The story begins in 1993, when a Church Mission Station was established in Mielec. Rev. Andrzej Brandys was appointed its director.
An evangelistic event is being organised, and the Tent Mission is coming to Mielec. For five days, the Gospel was preached and Christian music concerts were held. It was also a time for proclaiming the Word of God (the preacher was Rev. Leszek Mocha).
As a result of the proclamation of the Good News, house meetings began. The next stage involved meetings at the Local Community Centre, which were attended by local pastors who came to engage in ministry.
The time had come for the informal group to become a congregation with its own pastor. On 8 March 1994, the Pentecostal Church Mielec congregation was established. The Supreme Church Council also ensured that a pastor was appointed. The first pastor was Brother Marek Skrzypczak (from 1994 to 2000). The congregation began to take shape: the first wedding, the start of catechism classes, and work with young people. The Church rented a hall at 1 Reja Street, which has served as a chapel ever since.
In 2000, Pastor Marek Skrzypczak moved to Rzeszów to take up the post of pastor there. Meanwhile, in Mielec, Brother Janusz Kaleta took up the post. At that time, the Mielec congregation became involved in charitable work (distributing second-hand clothing and food) as a practical way of demonstrating God’s love for humanity. In 2007, Pastor Janusz Kaleta left to take up pastoral ministry in Edmonton (Canada).
The congregation was prepared for the pastor’s departure and, for a period of about a year, whilst under the care of the pastor of the Rzeszów congregation (Rev. Marek Skrzypczak), carried out its work to the best of its ability and within its means.
In 2008 (late September), Dariusz Hapoń arrived in Mielec with his wife Małgorzata. Until then (having been ordained in 2002), he had served at the ‘Pojednanie’ Congregation of the KZ in Międzyrzec Podlaski as a preacher and elder of the congregation. He was appointed pastor of the Mielec congregation on 19 October 2011.
Pastors of the Mielec Congregation
- from 1994 to 2000 — Pastor Marek Skrzypczak (currently pastor of the Rzeszów congregation)
- from 2000 to 2007 — Reverend Janusz Kaleta
- since 2008 — Pastor Dariusz R. Hapoń
There is no consensus amongst Pentecostal historians as to where, when and under whose leadership the Pentecostal movement originated. The debate essentially centres on two dates and two different locations in the United States: 1901 – Topeka, Kansas, and 1906 – Los Angeles.
W. Hollenweger, a recognised scholar in this field, suggests that the origins of Pentecostalism should be examined from two perspectives: *ideengeschichte* (history of ideas) — in which case the first date should be taken into account — and *realgeschichte* (history of reality) — in which case we can speak of a second date marking the movement’s birth. From that time onwards, the Pentecostal movement began to spread throughout the world.
Some historians believe that the movement’s origins are linked to Charles Fox Parham. He founded the Bible School in Topeka in 1900. On New Year’s Eve, 1 January 1901, one of the school’s ‘students’, Agnes Ozman, experienced the gift of speaking in tongues whilst praying with others. Soon, other members of Bethel Bible College were also filled with the Holy Spirit. In 1906, Parham opened a second Bible school in Houston, where people also experienced the baptism in the Spirit. Among them was William J. Seymour, an African-American preacher of the Holiness Movement. In 1906, under his leadership, the Mission at 312 Azusa Street in Los Angeles began its work. The Mission enjoyed such great success that it attracted public attention not only in the USA but also in Europe. Healings, miracles, prophecies and speaking in tongues caused quite a stir. In addition to these extraordinary events, the Azusa Street Revival was also a process of forming a new community. This was due to the rejection by established congregations of those who shared their experience of baptism in the Holy Spirit. For this reason, most historians regard the year 1906 as the beginning of modern Pentecostalism.
The rapid growth of the Pentecostal movement is evidenced by the fact that the first communities of this kind were established in Europe as early as 1907. One of the ‘apostles’ of Pentecostalism was Thomas Bell Barratt, superintendent of the Methodist congregations in Oslo. During his trip to the USA in 1906, he experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit and became an advocate for the movement that had emerged in Los Angeles. The conflict he found himself in with the authorities of his church ultimately forced him to establish a new congregation in Oslo. Similar events took place in Sweden, where a Baptist preacher — Levi Pethrus — was forced in 1907 to establish an independent congregation in Stockholm. In 1906, in Bydgoszcz, the Evangelical pastor Jonathan Paul, one of the most active German charismatic figures of the first half of the 20th century, experienced baptism in the Holy Spirit. From Norway, Sweden and Germany, the Pentecostal movement spread to neighbouring countries, and Pentecostal Churches were soon established in England, Finland, Denmark and Switzerland.
