New Generation Church
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New Generation Church is a Protestant Charismatic denomination based in Riga and affiliating over 200 Russian speaking churches amongst 15 nations (including USA).
It was started by senior Pastor Aleksej Ledjajev (Alexey Ledyaev) in Riga in 1989. Church and its affiliated churches were supported long time by Swedish Pentecostals and particularly by Ulf Ekman, pastor and apostle of Livets Ord Church in Uppsala, Sweden.
New Generation Church has an apostolic mandate. Prophetic vision of New Generation Church is to be a mother-church to a thousand of churches and bring salvation through Jesus Christ to a million of souls.
[edit] History
In the late 80s, Pastor Alexei served in a Baptist congregation. However, after receiving a baptism in the Holy Spirit, his family as well as a number of friends became affiliated to a Pentecostal congregation where he continued to serve as a musician and a preacher. Alexei’s ministry quickly brought popularity to the church which then became widely known and grew in members. After Pastor Nikolai Shevchuk immigrated to the US, Alexei Ledyaev was appointed as a new pastor by majority of membership votes.
The first Alexei and his people came when the Lutheran congregation which allowed Pentecostals to hold services in their building decided to receive them no more. He continued to do the services on the steps on that Lutheran temple regardless the heat and the cold, the rain and the snow. That difficult period significantly contributed to strengthening the people in their common faith and bringing them closer together.
The utterly homeless “congregation at the church steps” managed to arrange the largest evangelism crusade in the Baltic area at Riga Sports House. The event featured Peter Vens, evangelist from Western Germany, three choirs and a musical worship team. The crusade was an apparent success. As the event was over, the congregation was back there at the church steps. Eventually, friends from Norway donated the church a large tent where the ministry continued.
The successful crusade at the Sports House was also a signal for a consequent dissension. The operating Pentecostal episcopate regarded the ministry of Alexei Ledyaev as direct threat to their beliefs. This brought to a split between the members of the local congregation into the older generation of believers and the younger one. November 5, 1989, the matter was finally settled by Bishop Vasily Boechko who dismissed Alexei from pastoral ministry. Later same month, Pastor Alexei together with his friends and followers declared their independence and established a new church. Thus, the triumphant international ministry of the New Generation Church started.
This story is vividly described in television documentary “Steps”. The ministry of the church in subsequent years resembled effortful ascension to a mountain top. Years passed as the body of the congregation was formed. In the initial period, the church faced the problem of finding a building. Renting a culture house was a heavy burden for the members. Help came in an unexpected way. It was something the church prayed day and night for quite a while — an offer to buy a deserted culture house belonging to a bankrupt factory. The price appeared as a gift from above. There opened a new bright and fortunate chapter of the church history.
These days, the New Generation Church is a family of active and widely networked ministries. During the recent decade, it launched a well equipped television department, audio recording studio and print department. The work is contributed by an effective administrative office. The church building also includes a bookstore, a cafeteria and a haircut shop.
The New Generation Bible School has become known in many nations and was attended by over 3,000 students.
New Generation traditionally holds two annual faith conferences in July and November which have always been extraordinary events attended by thousands. Those have featured Christian speakers and ministers with international reputation such as Anselm Madubuko, Kenneth Ulmer, James Davis, Robert Kayanja, Joann Cole Webster, Sunday Adelaja, rock musician Ulf Christiansson.
Pastor Alexei has traveled as a speaker to all the continents of the planet. His ministerial gift is on high demand Russia and US, Germany and Baltics, Ukraine and Belarus.
The recent years, the church took a next step up by partnering with the First Party of Latvia which Pastor Alexei regards as a symbol of the future Christian government in the country. Church has accepted new teaching of pastor Aleksej Ledyaev "New World Order". This teaching is about targeting government and other authorities by preaching the Gospel in order to enhance the country and to accomplish Lord's mission for church to reach everybody with Good News about redemtion.
