Tbilisi, Georgia
Salt is a valuable thing, used for preserving food and for improving its taste. At the same time salt is a wonderful symbol of the significance of the Christian faith: Christianity “flavors” the world with its witness in word and deed of loving God and loving neighbor while preserving people from decay. “The Christian Church as a Minority and as 'Salt of the Earth'” was the theme of the now-traditional, annual Luther Days in the Church of the Reconciliation February 10-15.It's too bad that so few people responded to the invitation and the audience was made up mostly of congregation members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Georgia (ELCG).
On February 10th, on Ash Wednesday, Pastor Viktor Miroshnichenko led worship at dedicated to the beginning of Lent. At the end Bishop Hans Joachim Kiderlen opened up the event, and then Pastor Irina Soley made a quick overview presentation of the Luther Days from 2012 to 2015. The days triumph was a theatrical presentation “Luther in Georgia,” written by Bishop Kiderlen and directed by Irina Mamisashvili.
On the next day Pastors Soley and Miroshnichenko led Bible study on the theme “You are salt of the earth.” (Mt 5.13). Participants got a detailed answer to the question of why Christians are called “salt of the earth.” The organizers of the event also showed a film about the sad sated of church buidlings in Holland, which frequently fall into private hands and are turned into hotels, gyms, cafes, etc. Everyone was shocked by the way these “houses of prayer” have been treated and the words of Jesus were recalled “ Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” (John 2.16).
On February 12th the annual reception of the ELCG was held, during which Bishop Kiderlen gave a speech and the “Gloria” choir led by Natalia Chaganava brought joy to the congregation members and many guests with their wonderful singing. During this evening the Ambassador from Germany Bettina Kadenbach, representatives from the Georgian Orthodox Church and civil organizations of Georgia as well as partners of the home-care diaconal service – the director of the Psychological Center Professor David Zurabashvili, Medey Azarashvili the head of the social services department of the Chuguret region, Maya Mikadze from “Caritas” and many others.
Professor Tamar Tsopurashvili (Ilia Chavchavadze State University) gave a paper entitled “The Division of the Inheritance of the Reformation between the State, Society and Church” on February 13th. She speak of the results of the effect of the Reformation on social, economic and cultural life.
On the next day the sermon at the Church of Reconciliation was given by Pastor Varlam Ramishvily from St. Trinity church in Batumi. In the evening Baptist Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili gave a paper called “Reformation or Adaptation to the Spirit of the Times (aggiornamento) in Georgia.” The word «aggiornamento» in translation been “renewal, “modernization.” Is it possible for there to be a renewal of the Church in contemporary Georgian society? What is the main call of the Christian churches? These were the kind of questions that were brought up in the lively discussion afterwards.
Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili compared the Church with a locomotive which moves society, the progress of which is impossible without such higher Christian values as love, mercy and mutual help. The modernization of the Church in the contemporary world is possible only within the context of constructive dialog among all the Christian churches and among all religions. We are all God's children, created “in his image and likeness” and we are all significant for God without regard to our religion, sex or ethnicity. The Luther Days came to a close with a discussion on the theme “the realization of reformation churches of their position in relationship to the state and society using the example of Georgia.” The discussion was led by Nino Lezhava (Heinrich Boell Foundatio n). Those on the podium for this discussion were representatives of the Lutheran, Baptist, Armenian Apostolic and “Word of Life” churches as well as the chair of the Committee for Religions Beka Mindiashvili. The discussion was started by Pastor Irina Soley who noted that the ELCG tries to preserve its traditional identity and faithfulness to its German roots while at the same time being open and active to participate in the life of society and the state. An example of such civil involvement could be the Evangelical Bapist Church, the bishop of which Rusudan Gotsiridze compared the Church to a prophet which should preach the truth to society to speak God's truth and to fight for justice. Father Narek from the Armenian Apostolic Church expressed his concern that the Georgian Orthodox Church gets all the press while at the same time there are other traditional Christian churches in the country, too, which would like to speak about themselves and about their spiritual values.
Beka Mindiashvili thanked the Lutheran church and Bishop Kiderlen in particular for taking the initiative to enhance mutual cooperation between the Chuches. Pastor Givi Kutelya from “Word of Life” Church noted that the voice of small and newly-founded congregations that are capable of witnessing to Christ in word and deed should be heard. Nino Lezhava concluded the discussion with the suggestion to everyone that it would be possible to use the upcoming anniversaries in 2017 (200 years since the first German settlers came to the Caucuses and the 500th anniversary of the Reformation) in order to tell Georgian social about Protestant churches and the role of the Reformation in world history.
