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Report on visit to Bulgaria
20-25 May 2009
Together with my wife Anne and the Europe Secretary in the Connexional Team,
Colin Ride, I was invited to visit the Methodist Church in Bulgaria. The itinerary was
organised by Rev Bedros Altunian, the Superintendent of the United Methodist
Church in Bulgaria. The Church is part of the Southern and Central Europe United
Methodist Church Central Conference. We travelled the full length of the country,
visiting church communities and meeting the majority of the 7 ministers within the
Bulgarian United Methodist Church.
Many of the Methodist churches in Bulgaria were established in the late 19th century.
Only 3 of the church buildings were able to be used throughout the years of
Communist government, the majority being taken in to state control and used for
other purposes. Since the fall of the Communist government in the early 1990s the
Church has been involved in a series of largely successful legal cases to seek a return
of the property that was taken from them. They were helped by the fact that the
central United Methodist Church archives had retained clear evidence of ownership.
The Bulgarian United Methodist church has around 2,700 members / friends. It is a
small church in a predominately Christian Orthodox country. It is centred on 15
churches with an increasing number of new church plants and communities working
with minority groups such as Turkish speakers or people of Roma origin making a
total of around 35 Methodist congregations in Bulgaria.
Sofia
There is only one Methodist church in the capital. The Dr Long Memorial Church is
situated in the heart of the city. It is a large old building that is being steadily
modernised through the visionary work of its minister Rev Vladimir Todorov. We
met his young family as well as a South Korean mission partner who works with the
congregation. The building has a number of meeting rooms and space for
accommodation on 4 floors. A significant amount of refurbishment has taken place
but there is a lot left still to do.
The 100 or so members of the congregation travel from all over Sofia to the church,
some travelling over an hour to get there. Like most Bulgarian congregations the age
profile is not dissimilar from that of many churches in Britain and the minister is keen
to develop a new ministry for students at one of a number of universities in Sofia.
Ruse
We travelled 5 hours from Sofia to the border city of Ruse. This historic city on the
Danube was once a major Roman outpost although more recently it was blighted by
toxic pollution from the Romanian factory across the river. Fortunately for Ruse the
factory has now closed and the city is thriving again. The Methodist church building
is one of only 3 to have remained in continuous use since it was built at the end of the
19th century.
However the manse next to the church building was taken in to state control with the
intention to use it as an art gallery. It was therefore renovated with this purpose in
mind. Now the Church has been able to secure a return of the building they have been
able to benefit from this renovation and have a good functional building which is well
used.
Rev Daniel Topalski and his family live in the upper floor of the building, the lower
floor and basement being used for church meeting rooms and a children’s centre. The
former leader of the children’s centre, which was used daily for children’s work, left
recently to set up her own business. The work in the children’s centre has now
temporarily stopped whilst its future is reviewed. The intention is to re-focus the
work on more disadvantaged children who don’t have the option of accessing other
state or privately run nurseries and after school clubs.
The Church does not want to duplicate what is already being adequately offered
locally but instead wants to help address the unmet needs of the poorest members of
the community. This philosophy is reflected in the churches mission 20 miles away
from Ruse with a Roma community, although we did not have the opportunity to visit
this.
Varna
We were met in Varna by the central church’s minister Rev Samuel Altunian, the son
of Superintendent Bedros Altunian. We were taken to see the new church which was
opened in the late 1990s. The original church in Varna was taken into state ownership
and converted in to a children’s puppet theatre. It would have been too difficult and
potentially unpopular in the local community to change it back to a church when they
won the legal case for it to be returned to the church, so after much negotiation the
Church was offered a piece of land to build upon instead. The requirement was that
the building must be 6 stories high, to be in keeping with the surrounding flats, hence
a large imposing church has been built.
The building is very well appointed and provides a very visible witness of the
Methodist Church’s presence in Bulgaria’s second city. However due to its size it is
expensive to maintain and run and is not yet used to its fullest extent. Many in the
community remain suspicious of the Churches motives and so one element of their
mission and witness is to offer their large sanctuary area free for musical concerts.
This seems to be proving popular with tourists and locals alike.
We were taken to visit a successful church plant called The House of Prayer and
Mercy in a Turkish speaking part of Varna. It is led by a lay pastor, Mehmed
Stefanov. The church is a simple hall with a meeting room behind it. Where a cross
would normally be seen on the wall at the front of the church hall is a picture of a
woman wearing a headscarf prayerfully holding an oil lamp. It was an image that was
used in a previous Women’s World Day of Prayer. It appealed so much to those
coming to the church that it has been used ever since in order to avoid using any
image that may provide an unhelpful initial barrier. Such cultural sensitivity is at the
heart of the work done Mehmed Stefanov and his family.
