The National Prayer Breakfast, 2024. Special Report | Christian Review

On November 19, 2024, the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Moscow, with the support of all Christian denominations in Russia, hosted a National Prayer Breakfast, which was organized by the Foundation for Assistance to the Revival of Spirituality and Spiritual Culture of Russia and established by the Evangelical Unions of Russia. The purpose of the event was to create a platform for informal communication and interaction between different groups of society united by common traditional and moral values. Representatives of the authorities, deputies, and prominent public figures addressed the audience with welcoming speeches. Among them were President of the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation Andrei Gaidamaka, Head Bishop of the Russian United Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals) Sergei Ryakhovskiy, Head of the Department for Interaction with Religious Organizations of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation for Domestic Policy Evgeniy Eremin, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Andrei Klimov, Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans’ Affairs Yaroslav Nilov, First Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Family Protection, Paternity, Maternity and Childhood Issues Tatiana Butskaya, Deputy of the Russian State Duma, member of the Committee on International Affairs Maria Butina, Chief adviser of the Department for Interaction with Religious Organizations of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation for Domestic Policy Aleksandr Terentiev, Soviet and Russian theater and film actress, filmmaker, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Elena Tsyplakova, Head of the working group on preparation for the National Prayer Breakfast, 2024 Pastor Paul Renner. U.S. Congressman Robert Aderholt, representing the state of Alabama and a member of the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., sent a welcoming video message to the participants of the prayer breakfast. Co-organizer of the National Prayer Breakfast in the U.S. Todd Hendricks noted that in the context of global instability and crisis of the institution of the family, such events are especially important as a platform for working together to find solutions to current problems. The participants emphasized that today it is very important to unite the efforts of religious and public organizations, government, and business representatives to preserve and strengthen Russia’s spiritual foundations. Among the participants of the National Prayer Breakfast were Bishop, Senior pastor of The Good News Mission Church (St. Petersburg, Russia) Dmitriy Shatrov, Bishop of the Evangelic Lutheran Church of Ingria Ivan Laptev, Staff member of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations Hieromonk Mark (Akhmatkhanov), Chairman of the All-Union Commonwealth of Evangelical Christians, Leonid Kartavenko, Archbishop of the Evangelic Lutheran Church of Russia Vladimir Provorov, Rector of the Church of the Saints Cosmas and Damian on Maroseyka Street (Moscow, Russia) Archpriest Fedor Borodin, Adviser at the Center for Educational Initiatives of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation Boris Kostenko, Bishop of the Christian Mission Church Association Eduard Grabovenko, Bishop of the Christian Mission Church Association Eduard Deremov, Chairman of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists Peter Mitskevich, Bishop, Senior pastor of the Word of Life Church Moscow, Mats Ola Ishoel. The famous American evangelist and missionary Franklin Graham sent a video message to the participants of the National Prayer Breakfast. The official part was followed by group discussions where a wide range of issues were discussed: from family values at different stages of life to moral consensus as a basis for international diplomacy. The role of education in fostering traditional family values was discussed and much attention was paid to the promotion of spiritual and moral values through the media. An information partnership agreement was signed between the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation and the “Good News” TV channel, which actively covered the event in the media.