As tensions continue in and around Ukraine, we hold the country and surrounding region in our prayers, and carry in our thoughts particularly CCN partner, St Paul’s Cathedral Community in Odessa.
The Evangelical Lutheran community of Odessa was recognised by the Ukrainian state in late 1990, after the collapse of the USSR, and became the primary Lutheran community in Ukraine, with St. Paul’s Church, originally built in the 1820s, as its cathedral church. The building has had a chequered history: It was a German Lutheran church in the 19th century, used as a broadcasting station and gym in Socialist times, burned down in 1976 and was finally reopened and consecrated in 2010 following a stunning restoration project, funded in large part by the Lutheran community in Bavaria and individual patrons. It’s the CCN’s first and only partner in Ukraine.
