The Tacoma Russian Center for Spiritual Development is one of the newest churches in the Washington Conference.
The congregation began as a ministry of the Russian church in Bellevue when a number of members from the Tacoma area began a Russian-speaking ministry in their own community. Tacoma Central Church served as a host church for the fledgling group, where the Russian group held meetings on Friday evenings and Sabbath afternoons.
Ivan Bokov, a pastor, immigrated to America and within six months began working formally in the Tacoma area. "We had nothing that was needed for being a church," Bokov says. "We began to pray for everything that was needed to start the church."
God sent people with the necessary spiritual gifts to help the congregation grow as others developed their spiritual gifts.
The Tacoma Russian group was organized as a company in February 2006, and continued to grow. In May 2009, John Freedman, Washington Conference president, formally welcomed Tacoma Russian Center for Spiritual Development into the sisterhood of Adventist churches and challenged the church to faithfully follow the truths of the Adventist Church.
The Tacoma Russian Center for Spiritual Development looks forward to continued growth and actively seeks a permanent location for church services.
Vitali Oliinik, pastor of the Russian Center for Spiritual Enrichment in Bellevue, translates for John Freedman, Washington Conference president, at the church organization ceremony. (Doug Bing)
