Installation of Alexander Scheiermann as Bishop of the ELCSUFE

Omsk

It was a weekend full of significant events for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Urals, Siberia and Far East.

At worship on the 23 of April in the sanctuary of the congregation in Omsk around 200 people came together in order to witness to the blessing and installation of Bishop Alexander Scheiermann.

Congregation members, representatives from the city administration, and guests from various churches and countries all took part in this festive day.

The church was honored to have present the Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia Dietrich Brauer, the Vice Consul of Germany in Novosibirsk Lucia Griunich, Arend de Fries, the Vice President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover, representatives of other partner organizations and missions, the representative of the mayor of Omsk Marina Schterger - the head of the department for religious and ethnic affairs, Bishop Yuri Novgorodov - the chair of the Council of Bishops of the Union of Evangelical Lutheran Churches and bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kazakhstan, Alfred Eicholtz, the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kyrgyzstan, as well as pastors from congregations from the Urals to the Far East and representatives of churches from the USA, Germany, Switzerland and the CIS.

Alexander Scheiermann was born in the Omsk oblast and has enormous experience in congregational ministry. Alexander and his family lived for a while in Germany, received theological education in Switzerland and then served as a pastor in congregations in Moscow, Omsk and for quite some time as Area Dean in Saratov. In October 2016 he was elected Bishop at the 25 Synod Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Urals, Siberia and Far East.

Long before the beginning of the service the sanctuary was filled with congregation members, and at noon Pastor Evgeny Filippov opened the celebratory worship service with the traditional Lutheran greeting. After the ceremony of installation Alexander already gave his sermon as the Bishop. He and his wife received congratulations and gifts from guests, colleagues, and partners. A special surprise for everyone was the presence of unexpected guests – Alexander's school classmates, who also were there to congratulate him.

Many warm words were shared during the worship service, and all the members of ELC add support and prayers from afar that God would bless and guide Alexander in this new stage of his ministry.