Press Release
General Meeting of the Euro-Asian Accrediting Association
of Evangelical Schools
«Theological Education – 8»

From October 22-24, 2007, the conference “Theological Education—8” was held in Irpen, Ukraine, just outside of Kiev.

The conference, which was organized by the Euro-Asian Accrediting Association (EAAA), brought together member schools from countries throughout the former Soviet Union allowing them to think through the processes arising from this segment of educational studies.

Presently there are 55 theological schools in the EAAA, 44 of which sent representatives to the meeting in Irpen.  The 116 participants met at an excellently equipped conference center—“The Ukrainian Christian Life Center .”  Giving greetings at the  conference were the leaders of the largest Protestant denominations in Eurasia: V. V. Nestruk, President of the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches (ECB), Baptists; M. S. Panochko, President of the Union of Churches of Christians of the Evangelical Church, Pentecostals; G. I. Komendant, President of the Ukrainian Bible Society; and P. V. Mitskevich, Vice-President of the Russian Baptist Union.  Video greetings were given by Sergei Riakhovskii, the head of the Russian Union of Christians of the Evangelical Faith.  Paul Sanders gave greetings on behalf of ICETE—the worldwide organization which unites regional accrediting agencies—as well as in his role as President of the European Evangelical Accrediting Association.

The two working days of the conference were filled with plenary and topical sessions, reports and discussions.  The conference  marked the EAAA’s 10th anniversary, summed up the results of the Association’s work, and discussed plans for the future.  The main theme of the conference: “The Conceptual Bases for Theological Education,” was discussed by T. N. Diatlik, Prorector of the Donetsk Christian University, S. L. Golovin, President of the Center for Christian Apologetics, R. P. Solovii, Rector of the Lviv Theological Seminary, Peter Penner, Professor at IBTS in Prague, amongst others.  The secular view on the problems of theological education was presented by the well-known professor of religious studies—L. A. Fillipovich.

The conference heard reports from A. V. Zigalenko, President of the EAAA, and S. V. Sannikov, Executive Director of the Association.  The conference selected a new board of 12 representatives from different types of schools and different theological traditions.

One of the most important themes of the conference was the discussion and adoption of new accreditation standards, which were harmonized with the standards of the European-wide Bologna Agreement.  After dinner conference participants and guests attended seminars and round-table discussions, and had fellowship which often continued on well past midnight.  The conference concluded with a banquet celebrating the ten-year history of the EAAA.  The MC for the banquet was A. V. Glukhovsky, President of the Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Comments by the Rector of the Minsk Theological Seminary, L. I. Mikhovich, reflected the opinion of the majority of conference participants: “This EAAA conference is a serious milestone in the development of theological education in our countries.  It represented not only a summation of almost 20 years of the development of theological education, but also raised serious questions about its reorientation.  Such meetings helps one see the reality of one’s situation and to rethink the way in which we are headed.”