Conference of Ukrainian Evangelical Alliance Held in Kyiv
On March 20, in Kyiv, the second annual conference of the Ukrainian Evangelical Alliance was held with the participation of delegates from all over Ukraine, reported Religion.in.ua with reference to the alliance’s website.
One of the speakers at the conference was the official representative of the German Evangelical Alliance, Commissioner on Eastern Europe, Mr. Ulrich Materne.
Ukraine joined the World Evangelical Alliance in 2003 when Odesa Evangelical Alliance was established at the Odesa Christian Humanitarian-Economic University. In 2010, the Ukrainian Evangelical Alliance was registered. Today, it has branches in Odesa, Zhytomyr, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Volyn regions and Kyiv. The alliance is headed by Rector of the Odesa Christian Humanitarian-Economic University, Academician, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Rostyslav Kryzhanovskyi.
The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) is a global ministry working with local churches around the world to join in common concern to live and proclaim the “Good News of Jesus” in their communities. WEA is a network of churches in 128 nations that have each formed an Evangelical alliance and over 100 international organizations joining together to give a worldwide identity, voice and platform to more than 600 million evangelical Christians. Seeking holiness, justice and renewal at every level of society - individual, family, community and culture - its aim is uniting to transform the nations so that God is glorified.
Christians from ten countries met in London in 1846 for the purpose of launching, in their own words, "a new thing in church history, a definite organization for the expression of unity amongst Christian individuals belonging to different churches." The 1846 historical context is instructive. The English conscience was disturbed by growing social injustices, especially working conditions and child labor. The Church of England experienced the Scottish Disruption and the Tractarian Movement exodus. Darwin was developing his evolutionary theories, and Marx and Engels published the Communist Manifesto in 1848; France, Germany and Italy all experienced revolutions in 1848. The Second Great Awakening (1791-1842) created a desire for Christian fellowship across the boundaries of church and geography, especially in the British Isles and USA. "It was a time that called everywhere for the influence of an [sic] united and powerful Christian Church." (Ewing, 12). British meetings starting in 1843 led to the watershed London gathering in August 19-September 2, 1846 at Freemason Hall. Representatives came from England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Sweden, Germany, France, Holland, Switzerland, the US and Canada. Some 800-1000 Christian leaders, representing 53 "bodies of Christians", met for 13 days in worship, preaching and business.
This was the beginning of a vision that was fulfilled in 1951 when believers from 21 countries officially formed the World Evangelical Fellowship. Today, 150 years after the London gathering, WEA is a dynamic global structure for unity and action that embraces 600 million evangelicals in 128 countries. It is a unity based on the historic Christian faith expressed in the evangelical tradition. And it looks to the future with vision to accomplish God's purposes in discipling the nations for Jesus Christ.
Today, WEA seeks to strengthen local churches through national alliances, supporting and coordinating grassroots leadership and seeking practical ways of showing the unity of the body of Christ.
