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The congregation of Kharkiv during the war
From the first hour of the outbreak of the full-scale phase of the war, Kharkiv found itself under the brutal blows of Russian troops. They failed to capture the city, but missiles, artillery, and aviation caused it serious damage and disrupted the course of life of its residents. Hundreds of thousands of people fled the city, and in the first ...
05.10.2022
Thanksgiving Day 2022
Kyiv Odessa Kharkov Berdyansk Poltava Bila Tserkva Ivano-Fraksvsk Petrodolinskoe and Novogradkovka Olexandria Vinnitsia Kremenchug Lviv Zaporizhzhya Shostka Zhitomir
03.10.2022
Oleksandr Gross was awarded the Diploma of the Verkhovna Rada
On September 26, 2022, Oleksandr Gross, the pastor of the congregations of GELCU of the Southern region, received the Diploma of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine "For merits to the Ukrainian people." "This is the first award for 20 years of social work. But it doesn’t belong only to me, but also to all those, with whom we served children and ...
01.10.2022
GELCU became a direct member of CPCE
The Council of the CPCE has accepted the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ukraine as a direct member of the church communion. The Evangelical Lutheran churches in Russia and other successor states of the Soviet Union had already been discussing their membership in CPCE since 2019. Until now they had been represented together as the ...
28.09.2022
A new branch of the “Bethany” Children’s Center
The “Bethany” Children's Center of the Evangelical Lutheran community in the village of Novohradkivka opened its thirteenth school year. During the past 13 years, we were not only able to help children and their families with the school program but also provided meals, hygiene, sometimes clothes and shoes, oftentimes medication, and, of course, ...
14.09.2022
Helping refugees from Ukraine in Bavaria
Germany ranks second after Poland in terms of the number of Ukrainian refugees taken in. According to the latest data, 967,000 people received temporary protection status in Germany. A significant number of them (115,000) stay in Bavaria. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bavaria and organizations related to it have actively helped and continue ...
01.09.2022
Memorial day of the victims of deportations and political repressions
On August 28, congregations of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine traditionally honor the memory of the victims of deportations and political repressions. This year there were no large-scale memorial events because of the war. Nonetheless, members of congregations with German roots remember their history and the tragedy that ...
29.08.2022
The smiles of children from Novogradkivka
A lady from Germany, whom I sent a photo from the camp, wrote to me: "How joyful it is to see the smiles of children from Ukraine." And indeed, today every child's smile is of the highest value. Bringing joy to children in the midst of the difficult reality in Ukraine is one of the reasons why we decided to hold the camp. Children lack ...
26.08.2022
Summer Conference for Ministers
Even though the Synod, where four Reformed congregations were to be admitted to the GELCU, had to be postponed because of the war, close cooperation and fraternal communion continue and are strengthened in various areas, including education. A regular joint conference of ministers of NELCU and CREC was held on August 2-5 in the city of Rivne. Its ...
09.08.2022
Meeting with the WCC delegation
As Russia’s war against Ukraine continues for a sixth month, a WCC delegation led by WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca visited Ukraine to listen to the representatives of local churches, as well as state institutions working with religious issues, and to ensure the participation of the Ukraine’s churches at the upcoming WCC ...
05.08.2022
Summer camp in Subcarpathia
We, the Reformed Church of the Holy Trinity together with the Children's Center "Nazareth", and with the support of the Church of Christ the Savior in Rivne and other congregations of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, run summer camps every summer. In July we usually organize a tent camp, which is something the children look forward ...
01.08.2022
Loving your neighbor
An example of the ministry to refugees of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia. While at home in Ukraine, we often hear statistics about women and children leaving Ukraine. People flee the country, trying to save their lives and the lives of their children. We also read about neighboring states of Ukraine hosting ...
31.07.2022