Latest News #291
November 18, 2004

The following news concerns the Ukraine.

Bible Day fills the Opera House

Customers at the Bible stall which was one of the attractions at the Bible Sunday celebrations at the Opera House in Lviv on October 24, 2004. Ukraine. Photo: Norwegian Bible Society/Bernt Olsen. (UKR04DJ-36.JPG)

KIEV, Ukraine — It is quite common for Lviv's famous, richly decorated Opera House to attract very large audiences. However, even the most optimistic among the church leaders and Ukrainian Bible Society staff who organised the Bible Day celebrations there on October 24, 2004, had not anticipated that this venue would be filled to capacity. The enthusiastic participation of around one thousand people from churches in and around Lviv was mirrored at similar events across the country.

Altogether, between eight and nine hundred churches were involved in some form of Bible Day celebration this year, compared with 480 last year, when the first nationally recognised Bible Day took place (see World Report 383/18). Bible Society General Secretary Roman Vovk believes that this dramatic increase is a direct result of the government's decision in February to declare 2004 the Year of the Bible. Since then, the Society has found that the authorities have adopted a much more positive attitude to its work and that, in turn, demand for Bibles has risen significantly (see World Report 388/24).

In every location, large or small, where Bible Day events were held, close collaboration between local churches and between the churches and the Bible Society characterised the preparations. Promotional posters and brochures were produced for use in churches, and in many cases Bible Society work also featured in the mass media. Many churches distributed specially prepared donation envelopes, an approach which proved effective in both raising funds and, because donors were invited to write their name and address on the envelope, substantially adding to the Society's donor database.

This man was one of many people who visited the Bible stall which was one of the attractions at the Bible Sunday celebrations at the Opera House in Lviv on October 24, 2004. Ukraine. Photo: Norwegian Bible Society/Bernt Olsen. (UKR04DJ-34.JPG)

The Lviv Opera House was undoubtedly the most imposing venue where Bible Day celebrations took place. Christians from many different backgrounds were brought together, sitting side by side, as they listened to musical contributions and received greetings from church leaders. In other places, too, Bible Day events were not necessarily held in churches. In the area around Kherson, a city 300 miles (450 kms) south-east of Kiev, for example, cultural centres were taken over by local congregations keen to attract people who would not necessarily wish to enter a church. In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, 10 churches arranged a 'Festival of Praise and Worship' in which blind children participated. In Kiev itself, around 200 churches held events to mark Bible Day and others are still planning to do so.

While ambitious events like that held in the Lviv Opera House certainly raise the Bible Society's profile and bring different churches together, they can be very challenging to organise. This is why the Society places equal priority on encouraging as many churches as possible to mark Bible Day with small-scale local events. As a new climate of openness towards Bible work emerges in Ukraine, Mr Vovk has been encouraged to set the Society a challenging target for Bible Day in future years: he would like to see a Bible Day celebration taking place in every local church. (484 words - UKRAINE.18.11.04)

A choir performs during the Bible Sunday celebrations at the Opera House in Lviv on October 24, 2004. Ukraine. Photo: Norwegian Bible Society/Bernt Olsen. (UKR04DJ-46.JPG)