Community Corner

Russian Bishop to Preach at United Methodist Church

Russian Bishop Eduard Khegay will preach at all of the Aug. 4 services at the Libertyville church.

United Methodist Church of Libertyville will welcome Russian Bishop Eduard Khegay at its services this Sunday, Aug. 4. 

Khegay will preach and share in the celebration of Holy Communion at all three services, which will be held at 8:15 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. United Methodist is located at 429 Brainerd Ave.

The church provided the following information about the visit:

The Rev. Khegay was elected on Oct. 19, 2012 as the new bishop of the Eurasia Episcopal Area of the United Methodist Church, which is based in Moscow. The Eurasia Episcopal area stretches over 11 time zones of Eastern Europe and the whole of Russia.

Born in Alma‐Ata, Kazakstan, Rev. Khegay is the first UM bishop from the former Soviet Union. He has been a pastor, teacher and church executive holding a wide range of positions within the Russian United Methodist Church.

Methodism existed in the St. Petersburg area and in Siberia prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Suppressed there and in the Soviet‐dependent states for decades, it reemerged when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. At the time of the collapse, Khegay was a student in hydraulic engineering in Bauman Moscow State Technical University, graduating in 1993. That same year, he began to study at the Moscow United Methodist Theological Seminary. He would go on to receive a Master of Divinity degree from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.He was ordained as a UM elder in 2001.

According to his personal mission statement he writes, “My mission is to inspire people to become Christ‐like and develop into full God‐given potential to serve God and people.”


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