The beginnings of the Church of God in Russia go back to 1988. During the time when the communist era introduced perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness), Then German Overseer Dieter Knospe traveled into the Soviet Union and held a series of seminars for pastors in western Russia. Simultaneously German evangelist Rudi Schepik founded several churches in the region of Kaliningrad, an area where Brother Schepik continues to serve as our regional overseer. Eventually Schepik and Knospe and their contacts met and joined efforts in the last years of the Soviet Union and new works were established and contacts were made and cultivated with pastors throughout Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine.
The Soviet Union collapsed in December 1991, ending almost 70 years of communistic rule. Beginning in 1992, there were multiple efforts to introduce the Church of God to Russia. In May 1993, an evangelistic and church planting initiative called “Strike Force” was carried out by a combination of COG U.S. pastors and Russian ministers. During the blitz month, the Strike Force claimed to have 10,000 conversions and planted 30 churches. However, one year later, only one of these congregations was still alive – the New Generation Church of God led by Pastor Vladimir Shestopalov. In 1996, Sergei Riakhovsky, a former underground pastor who received training at our seminary in Cleveland, planted a Church of God congregation in Moscow-Tzaritzina.
Also in 1997, Rodolfo and Alma Giron were appointed as missionaries to Russia for the purpose of establishing a bible school. The Eurasian Theological Seminary began operations in 1998 and quickly became the flagship school for the Church of God in the former Soviet Union, training students either on campus or in various extensions from Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Mongolia, Moldova, and Belarus.
Since the re-organization of the denomination in the 1990s, the Church of God now has about 90 congregations represented in many of regions of the Russian Federation: Moscow, Kaliningrad, St. Petersburg, Orel, Izhevsk, Samara, North Caucasus, Siberia, and other areas.
Overseer, Vladimir Shestopalov
Vice-Overseer, Alexander Utyakov
Website: www.churchofgodportal.ru
