The Union of Evangelical Congregational Churches in Bulgaria is a

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

denomination in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. A member of the

World Communion of Reformed Churches The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Chris ...

and the

World Evangelical Congregational Fellowship The World Evangelical Congregational Fellowship (WECF) is a global association of evangelical Christian Congregational Churches, from various national associations around the world, which is united by a common belief in the lordship of Jesus Chris ...

History

Beginnings

American missionaries founded the Congregational Churches in Bulgaria 150 years ago when Bulgaria was part of the Ottoman Empire. The mission developed from the work of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. In 1819, the congregationalists and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

s begun to consider mission to Bulgaria. The

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

born missionary Rev.

Elias Riggs Elias Riggs (November 19, 1810 – January 17, 1901) was an American Presbyterian missionary and linguist. Biography Elias Riggs was born on November 19, 1810 in New Providence, New Jersey. He was the second son of Elias and Margaret (Congar) ...

, he became influential in the translation of the Bible into the Bulgarian language. In

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

, 2,000 copies of the New Testament were sold. The first evangelists were Rev. Cyrus Hamlin and Christipher Rhinelander Robert arrived in 1857, they were followed by Rev. Wesley Prettyman,

Albert Long Albert Long (December 4, 1832, Washington, Pennsylvania - July 28, 1901, Liverpool, England) was an American Methodist pastor who devoted much of his life preaching in the Balkans. During his missionary activities in the Ottoman Empire he contri ...

, and Charles Morse. Hamlin and morse established 3 missionary centres in Plovdiv,

Odrin Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

and

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora ( bg, Стара Загора, ) is the sixth-largest city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province. Name The name comes from the Slavic root ''star'' ("old") and the name of the medieva ...

. In 1859, the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n born Frederic Flocken joined the work. The first church was founded in

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

. The American evangelists served the country till the Second World War.

Evangelism

From 1840 to 1878, churches were founded in

Bansko Bansko ( bg, Банско ) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of the Pirin, Pirin Mountains at an elevation of 1200m AMSL, above sea level. It is a ski resort. Legends There are several legends about who founded Bansko. Ac ...

, Turnovo,

Svishtov Svishtov ( bg, Свищов ) is a town in northern Bulgaria, located in Veliko Tarnovo Province on the right bank of the Danube river opposite the Romanian town of Zimnicea. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svishtov Municipalit ...

Ludovic Ludovic is a given name and has also been a surname. People with the given name A * Ludovic Albós Cavaliere (born 1979), Andorran ski mountaineer * Ludovic Ambruș (born 1946), Romanian wrestler who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics * Lud ...

. In 1899, a congregation was also founded in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

. In the late 1800s, there were ten missionaries with 25 assistants. In southern Bulgaria, there were 19 congregations in 1909 and these churches formed a legal association. In 1926, the

American College of Sofia The American College of Sofia (ACS) (Bulgarian: ) is a school in Bulgaria, located in the capital city of Sofia. The college was founded in 1860 and is regarded as the oldest American educational institution outside the United States.This title i ...

was founded. Later, in 1931, an evangelical seminary was founded in the town. Till 1944, the Bulgarian culture toward Protestantism was intolerant. During the communist regime, the church experienced several hardships; in that time, there were 22 churches, now there are 40 and new churches are being planted every year. In 1948, pastors were arrested and imprisoned. and in 1949, Protestant churches were declared unlawful. All contacts with other Protestant were cut.

International relationship

The Union of Evangelical Congregational Churches in Bulgaria is a member of the

and of the

Statistics

The church has approximately 35 congregations and 5,000 members in Bulgaria.

References

{{Christianity in Bulgaria Reformed denominations in Europe Protestantism in Bulgaria Members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches Congregationalism