The History of the Bansko congregational evangelical church
Our church in Bansko was established in 1868. The end of the 19th century was a turbulent and dynamic time when Bulgaria entered a new era. The Bulgarian nation experienced resurgence – politically, culturally, socially, intellectually and spiritually. The desire for political freedom kindled the desire for spiritual enlightenment.
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During this time Christian churches forged ahead and the Bible had already been translated into over 120 languages. Missions were founded in Europe and overseas in the U.S.A. They followed one goal - Jesus' command: “And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole of creation.’” (Mark 16:15)
Missionaries, who according to Dr. Albert Long did not want to create just protestant churches but to teach Bulgarians about the gospel, deserve a huge credit. Although the first evangelists met strong resistance from the Orthodox church, they were able to set up groups, and later founded the first churches.
During the mid and late 19th century, Bansko was one of the most progressive and entrepreneurial renaissance towns. Many of the great men of the town had the opportunity to travel abroad, to trade and to get education. Bansko was ready for change in the church.
Teacher Nikola Filipov and priest Dimitar Mladenov started reforms in the church even before the arrival of evangelical missionaries. Since the Gospel was traditionally read in church Slavonic which the listeners did not understand, they began to preach in plain Bulgarian.
Soon the gospel bookseller Peter Musevich-Borikov came to town, and briefed them about the activities of foreign missionaries in Stara Zagora. Not long after, at the invitation of the locals, Charles Morse, the first missionary who had been sent to work specifically among Bulgarians and was the author of the first Bulgarian-English and English-Bulgarian Dictionary, arrived and gave directions to the 18 families who broke away from the Orthodox church. After his departure, persecutions started against the evangelicals. Hearing of this, Charles Morse returned, accompanied by H. Page and the preacher N. Boyadjiev. This time, however, the population was not welcoming and did not allow the foreigners to stay at the inn. This issue reached the ears of the authorities, who then allowed the missionaries to visit Bansko and the evangelists to hold church services.
The first services were held in the houses of Petar Ushev and Marko Petkanchin, who were the first evangelists in Bansko. As the evangelical society grew, it needed to find a suitable building. Accordingly, the evangelical church of Bansko was opened on 6 August 1868, as recorded on the stone slab of the purpose-built building. On 15 August 1871 the Evangelical Council ordained preacher John Tonzhorov from Samokov, and the church was established with the following founding members: Petar Ushev, Georgi Sarandov, Grigor Petkanchin, Mitar Katzarov, Nikola P. Ushev, Mihail Dagaradin, Maria Usheva, Tota Kochukova, Sandra Gr.Petkanchina, Sandra K. Petkanchina, Sandra M. Dagaradina.
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The evangelicals developed an extensive range of cultural, educational and social activities. Pastor Sechanov organized a Sunday school in Bansko, and founded a Temperance Society for adults and children. The church opened a kindergarten for the children of field workers. Women were offered general literacy courses and guidance on housekeeping and hygiene. A junior high school was opened with eminent local citizens as teachers, such as G. Tsnanov, N. Tonzhorov, E. Vezyova-Vaptsarova (mother of the great poet N. Vaptsarov) K. Stefanov (later professor in Sofia), E. Usheva, and others. Due to some difficulties and disputes between the Orthodox and the Evangelical Church, many evangelical Christians were harassed. Therefore the Turkish government allowed the evangelicals to establish a separate community (which existed until 1912) under its own mayor. The longest serving evangelical mayor was Nicolas Furnadjiev, revered by both the authorities and the nobles of Bansko. Pastor Atanas Hristov organized the evangelical school called “Village respite”. He was also an active fighter in the Macedonian Liberation Organization. Following the liberation of Macedonia the orthodox and evangelical communities found common ground in the work that needed to be done. But the revolutionary situation also forced many evangelical families to emigrate from Bansko, mainly to Velingrad, where they laid the foundations of the local church. |
Pastor Atanas Hristov
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The church in Bansko saw both hard and lighter times. It seems that the authorities were more favorable to the evangelical community before 1944. After 9 September 1944 the new government tried to silence and to crush the church. On 4 November 1948 the authorities arrested evangelical pastors across Bulgaria, and in February 1949 tried them in kangaroo courts. People were forbidden to discuss religious matters in public, were spied upon to find out whether they attended church meetings, and were threatened with dismissal from work if they did. The church was intimidated, and many left it. But the Lord takes care of the seed, which tides over hard times and comes to life when times get better. Times got better after 1989.
Young people started to come to us as early as 1985-1986. There were ten children at first, mostly children of religious parents. Then a big wave came between 1990 and 1994, but was followed by a serious drop, unfortunately. People came, saw, and went. Others, however, stayed. Since then our membership has grown slowly, but steadily.
Now our church is facing new challenges. We are addressing them, and we are apparently doing well. Today, not without pride, we can say that this is a living church with room to grow. We are people who work for Christ. This is our goal and this is our future. We believe that God will continue to take care of us, as he does now.
The history of our church is described in more detail in professor Boris Kozhuharov’s book, Bulgaria’s First Evangelical Church (Първата евангелска църква в България), published by Нов човек in 1998.
Here is a list of the activities of our church:
Young people started to come to us as early as 1985-1986. There were ten children at first, mostly children of religious parents. Then a big wave came between 1990 and 1994, but was followed by a serious drop, unfortunately. People came, saw, and went. Others, however, stayed. Since then our membership has grown slowly, but steadily.
Now our church is facing new challenges. We are addressing them, and we are apparently doing well. Today, not without pride, we can say that this is a living church with room to grow. We are people who work for Christ. This is our goal and this is our future. We believe that God will continue to take care of us, as he does now.
The history of our church is described in more detail in professor Boris Kozhuharov’s book, Bulgaria’s First Evangelical Church (Първата евангелска църква в България), published by Нов човек in 1998.
Here is a list of the activities of our church:
- Services every Sunday at 10.00 am.
- Bible study three times a week.
- Sunday school for children of all ages.
- Work with elderly and lonely people of the town and church.
- We co-operate with other churches and Christian organizations abroad.
- We take part in building new evangelical societies and groups.