On April 22 and 23, 2017, the Department of Civic Relations and Social Politics of the city of Omsk, the Omsk State Technical University, the Omsk State Regional History Museum, the Omsk German Ethnic-Cultural Society, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Urals, Siberia and Far East hosted an academic conference. More than 150 people from many cities in Russia (including: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Omsk, Ekaterinburg, Vladivostok, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk and others) and foreign countries (Germany, USA, Switzerland) took part.
The seminar's participants were greeted by the vice governor of the Omsk oblast, V.B. Kompaneishchikov, ELCR Archbishop Brauer, the Vice-consul of the Federal Republic of Germany from Novosibirsk Ms. Gruenich, the Vice-President for theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hannover, Arend de Fries, Rainer Bekker - the director of the Marburg Mission - and Bishop Yuri Novgorod, the chair of the Council of Bishops of the Union of Evangelical Lutheran Churches and the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kazakhstan.
The plenary session was opened by Arend de Fries with his paper: “Celebrating the Anniversary of the Reformation in the Era of Ecumenism: voicing hurts, healing memories.” He focused on the main ideas of Martin Luther as they were reflected in the theology of the Reformation, the influence of the ideas of the Reformation on the mindset of Christians, on social relationships and on the understanding of God (doctrine of justification). Interconfessional dialogue, the rethinking and reshaping of Christian faith, and the eventual drawing closer together of the the Evangelical and Roman Catholic Churches is a result of Lutheran theology.
L.M. Dmitrieva, Ph.D., head of the Philosophy department at Omsk State Technical University, drew participants' attention to the influence of Protestantism on European civilization in the 17th-18th centuries.
The director of the regional history museum, P. Vibe, Ph.D., in his paper explored the mindset and activity of German colonists on their adaptation to the conditions of Siberia; he used the Omsk region as an example. (19th-first third of 20th centuries).
Professor A.N. Gumenyuk of Omsk State Technical University gave a deep analysis of the traditions of Protestant church architecture based on the example of St. Catherine's Lutheran Church in Omsk (1790-1792), noting the signs of late “Petrine Barocco” of the end of the 18th century.
Dr. Anton Tikhomirov, President of the Novosaratovka Theological Seminary, in his paper looked at the basic principles of “dramatic homiletics” - an important movement in Western approaches to preaching.
After a small concert by the Omsk Ethnic-Cultural Society, the conference continued its work in the following round-table groups: Protestant philosophy and theology, the cultural/ historical role of Protestantism, and Germans of Siberia: church, family, traditions. The conference participants were very active and asked many questions of those who gave their papers during the plenary session and roundtables.
The first day of the conference ended with a concert of German composers performed by the Chamber Orchestra of the Omsk Philharmonic.
On April 23 the conference continued its work in the Omsk State Museum of Regional History, where participants had the chance to get acquainted with exhibits and the museum's recently issued, 300+ page album entitled: “The History of Russian Germans in the Collections of the Omsk State Regional History Museum.” At the same time the exhibit “Here I Stand and I Can Do No Other – the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation” opened to great interest.
The papers of the conference were published.
It is worth noting the warm atmosphere that could be felt at the conference.
Professor Dr. L.M. Dmitrieva, chair of the organizing committee.
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