The Reformed Presbyterian Church

Tyumen, Siberia, Russia

The Reformed Presbyterian Church of Tymen, Siberia is unusual in many ways.

First of all, it is the only church in the CREC movement in Eurasia in Siberia, and in an oil producing area of Russia, the world’s largest oil producing country. It can be -40 F in the winter, and over 90 F in the summer.

Second of all, it is the only true mission church that was initiated in our movement. (All the rest were begun before they joined the CREC of Eurasia movement.)

Ravil came to St. Petersburg from Ufa, Siberia to study in the Reformed Seminary of SRS in 2002, straight out of the Russian Army. He is actually of Tartar descent, so was born into a Sovietized Muslim family. After three years of seminary Ravil married Julia, a member of the St. Petersburg church.

The sessions of the St. Petersburg church, and the Pushkin church honored a call from a church in Tymen in 2006 and sent Ravil and Julia there as well as ordaining and installing him in that Church.

Unfortunately that church tried to force Ravil to submit to new women deacons and Ravil resigned from that pastorate in 2007.

In that same year many of the members of his former church asked Ravil to plant a new Reformed Presbyterian church that tried to actually be Reformed and Presbyterian.

Eric Sauder traveled to Tyumen in 2008 to meet Ravil and in 2009 Ravil visited and preached at Christ the King in Springfield, MO. The session of Christ the King sponsored the church into Tymen into the CREC as a mission church in 2009.

To read more about the CREC church in Tyumen enjoy the article Why Adopt a Eurasian Church?.