New Pastors in the Kaliningrad Deanery

Gusev
The ordination of Natalia Chizhova and the installation as pastor in the Gusev region Alexei Chizhov were held on June 3 in the Salsburg church. This pastoral couple will serve 8 congregations in the regions. And they will both have responsibilities for pastoral care in the Carl Blume retirement home in the village of Zadorozhe.

Natalia and Alexei are graduates of the full-time program of the Novosaratovka Theological Seminary. During the past years – Alexei served as a pastor and Natalia as a deacon in congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine, a member of which Natalia had been since her youth, having grown up in the city of Poltava. Alexei is originally from Kazakhstan and came to the Theological Seminary after he and his family moved to the Volgograd region.
The ordination and installation were led by Archbishop Dietrich Brauer. He was assisted by Igor Ronge and other representatives of the region and guests, including Pastor Haye Osterwald, who for 12 years (1996-2008) served in the Kaliningrad deanery – first as pastor in Gusev and then – from 2002 – as the head of the deanery.
Pastor Elena Kurmyshova who had been serving as the pastor in Gusev will now begin her service in a different region of the deanery – the village of Bolshaya Polyana.

20 Years Step by Step

Gusev, Kaliningrad Oblast

“Twenty years – step by step.” That was the name of the celebratory program dedicated to the anniversary of the Diaconal center in Gusev in the Kaliningrad oblast, June 1-3. There were many guests from around the region, from Germany;  Archbishop Dietrich Brauer from Moscow was also in attendance.

“The Diaconal Center of Gusev” is an important social ministry project of the Kaliningrad deanery of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of European Russia. At present 5 trained deaconesses care for 23 patients – in general these are handicapped people without families.

The diaconal center was registered on June 1, 1998 and was one of the first such church projects in Russia. The founders were the Kaliningrad deanery and the "Stiftung Salzburger Аnstalt Gumbinnen" foundation from the German city of Bielefeld. The project began with educating women in this area of ministry through the courses lead by deaconess Erica Zeising from Bielefeld.

At that same time a group of people in the congregation took the initiative to make home visits to shut-ins together with Pastor Haye Osterwald and to provide for their basic health needs. At first these congregational members were volunteers;  from 2000 it was possible to pay them for their work. But the people who receive the help receive it for free.

Also from 1998 to 2017 lunches for children from needy families from the city were served. And during the summer holidays summer camps are held for single mothers who raise handicapped children.

The “Gusev Diaconal Center” has everything necessary for the care of those who are homebound – from bandages and pampers to creams and gloves as well as crutches and wheelchairs. Much of this has been brought to the center by volunteers from Germany – both individuals and as representatives of various organizations. Over these 20 years these people have supported the center's ministry.

For that reason at the anniversary celebrations there were over 130 people from various places. It is difficult to measure the degree to which the center's sponsors have helped those in need throughout these two decades.

Dean Igor Ronge

Anniversary of the Carl Blume House

Zadorozhe (Kaliningrad obl., Russia) 
10 years ago in the village of Zadorozhe in the Ozerskiy region of the Kaliningrad oblast an unusual home was opened. For the first (and so far only ) time in our church's recent history, a home providing medical care for the elderly was opened under the auspices of the Evangelical Lutheran church. The first director of the Carl Blue House was Pastor Tatyana Petrenko.
On September 17th of this year the Carl Blume house once again welcomed guests as they did 10 years ago; these guests include the person who inspired the building of the house, former area dean Pastor Heyer Osterwald, former area dean Pastor Thomas Passauer, a representative of the Order of St. John, a representative of the administration of the Ozersky region and the town of Ozersk, ad representatives of the administration of the Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, Dean of the Central Deanery Elena Bondarenko and preacher from the Central Deanery Artis Petersons. Local church guests included current Dean Igor Ronge as well as pastors and staff of the deanery.

The celebratory program was led by the director of the home, Irina Mitrokhina. There was a concert program with local children's and dance groups to entertain the residents and guests. The staff of the home put out a lot of effort in order to arrange a wonderful buffet. 
The anniversary was a good opportunity for old friends from Germany and Russia to meet. All the guests expressed hope for long and blessed work of the Carl Blume home. 
Happy anniversary! 

