Sunday services at Kyiv’s Vozrozhdeniye, or Resurrection, church attract hundreds. Most travel by metro, trudging the last bit through an industrial estate to Vydubychi, a historic area on the edge of the city. The church itself is an immense metal box, painted to look like a blue sky with a few clouds floating in it. Above it, a banner showing a happy (traditional) family: “Dream, act and win. Resurrection”. With the surrounding industrial landscape, the building appears like a ray of light in a kingdom of darkness.
“Precious, anointed ones, come this way”. The security guys organize the crowd with ease, directing them to the few empty seats left. The interior could pass for a Eurovision venue – a floodlit stage with a large screen, spotlights and multi-colored lighting effects. The priests wear shiny red suits and bowties. The women wear dramatic makeup, and their hair is done to perfection. The services are rousing, often with an acapella prayer and a musical finale that brings the more impressionable members of the congregation to ecstasy.
