ACTIVITY OF EVANGELICAL BAPTIST CHRISTIANS IN UKRAINE (1991-2021)

The religious movement of Evangelical Baptists is the largest in terms of the number of believers in the Ukrainian Protestant community. The review of missionary activity and social projects of this denomination presented is an outline of the key areas of work of Evangelical Baptists in Ukraine. The largest number of Protestant educational institutions in Ukraine belong to the Baptists. All Baptist educational institutions can be divided into two types: 1) general preparatory programs of state institutions (kindergartens, schools, institutes, educational centers), and 2) theological seminaries, which aim to train ministers to meet the spiritual needs of the church. Baptist higher education institutions are currently on the way to obtaining state accreditation. Over the last five years (2015-2020), thanks to volunteer work in eastern Ukraine, Baptists have become known to Ukrainian society as a church that is actively involved in meeting the needs of the population affected by the military conflict. Baptist believers are actively involved in the country's political processes, many of them as deputies and regional leaders. Thanks to participation in interfaith activities within the Council of Evangelical Protestant Churches of Ukraine and the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, Evangelical Baptists have been able to publicly express themselves in the organization and holding of Thanksgiving, held annually since September 2017 in the capital of Ukraine.