Pentecostalism entered Polish territory from two directions. The influence of the German revival led to the formation of the first religious communities of the new movement in Cieszyn Silesia. It was here, in 1910, that the Union of Determined Christians was founded; whilst formally part of the Evangelical Church, it effectively formed an independent community – the first Polish Pentecostal Church. Polish returnees, coming back from the USA to their reborn homeland, brought news of baptism in the Holy Spirit. In the central and eastern parts of the Second Polish Republic, autonomous Pentecostal communities began to form. It was not until 1929, however, that a convention was held in Stara Czołnica near Łuck to establish the Church of Christians of the Evangelical Faith. This was to be the name of the community of Polish Pentecostals in this part of the country. During the interwar period, there were at least two churches in Poland bringing together charismatics. Clergy were trained on courses at the Biblical Institute in Gdańsk, which had been opened specifically for this purpose.
The period of the Second World War was a time when church organisations were outlawed. After the war, a large proportion of Pentecostals in the eastern borderlands remained outside the borders of the People’s Republic of Poland. A slow process of rebuilding church structures began within the new socio-political context. The Communists sought to minimise the activities of religious groups in Poland and place them under the strict control of the security services. Under pressure from the state, the United Evangelical Church was established (1947), a rather unusual entity, as it brought together not only both branches of the Polish Pentecostal movement, but also other churches: Evangelical, Free Christians, the Church of Christ, the Church of Evangelical Christians, and, initially, the Baptists as well. The Baptists were the first to leave the ranks of the United Evangelical Church. The history of the United Evangelical Church is closely linked to the history of the nation during that period.
The Pentecostals ceased to be part of the ZKE in 1987. At that time, the church decided to dissolve itself and form separate denominational bodies. Most representatives of Pentecostalism in Poland established the Pentecostal Church. However, there are many Pentecostal communities which are not affiliated with the Pentecostal Church. The reasons for this lack of unity lie in the very understanding of the nature of the Church within the Free Church movement, to which Pentecostals, amongst others, belong. The Church, understood as a mystical reality, is one and universal. However, in organisational terms, it is represented by a variety of communities which treat one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
There are no significant theological differences between the main Pentecostal Churches in Poland, apart from a few smaller churches which have adopted certain teachings that differ from the mainstream of classical Pentecostal theology. Examples include the Congregation of Evangelical Christians in the Apostolic Spirit in Ełk and the Union of Polish Brethren. They reject belief in the Trinity. Each of these groups, though based on different premises, recognises the dogma of the unity of the Godhead understood as a single person, whilst the Norwegian Brethren preach that it is possible to avoid sinning after conversion.
During the interwar period, there were Pentecostal congregations in Warmia and Masuria, comprising the German population. After the war, as a result of this population’s emigration to Germany, these congregations ceased to exist. The new inhabitants of northern Poland brought with them the Pentecostal movement in a Polish-speaking form. The first congregations, operating under the name of the Church of Christians of the Evangelical Faith, were established in Szczytno, Kętrzyn and Ostróda, and later also in Elbląg and Olsztyn.
Doctrinally, Pentecostals are counted amongst the Protestant communities with Baptist leanings. The doctrinal foundation of the Pentecostal Church is the belief in the personal need for conversion. As a result of conversion and faith in the saving death of Jesus Christ on the cross, there arises a need for baptism, which is administered by immersing the catechumen in water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Pentecostal Church recognises the decrees of the first four Ecumenical Councils; therefore, it fully accepts the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. Pentecostals in Poland also have their own statement of faith, which, on the one hand, draws on similar statements found in Pentecostal churches around the world, whilst on the other hand is an original Polish creation.
Author: Wojciech Gajewski (pastor of the Frombork Congregation). Text taken from the Frombork Congregation’s website, used with the author’s permission.
