Kiev and Beyond: Church Planting Spreads

Ukraine's capital, with nearly 3 million people, is one of the oldest in Europe, yet it is a mixture of former Soviet architecture and highly developed transportation systems; traditional Slavic mindsets and modern Western European culture; and Orthodox religion and mystic, occultist beliefs.

Home to the first large Slavic kingdom centuries ago, it is where Slavic people first became Orthodox. Ukraine later became part of the Russian empire and consequently the Soviet Union but gained its independence after the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

"[Slavic people] can easily hold two ideas in their head that radically conflict with each other and see no problem," said Dan Upchurch, a Southern Baptist missionary who serves in Kyiv with his wife Lori. "It's not hard for them to deal with the fact that they are Orthodox by tradition but atheist by practice."

This dichotomous mindset is a major challenge in the Upchurches' ministry work. They and another International Mission Board couple, Joel and Mary Ellen Ragains, teach church planting at Kyiv Theological Seminary. The four-year undergraduate program requires students to attend classes four times each year for 10 days at a time.

People think in two distinct categories in Ukrainian culture -- knowledge and practice, Upchurch said, noting that they love to gain knowledge, but "they have no idea what to do with it."

"Their default setting would be to put theological education in the knowledge category but not in the practice category," he said.

The seminary's church-planting program, however, pushes students to put knowledge into practice. Not only do they take classes about theological subjects, but students also must be involved in planting a church in order to earn their diploma. To read more, click here.