One of the most widespread Protestant denominations in the world is Pentecostalism, combining several branches of this intricate and peculiar Christian movement. It appeared in 1900 on the basis of the Negro Baptist churches of the United States of America and spread rapidly, integrating even into such traditional and conservative Christian institutions as the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Today, according to statistics, there is no country in which there would be at least one Pentecostal community or group of believers. In this they surpass even Catholics - leaders in the number of adherents among not only Christian denominations, but in general all existing religions.
On the territory of the Republic of Belarus, the largest Pentecostal community is the Grace Church in Minsk. We will talk about her in this article.
Church History
Recently, the community of Christians of the Evangelical faith (as Pentecostals call themselves) “Grace” in Minsk celebrated its 25th anniversary. This is true from the point of view of the legal organization registered in the early 90s, but somewhat conditionally from the point of view of continuity - this church association is preceded by a very long and complicated background, rooted in the middle of the 20th century or even deeper. Throughout the entire period of Soviet power, the Pentecostals of Minsk were persecuted, denied registration, and their leaders were subjected to repression - imprisonment and labor camps. Brief periods of easing invariably ended in new oppression. Believers were fined, oppressed by ideological workers, dismissed and expelled from training places.
Despite this, the number of followers of XBE was constantly growing, so in the late 70s they managed to register and even build a house of worship. However, in connection with the opposition of the authorities, in 1984 the community suffered a split, so that the lion’s part was forced to return to an illegal position. Those who compromised with the authorities began to be called the 1st Minsk Church, and those who did not accept its conditions began to gather home again, until, finally, in 1988 they again received the official status - “2nd Religious Society of the XBE of Minsk”. It was this second church that later became the community that today is known as the Grace Church in Minsk. In 1991, she secured a land plot with permission to build a new house of worship. Subsequently, due to the constant rapid growth of the community, the building was rebuilt and expanded several times.
Grace Church in Minsk: current status
Today, the Grace community is the largest Pentecostal association in Belarus. The number of its members is several thousand people. In the possession of the church is a spacious building with a meeting room for 2400 seats, plus various utility rooms and a parking lot.
Church Services
The ministry in the Grace Church (Minsk) is focused on daily services, which are classified by the composition of the participants (general church, youth) and by nature (home meetings, night prayer).
As for spiritual education, enlightenment, and social service, the community has a Sunday school for children, a Bible school for teenagers, and a magazine is published. Plus, charity events are regularly held.
The missionaries of the community are very active in the CIS and far abroad countries, thanks to which the Grace Church in Minsk is the alma mater of many Pentecostal groups in the world.
Affiliates
Among the wards of the church of small communities there are associations of believers in Cherven, Borisov, Smolevichi, Braslav, Osipovichi, Maryina Gorka and many other settlements. A number of metropolitan churches are also founded by immigrants from Grace, for example, the Grace of Christ Church in Minsk. They all have a different relationship to Grace, from fully accountable regional missions to independent groups of believers.