Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Convention in the USA elects new president
With the theme Our Unchanging Christ, the Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Convention in the USA. held its 73rd annual conference in Levittown, Pa., during Labor Day weekend.
Delegates gathered at the host church, Regeneration Ukrainian Baptist Church, and elected a new president, the Rev. Roman Kapran, pastor of the Slavic Baptist Mission Church in Newark, Del.
The Rev. Viktor Kuzmenko, a member of the Ukrainian Baptist Church of Chicago, was elected as vice-president for domestic missions to fill the position vacated by the Rev. Kapran.
The ladies elected Svitlana Khrystenko as the leader of women’s ministries. She is a member of Regeneration Church.
The other officers remain the same. The vice-president for foreign missions is the Rev. Ioann Ustenko, pastor of Regeneration Church; the secretary is the Rev. Igor Melnichuk, pastor of the First Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Church of Minneapolis; and the treasurer is the Rev. Leonid Bliznyuk, pastor of the Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Church of Lancaster, Pa. The leader of youth ministries is Denis Sichkar, a member of the First Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Church of Philadelphia.
Guest speakers and seminar presenters based their messages on the conference’s Scripture text from Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
The Rev. Alex Savych, a pastor and also an instructor and academic dean at the Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary in Lviv, preached and also presented a seminar on the topic of “The Family Where Christ Is the Center.” The Rev. Elisey Pronin, a pastor and an instructor at the Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary in Lviv, preached during the conference and also presented a seminar on the subject “Christ, Me and the Modern World.”
Another guest preacher was the Rev. Vadim Dashkevich, pastor of Spring of Life Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Church of Sacramento, Calif. He told the young people the message of Christianity is that “love sacrifices” and that salvation and eternal life are only through Jesus Christ.
During the Saturday evening youth program, a 10-minute video was shown depicting some of the youth activities held during the past year, including sponsoring a “pizza house” at Rehoboth Beach, Del., and a coffeehouse in Ocean City, N.J., where the young people witnessed two international students who were working at summer jobs.
Congregational singing was led by the Praise Ensemble from Regeneration Church. Several choirs participated. The men’s choir from the First Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Church of Philadelphia was conducted by Volodymyr Maykut. A combined choir was directed by Ivan Velenchuk from Grace Ukrainian Baptist Church in Warminster, Pa. The choir from Regeneration Church was directed by Alik Hontar.
The Rev. Kapran, 50, was born in Ukraine and immigrated to America nearly 20 years ago. He and his wife, Ira, have two children. The Rev. Kuzmenko, 55, immigrated to America 20 years ago. He and his wife, Erina, have three children. He is board-certified as a pastoral counselor by the Board of Christian Professional and Pastoral Counselors.
Alex Harbuziuk
