Refugee Week Stories: Welcoming a New Ukrainian Congregation in London

The Ukrainian Baptist Church 'The Way' began its ministry at Broadmead Baptist Church, Woodford Green, north east London ( part of Baptist Union of Great Britain and London Baptists), on March 1, 2026.

It all started during 2025–2026, when a home Bible study group was held in the home of Ukrainian Christian migrant believers. These were two Christian families who moved to the United Kingdom during the war in 2022. They gathered every Thursday for worship, prayer, and Bible reading. There was a great need specifically for a Ukrainian-speaking Baptist church in the area.

During the year, the group began to be attended by Ukrainians who had not previously known Jesus Christ, and God touched their hearts during these home gatherings. After prayers and God’s guidance, it was decided to establish a leadership team to organise the church together with my husband Pastor Dmytro Vasilyev.

The leadership team of Broadmead Baptist Church and Pastor Andrew Mumford supported our team and continue to do so to this day. Pastor Andrew writes 'I was pleased to facilitate the meeting of the new church in our building earlier this year. We regularly get requests to hire our premises but this case felt different due to the need. It is clear to us that God is blessing the work, and the new fellowship very much fits our own aims and values as a church, as Broadmead is a church which is made up of migrants from many countries.'

On April 19, the official church opening took place with invited pastors from other countries and on May 24 the first baptism service was held for five people. At present, the congregation of The Way Church consists of 12 members, with up to 20 people regularly attending the services.

We gather every Sunday at 3:30 PM at the church and every Thursday at 7:00 PM for a home Bible study group at our home nearby. We have social media pages where people can follow our church activities and join live broadcasts of services, and through this Ukrainians are able to find us.

We are sincerely grateful to the Lord for leading and blessing us, and we would be very thankful for your prayers for The Way church. 

---

💭 For reflection:

• Has your church had opportunity to welcome new congregations recently?

• Have you seen different nationalities work together in unity across their diversity?

• What blessings could you imagine coming from such collaborations?

📁 Resources for World Refugee Day (21 June 2026) As the EBF region continues to face many conflicts we encourage churches to remember the people who lost their lives at the different borders. We encourage churches to hold dedicated services, prayers and vigils on 21 June 2026 or during Refugee Week (15-21 June)

CCME offers prayers, reflections and information that can be used as worship materials or intercessions during a service or an information event. The 142 pages resource booklet is in English but also includes some material in 4 additional languages.

🔜 Migration Conference

The EBF Commission on Migration invites you to join them in Albania 21-23 September 2026, prior to EBF Council. Find out more here.