News (Page 10)

January 20-22, 2015 the working group of heads and representatives of churches and religious organizations of Ukraine and Russia met in Wuppertal (Germany) to consider the implementation of Oslo Roundtable Resolution steps (September 11, 2014). The United Methodist Church in Germany has helped with hosting this meeting. During the work of the group suggestions were made on priority directions for further development of the dialogue between the religious communities of the two countries. Ways to expand the humanitarian assistance by religious…

Irina Margulis In 2009 our community started holding worship services in the newly purchased and repaired building of the North West Russia AC Centre. While designing the inner space of the Centre, a room for children’s ministry was reserved. It’s a universal saying in our context, that says, ‘Children are our future’. If we ponder over these words, it turns out to be that children by themselves are of no value: we await that they will make our dreams come…

Natalia Smirnova «We were blown away» Members of the Youth Council of Eurasia in the Philippines – typhoon, Russian folk songs and hot discussions during the rainfall season. This year the members of the Youth Council of Eurasia participated in an international event for the first time. Global Young People’s Convocation and Legislative Assembly took place in the end of July in the Philippines. One can say, it is a model of General Conference for young leaders of the United…

Ekaterina Zubkova How does the idea begin? Insensibly for us, all the kids, whom we invited for Christmas and Easter to our small church, have grown up and become teenagers, and it became uninteresting for them to play the games and to get the presents. Also it became uninteresting for those, whose parents and grandparents brought them to the church, without their peers. And one by one teenagers and youth started to retreat from the church and then from life…

Natalia Prokhorova Samara United Methodist Church hosted a three-day seminar (21-23 August, 2014) on the issue concerning church ministries organization in the framework of the educational program for UMC pastors in Eurasia. The topic of the seminar was “Pastoral Ministry” and it was held mainly by pastor Tim Walker who has been in pastoral service for over 40 years. The Volga District and Moscow pastors were the main participants at the seminar. We welcomed the Vnukovo Deacon CMC Lydia Rodionova…

Sergey Pugachev Representatives of churches and religious organizations of Ukraine and Russia met for a dialogue on the current situation in the relationships between the two nations, search of the ways for achievement of peace and ceasing hatred. As the Institute for Religious Freedom informs the Round Table was opened September 10, 2014 in a conference-hall in the downtown of the Norway capital. “We have invited you not to a political event, but to a meeting of religious workers” – the Head…

Nataliya Chernova At April 26 Table Tennis Championship was held in the UMC of Pskov. It took place between the team of kids from the orphanage and Pskov Methodist Church team. The Championship satisfied all the rules of tennis including scoreboards. Team A plays against team B. Rewards and gifts were also prepared. Dmitri Parigin was a chief judge on our tournament. Luba Kalashnikova was glad to become a secretary of the chief judge and got an opportunity to find…

Yelena Kitayeva The North West Russia Annual Conference took place near Saint Petersburg in June. For two and a half days we were solving important issues of our congregations’ lives, worshiping God and praying together. It’s been a second year in a row, that we have a group discussion of ministers’ reports and other documents; that helps us spare more time for prayer gatherings, worship and personal talks. But, obviously, this way of doing things demands additional efforts and preparation…

125 years Methodism in Eurasia   S. Pugachev 90 years ago the deaconess of the Methodist church Anna Eklund, spending her efforts and health, did the unthinkable to arrange some help for the poor and the sick of Petrograd. Pastor Young Hah Kim refused to leave for Korea as long as a single Methodist remains in Vladivostok – some time later he was taken to the labour camp where he died. By that time Methodist movement had existed in Russia…