Church-wide Assembly - “I am with you always, until the End of the Age”

Novosaratovka, Russia

  The Fourth Church-wide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia was held September 17-19, 2014 in Novosaratovka.

  Two highlights of the event were the visit to the gathering of Lutheran World Federation General Secretary Martin Junge and the election of Dietrich Brauer as the new Archbishop of the ELC.

  Dietrich Borisovich Brauer was born on January 3, 1983, in Vladivostok. He studied at the ELC TheologicalSeminary in Novosaratovka from 2001-2005; from 2005- to 2010 he served as a pastor in the Gusyev (Gumbinnen) region of the Kaliningrad deanery. In March of 2010 he was named as the Visitation Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of European Russia; in September of 2012 the Church-wide Assembly (“General Synod”) named him the acting Archbishop of the ELCR. He is married and has two children.

  During his report on his work as Acting Archbishop, Bishop Brauer especially emphasized the strengthening of ties with the Russian Orthodox Church on an official level and with the federal government administration; these developments impact the whole church since so much in Russia depends on the position of government officials. In addition Bishop Brauer outlined his vision for our Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia – a church that is is unified, open, free and dynamic, synodical, multicultural and open to dialog; a merciful church that loves the sinner.

At the end of the assembly Bishop Brauer was blessed for ministry, though his official installation was scheduled to take place later in Moscow in early 2015.

  The General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, Martin Junge, (who also visited the Governor of St. Petersburg and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ingria on this, his first trip to Russia) read a paper on the mission of the church based on the verses chosen for the synod's theme – Mt 28.19-20. It acted as a good stimulus for conversation. Delegates asked questions about whether or not they should go and preach the Gospel to people whom they don't know, or if they should start with their own family. They wondered about the relative importance of having a church building and about the right way to reach various social groups. At the end of the discussion it was decided that a working group would be formed that would look at these and similar questions.

  The synod set aside time to discuss the state of education in the church. The President of the Theological Seminary, Anton Tikhomirov, talked about the state of affairs at the seminary. At present a program of distance education is being implemented; there are more than 60 students studying over the course of 3 semesters. Also approximately once or twice a year the seminary hosts continuing education courses. Pastor Bradn Buerkle, former teacher at the seminary, presented the “Equipping for Service” project to synod delegates. This project, launched not long ago, is focused on bringing opportunities for high-quality seminars to people “on the ground” in various regions of the Russian church. Bradn was blessed for this ministry at the closing of the synod.

  The synod was attended by foreign guests from the the Germany consulate, LWF, EKG, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony, the Martin Luther Union, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland, and a para-church organization for Russian Germans in Germany.