Paul Vashchishin,
finance committee
The Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Convention (UEBC) in the USA has chosen as its president the Rev. Ioann Ustenko, pastor of Regeneration Church in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania.
The election took place Saturday, August 31, 2024, during the 78th annual conference of the UEBC, which was held during Labor Day weekend at Regeneration Church (Церква Відродження), the host for the conference.
Also elected to the new executive board for four-year terms were: vice president for domestic missions -- Rev. Roman Kapran, pastor of the Slavic Baptist Church in Newark, Delaware; vice president for foreign missions -- Rev. Anatoliy Sakhan, pastor of the Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Church in Vineland, New Jersey; secretary -- Rev. Denis Sichkar, pastor at the First Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Church in Philadelphia; treasurer -- Mr. Alex Kolesnik, deacon at the Slavic Baptist Church in Stevens, Pennsylvania; financial advisor -- Rev. Paul Vashchishin, pastor of the Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Church in Crum Lynne, Pennsylvania.
The women's division elected Mrs. Angelina Prokopchuk from Church of New Hope in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the leader of women's ministries. The youth division elected Mr. Vlad Shanava from the Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Church in Vineland, New Jersey, as its leader.
Rev. Ustenko (Іоан Устенко) replaces Rev. Kapran, who was ineligible for another term because of term limits.
Rev. Ustenko and his wife, Olga, have five children. Rev. Ustenko, who was born in Cherkasy, Ukraine, has been the lead pastor of Regeneration Church since 2015.
One of the guest speakers, Dr. Barry Whitworth, executive director of the Baptist Resource Network, urged his listeners on Saturday evening to adopt a biblical worldview.
Angelina Prokopchuk,
women's ministries
A praise group leads congregational singing during the Sunday morning service.
Rev. Ioann Ustenko, newly elected president of the Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Convention in the USA.
Rev. Valerii Antoniuk, president of the
Baptist Union of Ukraine
Rev. Volodymyr Omelchuk, pastor of Grace Church, Irpin, Ukraine
Denis Sichkar, secretary
Dr. Barry Whitworth, executive director, Baptist Resource Network
During a seminar on Saturday afternoon, Rev. Valerii Antoniuk, president of the Baptist Union in
Ukraine, pointed out that hundreds of churches have stopped functioning in Ukraine during the war of aggression perpetrated by Russia.
Rev. Volodymyr Omelchuk, pastor of Grace Church in Irpin, Ukraine, also preached and led a seminar.
Many prayers for Ukraine were lifted up throughout the conference for God to end the war, and the congregation joined in singing a prayer for Ukraine ("Боже, я молю за Україну").
Another highlight was the unveiling of the Ukrainian Study Bible (Українська Навчальна Біблія) by Rev. Roman Kapran, the director of the project and the outgoing president of the Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Convention.
The theme of the conference was "I Believe" (Вірую), based on the Bible verses in 1 John 5:4-6 --For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (Бо кожен, хто народився від Бога, перемагає світ. 5 Так, наша віра перемогла світ. То хто ж переможе світ, як не той, хто вірить, що Ісус — Син Божий?) [1 Івана 5:4-5]
About 1,800 people attended Sunday morning service September 1
Alex Kolesnik,
treasurer
Two Ukrainian Baptist churches were accepted into the Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Convention during the 78th annual conference held at Regeneration Church in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania.
* Upstate Family Baptist Church of Spartanburg, South Caroloina. Pastor Ruslan Antonov. Membership is approximately 150.
* New Life Ukrainian Baptist Church in Parma, Ohio.
Pastor Oleksandr Pryhodko. Membership is 83.
Rev. Roman Kapran,
vice president
The Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Convention is an association of churches in the United States. Its missionary division is the Ukrainian Missionary and Bible Society.
If you're interested in supporting these ministries, please mail your check made payable to Ukrainian Missionary & Bible Society [or UMBS] to:
Ukrainian Missionary and Bible Society, Inc.
Alex Kolesnik, Treasurer
P.O. Box 68
Lititz, PA 17543 USA
Or you may donate online at https://UkrBaptist.org.
This is a view of part of the audience attending the Sunday morning service (Sept. 1), which was held in the auditorium of Bensalem High School in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. In foreground at right is the new president, Rev. Ioann Ustenko.
Prayers over the newly elected executive committee were offered by Rev. Valerii Antoniuk [left], president of the Baptist Union in Ukraine; Rev. Anatoly Moshkovsky [far right], former UEBC president; and Rev. Avdiy Chripczuk [second from right], former president of the UEBC. The officers are [second from left] Ioann Ustenko, Roman Kapran, Anatoliy Sakhan, Paul Vashchishin and Alex Kolesnik.
Rev. Anatoliy Sakhan,
vice president
Rev. olexa Harbuziuk Legacy
Пастор олекса Романович Гарбузюк