In a country where Seventh-day Adventists worship mostly in rented premises, every new church dedication becomes more than an addition to the statistical report—it’s an occasion to celebrate the growing Ukrainian Adventist community. A church dedication in Dubno, near the border of Poland, drew hundreds of visitors on Saturday, June 1. The new 300-seat church has been widely praised as “the nicest church building we have in our country,” says Vladimir A. Krupsky, president of the church in the Ukraine.

“Overall we own only 35 percent of church buildings,” said Krupsky. “In some areas of the country, it’s as low as 15 percent. Our believers worship in rented halls or in private homes. But things are changing.”

The city mayor, B.C. Nikityuk, said that the Dubno Adventist Church has “contributed to the beautification of our city—even the country itself.” He congratulated the community of 230 adult believers for their strong effort to make the church a landmark of Dubno.

There are many church dedications around the world, said Vitaly Zharun, the Dubno pastor. “But our church dedication is a tribute to the members themselves. It took us three years, a record in its own right, but every single church member had a part in the physical construction of the church. That’s what’s special about this building. You should have seen the blisters on their hands. But they came to build this house of the Lord.”

The Dubno congregation dates back to 1926, and was established through a group of Adventists that had been worshiping since 1903 in a nearby village. The Adventist Church in Ukraine dates back to the late 1880s.

Zharun explained that to build a church in the country where the average monthly wage is around US$50, he had to seek sponsors who could underwrite payment for the materials.

“We saw how excited some of the donors were,” said Sharun. This church was built from donations made by people from different countries, but, also people of different faiths—Methodists and Catholics. When they saw what we were doing, they helped. Total strangers, some of them, but they saw how important this beacon of light is for our city.”

Zharun said that during the time of the Soviet Union, the Dubno congregation shared a church building with two other evangelical congregations, the Baptists and Pentecostals. “As we started to build our own sanctuary, we rented a public hall. Now we have our own home.”

Krupsky explained that “church work in our country is connected to a church building. People are more inclined to come to our programs, evangelistic and social, if they are connected to a church building. In other countries, perhaps, the church conducts evangelism in public halls. Here, people say that church programs should be conducted in church buildings. That’s our culture. And people come.”

Today, the adult membership of the church in Ukraine is over 60,000. Krupsky says that there are more than 21,000 young adults and children who regularly participate in worship and other church programs. “Most of our church members are below the age of 30. It’s a young church with lots of optimism.”