Harvest Sunday Photos from our Congregations

On October 2 congregations from around the Union of Evangelical Lutheran Churches praised God for this year's harvest and for all the good things our Lord gives to us. 

Astana:

Berdyansk: 

Gusiev:

Kazan:

Kresttsy:

Novgorod:

Novosibirsk:

Omsk:

Perm:

 Poltava:

Samara:

Syktyvkar:

Tashkent:

Tomsk: 

Ufa:

Ulyanovsk:

Vladivostok:

Yalta: 

Zhitomir: 

Synod Assembly of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ukraine

Berdyansk, Ukraine

 On September 6-8 in Berdyansk (Zaporozhskaya oblast) the 3rd meeting of the 6th synod of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ukraine was held. The Church of Christ the Savior welcomed participants and guests of the assembly.
27 participants from 18 different congregations took part in the assembly, as well as ecumenical guests from the area. The international guests were the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Yuri Novgorodov, and Pastor Daniel Johnson of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (USA).
The preacher from the congregation in the city of Lozovaya, Anna Wolf, was recognized as the synod president, a responsibility she had in practice been carrying for the previous month. 
In his report GELCU Bishop Sergei Mashevsky touched upon theological and practical questions of church unity, the church's everyday life, its problems and paths to resolutions. He spoke about the ecumenical cooperation of GELCU with the Orthodox, Catholic and Greek Catholic Churches, about its participation in social events and about growing relationships with the Lutheran Churches of Latvia, Lithuania, Canada, the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod and the Synod of Evangelical Lutheran Churches of Ukraine (SELCU). The bishop emphasized that despite all the financial situation of the Church, it has done all its ministry without any subsidies. Among other things educational activities for pastors and preachers in the GELCU were continued – in the past year 6 continuing education courses were held.
Pastor Daniel Johnson gave a paper on “Lutheran Identity. Education and the Reformation.” Then there was group discussion of how to implement the ideas of the Reformation in congregational life. 
Lyubov Galimova spoke about diaconal ministry in the church. She noted that it is not possible to directly use the experience of this ministry as it takes place in other countries, because many local factors have to be taken into account. 
Mina Sharnina gave a report on women's ministries. Women all over the world are united by the Worldwide Day of Prayer on the first Friday in March. There is a WDP committee in Ukraine and four denominations take part. GELCU holds regular seminars for preparing WDP and for other aspects of women's ministry. 
The women's ministry report inspired a new idea; Pastor Viktor Tselinko made the suggestion to establish men's ministry in GELCU. The synod supported his suggestion and Pastor Tselinko was named coordinator of that ministry. 
The assembly passed a budget for 2017 and a new version of the church constitution. 
This is the second year in a row that the synod assembly has taken place somewhere other than in St. Paul's Cathedral in Odessa. The practice of holding the synod assembly in one of the congregations of the church allows everyone not only to get acquainted with the life of that congregation, but also to draw interest to the congregation among others in the city. The Christ the Savior Lutheran Church is one of 54 congregations among the 12 confessions and religions represented in Berdyansk. 

Opening of the Peace Chapel

Volgograd, Russia
  On September 7th in the War Memorial Complex in the village of Rossoshki near Volgograd a truly historic event took place – a Peace Chapel was officially opened with the help of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Russia and Germany. 
  This chapel became the common symbol of two peoples of the horrible events which took place in the area of Stalingrad during the Second World War. The opening ceremony was attended by the German Ambassador Rüdiger von Fritsch, the director of the Russia Federation's Third European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sergei Nechaev, as well as representatives from veterans organizations and businessmen from Bavaria. 
  Representatives from the clergy of Volgograd and Germany took part in the blessing of the Peace Chapel – Metropolitan of Volgograd and Kamyshinsk Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, German, Orthodox Archpriest Oleg Kirichenko, the military general deacon Mattias Heimer, Roman Catholic Bishop Walter Mich, Military Bishop Rainer Brummer, Dean of the Lower-Volga Deanery of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Oleg Schtulberg and Pastor Conrad Weber from Dekendorf.  
  The well-known civil activist from the Bavarian city of Denkendorf, Christian Holtz, was the initiator of the building of the Peace Chapel. In his words the Peace Chapel is a symbol of  reconciliation, friendship  and peace, a symbol of remembrance of those who have fallen and of the ability to overcome tragedy. Rossoshki is not only the largest military cemetery in Europe it is also a symbol of the relationship between Russians and Germans.  
  The monument was designed by Professor Juergen von Royce from Germany; he also took part in the opening ceremony. The monument itself is made from natural stone with two crosses (Orthodox and Western) on two walls of granite on a pedestal.
The chapel is a monument that includes open space; this is a symbol of the tragic events, of the pain and suffering, that took place not only here, but in other parts of the world. The two crosses which stand together speak to us about the Christian faith which unites the two peoples. And it was no accident that the symbol of the cross was chosen – it is a harsh symbol of suffering which reminds mankind not only of the suffering we undergo, but also the suffering we cause. 
  The architectural design leads one's eyes not to the crosses so much as through them in order to see the space on the other side. This is a symbol of the way people should not get caught in the past but to think about the future and care for the future. 
  Based on the article by Tatyana Schulеberg

