ELCR General Synod Elects a New President

Moscow

Archbishop Dietrich Brauer, in his sermon at the opening worship service of the Fifth General synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia, spoke about his recent experience at the worldwide LWF gathering: “The influence of the Reformation is not limited to only European countries. The large gathering of the Lutheran World Federation was held in May of this year in Africa, in Namibia.  The entire host country was caught up in great joy - the president of the country – a Lutheran – organized a warm welcome for guests. On one of the days there were testimonies given by ministers of the church from various regions. Delegate Vera Tkach told the story of St. Mary Lutheran Church in the Petrograd region of St. Petersburg. In the years of the blockade the wooden church was disassembled and used for firewood to warm people's homes. In this way the church continued to serve people. Everything changed a century ago and this century left scars. Today, though, we are traveling on the road to His coming kingdom, trusting our Lord.”

This report helped give context to those gathered in Moscow for the General Assembly. 20 delegates, elected to 6-year terms by local and regional leaders in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in European Russia (ELCER) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Urals, Siberia and Far East (ELCUSFE), took part in the event that included: the Archbishop's report, the vice-president's report from Tatyana Muramtseva and the report of the president of the Theological Seminary, Anton Tikhomirov.

Maria Khudenko and Viktor Weber spoke about the results of the new state registration of the church's constitution; the process has been completed and the Church should receive the confirmation documentation soon.

A second, no less important aspect of the meeting was the election of a new president. Two years ago Waldemar Bentzel was elected president, but he moved to Germany for a new place of service; in the meantime his responsibilities were passed on to Tatytana Muramtseva, the vice-president. The Dean of the Saratov Deanery of the ELCER, Andrey Dzhamgarov, was elected as the new president, with Dean of the Central Deanery of ELCUSFE, Vladimir Vinogradov, elected vice-president.

The audit commission was also elected: Elena Lobova from Omsk, Olga Smykova from St. Petersburg, and Lidya Reichert from Samara.

At the prayer service at the conclusion of this most authoritative meeting of Russian Lutherans Archbishop Brauer blessed Andrey and Vladimir in their new ministries.