Seminar for Congregational Leaders in Omsk

Participants of the seminar in Omsk for ELCUSFE congregational leaders share their impressions:

It was the first time I attended this annual seminar for leaders and staff of ELCUSFE congregations. The seminar was very intense and enlightening. We studied God's Word, prayed and had fellowship with one another. 

Many thanks to Bradn Buerkle for his clear explanations about how to prepare a sermon; I got a lot from that. I hope that it won't be in vain. 

I was happy to meet many people whom I'd know before as well as those acquaintances whom I was meeting agin. Some of the participants were from Vladivostok or Magadan - I'm thankful to them that they came to the seminar from so far away. There were also brothers and sisters from Novosibirsk, Omsk, Chelyanbinsk, Brezovskiy, Kuragino, Nizhny Tagil, Chernogorsk, Krasnoturinsk, Ekaterinburg and Tjumen. 

May God continue to bless such seminars. 

Natalya Kadakh. Chelyabinsk.

The teachers of the seminar have great gifts and with God's help they use them to help us do that to which we are called - to glorify our Lord Jesus Christ. Many thanks to them for that! We received a lot to think about in these days, and it will take time to understand how we can use what we learned in our congregations. The material we covered was of very high quality and was, without a doubt, very useful.

Evgeny Strikker, Ekaterinburg.

There is no such thing as an ideal congregation and there is no such thing as an ideal sermon. But we can say "Here am I!" to the call to serve and trust God for support.

Nina Dmitrieva. Vladivostok. 

I liked very much that in Bradn's lessons we balanced theory and practice so that we eventually made a sermon outline and them a sermon itself. It was possible to answer questions right away and look for an answer together. I could have used more time to move around, since it is hard to sit so long for a few days in a row! Many thanks to Otto Schaude for interesting lessons. I wish God's blessings to all the teachers and staff.

Irina Schneider. Khakasia. 

There was a funny thing that happened at the seminar. In our large church, made up of 4 deaneries, one song can be sang in four different ways. We tried to sing together "Abide With Me," but participants of the seminar started to sing 3 different melodies. In the end we sang "in the Azovo" way (Azovo - a town in the Omsk region) but it was very interesting to hear new versions of well-known hymns. 

Maxim Shekker. Tjumen.

It was very interesting to me to receive new experience and knowledge about how to prepare sermons. I learned about the principles of preaching, what should be avoided and what is recommended. In groups we worked on sermon planning, and I'll use that in worship services in the near future. Besides that the seminar was a very valuable time of fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ from other regions - "they were together in the temple, praising and blessings God." (Lk 24.53)  

Sergei Zaibert, Omsk.