ELCER Pastors' Conference

Evpatoria, Crimea

A conference for pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of European Russia was held on September 27 to the 30th. It was dedicated to questions of family values and the Biblical image of the family as well as the image of the Church and congregation as family in Scripture. Pastors and preachers in the Church came with their families to a beautiful corner of the Crimean peninsula for work, rest and fellowship.

The following people gave papers at the conference: the Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia Dietrich Brauer, Pastor Stephanie Fendler of the Evangelical Church in Germnay, Elizabeth Hintz (who is responsible for women's ministry in the city of Wilstedt, Germany), Pastor Bradn Buerkle head of the “Equipping for Service project, Pastor Norbert Hintz, the vice-Bishop, and Dean of the Central Deanery Elena Bondarenko. 

The vice chair of the Committee for State Committee for Inter-ethnic Relations, Yuri Gempel, attended the event. He greeted participants of the conference and expressed his willingness to support Lutheran congregations in Crimea. 
As part of the pastors' conference there also was a special meeting of the ELCER synod assembly. At this meeting delegates for the church-wide assembly were elected and Ekaterina Kreimer (Samara) was named the coordinator of Children's Ministry in the ELCER, while lay minister Artis Petersons (Moscow) was named the coordinator for diaconal ministry in the ELCER. These two coordinators were installed at the final worship service by Archbishop Brauer. 
At the end of the conference representatives of the church administration visited the congregation in Evpatoria and the “Ludwigsburg” German Cultural Center. The ELCER supports the congregations of Crimea which, at the same time, remain in contact with the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ukraine. Lutherans move across political borders and pray together for peace.
From the ELCER site,   http://www.peter-paul.ru/

Bishop Otto Schaude Has Passed Away

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39)

Dear brothers and sisters! It is with great grief that we inform you that Otto Schaude, the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Urals, Siberia and Far East, died on September 27, 2017.

From 1991 to 2008 Otto Schaude was the chairman of the Union of Old Pietist Congregations of the The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in  Württemberg. He was a member of the Synod Council of the Württemberg state church and was the co-founder of many Protestant schools in Germany. For his services Otto Schaude was awarded with the highest award given by the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in  Württemberg, the Johannes Brenz silver medal.

Otto Schaude was elected Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Urals, Siberia and Far East in 2010. Together with his wife Brigitte he traveled throughout the whole CIS in order to take part in synod assemblies and bishops' meetings and in order to visit and strengthen congregations in the enormous territory of Siberia, to direct and support ministers of the Church in their faith and service.

Despite the fact that he was diagnosed with a late-stage cancer in 2014, Otto Schaude continued his service; until his final days he made trips for church business and put all of his effort in to his episcopal ministry. In everything he did he gave all of himself – all of his strength and love, all of his heart and soul, his courage and his decisiveness. All of his life was dedicated to serving the Church.  