Bridge to Kaliningrad

Schwarmstedt, Germany
   For a quarter century there has been a partner relationship between the Kaliningrad deanery and the St. Laurentius congregation in Schwarmstedt (Germany). 
  During these years the inhabitants of this small town in Lower Saxony which belong to the “Bridge to Kaliningrad” organization have been in the Kaliningrad oblast a number of times. The first trip with humanitarian assistance for people in the region came in April 1991. Over the years 250 such trips have been made to schools, kindergartens and hospitals in the region. Also the Carl Blume house was a recipient of this important help, for example, their donations paid for the stairway elevator, installed in 2009.
  To mark the 25th anniversary of this relationship on April 25th the congregation in Schwarmstedt invited guest from the Kaliningrad deanery: the head of the diaconal center in Gusev Alexander Michal, Pastor Elena Kurmyshova from Gusev and Yuri Tittel. The guests spoke for the whole deanery when they expressed their thanks and presented their German partners with a hand-made samovar. It was especially important to give thanks to the “Bridge to Kaliningrad” organization and to Emma Helia Sauerwein, who has been its volunteer leader for the whole 25 years. 

Visit from the Central Deanery to the Carl Blume House

Zadorozhe, Russia
  On June 30 Dean Elena Bondarenko and Lay Minister Artis Petersons brought offerings and donated goods from the Moscow congregation, from private individuals and the German Embassy “Emmaus” congregation to the Carl Blume House in the Kaliningrad oblast
  The guests were met by the director of the house, Irina Mitrokhina. She told them about the joys and challenges of this Lutheran retirement home in the village of Zadorozhe, a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in European Russia. 
  Thanks to cooperation with the Kaliningrad Deanery and in particular with Dean Igor Ronge these meetings are possible and bring joy to the staff and residents of the Carl Blume house as well as their visitors. 

“I was Hungry and You Fed Me”

Gusev, Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia)

What will we say when we stand before God at the judgment and we are asked what we did in order to relieve the suffering of our neighbors? Did we give comfort in grief? Did we feed the hungry? Did we give warmth to those who were cold? Did we support those who were in prison? Who were sick? If yes, then did we do so from a pure heart? As Christ did for us? These questions are worth thinking about.

It has become a good tradition in the Kaliningrad deanery to hold an annual “Diaconal Day,” just before the second Sunday in Advent. Staff of diaconal ministry, volunteers and congregational members gather together to talk about social service ministry in the Church. This year Diaconal Day was held on December 5th in Gusev. It was dedicated to the development of diaconal projects in the region and sources of financing. Participants were not only those who were active in the social work of the Church, but also the pastors of the deanery, representatives of congregations, leaders of women's ministries, youth and children's ministries. Our friends and mentors from Berlin came to take part – Thomas Passauer, Uwe Makward, Alexander Wom; they have supported this initiative for many years. We hear wonderful words of guidance from Winfred Gaiko who, though he was unable to attend because of illness, passed on his words through his colleague in diaconal work Uwe. 

  Frequently very respectable people ask me why the Church take up what should be the responsibility of the government – helping the needy? In our age of high technology, poverty, hunger, joblessness, a decrease in the authority of the family, a rise in suicides, abortions, drug abuse and alcoholism still exist. Hardness of heart is becoming ever more common, as are permissiveness and lack of respect for the law. Experience throughout the world shows that the most effective social defense is achieved when social structures and included together with the state in solving problems. The Church is part of society and it has much experience based in the Word of the Lord. It is capable of nurturing such virtuous traits as mercy, tolerance, sympathy, respecting the other's interests. In the Kaliningrad deanery diaconal projects help decrease social tension. Many years ago in Gusev a diaconal center was opened, and one of his tasks was to care for homebound or disabled people. Later a nursing home for the elderly and for the disabled was opened – the “Karl Blume House.” This later has been developed further in Kaliningrad and Slavsk, where care is given on an outpatient basis. Now Chernyakhovsk is getting involved. The deanery also organizes the feeding of children from underprivileged families, summer camps for handicapped children and for mothers with children in difficult circumstances. In Kaliningrad there is a group of support for parents of children with limited abilities (the “Kapelka” or “raindrop” group). In addition there are many charity events. 

  In the Diaconal Days there were many presenters. We value all our  projects. Our task is to support them and, when possible, to development them, uniting our efforts for effective work in the name of the Lord and for the good of the Church. 

Pastor Elena Kurmyshova

Salzburg-Gumbinnen-Gusev

Gusev

On October 31 and November 1 the Gusev congregation of the Kaliningrad deanery celebrated 20 years since their church was re-dedicated.

