From the Pentecostal revival to today

Christ Evangelical Church (HJC) belongs to the Protestant, evangelical and Pentecostal movement. Its spiritual roots in what is today Serbia go back to the beginning of the 20th century and the Pentecostal revival that swept Christian communities around the world.

Beginnings

In 1906 a spiritual revival began in Beška among believers of the evangelical churches of that time. Besides regular services, believers gathered in homes for prayer, study of the Scriptures and fellowship.

In 1907 the first experiences of baptism in the Holy Spirit were recorded among believers in Srem, then part of Austria-Hungary. The movement gradually spread and grew into independent Pentecostal gatherings.

Its core values were faith in Jesus Christ, the authority of Scripture, the new birth, believer’s baptism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, prayer and evangelism.

From the start, the early Pentecostal movement was not a single organization. Several communities and church streams developed – among them Christ’s Spiritual Church and Christ’s Pentecostal Church, as well as other Pentecostal communities, especially among Romanians in Banat.

There were differences in teaching and church practice, but they were united by a shared Pentecostal experience: faith in Jesus Christ, the new birth, baptism in water and in the Holy Spirit, prayer, spiritual gifts and preaching the Gospel. From this early movement different historical lines would develop, each later following its own path.

Two historical lines

After the Second World War, Pentecostal communities entered a new period. In 1950 the process of joining them organizationally began. Over the following years Christ’s Pentecostal Church developed and organized, and from 1954 this became the established name of one of the main Pentecostal organizations in the former Yugoslavia.

Vojvodina remained one of its important centers. Among the leaders of this branch of the movement was Dragutin Volf, whose work was centered in Novi Sad, from where it spread across Vojvodina and the whole of Yugoslavia.

At the same time, a second historical line continued the path rooted in the early movement from Beška. In 1950 (on 28 August) it was formally registered as Christ’s Spiritual Church. This year does not mark the beginning of the movement, but its formal organization in the new post-war circumstances.

During the 1960s new organizational changes followed – the historical line of Christ’s Spiritual Church continued as Christ’s Spiritual Evangelical Church. Subotica became one of the important centers of this community, which had been meeting informally in Subotica since 1936. Among the leaders of this branch was Andrija Sabo, whose work was directed from Subotica and spread primarily among the Hungarian population.

During the second half of the 20th century the church developed through local congregations, evangelism, missionary work, Bible teaching, work with families, children and youth, and through training preachers and other ministers.

In the post-war period the face of the movement became increasingly multi-ethnic – through Serbian, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak, Roma and other communities. Over time the Pentecostal witness was no longer only in Vojvodina: it spread toward Belgrade, central and southern Serbia and other parts of the country. New churches were planted and new preachers and believers joined. A movement whose historical origin was in one village in Srem became part of the wider evangelical and Pentecostal movement in Serbia.

Local congregations are part of one spiritual family, HJC. The whole church is governed by the Board of Elders and the Assembly, while local communities are independent in leading their activities and ministries, in fellowship with the whole of HJC.

Christ Evangelical Church today

Over the past decades these two branches worked through different periods – sometimes separately, sometimes together. In 2011 they were united into one church community – Christ Evangelical Church, under the leadership of Viktor Sabo. In this way the historical heritage of different streams was brought together in one church family.

Today HJC has 23 local churches and 17 mission stations in Serbia. Besides local church work, it develops evangelistic and missionary ministry, work with children, youth and men, Bible teaching, publishing, rehabilitation work through Raskršće, and mission work in the region.

Christ Evangelical Church (HJC) is an evangelical community with a Pentecostal spiritual identity and part of the global World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF). It is also a member of the Pentecostal European Fellowship (PEF).

More than a century after the first Pentecostal gatherings in Srem, HJC continues its mission: to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, make disciples, equip ministers, plant new communities and serve people in Serbia and beyond.