We express our heartfelt sympathies to Brigitte Schaude, their children and everyone in their large family. Together we trust our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Author and Completer of our faith, who says: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me will not die, but live.” (John 11.25)
ELCUSFE Administration

Archbishop Visits USA

From September 9-19 Archbishop Dietrich Brauer together with his wife Tatyana visited partner churches in the USA. During this visit he met with ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, the Bishop of the Central States Synod Richard Gustafson, and also visited the churchwide offices of the ELCA (Chicago) and PC(USA) in Louisville. 
Archbishop Brauer became acquainted with the leaders of various aspects of ministry, held negotiations with the heads of various institutes of higher education, gave presentations about the Lutheran Church in Russia and also preached at numerous services. A special accent was made on the existing partner relationships between churches, including the productive cooperation of the ELCA Central States Synod with the Far East Deanery and the support from the American side of the “Equipping for Service” project in the Russian church.
The culmination of the travels was a conference of the “Russian Network” in Asheboro (North Carolina), during which participants discussed the long-term ecumenical partnerships that have been forged between believers in Russia and the US; prayers were raised for the strengthening and development of these ties.
Archbishop Brauer says: "I would like to express thanks for the warmth and heartfelt kindness that was visible in the events organized in the USA and also to express thanks to Ellen and Al Smith of the PC(USA) for their wonderful work in organizing the trip."

With the President of LSTC

At PC(USA) Headquarters in Louisville 

With Bishop Gustafson of the ELCA Central States Synod

Russian Mission Network Meeting

Angel with a Cross by Reformation Day

St. Petersburg
On October 31st the sculpture of the angel with a cross that crowns the roof of Petrikirche will be reopened after restoration. That was the conclusion of the delegation from the St. Petersburg Committee for Preservation and Use of Historic Sites (KGIOP) that carried out the inspection of the building area 
The pastor of the St. Anna and St. Peter congregation, Michael Schwartzkopf, spoke about the importance of angels - “they are above us and within us. An angel is a wonderful symbol of Christian faith. Therefore for all Lutherans of Russia it was so important to restore this symbol. Congregational members throughout gathered money over two years time for the restoration. The 200000 rubles gathered were enough to do research on the sculpture.” 
The chairman of the Committee, Sergei Marakov, noted that “despite all of those things that happened to the church in the Soviet era, important and authentic church items were preserved, such as, for example, the sculptures of Peter and Paul by the sculptor Torvaldsen.” During the process of restoration highest quality materials are being used and soon the figure with the angel and the cross and the rebuilt attic will be restored to pristine condition. 9 million rubles from the city budget were spent on the restoration.
Before the evening service on Reformation Day, October 31st, Petrikirche will receive a gift – a symbol of the rebirth of Lutheranism will be opened again. 

Anniversary of the Carl Blume House

Zadorozhe (Kaliningrad obl., Russia) 
10 years ago in the village of Zadorozhe in the Ozerskiy region of the Kaliningrad oblast an unusual home was opened. For the first (and so far only ) time in our church's recent history, a home providing medical care for the elderly was opened under the auspices of the Evangelical Lutheran church. The first director of the Carl Blue House was Pastor Tatyana Petrenko.
On September 17th of this year the Carl Blume house once again welcomed guests as they did 10 years ago; these guests include the person who inspired the building of the house, former area dean Pastor Heyer Osterwald, former area dean Pastor Thomas Passauer, a representative of the Order of St. John, a representative of the administration of the Ozersky region and the town of Ozersk, ad representatives of the administration of the Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, Dean of the Central Deanery Elena Bondarenko and preacher from the Central Deanery Artis Petersons. Local church guests included current Dean Igor Ronge as well as pastors and staff of the deanery.

The celebratory program was led by the director of the home, Irina Mitrokhina. There was a concert program with local children's and dance groups to entertain the residents and guests. The staff of the home put out a lot of effort in order to arrange a wonderful buffet. 
The anniversary was a good opportunity for old friends from Germany and Russia to meet. All the guests expressed hope for long and blessed work of the Carl Blume home. 
Happy anniversary! 

A Prayer Shawl and Other Surprises

Belleuve, Washington, USA
  My visit to Grace Lutheran Church in Belleuve (Washington, USA) was almost spontaneous. For many years the congregation has maintained a partner relationship with our St. Anna's and Peter's Church in St. Petersburg. After a few unsuccessful attempts in May of this year I was able to take part in a conference in San Francisco related to my professional work, and from there to Seattle / Belleuve, it is not far at all. Our partner congregation had very little time to prepare for my visit, but that made it all the more interesting – I had the chance to have quite a few meetings and events and we came to important agreements. 

