Respondent

Shevchuk Valentyn Avdiyovych

Theme

Activity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the territory of Western Ukraine in the interwar period (1919-1939)

Defence Date

25.02.2020

Annotation

The dissertation is devoted to the complex study of the activity of the Adventist
church in the territory of Western Ukraine during the interwar period (1919–1939). On the
basis of a broad bibliographic and source base, the background and internal and external
socio-political factors of the formation and development of Adventists were investigated,
the main directions of activity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church were revealed.
Commonwealth things. A periodization of the activities of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church in Western Ukraine was created, allocating four periods based on organizational
processes in the community.
Periodization and review of the activities of the Adventist Church gives an
opportunity to see its general administrative structure, global problems, ways of
overcoming crisis situations, as well as strategic plans of development. In particular, it is
proposed to distinguish the following periods: 1. The period of disparate existence of SDА
communities (1919–1921). 2. The period of community unification in the Warsaw
Missionary Field, which was part of the Polish Union of Adventist Communities (1921–
1927). 3. The period of finding the optimal organizational structure (1927–1934). 4. The
period of overcoming the crisis consequences of the church split and stabilization (1934–
1939).
It was found that Adventism in the territory of Western Ukraine during the interwar
period became widespread in German and Czech colonies, among Ukrainians and Poles.
The most active development of Adventism in Western Ukraine dates to the mid-thirties of
the twentieth century. The rapid growth of communities and membership was due to the
quality of missionary work planned. The Adventist Spiritual Center in Warsaw directed
and coordinated the activities of pastors and associates.
The area of distribution of Adventist communities mainly falls on the territory of
Volhynia and less on the territory of Galicia. This tendency is explained by greater
spiritual consolidation and pastoral care of their faithful by the Greek Catholic Church,
unlike the Orthodox clergy, which failed to protect themselves from the influence of
Protestantism. It is argued that the paradigm of Adventism had a family-farm model: the
converts were members of the same family as well as those who lived in the
neighborhood. It has been found that the development of Adventist doctrine, with its
unpopular Sabbath-keeping celebration on the Sabbath instead of Sunday, as well as the
rejection of some food, is due to the centralized organizational structure and planned
staffing of the Church’s leadership. The communities were united in the Eastern and
Southern Conferences, which were part of the Polish Union of Adventist Communities.
Despite the church split provoked by A. Cuba in 1934 and the loss of a large
number of believers, the leadership of the SDА Church has been able to keep the
organization from collapsing. The Adventist leadership paid great attention to the
education of members of the church, as well as the spiritual and professional training of
ministers. A Sabbath School for adults and children for Bible study was instituted in
worship. Future education was provided by future ministers at the Theological School near
Bielsko-Biała.
The liturgy conducted in Ukrainian using spiritual literature in the Ukrainian
language contributed to the spread of Ukrainian culture in this territory. The principles of
healthy lifestyles laid down in the doctrines of the SDА Church, popular thematic
literature, and the reading of preventive lectures to the population have contributed to the
dissemination of progressive medical views among the population, especially in Polissya.
It was found that the Church of the SDA in the interwar period had the status of a
tolerated sect, which could create its religious communes for registration of civil status
and enjoy the right to worship, but did not have all legal rights as a religious organization.
In order to keep the religious property, the construction community, headed by the church
leadership, was registered. It was found that the unequal attitude of the Polish authorities
to religious associations provoked an inter-confessional confrontation between dominant
and small sects. The greatest confrontation arose between religious communities over the
burial place in the cemetery.
Keywords: Seventh-day Adventist Church, Second Commonwealth, Western
Ukraine, interwar period, cooperative activity, missionary activity.

Dissertation File

Autosummary File