On November 25, a ceremonial worship service was held at the “Spiritual Center” of the St. Petersburg Seventh-day Adventist Church in connection with the its 20th anniversary and the establishment of the five Adventist communities in St. Petersburg.
The worship service was held under the motto "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever." All members of the churches that were established 20 years ago in St. Petersburg were invited to the solemn events.
Members of the Petrogradskaya, Yugo-Zapadnaya, Moskovskaya, Nevskaya and Kupchinskaya communities came together to recall the 20-year journey and glorify the Lord who guided them all these years. The participants also expressed their gratitude for the Center that has served all the communities of St. Petersburg for 20 years, for the communities that were established in 1997 after an evangelistic program, christening ceremonies that took place during this period, as well as for clergymen who served during that time.
Pastor Nikolai Smagin presented photographs that reflected the history of the Center and surrounding churches. Pastor Alexander Romanov, who served as pastor during that time, also shared his memories. In his recorded speech, he reminded parishioners about the difficulties faced by believers who participated in the construction of the church, as well as the offerings of those who did not have a lot of money in those years, but still donated their gold jewelry so the construction of the center would not stop.
Pastor Ivan Velgosha, who also addressed the congregation, based his spiritual speech on the passage from Matthew, chapter 16, where Jesus asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of man, am?” This is a very important question. Every believer must themselves understand who Jesus is to them. This understanding should not be based on movies or sermons, every believer should find the answer based on their personal relationship with Jesus.
