Gateway Cities for Bulgarian Evangelical Churches

Bulgarian Evangelical Churches are located in cities which have a high concentration of foreign-born immigrants. Such cities are called gateway cities, a large immigrant point-of-entry city to the United States. Immigrants typically enter the United States through one of these cities and settle there. Such cities contain over half of the foreign-born population in the United States. There are Bulgarian Evangelical Churches active in five of the seven gateway cities as follows:

Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in Gateway Cities

Geographical Location of Bulgarian American Churches and Gateway Cities.

Several facts are obvious from the above comparison. It is apparent that Bulgarian immigrants come to North America in ways similar to other immigrant groups, channeled through the listed gateway cities. Large cities which are gateways are more probable to become a settlement for Bulgarian immigrants due to the availability of jobs, lodging and other immigrants from the same ethnic group. The emerging Bulgarian immigrant communities share religious similarities and belongingness which are factors helping to form the communities. As a result of this process of formation of Bulgarian immigrant communities, the Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in North America emerge. It also seems natural to suggest that as this process continues, Bulgarian Evangelical Churches will be formed in the remaining two gateway cities (Washington, D.C. and San Francisco) and other large cities which meet the requirements to become a gateway city (for example, the city Atlanta). If this is true, it should be proposed that the Bulgarian Churches in North America follow a strategy for church planting and growth which targets this type of cities.

Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance

After more than thirteen years of democracy in Bulgaria and after fifty years of Communist persecution, the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance is again officially recognized. The first documents for the existing of the organization are dated from the end of the 19th century. A 1909 document states that in September of the same year the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance held a national conference. The Alliance was formed by the Baptist, Methodist and Congregational churches in Bulgaria including the Theological Seminary in Samokov, the Bulgarian Bible Society and the Society of Bible Distributors as associate member. According to some testimonies, the Alliance was a member of the European Evangelical Alliance; however, no official documentation to prove this was preserved. During the Communist Regime in Bulgaria, the Evangelical Alliance was outlawed. In December of 1989, the Bulgarian Evangelical churches formed an initiative committee to prepare the new bylaws of the Alliance and to encourage the Evangelical churches to work together. The 1989 founding member-churches of the Alliance were Baptist Union, Assemblies of God, Congregations, Methodist and Bulgarian Church of God. The Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance is an official member of the European and World Evangelical Alliances.

Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in America

According to the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute more than one million people have left Bulgaria in the past 13 years to find jobs and better life in another country. The largest Bulgarian immigrant group lives in Germany (23%), while another 20% are in North America. As a result, in the 1990s, several large Bulgarian communities have emerged in the United States: Chicago with close to 60, 000 Bulgarians is followed by New York and the Washington, D.C. – Maryland area. On the West Coast, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas have been choices for immigration for several years. Besides these cities Bulgarian communities have grown in less expected places like deep-south Atlanta, northern Seattle, coastal Miami and deep in the heart of Texas (Dallas, Houston), etc. Respectfully, Bulgarian protestant churches have appeared in these centers of concentration of Bulgarian immigrants. They have begun their existence as a home prayer group, cross-cultural outreach of a large local church, or even as independent ethnic works under the umbrella of an established denomination. At this present time the Bulgarian protestant churches in America are represented by 14 churches and groups in nine states. They have become the forming historical factor for the Network of Bulgarian Churches in America.

Since 1994, Cup & Cross Ministries International has actively observed the formation of Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in America. In 2003, we are completing a survey to evaluate and study the processes within these churches. This particular portion of the survey explores the American cultural context in which Bulgarian congregations may emerge. The survey is anonymous and confidential. It contains 15 questions and it takes less than a minute to complete online. Please take the time to fill out survey by going to the following link:

http://www.cupandcross.com/survey

Thank you for helping us advance the Kingdom.

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