Christmas 2017

Astana (Kazakhstan)

Grodno (Belarus)

Kazan

Krasnoyarsk

Lozovaya (Ukraine)

Lvov (Ukraine)

Moscow

Omsk

Rustaveli (Georgia)

St. Petersburg

Samara

Saratov

 Tibilisi (Georgia)

 Tomsk

Ulyanovsk

Volgograd (Sarepta)

ELCA Partner Visits

2017 showed that the ELCA continues to remain engaged in partnership with the church in Russia. In February regional representative Arden Haug made a trip to St. Petersburg and Moscow together with Bishop Cindy Halmarson, Global Mission Director for Europe, Middle East and North Africa. As usual they visited the central church administration, Bishop Kugappe of the Ingrian Church, and ELCA Pastor Bradn Buerkle in St. Petersburg, and then in Moscow visited Archbishop Brauer and his staff, the French-speaking congregation, and the Moscow Protestant chaplaincy.This trip came at the conclusion of Arden's many years of faithful service in accompanying the Russian church on the behalf of the ELCA; his knowledge of the situation and his efforts on behalf of our church throughout the years have been very much appreciated.

Northwest Washington delegation with Bishop Brauer

In March a group of 5 people from the Northwest Washington Synod, including Bishop Unti, came to Russa to visit the two capitals and their partner synod (ELCER) and congregations in Yaroslavl and Tolyatti. They were very impressed by what they saw, and they are filled with a desire to strengthen ties further. Eva Mader, who was not able to join the delegation that came in March as she had originally planned, did make a short trip to St. Petersburg in September to attend the service of dedication for the new organ in Petrikirche, the partner congregation of her home Grace Lutheran in Bellevue.

Pastor Gary Teske, Pastor Gleb Pivovarov, and Olga Vinogradova

In September and October, a delegation from the Central States Synod made their first trip to Russia in 5 years; while they might not be frequent, they do cover a lot of ground! They began in St. Petersburg and made stops in Moscow, Omsk, Khabarovsk and Krasnoyarsk before reaching the congregations to which they have been historically tied in the Far East. Their meetings with church leaders along the way helped the delegation get a sense of the challenges the church faces and some of the hope-filled new aspects of church life in ELCUSFE, including the leadership of a new bishop, Alexander Scheiermann, with whom the delegation's leader, Gary Teske, had already become acquainted in Omsk at the bishop's installation in April.

Bishop Halmarson and other church leaders at the Reformation Anniversary

Viking Dietrich, the new ELCA area representative, joined the group in Vladivostok, where they all celebrated together with Dean Manfred Brockmann his 80 birthday and the celebration of 25 years since the congregation has been reborn.
Finally, our church was honored to have Bishop Halmarson with us again for the Reformation anniversary celebrations in Moscow over the last days of October through the beginning of November. Her presence was more than just a reminder that this event is being celebrated world-wide, it was also a chance to gain a deeper understanding of one another and one another's church life.

The Doctrine of Justification 500 Years Later – Lutheran/Roman Catholic Conference in Moscow

 From November 21-23 at the St. Thomas Institute the ecumenical seminar “The Doctrine of Justification 500 Years Later” was held. The organizers of the seminar were St. Thomas Catholic Institute and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of European Russia (ELCER).
The St. Thomas Institute has already been in cooperation with the ELCER for quite some time, especially with the Central Deanery. Many of its graduates are working in ELCER congregations. The Rector of the Institute, Father Thomas Garcia, has preached numerous times in our Sts Peter and Paul Cathedral in Moscow. Therefore during one of the meetings between Father Thomas, Father Viktor Zhuk, Dean Elena Bondarenko and Lay Minister Artist Petersons the idea arose to organize a joint theological conference open to the two denominations and to the public during the year of the anniversary of the Reformation.

The idea became incarnate – a three day seminar in St. Thomas Institute with lectures by Father Jose Vegas from the “Mary Queen of the Apostles” Seminary in St. Petersburg and Pastor Anton Tikhomirov, the President of the Novosaratovka Theological Seminary. It ended up being an interesting dialogue between Lutherans and Catholics about sin, justification, salvation and the role of the Church in contemporary life.
At the conclusion of the seminar there was a discussion moderated by Father Zhuk. Dean Bondarenko and lay ministers Artis Petersons and Nikolai Demonov helped in the preparations for the seminar.