  On Sunday May 8th when I visited the congregation it was Mother's Day in the United States. I was rather skeptical of this holiday – I thought of it as just another way greeting card companies increase their sales; on this day many people preferred to be with their families rather than coming to church, but there were still around 30 people at worship, which is not so few for Grace Lutheran. There were many surprises waiting for me; one of them was the blessing of quilts, which are made by hand by a group in the congregation and then sent as gifts to homeless shelters. These quilts are also given as a sign of warm care on the part of the congregation for those young people who were leaving to study in college. One of the members of the quilting group really wanted to send at least a small quilt to Russia with us, but we stopped her in time – it wouldn't have fit in our luggage. But all the same her generous nature didn't allow her to gift up; she found among her materials a “prayer shawl”- a beautiful, soft, hand-made scarf that was given to me as a present. Another surprise was that on that day the pastor of the congregation, Veronica Smith, was supposed to give birth to her baby; everything was planned so that, in the case of the pastor's absence, congregation members could lead the service themselves. But the baby wasn't rushing things, so Pastor Veronica was able to lead the service until the end and remained for the traditional coffee time afterwards. Many congregational members stayed to hear me tell about our congregation and our project of trying to raise money for the installation of an organ. The conclusion of this discussion was summed up by Pastor Veronica: “We'll full dedicate our traditional fall auction to your project;” moreover the congregation gave a significant monetary gift to the project right away. 
  During our discussions it became clear that the problems of this American congregation are similar to the problems of our congregation in Petersburg. There are very few people there right now with children and youth who attend Sunday services. For that reason a few of the rooms that previously had been occupied by the Sunday school are now being rented out to a kindergarten. I really hope that our partnership can help our congregations develop. For example I would be very happy to learn from the Americans how they together with a few other congregations of various denominations in their city were able to create a service of assistance for the homeless. For one month every church provides space for the homeless to sleep in at night. They can only be there from 7 in the evening to 7 in the morning. In the daytime there is a rehabilitation program which helps with training, job searching and adaptation. The other project that interested me was the psychological service of the church. This region-wide church program works in the following way: congregations provide the space for the consultant, while the psychological service provides training and support for church counselors. 
  I made two important acquaintances on this trip. The first was with Eva Mader and her family. Throughout the years Eva has been the main link between our congregation and the congregation in Bellevue. For family reasons Eva was not able to spend much time with me, but handed me over to an elderly couple – Judy and Howard Johnson. Now I know that in Bellevue I have a number of good friends; they organized for me two days of real relaxation and with great hospitality and friendliness they invited me not only to stay at their house, but also to take part in family events. I hope very much that Eva will be able to come to Petersburg this fall, where I will be waiting for my new friends from Bellevue.
Vlad Bukhtoyarov 

Bridge to Kaliningrad

Schwarmstedt, Germany
   For a quarter century there has been a partner relationship between the Kaliningrad deanery and the St. Laurentius congregation in Schwarmstedt (Germany). 
  During these years the inhabitants of this small town in Lower Saxony which belong to the “Bridge to Kaliningrad” organization have been in the Kaliningrad oblast a number of times. The first trip with humanitarian assistance for people in the region came in April 1991. Over the years 250 such trips have been made to schools, kindergartens and hospitals in the region. Also the Carl Blume house was a recipient of this important help, for example, their donations paid for the stairway elevator, installed in 2009.
  To mark the 25th anniversary of this relationship on April 25th the congregation in Schwarmstedt invited guest from the Kaliningrad deanery: the head of the diaconal center in Gusev Alexander Michal, Pastor Elena Kurmyshova from Gusev and Yuri Tittel. The guests spoke for the whole deanery when they expressed their thanks and presented their German partners with a hand-made samovar. It was especially important to give thanks to the “Bridge to Kaliningrad” organization and to Emma Helia Sauerwein, who has been its volunteer leader for the whole 25 years. 

