When you think of Poland, Reformed Christianity is probably not what comes to mind… and this association is generally not wrong. Polish society is predominantly Roman Catholic, although our country is increasingly secularising. While in 2011 87.58% of Poles declared themselves Roman Catholic, in 2021 the percentage dropped to 71.30%. Young people are much less likely to attend church or consider themselves religious than their parents and grandparents. Still, most people in Poland are at least nominally Roman Catholic, and all Protestants together make up less than 1% of our society. But it was not always so. Back in the 16th century there was a robust Protestant movement in Poland and a growing Reformed Church. Some famous early-modern Reformed theologians, such as Johannes a Lasco (Jan Łaski) and Johannes Macovius (Jan Makowski), were Polish nationals. Sadly, the Reformed Church in Poland was suppressed during the Counter-Reformation and has remained very small ever since.

But the Lord is at work in Poland, and I have an exciting story to share about how a new Presbyterian denomination was recently established in our country! In 2020, representatives of four Presbyterian congregations from different backgrounds met to discuss the prospects of forming a Polish presbytery. In 2021, this presbytery was officially registered as the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Poland. Since then, it has met regularly, adopted the Westminster Standards in Polish as our confession, ordained three new ministers (myself included), and several more men are preparing for gospel ministry in Poland.

You may have noticed that the name resembles that of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of England and Wales. While we dearly love our brothers and sisters in England and Wales, our name has nothing to do with the name of this denomination and everything to do with the Polish context. In Poland, historical Protestant churches tend to take names following the pattern Kościół Ewangelicko-… (Evangelical Church…), with the second part of the compound specifying their confessional identity. Hence, we have Kościół Ewangelicko-Augsburski (Evangelical Lutheran Church), Kościół Ewangelicko-Reformowany (Evangelical Reformed Church), and Kościół Ewangelicko-Metodystyczny (Evangelical Methodist Church). We decided to follow suit, and so we are Kościół Ewangelicko-Prezbiteriański, which translates into English as the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Poland.

But where do the four founding congregations come from? It is exciting to see how the Lord brought us together from different background and histories. The oldest congregation, Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in Warsaw, was established back in early 1990s by Rev. Moner Shaded and a group of alumni of Campus Crusade ministry. It was constituted as an independent Presbyterian congregation subscribing to the Westminster Standards, and it remains a faithful witness to the gospel in Warsaw for over three decades now. Recently, Rev. Moner Shaded was succeeded in the role of the senior pastor by Rev. Krystian Otremba.

The second congregation, Christ the Saviour Presbyterian Church, was established in 2015 in Kraków, Poland's second-largest city and its former capital. It began as a church plant of Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church in Lviv, Ukraine, and was later particularised as a congregation of the EPC in Poland. Its pastor, Rev. Aleksander Nezamutdinov, was the first minister ordained by the Polish presbytery.

The third congregation, Redeemer Evangelical Presbyterian Church, is the second in Warsaw. It was planted by the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP) and World Witness, held its first worship service in 2017, and remained under the ARP's supervision until it officially joined the new Polish presbytery. It is pastored by yours truly.

Finally, the fourth congregation, Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church, is in Gdańsk, a major city in northern Poland. It was founded in 2020 by a group of believers from a Baptist background who had come to embrace Presbyterian convictions. They first joined the International Presbyterian Church (IPC), and since the founding of the EPC in Poland they have maintained ties with both church bodies. The congregation is pastored by Rev. Stanisław Sylwestrowicz, and his son, Michał, will soon take his ordination exams.

The EPC in Poland is still very young, but already much good has happened! A major milestone for us was translating, publishing, and adopting the Westminster Standards. Mr. Maciej Rogatko translated the confession, and I translated the catechisms. The whole edition was then carefully checked by a team that included Rev. Aleksander Nezamutdinov as well as the two of us. The beautiful edition was printed by MW Books, a publishing ministry that Rev. Nezamutdinov runs in Kraków. MW Books has also published many other important books, including Calvin's Institutes, Bible commentaries, early modern Polish catechisms, and titles by authors such as R. C. Sproul, Kevin DeYoung, Timothy Keller, and Nancy Guthrie.

Another exciting development is a new church plant in Lublin, which Rev. Andrzej Stelmasiak is planting. Rev. Stelmasiak was sent by the EPCEW, but from the very beginning he has also been working closely with the EPC in Poland. Perhaps this illustrates the most exciting thing about the emerging denomination: we all have different stories and ties to Presbyterian bodies outside Poland. Some of the ministers labouring in Poland are missionaries or partners with MTW. Several men ordained in the PCA either already work in Poland or plan to join us soon. I am myself a ministry associate of the ARP's World Witness. We have various formal and informal ties to the EPCEW, the IPC, the EPC of Ukraine, the PCA, the ARP, and other churches. But we are all coming together to build a united Presbyterian body in Poland and to share the gospel in a country with a great need for clear and faithful proclamation of the good news. Please keep all the churches in Poland and our small presbytery in your prayers!

A New Presbyterian Denomination in Poland

The Law and Concupiscence (Part 2)