Russian-Language Services Now Outgrow German Ones at Leverkusen Free Church
A pastor born in Kazakhstan leads a German church plant where Ukrainian refugees fill the youth group, and a Tennessee men's chorale came to sing.
See where this is ›LEVERKUSEN, Germany —
At the Evangelical Free Church of Leverkusen in Leverkusen, Germany, the Russian-language services have grown larger than the German ones, Pastor Dima Schmidt told the Tennessee Baptist and Reflector in a story published Nov. 6. “We have now the Russian-language services bigger than the German services,” he said.
Schmidt was born in Kazakhstan and moved to Germany at age 8. He came to faith at 22, studied at Bonn Bible Seminary, and graduated in 2025 from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He has led the church since 2017 and also works as a social worker. “My German was the best language for me,” he said, but he now serves Russian speakers too.
See where this is ›The Leverkusen church was planted in 2016 by the Evangelical Free Church in Cologne, which has started 10 churches. Seven of them are less than 3 years old, and together they draw about 400 people on Sunday mornings and have baptized 50, the report said. Russell Woodbridge, an International Mission Board missionary in Cologne, works with the network.
More than 900,000 ethnic Germans moved from Kazakhstan to Germany after 1991, and Ukrainians fleeing the war have added to the Russian-speaking congregation. Ukrainians make up about 60% of the youth group. Nickolai Skopych, his wife Kati and their children Nikol and Martin came to Germany in 2022.
The Tennessee Men's Chorale made a mission trip to Germany from Sept. 27 to Oct. 6 and sang at the Leverkusen church on Oct. 4. Wayne Causey, a past conductor of the chorale, and his wife Carrie served as missionaries in Ukraine five times beginning in 1998. “Singing 'The Blessing' was a powerful witness for them,” he said.
Tennessee churches have other ties in the region. In April 2025, First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, Tenn., led by Senior Pastor Bruce Chesser, partnered with Almaz Evangelical Christian Baptist Church in Gummersbach, Germany, and bought a building there for a planned Almaz Center. Andriy Malyutin is pastor at Almaz. The story was written by Zoë Watkins of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.