It has taken time to build up trust in this largely Muslim area, but by living alongside
a very poor and marginalised community, sharing their times of pain and suffering,
and providing support when required, the small church is now well used. The pastor’s
wife and daughter lead active children’s and youth work and this is an area they
would like to expand. Many of the local children cannot afford what is required in
order to attend school and the church would like to develop a basic literacy
programme to meet this need.
Shumen
On Sunday morning we took part in worship at Shumen church alongside the young
minister Rev Mihail Stefanov. I preached and brought greetings from the Methodist
Church in Britain. Colin Ride, a member of the central committee of the Conference
of European Churches was invited to bring greetings from other European churches.
Following the service we were joined again by the Superintendent and the former
Superintendent of the United Methodist Church in Macedonia, Mr Willie Nausner as
well as the former minister in Shumen, Rev Margarita Todorova. We all took part in
a special and moving ceremony to dedicate the newly refurbished manse that stands
next to the church. This work had been done with financial support from the Fund for
World Mission and the Irish Methodist Church. Colin Ride and I placed a plaque on
the wall of one of the rooms inside the manse which had previously been used for
illicit bible study classes. The plaque states:
During the last atheistic regime this manse has been a shelter and place of
encouragement for the small group of Methodists in Bulgaria. It has been a place of
underground distribution of Bibles and Christian literature
It is restored with the help and support of the British and Irish Methodists.
This brotherly help is a testimony of Methodist solidarity and God’s faithfulness.
Psalm 124
The building now not only provides accommodation for the minister, but a number of
useful rooms for general church use.
Opposite the church is a medical and social centre that is run with support form the
United Methodist Church in Germany. The centre is multi-purpose and well
appointed. It runs a social centre and food distribution site for people identified as
being in particular need by the town’s social services. There is a primary care
medical service run by 2 Bulgarian doctors and a team of nurses. On the first floor is a
rehabilitation unit for people discharged from hospital following suffering a stroke or
heart attack. This is an unusual service in Bulgaria and is attracting a lot of
favourable attention. On the second floor of the centre is nursing home for a small
number of elderly people, most suffering with dementia. Behind the centre is a small
building used for children’s after school clubs, and is proving very popular.
We were told that the previous tensions between church and medical centre had now
been resolved and there seems to be a good spirit of co-operation between the two.
Conclusions and recommendations
The Methodist Church in Bulgaria has emerged from a very difficult period in their
history, and now has an enthusiastic, forward thinking and predominately young
group of ministers and lay pastors looking for opportunities to develop the churches
mission in new and exciting ways. They are aware that the age profile of the church is
older than the general population and are therefore keen to focus work on children’s
and youth work, as well as with those on the margins of Bulgarian society.
Possible areas of support the Methodist Church in Britain could provide include:
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Support for work with students in Sofia
Support for work re-establishing work in the children’s centre in Ruse
Support with teaching Turkish speaking primary school-age children basic
literacy skills in Varna
Support with training Sunday School teachers in Shumen
It was noticeable in both Bulgaria and Macedonia how much modern technology is
used. All the Bulgarian churches we visited use data projectors and screen to help
with worship. All have computers and internet access for youth group work. The
ministers overcome their isolation from each other through use of Skype internet calls
and email. However they also value the web-based resources produced by the
Methodist Church in Britain. One told us of how they download podcasts from the
Methodist website to listen to. Another had used the resource “Time to talk about
God” within their fellowship group. They had also used clips from YouTube as a
discussion starter in their youth group.
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The Connexional Team in Britain should review how material and the reports
it produces could be modified for use by our partner churches. Many churches
are no longer looking for costly printed books, but for up to date and
downloadable web based resources that can be used in their local context or
for personal study. This would be a valuable use of the World Church Fund.
The Methodist Church in Bulgaria has much to teach the Methodist Church in Britain,
including:
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Despite significant persecution it has remained faithful to its calling.
The majority of its ordained ministers are under 40 years old.
The majority of its churches are embracing new technology to support
congregational worship and mission amongst young people.
All churches have weekly bible study group meetings which are central to the
life of the church.
Above all, this small church is not afraid to be seen to be different, to serve the
most marginalised people of their society and publicly witness in a country
where it is a significant minority.
Richard Vautrey
Vice President Designate