Southern Russia Pastor’s Conference

The conference was attended by UECB President, Director of the Moscow Theological Seminary (MTS), and head pastor of Moscow’s Calvary Church, Peter Mitskevich, and religious scholar, Dean of the MTS, Alexander Mitrofanov.

The two-day conference passed in the blink of an eye. Five main sessions and six practical seminars were an edification and blessing for all conference participants. The conferenc boasted 264 pastors from the Krasnodar Territory and the Republic of Adygea. The hospitality of the brothers and sisters of the Maykop church, as always, exceeded all expectations. A warm welcome and generous refreshments created a unique atmosphere of openness and acceptance. It was easy to forget about the time while talking and sipping a cup of tea, but this was also a planned time.

The working sessions of the conference were well thought out, and sermons were relevant. The opening of the conference began with the blessing and comments by Peter Mitskevich and senior pastor for both territories, Dimitry Kadatsky. Dmitry specifically preached on the 1 Peter 2:5: “And you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

Over the course of two days, the preachers covered the following topics:

• Edifying the church through youth ministry - V.A. Tulyakov, responsible for youth ministry in the Krasnodar region.
• Edifying the Church through Relationships – O.O. Booth, pastor of the "Ark" church in Krasnodar.
• Edifying the Church through Nurturing New Believers - O.S. Bondarenko, elder of the church, Kropotkin.
• Edifying through revitalization of the church - M.D. Tsvirinko, pastor of the church of St. Gostagaevskaya.

On the last day, Mitskevich preached: “Preventing Destruction.” And after the sermon, he briefly spoke about how the brotherhood lives today and listed some prayer needs.

All seminars were conducted by practicing ministers, those who have been living and working in their field for many years. Team development, leadership, working with unbelieving youth, preaching the gospel to men, personal evangelism, apologetics. Everyone who came to these seminars received a lot of useful and practical information that can be immediately used in ministry.

I would like to separately note one event. On November 10, at the morning session, Nikolai Sobolev, Pastor of hosting Maykop church, spoke about prayer. In his sermon, Sobolev emphasized that serving God is worth devoting your whole life to. This word inspired the listeners. During the prayer, several young brothers prayed the prayer of dedication, and some asked God's forgiveness for the fact that, having once dedicated themselves to the service of God, they were not faithful to their promises.

The conference was held in an atmosphere of love and acceptance. Many brothers praised God for such helpful and inspiring fellowship. And absolutely everyone (both participants and organizers) praised God for the fact that He wisely governs His Church and continues to build it, for His glory.

Alexey Khoroshev,

pastor of the Krasnodar church,

graduate of Moscow Theological Seminary