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.
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. 
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