Lithuania: Present and Future
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Contacts in Lithuania
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Meet Algimantas
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New Program at Vilnius Pedagogical
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Cooperating with BRTS
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Country-wide Recognition

Lithuania: Present and Future
Lithuania, though independent from the former Soviet Union for almost 15 years, still shows the effects of living under communist occupation. Depression and alcoholism affect almost every family, and Lithuania has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, leading the world in suicides of children under the age of 18. Poverty ravishes most people, so that many have to choose each month between eating and paying bills. Hopelessness consumes the culture, and more people die or flee the country each year than are born, so that the Lithuanian population steadily decreases.

Algimantas Kvedaravicius, one of the Lithuanian pastors, earnestly longs to see Bible colleges in Lithuania where people can be trained to be pastors, elders, teachers, and leaders of God's community. The primary school would be located in Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania, with satellite schools located in Birzai and Kaunas. Currently, the church is working with Vilnius Pedagogical University to develop a program that would facilitate students of the planned Bible College to receive a state-accredited degree.

Contacts in Lithuania
Rev. Algimantas Kvedaravicius is a pastor of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania (ERCL). He has worked for the Reformed church in Lithuania since 1993, and was ordained as a full time minister in 1995. Prior to his ordination, he worked as a physicist from 1960 until 1993. He has a wife, Zita, and three children: Vytautas, 14, Vaiva, 12, and Laima, 5.

The Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania is in the rapidly growing but still early stages of planning the Reformed Bible College in Lithuania. This college will function primarily for the training and equipping of teaching and ruling elders and lay teachers and leaders of Reformed congregations. A program is being currently developed with Vilnius Pedagogical University through which it will be possible to offer state accredited master's degrees to the students of this Reformed Bible College. In addition, Vilnius University will offer courses in financial management, church law, and similar classes. This program will be able to share ITEM professor pool at the Baltic Reformed Theological Seminary in Riga, Latvia.

ITEM provides a professor pool from the US, England, Riga, and elsewhere, where available, to teach biblical and systematic theology, as well as other necessary classes to prepare Lithuanian students for their future work for God's kingdom.

Currently, ERCL is working with ITEM to secure a Scholar in Residence and professor, developing a concrete and detailed plan and mission statement for the Bible College, including the necessary details of the curriculum, schedule, etc.

The Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania has many needs. Above everything, they yearn for godly leaders to be pastors, elders, and teachers to help feed and shepherd the spiritually starving people. At present, ERCL has 14 congregations (9 of them are currently inactive) served by only two ordained ministers, and a total budget of approximately $1500.

Though they have three other men who help with teaching and leading services, these men are not able to preach or administer the sacraments. Therefore, the other pastor and Rev. Kvedaravicius must travel extensively in order to serve all of these congregations. Because of such travel demands, the ability to administer the school, answer correspondence, prepare lectures and communicate by email, etc. is difficult. Modern technological advances, such as laptop computers, because of the matter of cost, are practically impossible to obtain.

The cost of travel is expensive due to high gas prices (even higher than in US). Several of church buildings are in poor condition and in desperate need of repair. They need construction materials and workers for these projects, but have no funds. Also, as the school project is in development, it would be of great academic benefit and cost efficient to be able to videotape lectures for future class use and then be expanded into other cities, even other countries, one of which is Belarus. Lithuania is uniquely positioned in relation to Belarus in spite its political situation and oppression because of ERCL’s diplomatic status with that country's governmental officials. Please pray for Lithuanian congregations and pastors and teachers, for the new Reformed Bible College as they pray for you, for ITEM and for the professors who come to teach.

Meet Rev. Algimantas
Rev. Algimantas Kvedaravicius is a pastor and President of Synod Collegium, Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania, Baltic Reformed Theological Seminary Board member. Rev. Kvedaravicius obtained various degrees, including a degree and post graduate work in microelectronics and solid state technology. In 1995-1997 he attended John Knox Theological College (Australia) and in 2002 – 2005 University of Klaipėda, Department of the Evangelical Theology. From 2003 he has been attending the degree program offered by Baltic States Reformed Seminary supplied by ITEM professors and resources. “Establishment of the Seminary in Riga is the only hope for future of the Reformed Church of Lithuania: the Soviet times have left us with only two pastors in fourteen parishes throughout Lithuania. Training of pastors is our foremost need.”

“In the Soviet period the training of pastors of the Reformed church in Lithuania was eliminated. Liberal training brought to us in the 1990’s has had a devastating effect on the church. The seminary in Riga is bringing to us training that is coherent with the historical teaching of our church. Our synod has made a decision that BRTS training is the only way to prepare pastors for ordination and a prerequisite for it.”

New Program at Vilnius Pedagogical
In December of 2007 the Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania invited ITEM President, Dr. R. David Ludwick to attend the special anniversary events of the celebration of the Synodical meeting, which took place in Vilnius, Lithuania. That was also the occasion to celebrate the commencement of the Masters Degree Program (education in Reformed Theology). This fall five classes will be offered toward the commencement of this degree, which will be housed at Vilnius Pedagogical University. The first student has successfully started our new Master of Education in Evangelical Theology program at the university, which is a cooperative agreement between the Vilnius Pedagogical University and Baltic Reformed Theological Seminary. The first student with others soon to follow, another first by ITEM!

Cooperating with BRTS
Students from Lithuania are eagerly desiring to study biblical theology and while working out the details of the program in Lithuania, some of the Lithuanian Christians have already started taking classes at the Baltic Reformed Theological Seminary supported by ITEM with finds and professors.

Country-wide Recognition
Local Reformed groups such as Evangelical Reformed Church in Lithuania are recognized among nine traditional religious denominations with rights to establish recognized theological schools and seminaries. In cooperation ITEM, they seek to establish a Reformed seminary fully accredited by the European Union to produce graduates with Masters and Certificate of Theology degrees. This is unique for Lithuania, since in other Baltic states and in other countries of the European Union such degrees are not currently recognized. ITEM is using this opportunity to establish a Reformed seminary of high caliber there which will produce Master's degree graduates and future Christian leaders.