This year's the Russian Church Leadership Conference in Moscow brought together more than 1,600 participants from around the country and abroad. On May 8-10, ministers prayed together, praised God, and reflected on the power of intercession. More than 45,000 people joined online broadcasts of the sessions on YouTube.
The theme for the year
The Conference began with a worship to God led by the choir of the House of the Gospel Church from Naberezhnye Chelny. Lead Pastor Svyatoslav Purshaga of Emmanuel Church of Vladimir and Lead Pastor Ivan Borichevsky of the New Covenant Church of Moscow preached on intercessory prayer. They encouraged the assembly to pray for their families, intercede for the authorities and the nation before God.
Eduard Grabovenko, the Head Bishop of the Russian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith, took the floor for the first evening service. He reminded the Church of its responsibility for the God-given land, brought witness of the power of consecration and the impact of God's Word. “If we don't do something now, we will remain a one-generation church. That cannot suit us,” he declared.
Other preachers also called the faithful for active intercession. Bishop Fyodor Zhelnovakov, senior presbyter of the Irkutsk regional association spoke about lessons that can be learned from the prayer life of Abraham, Job, Moses and Aaron, and Stephen. Bishop, lead pastor of the House of the Gospel Church Vassily Evchik noted how important it is to truly know God's heart — it gives determination not to give up in times of crisis, but to cry out for mercy to the last.
Bishop Sergei Potapov, lead pastor of the New Life Church of Barnaul, shared a message with the conference participants on the theme “Intersessor according to God’s heart”. He recalled Christ's command to bless enemies. “Praying for our enemies makes us children of the Heavenly Father. It shows the level of our spiritual maturity. Such unflattering prayer is a sign of spiritual perfection,” he said. Bishop Fyodor Velichko, lead pastor of the Church in Vorkuta, summarized: praying for people should be done according to God's will, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
In different languages
In addition to the choir from Naberezhnye Chelny, the NTWORSHIP music group from Perm's New Testament Church, the SokolovBrothers band, and a combined group of Moscow evangelical churches led the conference participants in worshiping God.
The highlight of the conference was the performance of the musical ensemble “Ray of Hope”. The group organizes concerts in Tatarstan and other regions, performing in national costumes and singing Christian songs in Tatar language. The group has been preparing for its performance at the conference for three months.
“We have a big team, people for the sake of rehearsals would come from Kazan, Elabuga. We serve the Tatars in the Tatar language, because it is very important for them that God speaks to them in their native language — the language of the heart,” said Gulnaz Karimullina, a member of the ensemble.
In addition, “Ray of Hope” presented at the conference an audio project “Yana tormysh” — Bible stories in Tatar language.
The award found its heroes
A special moment of the Conference was the awarding of the Ivan Voronaev Medal of Honor. The Russian Church Council established this award in 2017 and recognizes ministers for their contribution to the development of the Church. This year the medals were awarded to Igor Tyushin, Assistant Coordinator of the RCCEF Humanitarian Projects, Bishop Fyodor Zhelnovakov, Bishop Vassily Rulev of the Pentecostal Churches Union of Uzbekistan, Bishop Alexander Pospelov, Senior Presbyter of the Orel Regional Association, and Elder of the North-West Association, Pastor of the Revival Church Peter Kravchuk.
— Every year when we come together, we have the opportunity to say thank you to people for their labor, example of faith and dedication. I am honored and privileged to present medals to these servants today. We are different, but we are united by our love for the Lord and people, — said Head Bishop Eduard Grabovenko.
In the great assembly
In addition to the general sessions, the Conference program included a series of thematic workshops and meetings of coordinators of ministries — foreign missions, family, women's, youth, evangelism ministries. Throughout the Conference participants were served by a team of prophets from Belarus.
Some of the workshops were led by speakers from Singapore — senior pastor and founder of the City Mission Church Wee Tiong Howe and pastor, co-founder of the international Golden Lampstand ministries Pauline Daniel Phua. They spoke about ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Other RCCEF events were announced at the conference, including the PASSWORD Youth Convention. It will be held in St. Petersburg, August 8-10, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland.
— This is an all-Russian event, and the leadership of the RCCEF is working hard to ensure that leaders and coordinators of youth ministry can come together to seek God and draw closer to Him, and to be edified by senior ministers. There is power in unity, in glorifying God “in a great assembly,” noted David Grabovenko, head of the Missions and Evangelism Department.
The Russian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith / Pentecostals