“These were special days for us,” said Pastor Elena Kurmyshova, “we traveled throughout the oblast, we remembered the path we have been on and also had new meetings and made new acquaintances.”

The Gusev congregation has a unique history. The settlement was established in the 1730s under the King Friedrich Wilhelm I of East Prussia. He extended the offer to his fellow Lutherans living in Salzburg and under pressure from local Catholic leadership to convert to instead emigrate and form a new settlement. 16 thousand of them agreed, and Gumbinnen (as it was then known) became their new home. The church building that they dedicated in 1840 stands to this day, though it has had a difficult history. It lost its bell town during World War II, and during Soviet times it was used as a warehouse. In the 1990s the full reconstruction of the church began, and it was re-dedicated for the congregation's use on October 31, 1995.

Former pastors of the congregation, including ELC Archbishop Dietrich Brauer and (from Germany) pastors Hayer Osterwald and Gerald Koch took part in the special worship services that took place on these days. “This celebration gave us new hope for strengthening partnerships, for developing relationships through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. God willing, that which took place over these days will be bear fruit in time,” summarized Pastor Elena Kurmyshova.

New Dean in Kaliningrad

On September 27 in the Church of the Resurrection in Kaliningrad Archbishop Dietrich Brauer installed Pastor Igor Ronge as the Dean of the Kaliningrad region. We wish Dean Ronge God's blessing!

Ordination in Kaliningrad

  On December 14th in the Church of the Resurrection Elena Kurmyshova was ordained as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church. She had recently finished her year-long internship in Samara under the direction of Area Dean Olga Temirbulatova. Now she is responsible for the congregations in the region of Gusiev in the Kaliningrad deanery of the ELCER.

  Lena is a graduate of the extension education program of the Theological Seminary in Novosaratovka. After getting her degree, Lena spent a year and half working in a diaconal program in Germany. For a number of years she provided pastoral care to hospital-bound HIV patients as part of the ministry of  St. Peter and St. Anna church in St. Petersburg . Her experience in the sphere of diaconal ministry will be very important for Pastor Kurmysheva in her work related to the Carl Blume home for the elderly in Gusev.

Like Wild Carnations

Svetlogorsk/Kaliningrad
  At the end of the summer the Kaliningrad deanery became a place filled with lively activity - meetings, prayers, and theological discussions. From the 28th to 31st of August a seminar for women theologians of ELCER was held in Svetlogorsk (Raushene) on the Baltic Sea coast. The first such meeting took place in 2010 in Erfurt, then in 2011 in Samara and 2012 in Kazan. The leader of the seminar was the pastor of the Emmaus congregation at the German consulate in Moscow, Kristina Schnepel. Participants came from Moscow, Samara, Tolyatti, Kazan, Baku, Krasnoyarsk, St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad to discuss the meaning of the Reformation breakthrough for pastoral care in a congregational setting; in addition, they also took place in events throughout the deanery. For the first time two new women pastors took part – Sofia Tikhomirova and Svetlana Yanchurkina, ordained not long before this meeting, on August 24th.

  The coordinator of diaconal ministry in the ELCER, Elena Kurmyshova, also came to this meeting in  preparation for her soon-to-be-completed internship in Samara and soon-to-begin service in the Gusev congregation and in the Karl Blume Home for the Elderly. The committee of the Kaliningrad deanery approved her candidacy and at the end of the seminar, on August 31st, she visited Gusev in order to get acquainted with her new place of ministry. On the 30th of August the women theologians took part in the deanery-wide meeting. Pastor Thomas Figel, who at the time was acting as Area Dean, warmly welcomed the women theologians. The President of the ELCER executive committee, Olga Temirbulatova, led morning prayer. In her reflections she reminded participants that we are to serve in that place that God has planted us, just as we sometimes find wild carnations among weeds and thorns. After the deanery meeting a seminar for lectors was held. “Lectors” are congregational members in rural and small congregations without a pastor; they have been given the responsibility to lead worship and read sermons prepared by pastors. This seminar for the preparation of lectors was prepared by the Dean of the Central Deanery, Elena Bondarenko and Pastor Thomas Passauer.
  This seminar was very important and the women who participated are especially thankful to Gustav Adolf Work for help in running in the seminar and for giving theologians from Siberia to Azerbaijan to Kaliningrad and Chernyakhovsk the possibility to gather on the Baltic Sea.