Women's Ministry in Tomsk

Tomsk, Russia

  In May of 2016 I participated in the women's seminar “Friendship is a Gift from God” in Omsk, where I got acquainted with sisters from other congregations in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Urals, Siberia and Far East. 
  We discussed various themes, sang hymns, prayed and made crafts. I learned much that was new and interesting to me. A few times I was moved to tears by the heartfelt and sincere atmosphere. There I was so much positive emotion from fellowship with sisters of various ages, with various point of view on life and with their own problems. From all that I learned that we have one thing in common – our faith in God. 
  When I returned to Tomsk I had the desire to share this knowledge and these emotions, and I decided to use discussion of the book of Ruth for this. Our meetings took place on Wednesday evenings during Evening Prayer services. After the first lesson I began to be less nervous when I saw that what I had to say was interesting to participants. 
  At the end of the final evening the question was raised - “will we continue our lessons?”
This interest and trust could not leave me indifferent. I also wanted to continue our meetings. Therefore we decided that we would meet the next time on the day of the Visitation of Elizabeth by Mary. We plan to have small group lessons with large group discussion and conclusion. 
  Many thanks to the organizers of the seminar for their preparation and organization of work and rest, as well as for their sensitivity and positive attitude. 
  Natalia Pushkareva

“A Healthy Spirit in a Healthy Body”

Saratov, Russia
  The Volga region has traditionally been a very important center for church life in Russia, from the times of the German colonists up until today. Saratov is certainly one of the most important cities there, and it was with great joy that I had the chance to visit and teacher there in May.
    Together with pastor Andrey Dzhamgarov and Area Dean Alexander Scheiermann, we chose the theme "healthy congregations" for our time together and, after inviting Dean Vladimir Provorov from Ulyanovsk (a good friend of the congregation) to share in teaching duties, we named the seminar "A Healthy Spirit in a Healthy Body."  There were approximately 16 attendees from Saratov, Saratov oblast, Ulyanovsk, and Kazan who took part over the first two days, while another group joined us for a summary of the seminary on Sunday after worship. 
   The group was engaged with the material, and especially enjoyed working together on the Bible in small groups, something that I learned was not typical for them. I personally very much enjoyed seeing the church (an enormous structure that has been and will be under construction for some time), meeting the congregations, and getting acquainted a bit more closely with a pietist tradition congregation in a large, provincial city.
  Less successful, it seems, was our choice of dates. The period of late April to the end of May is a great time in Russia, but it is also a time filled with many different holidays, events, and work on the dacha. This probably hurt us in terms of attendance, but we will learn from this experience in order to organize things better next time around.
Bradn Buerkle

A New Building for the Congregation in Ekaterinburg

Ekaterinburg, Russia 
  On July 10th the congregation in Ekaterinburg held its first worship service in its new building. Great joy felt by the parishioners, who finally were able to leave their relatively small, rented hall above a supermarket and instead be in their very own building.
Not long ago Ekaterinburg Lutherans thought that they would be getting a new worship space in a different place – in the old German cemetery, which has now become a park, they planned to build their own church building. Their plans were approved by the city administration in 2015, but then during the building process a gravestone more than a century old was found, and this put meant that the site now had archaeological value; this meant that building in the park was no longer possible. 
  The congregation together with the leadership of ELCUSFE and with partners made the decision to purchase a building in the city center, in the same neighborhood of the city where the historic building (destroyed in Soviet times) stood. In June this was made possible thanks to the help of many donors, including the Martin Luther Bund and Gustav Adolf Werke. Now it will be necessary to remodel the building for congregational use, in particular, it will be necessary to make a sanctuary.  
  Today Ekaterinburg has a population of 1.3 million and is Russia's fourth largest city. The congregation in the city has a weekly attendance of over 50 people.  

  Based on the article at http://www.martin-luther-bund.de/

The Restoration of the Angel Has Begun

St. Petersburg, Russia 
  After a long wait, the beginning of the restoration of the angel sculpture on the roof of Petrikirche has begun. The “Nasledie (Heritage)” company, in accordance with the government contract signed on April 26, 2016, began their work in the middle of June on the restoration of the sculpture and attic of the cathedral, which is the federal register of historic buildings.  
  At first a temporary fence was installed near the left side of the facade of the cathedral and then a lift was installed for raising building materials to the roof. In the two weeks that followed the sculpture was surrounded by scaffoldings and a net. 
  The restoration will last approximately 4 months. It is expected that by Reformation Day the scaffoldings will be taken down and the angel will have been restored to its original form.