Elena Ilinets
Irina Soley
Gayna Melkonyan-Chikhradze
Salt is a valuable thing, used for preserving food and for improving its taste. At the same time salt is a wonderful symbol of the significance of the Christian faith: Christianity “flavors” the world with its witness in word and deed of loving God and loving neighbor while preserving people from decay. “The Christian Church as a Minority and as 'Salt of the Earth'” was the theme of the now-traditional, annual Luther Days in the Church of the Reconciliation February 10-15.It's too bad that so few people responded to the invitation and the audience was made up mostly of congregation members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Georgia (ELCG).
On February 10th, on Ash Wednesday, Pastor Viktor Miroshnichenko led worship at dedicated to the beginning of Lent. At the end Bishop Hans Joachim Kiderlen opened up the event, and then Pastor Irina Soley made a quick overview presentation of the Luther Days from 2012 to 2015. The days triumph was a theatrical presentation “Luther in Georgia,” written by Bishop Kiderlen and directed by Irina Mamisashvili.
On the next day Pastors Soley and Miroshnichenko led Bible study on the theme “You are salt of the earth.” (Mt 5.13). Participants got a detailed answer to the question of why Christians are called “salt of the earth.” The organizers of the event also showed a film about the sad sated of church buidlings in Holland, which frequently fall into private hands and are turned into hotels, gyms, cafes, etc. Everyone was shocked by the way these “houses of prayer” have been treated and the words of Jesus were recalled “ Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” (John 2.16).
On February 12th the annual reception of the ELCG was held, during which Bishop Kiderlen gave a speech and the “Gloria” choir led by Natalia Chaganava brought joy to the congregation members and many guests with their wonderful singing. During this evening the Ambassador from Germany Bettina Kadenbach, representatives from the Georgian Orthodox Church and civil organizations of Georgia as well as partners of the home-care diaconal service – the director of the Psychological Center Professor David Zurabashvili, Medey Azarashvili the head of the social services department of the Chuguret region, Maya Mikadze from “Caritas” and many others.
Professor Tamar Tsopurashvili (Ilia Chavchavadze State University) gave a paper entitled “The Division of the Inheritance of the Reformation between the State, Society and Church” on February 13th. She speak of the results of the effect of the Reformation on social, economic and cultural life.
On the next day the sermon at the Church of Reconciliation was given by Pastor Varlam Ramishvily from St. Trinity church in Batumi. In the evening Baptist Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili gave a paper called “Reformation or Adaptation to the Spirit of the Times (aggiornamento) in Georgia.” The word «aggiornamento» in translation been “renewal, “modernization.” Is it possible for there to be a renewal of the Church in contemporary Georgian society? What is the main call of the Christian churches? These were the kind of questions that were brought up in the lively discussion afterwards.
Bishop Malkhaz Songulashvili compared the Church with a locomotive which moves society, the progress of which is impossible without such higher Christian values as love, mercy and mutual help. The modernization of the Church in the contemporary world is possible only within the context of constructive dialog among all the Christian churches and among all religions. We are all God's children, created “in his image and likeness” and we are all significant for God without regard to our religion, sex or ethnicity. The Luther Days came to a close with a discussion on the theme “the realization of reformation churches of their position in relationship to the state and society using the example of Georgia.” The discussion was led by Nino Lezhava (Heinrich Boell Foundatio n). Those on the podium for this discussion were representatives of the Lutheran, Baptist, Armenian Apostolic and “Word of Life” churches as well as the chair of the Committee for Religions Beka Mindiashvili. The discussion was started by Pastor Irina Soley who noted that the ELCG tries to preserve its traditional identity and faithfulness to its German roots while at the same time being open and active to participate in the life of society and the state. An example of such civil involvement could be the Evangelical Bapist Church, the bishop of which Rusudan Gotsiridze compared the Church to a prophet which should preach the truth to society to speak God's truth and to fight for justice. Father Narek from the Armenian Apostolic Church expressed his concern that the Georgian Orthodox Church gets all the press while at the same time there are other traditional Christian churches in the country, too, which would like to speak about themselves and about their spiritual values.
Beka Mindiashvili thanked the Lutheran church and Bishop Kiderlen in particular for taking the initiative to enhance mutual cooperation between the Chuches. Pastor Givi Kutelya from “Word of Life” Church noted that the voice of small and newly-founded congregations that are capable of witnessing to Christ in word and deed should be heard. Nino Lezhava concluded the discussion with the suggestion to everyone that it would be possible to use the upcoming anniversaries in 2017 (200 years since the first German settlers came to the Caucuses and the 500th anniversary of the Reformation) in order to tell Georgian social about Protestant churches and the role of the Reformation in world history.
Elena Ilinets
Irina Soley
Gayna Melkonyan-Chikhradze
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