Church of Christ in Poland


The Church of Christ in the Republic of Poland is a Christian free Protestant denomination of the evangelical tradition, rooted in the Churches of Christ movement. It advocates a return to Biblical teachings, guided by the maxim: "Where the Bible speaks, we speak; where the Bible is silent, we are silent", and the Reformation principle of sola scriptura. As of 2022, the church had 6,650 members, including 490 clergy, across 48 congregations. It is organized on a Presbyterian model. Its press organ is the quarterly.
The church is a founding member of the Evangelical Alliance in Poland. On 1 February 1990, it was entered into the register of churches and religious associations by the Ministry of Administration and Digitization under Section A, number 24. Its headquarters are in Warsaw. The Presiding Elder is Pastor.

History

Second Polish Republic

The Church of Christ's ideas emerged in Poland in late 1921, when pastor, the movement's pioneer, returned from the United States to his native Starowieś. He soon gathered a small group of followers comprising several families. The first baptisms occurred in May and September 1923, establishing the first congregation in Starowieś. Activities centred on Kresy, primarily among Orthodox populations. In autumn 1924, Jaroszewicz and his wife moved to Kobryn, which became a missionary hub.
In 1923, Jaroszewicz sought legal recognition for the community, but the request was denied. In 1926, despite resistance from, local legalization was granted for congregations in the Wołyń and Polesie voivodeships. By the 1930s, congregations were legalized in other eastern voivodeships as well. Until 1925, the group was called the "International Christian Mission", renamed at a 1926 Kobryn conference to "Mission of Evangelical Christians in Poland". In 1928, the Union of Churches of Christ was formed.
By 1928, 30 congregations existed. In 1929, the First National Union of Churches of Christ Assembly in Kobryn established an Executive Committee: Konstanty Jaroszewicz, Jan Bukowicz,, Bolesław Winnik, and members Grzegorz Bajko, Teodor Pawluk, Nikon Jakoniuk, Jan Moskaluk, and Jan Władysiuk. Annual assemblies occurred in various locations until 1939. Until 1939, the Union of Churches of Christ was headquartered in Kobryn, then moved to Brest. All interwar congregations were Russian-speaking, with the largest concentration near Kobryn, where around 1,500 members lived in the Kobryn County by 1937, mostly farmers, urban poor, and domestic workers.

World War II

The outbreak of World War II split congregations across the General Government, East Prussia, Belarus, Ukraine, and the Reich, with most on Ukrainian territory. Occupation borders hindered operations, with the harshest conditions in the General Government, where religious gatherings were banned in May 1941. Some congregations joined the Union of German Evangelical Free Church Congregations. Many leaders were deported to the Reich, concentration camps, or Soviet gulags. Post-war border changes left 72 congregations beyond Poland's eastern border, incorporated into the Soviet All-Union Council of Evangelical Christians-Baptists.

Polish People's Republic

In 1945, Union of Churches of Christ congregations joined the Baptist Christian Church of Poland. The Baptist Christian Church of Poland leadership opposed Jerzy Sacewicz's methods of acquiring sacral buildings in Pomerania and Masuria and demanded the dissolution of the Union of Churches of Christ Executive Committee, which persisted despite integration. Consequently, in November 1946, Union of Churches of Christ leaders withdrew from the Baptist Christian Church of Poland.
In November 1946, the Union of Churches of Christ of the Evangelical Faith in Poland resumed operations, with four congregations in Białystok Voivodeship, eight in Masuria, and others in Gdańsk, Sosnowiec, and Muratyna.
In 1948, the first issue of the monthly Jedność was published, alongside a 10,000-copy Śpiewnik Kościoła Chrystusowego and several pamphlets.
The Polish People's Republic era was challenging. On 15 September 1950, State Security arrested clergy and lay workers after fabricating evidence, targeting the entire Church Council: Jerzy Sacewicz, Mikołaj Korniluk, Bolesław Winnik, Paweł Bajeński, and Nikon Jakoniuk. Bajeński and Jakoniuk were released after months, but others faced espionage charges, with charitable work and Western contacts deemed subversive. Jerzy Sacewicz faced accusations:
Sacewicz remained in areas liberated by the Red Army, concealing his past and religious activities, and worked at the Brest Communal Bank. After the German-Soviet war began and eastern territories were occupied, he immediately shifted allegiance, contacting local SD authorities and the German Eastern Front staff. Secret talks earned him their trust, documents, and access to military transport, including aviation… He frequently traveled to Ukrainian cities, especially Kyiv, posing as a fervent Hitler supporter, urging locals to submit to Nazi rule, work in Germany, and abandon resistance, while encouraging collaboration… He continued this pro-Hitler activity until liberation.
Sacewicz was imprisoned and tortured until 1952.
In 1951, Paweł Bajeński, released and hospitalized, worked to reclaim sealed chapels and convened a conference in Inowrocław, electing a new board: Paweł Bajeński,, Nikon Jakoniuk, while Jerzy Sacewicz and Mikołaj Korniluk remained imprisoned. Church activities were limited to services, with authorities enforcing shared chapel use among denominations. The Union of Churches of Christ had 24 congregations, 53 stations, 12 chapels, 6 prayer halls, and about 3,000 members. alleged Bajeński followed state directives to merge with the United Evangelical Church, facilitating Union of Churches of Christ's entry into the United Evangelical Church. Jerzy Sacewicz, imprisoned, later criticized Bajeński for "leading the Church into Babylon". Separatist tendencies emerged in 1956, backed by Americans, but Bajeński prevented a Union of Churches of Christ exit from the United Evangelical Church. In 1958, J. Naumiuk and Walenty Dawidow founded the independent Church of Christ in Poland, registered in 1982.
From 1953 to 1988, Polish Churches of Christ were part of the federated United Evangelical Church in the Polish People's Republic. Konstanty Sacewicz served as United Evangelical Church president from 1975 to 1981, and led the Churches of Christ faction in its final years.
After the United Evangelical Church's dissolution, the group became the independent "Church of Christ Congregations" in 1988, led by Pastor Henryk Rother-Sacewicz.

Third Polish Republic

After over a decade under Henryk Rother-Sacewicz, became leader in 2011. Post-1989, the church renamed itself twice: on 30 November 2004, to "Community of Churches of Christ in Poland", and since 31 August 2011, as "Church of Christ in the Republic of Poland".

Agencies

The oldest agency is the Betania Retirement Home in Ostróda, established in 1958 within the United Evangelical Church. The Ostróda Camp Catechetical-Missionary Centre began in May 1971 in Ostrów near Ostróda.
The Christian Biblical Institute, founded in 1984 in Warsaw, conducts educational and publishing activities, releasing 83 titles with over 250,000 copies.
In 1988, the Słowo i Życie Publishing House was established through Henryk Ryszard Tomaszewski's efforts, then secretary of the Church's National Council. It launched the monthly Słowo i Życie in 1989, becoming a bimonthly in 1990 and a quarterly in 1995, alongside several books. Bronisław Hury has been director since 2001, with a circulation of about 800 copies.
Other agencies include:
  • Centre E10
  • Graceland Education Centre
  • Hope4You Education Centre
  • CRK ProEcclesia
  • International Church Association
  • International Culture Exchange ICX
  • Dobro Czynić Charitable Mission
  • Dom Łaski Evangelical Mission in Poland
  • Poślij Mnie Mission
  • Nadzieja Social Mission
  • Pioneer Bible Translators Poland

Congregations and mission stations

Local communities include: