The participants of the regular meeting of the Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches of Ukraine, held on December 17 in Kyiv under the chairmanship of Senior Bishop Anatoliy Kozachko, unanimously supported the proposal to include the following associations in the Council:
- New Generation (new name: Charismatic Evangelical Church of Ukraine (Andriy Tyshchenko)),
- Church of God of Ukraine (Pavlo Dmytrovych Holub),
- Center of Christian Evangelical Churches of Ukraine “Victory” (Madava Henry),
- Union of Jewish Communities of Messianic Judaism (Borys Hrysenko).
- On the recommendation of the Council’s Secretariat, 3 more associations joined as observers for a period of 1 year:
- All-Ukrainian Missionary Religious Center “Light of the Gospel” (Serhiy Volodymyrovych Huts),
- Association of Biblical Missionary Churches of Ukraine (Taras Prystupa),
- United Methodist Church of Ukraine (Starodubets Oleh Volodymyrovych).
Viktor Yelenskyy, Head of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, and Oleksandr Zayets, Chairman of the Board of the Institute for Religious Freedom, familiarized the audience with the state and challenges of church-state relations. They discussed the observance of the Constitution and laws of Ukraine during the war, challenges for churches in the occupied territories, etc.
The heads of the churches analyzed the Resolution of the Interfaith Forum of Military Chaplains held in Kyiv on October 10-11 and noted its relevance and importance for the development of chaplaincy and approved the list of names of the Coordination Council for Chaplaincy of the RECCU.
The chairman reviewed the Council’s advocacy and international activities during the year through foreign visits and initiatives among diaspora churches, contacts and reception of international delegations in Ukraine, and informed about the next steps and activities to preserve Ukraine. The General Secretaries of the European Evangelical Alliance, Ian Wessels and Connie Duarte, assured the audience through a video greeting of their intention to continue supporting Ukraine and visit our country in the near future.
The participants of the meeting were introduced to the ARROW Leadership educational project, which is designed to help prepare leaders to serve in challenging wartime environments with competencies in character, leadership, and management, while promoting interdenominational cooperation. These programs have proven to bring about good change by preparing leaders who serve churches, nonprofits, and Christian businesses with integrity and Christ-centered impact. A National Project Council was established to prepare and launch the training process.
At the end of the meeting, a decision was made to rotate the presidency – from January 1, 2025, the presidency will be transferred to the Ukrainian Evangelical Church (Senior Bishop Oleksandr Zaitsev).
