|
A special Convention of the ULC was held in Kyiv on April 30,2003. The year 2003 has been declared the year of the 10th anniversary of revival of the ULC. It has been initiated to start collecting means to commemorate pastor Teodor Yarchuk. They have adopted amendments to the ULC Constitution, Guidelines of the Doctrine Committee of the ULC and the Ukrainian Mission Council. There were elected new members of the Doctrine Committee, namely: pastor Andriy Honcharuk (the head of the Committee), pastor Yuriy Fizer, pastor Ihor Ratushny, pastor Oleh Yukhymenko, Ihor Rudzhik (the secretary), and Taras Bosiuk; and members of the Ukrainian Mission Council - pastor Olexandr Dich (the head of the Council), pastor Oleh Okruhin (the vice head), pastor Serhiy Borsch (the secretary), pastor Serhiy Somin, Oleh Zelenov (the treasurer), Victor Mrachkovsky, and Kamil Shuayev. Confessional Evangelical
Lutheran Conference had its meeting on May 8-10, 2003 in Plzen,
the Czech Republic. The Ukrainian Lutheran church was
presented by the delegation of five people: Bishop of the ULC
V'yacheslav Horpynchuk, pastor Yuriy Fizer, Dr. John Lawrenz,
Secretary of the ULC Ihor Rudzik, Councillor of the ULC Episcopate
Petro Rudzik. Pastor of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church Yuriy Fizer
made a presentation. His presentation was dubbed "Evangelism
in the Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Surroundings in Ukraine".
On April 16 Bishop V'yacheslav Horpynchuk visited the faithful of the Ukrainian Lutheran church in the villages of Ivanivka, Hamove, and Kubriaky, Mykolaiv region. While visiting laymen of the congregations where pastor Serhiy Somin is serving, they discussed various aspects of spiritual life of the faithful and their growth in learninjg the Word of God and in faith. Dr. John Lawrenz accompanied the Bishop in his trip. On the next day Bishop V'yacheslav and Dr. Lawrenz participated in a regular pastors' conference of the Tavrian Eparchate of the ULC. Pastor of Ivanivka congregation, Master of Theology Serhiy Somin was a key speaker at the conference that was held in the premises of the Church of Christ the Savior in Mykolaiv.
Pictures: meeting with laymen in the village of Hamove; On March 29 and 30, 2003 the ULC Bishop V'yacheslav Horpynchuk visited the ULC congregation in the town of Oleksandria, Kirovohrad region. The Bishop and Dr. Lawrenz, that was accompanying him, participated in the worship service conducted by the local pastor Oleksandr Dich. After the worship head of the congregation Pavlo gave donations collected after the service and an embroidered table-cloth for the youngest congregation of the ULC.
On March 16, 2003 there was an installation of pastor Taras Kokovsky in the congregation of St. Apostles John and Jacob. The installation was conducted by the ULC Bishop V'yacheslav Horpynchuk. Dr. Lawrenz from the Mission Society Thoughts of Faith, Rector of St. Sophia's Seminary Professor David J. Webber, pastors Oleh Yukhymenko and Oleksandr Simashko participated in the liturgy. Head of the congregation Valery Tkachenko, the faithful of the congregation, relatives and friends greeted pastor Taras. The local church choir headed by L. Doroshenko were singing during the worship services. They sounded especially inspired performing "Many Happy Years".
On March 9 the Resurrection
congregation honoured the memory of a genious poet Taras Shevchenko.
We thank God for the talant and life of Taras Shevchenko.
We are grateful for his inspired words, for the testament he left
for us," Love your Ukraine and pray the Lord for it in the
times of trial and peril".
Dr. Martin Luther's Large Catechism is published and available for readers in Ukrainian. This book is one of the confessional books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church that is a part of the Book of Concord. The publication is made by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation (Macomb, MI, U.S.A.) in cooperation with the "Horlytsia" Printer in Ternopil, Ukraine.
On February 19, 2003 Pastoral Conference of the Kyivan Eparchy took place. Pastor Oleksandr Dich from Olexandria, Kirovohrad Oblast presented his paper. Pastor Dich has analyzed peculiarities of preaching in the main Lutheran churches in Ukraine in his paper.
On February 18, 2003 there was held a regular meeting of the ULC Synodical Council. Newly elected heads of the Kyiv and Tavrian Eparchates pastor Pavlo Bohmat and pastor Ihor Ratushny participated in its work for the first time. Executive director of the Thoughts of Faith Mission Society Mr. Kermit Traska, head of the Charitable Fund Faith in Action Volodymyr Cherevko, and rector of St. Sophia Theological Seminary professor Jay David Webber were invited to the meeting. The Synodical council among other things considered the issue of entrance examination to the seminary and entrust the ULC Episcopate with development of events to mark the 10th anniversary of revival of the Ukrainian Lutheran Church in Ukraine.
The pictures give you some glimpses of the Synodical meeting. On January 22, 2003 Ukrainian Lutheran Church Liturgy Committee session took place. Pastor Oleh Stetsiuk was leading the session. The Committee reviewed the new Ukraninan Lutheran Worship Book. The book is comprised on the basis of the Ukranian Evangelical Worship Book and Ukrainian Evangelical Hymnal prepared by Pastor Theodor Yarchuk and published by the Ukrainian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in 1933.
|
