Christian Song Festival Held In Odesa

30.09.2002, 21:34

A festival of Ukrainian Christian song was held in southern Ukrainian Odesa from 27 to 30 September 2002. It was organized at the initiative of the international foundation “Reformation,” the foundation for religious and secular accord “The Good Samaritan,” and the United Methodist Church of Ukraine. Representatives from most of the Christian churches of Ukraine took part in the festival.

“We truly hope that this festival will become a source of spreading the Gospel in Odesa through song, as well as through the testimonies that come from the hearts of young people,” stressed Victor Marchenko, pastor of the Central Church of Christians of the Evangelical Faith. “We are showing an example of peace and tolerance between different denominations and jurisdictions. This is what facilitates the spiritual rebirth of our society,” said Rostyslav Kryzhanivskyi, rector of the Christian Open University of Humanities and Economics. Bishop Paisii, head of the Odesa and Baltiia eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate, was also among the participants of the festival. According to him, “Christians should communicate and do something that will unite them around the Gospel.” He also believes that “the Moscow Church has now made a decision about its behavior in interchristian relations and has chosen to isolate itself.” No representative of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate attended the festival. The Gideon Bible Society, which has been active in Ukraine for ten years, participated in the festival as well. According to Valerii Zlenskyi, president of Gideon, in recent years approximately 18 million bibles have distributed throughout the country and about 800,000 in Odesa.