Reformed Presbyterian Church of St. Petersburg with Biblical Theological Seminary Students and Visiting Professors, 2015
Reformed Presbyterian Church of St. Petersburg
Location: St. Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast, Russia
Leadership: Oleg Volkov, pastor; Alexander Firsanov, elder
History: Annunciation Presbyterian Church of Pushkin (1997) and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of St. Petersburg (1999) merged to become one congregation in 2010
Size: 56 members
Prayer Requests
As a pastor I pray for spiritual growth of every person in our church. God help us be strong in our faith and witness in a place where we live and work. Please pray that God would help us raise new church leaders and be a single whole, the one Body of Christ to use all our gifts and talents to fulfill the ministry that our Lord has commissioned to His Church in this city and this country. -Oleg Volkov
Meeting Location:
- 54 Dekabristov pr., St.Petersburg, Russia
Contact information:
- tel. +7 812 460 0787 or +7 921 309 4378
- Website: www.rpcspb.ru
- E-Mail: ministerov@gmail.com
Statistics:
- 56 members including children: 7 two-parent families, singles and one-parent families
- Average attendance for Lord’s Day service this year has been 40 people
- Baptized two new covenant children
- New Members: 5
When two churches become a single whole, the one Body of Christ
What we know today as the Reformed Presbyterian Church of St. Petersburg is the merger of two churches: the Reformed Presbyterian Church of St. Petersburg and the Annunciation Presbyterian Church of Pushkin.
Church Ministry:
- Small group Bible study for adults and for young men
- Support of Babochka ministry for children with special needs (partially established by Blake and Cathy Purcell, now co-led by their son Lewis and his wife Galina)
- Monthly support of a minister from a Muslim country - a graduate of the Biblical Theological Seminary of St. Petersburg
- Support of Prison Ministry led by Igor Krutogolov
- Support of a seminary in Central Asia
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of St. Petersburg was founded by the Purcells who came to Russia in 1990 to work with Russian college students under Navigators. In 1998 the Mississippi Valley Presbytery of the PCA ordains Blake Purcell as a teaching elder/ evangelist to Russia. In January 1999 the Reformed Presbyterian Church of St. Petersburg is founded and by April of 2000 it has 25 members.
The Annunciation Presbyterian Church of Pushkin was founded in 1997 by Korean missionaries (Korean Presbyterian Church). In 1999 the church gained independence from Koreans.
Oleg Volkov began his pastoral ministry in Pushkin church in 2000. The same year he entered the Biblical Theological Seminary of St. Petersburg (founded by Blake Purcell in September 1999) and graduated from it in 2004. Oleg was a pastor of Annunciation Church from 2000 till 2010.
These two Reformed churches ministered in different parts of St. Petersburg for 10 years. The Reformed Presbyterian Church was located in megalopolis itself and the Annunciation Presbyterian Church worshiped in Pushkin, which is the outskirt of St. Petersburg. All this time two communities were friends, prayed for each other, had common services at Christmas and Easter.
In fall of 2010 an idea to merge these churches occurred. The point was to merge all gifts, talents and resources to fulfill with joint efforts the ministry that our Lord Jesus Christ has commissioned to His Church in St. Petersburg.
With whom can you walk Moscow's Red Square (and wave as Vladimir Putin drives past),
Visit St. Basil's Cathedral, the famous GUM department store, monuments to Dostoevsky, Rachmaninov, Tolstoy
And worship with and meet the saints of Reflection Presbyterian Church of Dmitrov, Moscow region?