Installation of Alexander Scheiermann as Bishop of the ELCSUFE

Omsk

It was a weekend full of significant events for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Urals, Siberia and Far East.

At worship on the 23 of April in the sanctuary of the congregation in Omsk around 200 people came together in order to witness to the blessing and installation of Bishop Alexander Scheiermann.

Congregation members, representatives from the city administration, and guests from various churches and countries all took part in this festive day.

The church was honored to have present the Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia Dietrich Brauer, the Vice Consul of Germany in Novosibirsk Lucia Griunich, Arend de Fries, the Vice President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover, representatives of other partner organizations and missions, the representative of the mayor of Omsk Marina Schterger - the head of the department for religious and ethnic affairs, Bishop Yuri Novgorodov - the chair of the Council of Bishops of the Union of Evangelical Lutheran Churches and bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kazakhstan, Alfred Eicholtz, the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kyrgyzstan, as well as pastors from congregations from the Urals to the Far East and representatives of churches from the USA, Germany, Switzerland and the CIS.

Alexander Scheiermann was born in the Omsk oblast and has enormous experience in congregational ministry. Alexander and his family lived for a while in Germany, received theological education in Switzerland and then served as a pastor in congregations in Moscow, Omsk and for quite some time as Area Dean in Saratov. In October 2016 he was elected Bishop at the 25 Synod Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Urals, Siberia and Far East.

Long before the beginning of the service the sanctuary was filled with congregation members, and at noon Pastor Evgeny Filippov opened the celebratory worship service with the traditional Lutheran greeting. After the ceremony of installation Alexander already gave his sermon as the Bishop. He and his wife received congratulations and gifts from guests, colleagues, and partners. A special surprise for everyone was the presence of unexpected guests – Alexander's school classmates, who also were there to congratulate him.

Many warm words were shared during the worship service, and all the members of ELC add support and prayers from afar that God would bless and guide Alexander in this new stage of his ministry.  

Third International Academic Conference “Lutherans in Russia”

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.

Upgrade 2015

"We spent 5 days in the church and, I'll tell you what, it's nothing like what you'd imagine." Of course if your 15 years old and you say that you spent almost a week in the church, you'll get a mixed reaction. Is it really possible that a teenager can have a good time there? For that long? Experience shows that the answer is "yes!"

In Omsk there is a lot of work done with teenagers and youth from the ELCUSFE. Yet the staff were a bit shaken (in a good way!) at the seemingly limitless energy of the more than 20 participants that came to the Christ Church Center from various cities and villages to take part in the annual “Upgrade” youth conference. Guest teachers came from the Libenzell Mission - Jenni Jochim and Pierre Dispensieri - led Bible lessons while old friends of the Omsk congregation from the Hanover Church - Michael Vogt and Cornelia Dassler - led games and for the first time in the history of our church led a Youth Synod Assembly. Vladimir Vinogradov (Dean of Western Siberia), Anastasia Razinkova (coordinator of children and youth ministry in Eastern Siberia), Stas Mikula (Pastor, Omsk oblast) and Evgeny Maul (preacher, Omsk oblast) helped create a good atmosphere and made sure that everyone was busy and well fed. 

There was great feedback from this conference. Everyone wants MORE! And praise God for that. Because it is thanks to Him that such events happen, that we receive experience, knowledge and motivation; praise God that we all felt like part of one big family. 

Slide show of pictures from the conference.

Visit of Archbishop and Ordination

Saratov
  ELCR Archbishop Dietrich Brauer traveled to Saratov on November 29-30 in order to preside at the ordination of Andrey Dzhamgarov in the under-construction buidling of St. Mary's church. In his words to the new pastor, Bishop Brauer spoke of the serious responsibility that goes with pastoral ministry. The pastor not only teaches what the the Lord and the Word of God – the Bible – says, but also in his life gives an example of righteousness. In his sermon Pastor Dzhamgarov noted that a real minister should not stand in the center and draw attention to himself, but instead always be off to the side, pointing to the crucifixion of Christ as the true center.

  There were many honored guests at the ordination, including representatives of the state and local government. Many warm and touching words were addressed to the new pastor by representatives from congregations in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, Ulyanovsk, Marx and other cities in Russia. During the second part of the celebrations guests had the chance to listen to the musical talents of the youth choir from St. Mary's church in Ulyanovsk. After that everyone “traveled to Africa” for a few minutes thanks to the choral number performed by Lutheran medical students from Namibia; their traditional African manner of singing was touching not only because of it being unusual, but because of the high quality of singing. The congregation's theater group prepared a gift for the new pastor – they performed a mini-play that demonstrated the true meeting of pastoral service, of how the shepherd guides, protects and brings peace to the flock.
  All the members of Andrey's family – his parents, his older brother, wife and son – shared their thoughts about this significant event in the life of their family and of St. Mary's church. His family name - “Dzhamgarov,” translated from Armenian means “bell ringer.” Andrey, like his anonymous forbearer, also has gone along the path of service in the church.
  On his first day in the region Archbishop Brauer traveled together with area Dean Andrey Shaermann to Holy Trinity church in Marx; this building, from the first half of the 19th century, is an architectural monument and is currently being successfully restored. The Archbishop also had a chance to see the restoration work done in Christ Lutheran Church in the village of Zorkino; this building was a copy of the historic building in Saratov, destroyed in the 1970s.

One-fifth of a Century

Omsk
  The 20th anniversary celebrations of the Christ Church Center in Omsk from May 30 to June 1, 2014 included three different events – an organ concert at the city orchestra hall; the opening celebrations at the Center (the presentation of a new exhibit on the history of Lutherans in Omsk, a choir concert, greeting and speeches), and a worship service. 20 years doesn't seem like much time, but how eventful these years have been! It was 20 years ago that the Omsk congregation, which gathered in a small prayer house in Soviet times, moved into the big, beautiful Center. After the fall of the USSR and the establishment of new church/state relationships, believers had the chance to freely confess their faith and to open the doors of their buildings to new converts. In May of 1992 in Omsk the synod assembly established the Diocese of the Urals, Siberia and Far East and Dean Nikolai Schneider was elected Superintendent. He was the one who had the idea of building a church center in Omsk, and this idea was supported by the Hannover Church and German government. The building was dedicated on August 31st, 1994 and it became the center for Lutherans in the Urals, Siberia and Far East. In the 1990s and 2000s there were few buildings of such high quality built in Omsk. With its humble interior, the building embodies the spirit of Siberian Lutheranism; the altar painting invites everyone to concentrate on the essence of the Christian faith; everything there points to what is most important – Jesus Christ.