On June 24, 2025, a meeting of the Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches of Ukraine (CEPCU) was held in Kyiv under the chairmanship of the Senior Bishop of the Ukrainian Evangelical Church, which discussed topical issues of church-state relations, international cooperation and advocacy, and the development of chaplaincy ministry in Ukraine. The meeting was attended by leaders of evangelical churches of Ukraine, heads of church chaplaincy departments, representatives of public organizations and foreign guests.
After the opening remarks and prayer of the Chairman of the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church of Ukraine Oleksandr Zaitsev, the Chairman of the IRF Board Oleksandr Zaets informed the leaders of the Evangelical churches about the current state of church-state relations in Ukraine, in particular, about the religious aspects of the CMU’s order of 14.05.2025 No. 475-r “Some issues of ensuring the negotiation process on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union under cluster 1 “Fundamentals of the EU accession process”, on the implementation of government resolution No. 76 “Some issues of implementing the provisions of the Law of Ukraine “On mobilization preparation and mobilization” regarding the reservation of persons liable for military service for the period of mobilization and wartime”, etc.
The Secretary General of the European Evangelical Alliance (EEA), Pastor Jan Wessels, presented the Alliance to the participants and spoke about the activities of the EEA, which unites 23 million evangelical believers from different churches in Europe and at the level of European institutions in Brussels. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EEA has condemned Russia’s military aggression, supported Ukraine and cooperated with Ukrainian evangelical churches. The parties mutually thanked for the cooperation and exchanged views on the prospects for further development of relations between the EEA and the SLC.
Ryan Lane, National Director of Samaritan’s Purse in Ukraine, spoke about the humanitarian and social work of Samaritan’s Purse through Ukrainian evangelical churches, in particular, noting that about 125 thousand tons of various humanitarian aid has been provided to needy Ukrainians since March-April 2022 to date. According to Mr. Lane, the amount of assistance provided by Samaritan’s Purse in Ukraine is the largest in comparison with other countries in the world experiencing humanitarian crises. Mr. Lane noted the incredible resilience and courage of the Ukrainian people and their defenders in defending Ukraine from Russian aggression. Ukrainian religious leaders expressed their gratitude to the Samaritan’s Purse for helping Ukraine and for the assistance of the ROCU in advocacy at the international level.
Pastor Anatoliy Raychynets, Deputy Secretary General of the Ukrainian Bible Society, informed the members of the RECCU about the preparations for the RECCU’s solemn meeting on the occasion of the 20th anniversary and the Interfaith Chaplaincy Forum “United in Service”, which are scheduled for the second half of 2025.
Senior Bishop Anatolii Kozachok of the Ukrainian Evangelical Christian Evangelical Church and Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Council of Evangelical Christians of Ukraine Valerii Antoniuk told the participants of the meeting about the aspects of chaplaincy that were discussed at the meeting of the AUCCRO with Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Lieutenant General Yevhen Moysiuk and shared the prospects for further development of the Evangelical Protestant chaplaincy ministry.
At the end of the meeting, the evangelical religious leaders prayed for the Ukrainian people and authorities, for Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers, for Ukrainian families and for the healing of the wounded, for Ukraine’s victory and postwar reconstruction.
After the meeting of the Council, the Spiritual Council of the National Day of Prayer for Ukraine held a meeting to discuss organizational issues related to the preparation for the National Day of Prayer for Ukraine, which will be held in early July 2025. The Spiritual Council approved the program and prayer directions of the prayer service “Prayer for Ukraine” and agreed on the organizational measures proposed by the organizing committee.
