Ministry Report in 1993, perhaps no development in post-Soviet states has had more potential import for churches and Christian ministry in Europe’s eastern reaches than the present political crisis in Ukraine. Already the impact has been widespread and profound with, sadly, no end in sight. The conflict between post-Maidan Ukraine and Putin’s Russia has had substantial—and will have ongoing—consequences for 1) relations among Ukraine’s three Orthodox jurisdictions; 2) relations between Orthodox in Ukraine and Orthodox in Russia; 3) relations between Protestants in Ukraine and Protestants in Russia; 4) relations among Ukrainian Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches; 5) the status of missionaries and foreign clergy in Ukraine and Russia; and 6) last, but arguably as important as all of the above, growing Russian restrictions on freedom of conscience for non-Orthodox believers—in play before the Ukrainian crisis but definitely exacerbated by it. The present issue—by far the lengthiest in the East-West Church and Ministry Report’s 22 years of publication—includes contributions from Ukrainians, Russians, and Americans; and from indigenous church workers, missionaries, and academics. Authors, predominately Protestant, hail from Kyiv, Donetsk, Moscow, Washington, DC, and Wilmore, Kentucky, U.S.A. In future issues the editor heartily welcomes Orthodox and Catholic as well as evangelical responses.
Mark R. Elliott, Editor