Last month the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI), Rt Rev Dr Richard Murray, visited a small Presbyterian congregation in Kraków, Christ the Saviour, one of only four churches that make up the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Poland (EPCP).
With the oldest of PCI’s congregations dating back to 1613, Dr Murray’s visit was an opportunity to offer encouragement and support of the largest Presbyterian Church in Ireland, to the fledgling Polish Presbyterian denomination, whose ‘oldest’ congregation was a little more than nine years old. As the EPCP don’t have anything that resembles a traditional church building yet, on the Sunday he was there, Dr Murray preached in Christ the Saviour, which worships in a former café on the outskirts of the city. He was accompanied for part of the four-day visit by PCI’s Secretary to the Council for Global Mission, Rev Uel Marrs.
During his visit, he also made a poignant journey to Auschwitz, which isn’t far from Kraków. With a keen interest in the history of the Second World War, Dr Murray said that nothing could really prepare you for the darkness and horror of the place, something he reflected on in his recent Christmas message.
His visit to Poland is thought have been the first by a PCI Moderator. “My primary focus was to build and deepen our relationship with the EPCP, which is very much a new partnership. It was also about encouraging mutual support and learning from one another – a time of fellowship and an opportunity see and to hear first-hand the vision and the hope that this new reformed church has, especially to help people come to know the Lord Jesus personally,” Dr Murray said.
Its lead pastor, the Ukrainian-born minister, Rev Sashko Nezamutdinov, spoke at PCI’s General Assembly in Belfast. Dr Murray continued, “I’d been looking forward to my visit, as I had met Sashko in June and was encouraged by his vision for Christ the Saviour and the Church in Poland, which was to be ‘a vibrant Protestant church’ serving Christ and the city’s people, in a way that was ‘culturally relevant’, as it stated their Sunday liturgy.
“Being culturally relevant was very apparent, especially in a city where Pope John Paul II had been archbishop for 14 years, as it would be a big leap for many to come from a Catholic church to a Presbyterian one. With that in mind, to try and bridge that cultural gap, the church has Communion every Sunday. The elements are familiar to those who once worshipped in a Catholic setting, as they comprise a wafer and alcoholic/alcohol-free wine. It was a liturgical service, with a full liturgy that included prayers, readings and responses, so it would have a familiar feel to it, but all in a reformed theological context,” he said.
On his last day in the country, along with one of EPCP’s student ministers, Dr Murray left Kraków and travelled west for an hour, or so, to a place that has become synonymous with mans’ inhumanity to man – Auschwitz.
“Even before I visited, it was hard to get your head around the simple reality that the evil which took place there actually happened within living memory. Wrapped up against the cold, which was penetrating that day, our guide told us, ‘You are not visiting a tourist attraction today, it is a mass grave you’ve come to’. I counted 50 coaches in the car park. The only photo I took was of the main gate,” Dr Murray said.
“As we were guided around Auschwitz, and the massive adjacent camp at Birkenau, the next four hours were harrowing and unforgettable. The gas chambers we stood in, the electric fences, rows of barracks, the crematoria, and the gallows that we saw, all instruments of systematic murder and unspeakable evil. You just come away stunned and numb.”
Dr Murray continued, “My visit to Poland really was a visit of contrasts – of hope on the one hand, and of horror on the other. The sheer contrast of having gone from spending an uplifting few days hearing about and encouraging what is being done in Kraków, to visiting a place of such utter darkness, was so stark.
“While we must never forget what happened at Auschwitz, we need to give thanks and pray for those planting churches and working in Christ’s name. As the Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 10:15, ‘…As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
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