http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s04040054.htm
 
Wednesday, April 14, 2004

EASTER CELEBRATIONS OF EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS IN RUSSIAN CITY BROKEN UP BY AUTHORITIES

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

RUSSIA  (ANS) -- Easter Celebrations in Tyumen, Russia, were broken up by secular authorities on April 14 and 15, according to a report from the Association of Christian Churches in Russia (ACCR).

"Please, spread the news from Russia. It is very important for us now that churches and ministries all around the world would stand with us in prayer for our country. As Christian Churches in Tyumen region prepared Easter celebrations in the biggest sport arena of the city, the event was canceled by the local authorities, recommending evangelical christians to celebrate Easter some other time later," said Pastor Igor "Nikki" Nikitin, president of the ACCR.

According to the report believers of Protestant churches in Tyumen united the auspices of the Council of Christian Churches of Tyumen in order to celebrate Easter in a special way. Not having facilities of their own large enough for the planned celebrations, the Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, and other Evangelical churches rented the City Sport Stadium for the event until local authorities stepped in to halt their efforts.

In order to avoid a conflict of timing with the Easter Celebrations of other Christian denominations they decided to hold their celebrations on April 14 and 15, the report said.

But several days prior to the event rumors began spreading throughout the city that “someone from (the) authorities who dislikes that kind of belief was going to cancel the Celebrations.”

On the evening of April 12, two days before the event, the believers received a letter of warning from the Federal Security Service. And only one day prior the Celebrations, on April 13, the Department of Internal Affairs of the Tyumen area officially notified the believers that the event should be canceled because of certain security threats. That very day they received a denial from the Director of the Sport Stadium and a letter from the City Vice-Governor.

According to ACCR, the Easter events are especially significant for Christians. "The Holy Passover is the most important Christian holiday for Christians of all denominations and this year it has been a great day of unity for the Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants," the report said.

Sergey Lavrenov, Priest of the Light to the World Church in Tyumen, said: “I can't understand why we have been treated like this in the holy Easter days.”