he preaches regularly. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Protestantism in Ukraine」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|