Methodism

====Russia====
The Methodist Church established several strongholds in Russia{{snd}}[[Saint Petersburg]] in the west and the [[Vladivostok]] region in the east, with large Methodist centres in [[Moscow]] and [[Yekaterinburg|Ekaterinburg (former Sverdlovsk)]]. Methodists began their work in the west among Swedish immigrants in 1881 and started their work in the east in 1910.<ref name="UMC-Centennial in Russia">{{cite web|url = http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=1723955&ct=7160023|title = Centennial of Methodism in Russia observed|publisher = United Methodist Church|access-date = 29 December 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110515000925/http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=1723955&ct=7160023|archive-date = 15 May 2011|url-status = dead|df = dmy-all}}</ref> On 26 June 2009, Methodists celebrated the 120th year since Methodism arrived in Czarist Russia by erecting a new Methodist centre in Saint Petersburg.<ref name="UMC-Centennial in Russia"/> A Methodist presence was continued in Russia for 14 years after the [[Russian Revolution (1917)|Russian Revolution of 1917]] through the efforts of [[Deaconess Anna Eklund]].<ref name="UMC-Methodist Centre in St. Petersburg">{{cite web|url=http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/full_article.cfm?articleid=5032 |title=Develop United Methodist Center in St. Petersburg |publisher=United Methodist Church |access-date=29 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615225409/https://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/full_article.cfm?articleid=5032 |archive-date=15 June 2010 |df=dmy }}</ref> In 1939, political antagonism stymied the work of the Church and Deaconess Anna Eklund was coerced to return to her native Finland.<ref name="UMC-Centennial in Russia"/>

After 1989, the Soviet Union allowed greatly increased religious freedoms<ref name="Soviets OK New Religious Freedoms">{{cite web|url = http://www.deseretnews.com/article/124148/SOVIETS-OK-NEW-RELIGIOUS-FREEDOMS.html| title = Soviets OK New Religious Freedoms |publisher = deseretnews|access-date = 11 May 2011}}</ref> and this continued after the USSR's collapse in 1991. During the 1990s, Methodism experienced a powerful wave of revival in the nation.<ref name="UMC-Centennial in Russia" /> Three sites in particular carried the torch{{snd}}Samara, Moscow and Ekaterinburg. {{As of|2011}}, the United Methodist Church in Eurasia comprised 116 congregations, each with a native pastor. There are currently 48 students enrolled in residential and extension degree programs at the United Methodist Seminary in Moscow.<ref name="UMC-Centennial in Russia" />