BRIEF HISTORY OF MOSCOW BIBLE CHURCH
Moscow Bible Church was founded in 1991 when a group of American missionaries started gathering for prayer with Russian students from different universities. The small group soon outgrew the apartment in which they met, so a church was formed and quickly grew to over 500 members. We began renting a meeting hall in a downtown hotel. Initially, pastors were called from the United States, and an affiliation was established with the Evangelical Free Churches of America. Moscow Bible Church was officially registered with the Russian government in 1994.
Despite having to change locations four different times in its first three years of existence, the church stayed strong and vibrant all through the 90s. However, the new millennium brought many challenges that shrank the body to under 70 people.
From its inception, the church closely partnered and heavily relied on the outreach of Cru Russia (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) and its missionaries. When Cru Russia began to experience difficulties in evangelism and discipleship, the church stopped growing and stagnated for over a decade.
In 2013 Moscow Bible Church was essentially re-planted. We relocated downtown to St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Lutheran Cathedral. We no longer relied on outside ministries, but started our own evangelism and discipleship efforts. Social Ministries were launched while outreaches to teenagers and college students were re-opened. The church began to experience people coming to know the Lord, started baptizing new converts on a regular basis, and started hosting large evangelistic events that other Christian communities in Moscow also utilize for their evangelistic outreaches (the candlelight Christmas Eve services and the Liturgy of Shadows on Good Friday quickly gained trust and a good reputation among churches in Moscow).
Pastor Constantin joined the staff of the church as an administrative director in 2012. In 2016 he was elected as a pastor in charge of vision and strategic development of the church. Alexandra volunteered in the church in various roles. She joined the staff of the church as its director of social ministry in 2016. She launched the church’s charitable foundation “More than Words” in 2019.
Currently Moscow Bible attracts about 200 people every Sunday, with over 100 members. MBC is a kingdom-minded community striving to make all of its materials (Gospel tracks, pre-marital counseling, small group study guides, Advent and Lent readings, etc.) and strategies (evangelistic events, social ministry events and programs, new member classes, discipleship, etc.) readily available to other churches in Russia. Moscow Bible sees its outreach to youth, college students, and young professionals as potentially benefiting other churches in Moscow who may not be in a position to put together programs for this demographic. This also helps to unite young people with a larger group of believers, including potential spouses.
The Lord is greatly blessing Moscow Bible Church in this season. Although the pandemic, war, and draft have produced huge obstacles in the life of our congregation, God is continuing our ministry and growth, blessing us with faithfulness and perseverance – like the church in Philadelphia, mentioned by John in his Revelation.
If you happen to be in Moscow we invite you to join us on Sundays at 3:00 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul (Kitay-gorod metro, Starosadskiy Pereulok, 7/10).
Wherever you are please be in prayer for Moscow Bible to continue to grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and in reaching our city for Him.
