Bishop Ilia Osephashvili

Ilia Osephashvili (born 18 March 1968) is a Bishop of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia.
He is notable for his work on interfaith dialogue and human rights awareness for various groups
through the EBC Georgia.

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION

Ilia Osephashvili was born in Kvareli, Kakheti Region, Georgian SSR.
He studied German language and literature at Tbilisi State University in Georgia between 1989
and 1994, receiving a Teacher of German language and literature degree. In 2006, Osephashvili
received a certificate from the International Theological School for Ministers and Counselors. In
2011, he received a Master’s in Theology from Ilya State University in Georgia.
Ilia is happily married with three daughters and one son.
In his free time, he enjoys playing the drums and writing for his personal blog.

WORK WITH THE EBCG

Ilia first entered the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia in 1989 when he was told of a story
regarding the Gospel of John. Prior to this, he had no formal experience with religion due to its
repression during the Soviet regime. He remarks that this experience introduced the Gospel to
him as something that happened with real people, not just a story. Ilia became baptized by the
church in late 1989. In 1991, he gained a position within the church as a missionary, teaching
three days a week in local villages near Tbilisi.
Following his first meeting with Archbishop Malkhaz Songulashvili of EBC Georgia in 1999, Ilia
began to devote himself to interfaith dialogue between Christians, Jews, Muslims, and a variety
of minority religions in the region. In addition, he commenced work on organizing various human
rights awareness events for the Church.

By 2002, Osephashvili completed his missionary work and was assigned to Gori, Georgia where
he was ordained as a deacon. In 2007, he was ordained as a priest and in 2008, was Consecrated
as a bishop at the Peace Cathedral. Since then, he has sought to spread God’s message, fight for
the dignity of all peoples, and assist in interfaith dialogue.