New Bishop for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Southern Caucasus

Tbilisi, Georgia

November 12 was a memorable day in the history of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Georgia and Southern Caucasus (ELCG). A new bishop was installed at Sunday worship at the Church of the Reconciliation. Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wortemburg, Markus Schock became the 5th bishop of the ELCG. His predecessor, Hans-Joachim Kiderlein, was the head of Georgian Lutherans from 2008 to 2017.
The installation service was led by the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kyrgyzstan, Alfred Eicholtz; he was assisted by Bishop Hans - Joachim Kiderlen, the Bishop Emeritus of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia Abroad Elmars Rozitis, Bishop Emeritus of the ELG Johannes Launhardt, Klaus Rieth from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Wurttemberg, Dean Olga Timurbulatova, Pastor Irina Solei and Pastor Viktor Miroshnichenko.
The 51 year old Schock was elected bishop at the synod assembly of the ELCG a year ago, in November 2016. Bishop Schock is familiar with ministry in the post-Soviet context; he worked for 5 years as the pastor of the German Evangelical Lutheran congregation in Latvia, and earlier (beginning in 2000) he had worked for 4 years as the pastor of St. Georgia's in Samara (Russia).
The new bishop was greeted by representatives from other confessions, from government structures, from the German embassy and the partner church in Wurttemberg. Klaus Rit from the Wurttemberg church inspired the small Georgian church to be a “lighthouse for society.” Bishop Eicholtz, representing the Union of Evangelical Lutheran Churches – mentioned that it was a special blessing for him to take part in this installation insofar as he himself is a direct descendant of the Swabian emigrates who founded the first Lutheran congregations in Georgia. He quoted 1 Cor 4.15 as he reminded Bishop Schock of the need to love the church that has been entrusted to him and to lead it like a father.
The Area Dean for Samara Olga Temirbulatova read the congratulations written by the Archbishop of the ELCR, Dietrich Brauer, and added on her own that she has been acquainted with Pastor Schock for a long time, and knows that he is very capable of building on past developments and has the gift of consolidation and reconciliation. She sees him as a person “with a big heart,” and sees it as a blessing that he is serving in this new capacity.

Church Dedication in Ekaterinburg

The first Lutheran congregation in Ekaterinburg was founded in 1723. The first Lutherans were engineers, craftsmen and mining experts who came from Europe. After the war between Russia and Sweden in 1741-43, many parishioners were prisoners of war from Sweden and Finland.
In 1791 the first Lutheran wooden church was destroyed, and a new Orthodox church was built on the square. Until 1872 services were celebrated in various places in the city. In 1873 the new stone church was dedicated. The money for the construction was donated by church members (Germans and Swedes).
Congregational life was re-established in 1999 after the end of the Communist era. Now for the first time, after many trials, the congregation has its own space.  On November 26, 2017, the congregation's building was consecrated. 

The pastor of the congregation, Raikin Dürr, writes:
In the summer of last year, after many years of effort, we were finally allowed to buy a congregational center. The renovation work then lasted for over a year until we could celebrate the official dedication.
We are grateful to all friends and donors, but above all to our church members and staff who have not left us alone throughout the years.
On November 26, 2017, our newly renovated parish hall with an altar and pulpit was dedicated by Area Dean Valdemar Jesse. Brothers and sisters from different Lutheran congregations in the Urals visited us for this event. Representatives of the Liebenzell Mission also came to Ekaterinburg for the occasion. It was so crowded that people even had to sit in the cry room and there was no room left for the children - almost like the time when Jesus was born.
In his sermon Bishop Alexander Scheiermann reminded us of the heavenly hope that God offers to us Christians. We understand very well that with ownership comes responsibility.
And so, as Lutheran Christians in Ekaterinburg, we want to tell the people of our city the saving message of Jesus. We want to help the poor with diaconal ministry. And we want to invite people to join us for worship at church services where we hear His Word. 
We very much hope that God sends people from our midst to be co-workers in His kingdom to serve in the most diverse fields. 

