Reformation Conference in Moscow

On May 30-31 an ecumenical conference dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation was held at St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Moscow. Representatives of the Moscow government, Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant groups spoke at the opening event.

“This anniversary year challenges us to cleanse and to heal memories and to restore Christian unity in accordance with the Gospel,” said the Papal Nuncio in the Russian Federation, Archbishop Celestino Migliore. He reminded everyone that Christianity is the only world religion that has an ecumenical movement. According to him among Christian denominations “consensus is growing regarding understanding Christian unity as reconciled diversity.”

The Secretary of the division for external church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Archpriest Stephan (Igumenov) greeted Lutherans in the name of the Russian Orthodox Church. Speaking of the Reformation he noted that “these events far away from Russia” all the same during all these 500 years have influenced our country. He mentioned that Lutherans have been in Russia more than 400 years and have a “dignified place in the multicolored palate” of the country and wished the “relatively small, but vivid” Lutheran congregation prosperity.

During the concert dedicated to the opening of the conference works by Bach, Mozart, Frank and Barber were played by the chamber orchestra “Instrumental Cappela” and the «Soli Deo Gloria» chamber orchestra of organ and soloists directed by Oleg Romanenko. A special treat of the concert was the performance of the III and IV parts of Symphony #5, the “Reformation” symphony of F. Mendellsohn-Bartholdy, which was played in Sts. Peter and Paul for the first time.

”Today all those church leaders and representatives of government structures mentioned that the Reformation taught us a lot. It taught us to value the common root that is the source of our hope, our faith in Jesus Christ” – said Archbishop Dietrich Brauer of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in summing up the first day of the conference. “We are to be reconciled with one another, to go together along the path of peace and harmony with those people who represent various peoples, various convictions. We are all united by the One who invites us to follow Him, our one common Lord.”

During the second day of the work of the conference there were a number of papers dedicated to the heritage of the Reformation. ELC Seminary President Anton Tikhomirov spoke about Protestantism in Russian poetry. Pastor Bradn Buerkle's theme was the canonicty of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia. Participants heard from Ulrich Heckel of Tubingen University about Martin Luther's understanding of the Church in an ecumenical context.

The historian Pavel Gnilorybov presented his book “Five Centuries of Moscow Lutherans.” This book about the history of the founding and development of the Lutheran congregation in Moscow came out specially for the Reformation anniversary year. The book follows the lives of Protestants in the Russian capital; in its pages – famous teachers and pastors, philanthropists and patrons, the main addresses of Moscow Lutherans, and all the ups and downs of the relationship between the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the state. The publication is illustrated by photographs and by a series of 12 graphic works by the famous artist Andrey Sergunkin.