wfn.org | Bulgarian Methodism Growing

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3410 notes).

Note 3410 by UMNS on Feb. 3, 1997 at 16:01 Eastern (3445 characters).

SEARCH: Bulgaria, United Methodist, church, growth
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Linda Bloom                             56(10-71B){3410}
          New York (212) 870-3803                     Feb. 3, 1997

Despite Bulgaria's problems,
church there continues to grow

               by United Methodist News Service 

     Despite the effects of Bulgaria's economic ruin and continued
political repression, the number of United Methodist congregations
there is growing.
     Much of the growth, according to United Methodist Bishop
Heinrich Bolleter of Geneva, Switzerland, is among Armenian
refugees, Turkish-speaking people and gypsies, although some new
Bulgarian congregations have formed as well.
     "We started in 1993 with three (lay) pastors and now we have
30 on the list of assignments," the bishop said during a Jan. 31
telephone interview. The majority of those lay pastors are between
20 and 30 years old.
     The Rev. Eddie Fox, world director of evangelism for the
World Methodist Council, said the council has linked six Bulgarian
churches with congregations outside that country "for friendship
and support" and plans to make another six such connections by
this spring.
     The recent refurbishing of what is known as "Dr. Long Church"
in the city of Sophia points to Methodism's beginning in Bulgaria.
Albert Limerick Long, an American missionary, started church work
there in 1857. The Long church building was taken over by the
Communist regime in the 1940s and returned by the new government
in 1989.
     In the city of Varna, Methodism was outlawed in the 1960s.
Its church there was confiscated and used as a marionette theater.
In 1992, groundbreaking was held for a new building, on land given
by the government.
     However, the government halted construction several years
ago, according to Bolleter. Despite a letter-writing campaign and
other efforts to reverse that decision, "we still do not have the
permit to continue."
     The problem, he explained, is a political one, compounded by
deep suspicions of foreign religious groups in a country with a
state Orthodox church. Despite being present for more than a
century, "we still are looked at as a foreign Protestant sect,"
Bolleter said.
     While there is a problem with a lack of meeting space in
Varna, the halt in construction has not curtailed membership
growth. In the past three years, the bishop said, 12 new
congregations have sprung up around Varna.
     Among the converted, according to Fox, were some of the
construction workers who were building the church in Varna before
the work was stopped.
     Bulgaria's economic woes have brought suffering to all its
citizens. Inflation skyrocketed to more than 2,000 percent in
1996. "The gap between what they get as a salary and what they
have to pay (for necessities) is terrible," Bolleter reported.
     A person on pension, for example, receives the equivalent of
about $10 a month, which is less than it takes to buy one kilo of
bread, he said.
     European churches have been assisting this winter, according
to the bishop, by buying food in Bulgaria, making up parcels of
flour, margarine and oil and distributing them to pensioners and
families with small children.
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