Women's Ministry in Vladivostok

Sometimes it seems that the church is too interested in the question of what is appropriate for women to do in the church and what is not appropriate (e.g., the type of clothing that is worn, wearing a scarf or not, whether or not women can preach in the church). Even in the Lutheran church where we officially recognize the equality of men and women to serve at the altar and where wearing a scarf is not required, all the same people discuss and make judgements that, sometimes, even go so far as to humiliate a woman – a sister in Christ.
  Women are freely offered all sorts of work – from washing floors to working with kids in Sunday school, from preparing snacks to taking care of the homebound. This work is familiar to every woman and women do it well. But can any woman listen to a brother or sister who is weighed down with sin and bring them comfort, praying together with them and saying “The Lord loves you. He takes on your sin, you are forgiven through the blood of Christ. He died for you?” If there is such a woman in a congregation, this is a gift from the Lord! It's not very helpful at that moment to hurriedly quote Paul's Letter to the Corinthians where he speaks about scarfs and haircuts (the latter not only for women, by the way).
Women are happy to lovingly prepare feasts, to take care of children and to help the sick. But if God gave her the gift to preach the Good News and to teachs, it is not good to “close” her mouth and say that you are forbidden to do that. Why do we trust women to raise our children in faith, but we don't allow them to speak from the pulpit? It seems that it is a larger responsibility to work with children, who are vulnerable and sincerely trust the adults that work with them.
  These and other questions interested me and I wanted to speak about them with my sisters in order to support them, to raise their self-esteem and their importance – in fact, sometimes their indispensability in the congregation. I suggested that they lead “women's ministry meetings” and on Sunday after worship the women of St. Paul's Lutheran gathered for fellowship in our comfortable ship cabin (that is what we call the balcony in the kirche). It wasn't very difficult to find a theme for our meeting: “Church (Lutheran) holidays.”
  The women were interested in hearing about the church calendar, about the holidays of the church year, about the decorating of the church during those times as well as food and other traditions. There weren't many of us, but they listened attentively to what I had to say and added their own contributions, especially when we spoke about traditions and special foods.
We closed our meeting by drinking tea together; instead of traditional cookies, we ate a snack from the German-Russian tradition – krebel. Those who knew the recipe shared with those who wanted to know how to make them themselves. 
  The time went spent together went by quickly, and as we parted we agreed to “get together more frequently.” We do, after all, have lots of things to think about and discuss!
I am thankful to God  that he has given me the courage to work with women and strengthens me in this ministry! I am thankful to my sisters who came to the meeting and gave me support!
Nina Dmitrieva

Three Anniversaries - German Culture Days in Vladivostok

Our 21st German Cultural Days have a special meaning this year when we celebrate three anniversaries: the 25th anniversary of the rebirth of the Lutheran Church in the Russian Far East; the 20th anniversary of the return of St. Paul's church in Vladivostok, and the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
We invited many friends from Russia and abroad to attend. We will be especially happy to see the delegates from the Central States Synod of the ELCA, which has been our partner for 25 years. We also are anticipating our newly-elected bishop, Alexander Scheiermann to come from Omsk and our Archbishop Dietrich Brauer from Moscow; the latter had part of his internship with us when he was still a student.
In the 25 years since the rebirth of the Lutheran church in the Far East and the 20 years of restoration of our beautiful St. Paul's Church in Vladivostok we can only be thanks to God. Despite many people leaving us and emigrating west – this was the theme of our Culture Days last year – we can only with wonder and thankfulness affirm how many blessings we have been given over these years! And here we remember the promises given by God to Abraham: “And you will be a blessing" (Genesis 12.2). This is our blessing as well.
The main event – the “Day of Three Anniversaries” will be October 1 in St. Paul Church! And of course we again visit the universities of Vladivostok; there are again meetings with students in the Goethe hall at the regional library. We again will offer folk dancing. And again we will have the “German Vladivostok” tour. The Honorary Consul of Germany Y.I. Kotyk will host a reception on the “Day of German Unity.” We will celebrate worship on October 1 as Harvest Day.
And as always we will have much music, since music is our pride. We will also have the traditional “Evening of Polish Music,” and there will be a concert of Manfred Brockmann's compositions.
Once again organist Jamin Raschfrom Hamburg will be with us with three organ concerts in our church. And we will conclude our Culture Days with the works of our great J.S.Bach.
I thank all of our sponsors.
Manfred Brockmann, Pastor of St. Paul Church in Vladivostok, Dean of the Russian Far East, retired Honorary Consul of Germany
September 2017