Farewell to Thomas Graf Grote and Hello to Anastasia Razinkov – New Congregational Leader in the Irkutsk Region

Shelekhov

On May 13 Pastor Thomas Graf Grote officially concluded his ministry in the congregation in Shelekhov (Irkutsk oblast). On that day the congregation said its goodbyes with pastor Grote – a person who in many ways was responsible for the congregation's coming into existence. Its foundation was unusual. “First I came to Irkutsk as a representative of a German trading company in order to develop the lumber market. It was necessary for me to do so because I couldn't find work in Germany as a forester. However I quickly fell in love with Russia, and in particular with Irkutsk - this huge country with limitless possibilities and very hospitable people.

In 1995, four years after the fall of the USSR, a social worker who cared for the needy founded a group of Scouts that specialized in working with children and youth from disadvantaged families. This group helped the kids find meaning in life. A year later I began to take on an active role in this scouting group....from which eventually a independent Christian congregation was born. This congregation needed an official status, and we made the decision to join the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Urals, Siberia and Far East. Since there was no pastor available for this congregation the Church asked me to work on the church's legal status and to assume leadership. I stopped my work in lumber and became a student of the Theological Seminary of our church in St. Petersburg; I finished in 2006 and was ordained.” Later Pastor Grote also established contact with a special religious group in the village of Pikhtinsk of the Irkutsk oblast – Polish-speaking, ethnic German Lutherans who moved from Volyn to the Siberian taiga at the beginning of the 20 century. He was their pastor for many years.

Now the Grote family – Thomas and his wife Evgenia and their children – will return to Thomas' home in Germany. During the farewell party the congregation remembered with joy what they had went through together with their pastor, their pastoral care giver and their friend: worship services, prayer meetings, Bible groups, holidays, camps, hikes...

Now pastoral duties (with the exception of the Sacraments) for the region will be in the hands of Anastasia Razinkova. Her official title will be the representative of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Urals, Siberia and Far East in the Irkutsk oblast. She will also be responsible for two social ministry projects - “Istok” (a village with ministry with the handicapped) and “Tsvetnaya planeta” (a project dedicated to the well-being of the developmentally disabled through art therapy).

“These changes will be in large part useful for the Shelekhov congregation since I have been here already more than 20 years and the time has come when Anastasia can bring fresh ideas into the congregation,” Thomas said. Anastasia grew up in this congregation. After successfully completing her theological education in the full-time program of the Novosaratovka seminary in 2012 and an internship in Germany, she worked in the church as the coordinator of children's and youth ministry in eastern Siberia. This experience will help Anastasia in her new position since the congregation in Shelekhov is made up mostly of young adults that grew up in the Scouts (herself included) and their children. Dean Vladimir Vinogradov installed Anastasia and wished her inspiration and fruitful ministry.