Easter 2018

Pictures from Easter celebrations from congregations of the Union of Evangelical Lutheran Churches.

Anzhero-Suzhdensk (Russia) 

Astana (Kazakhstan)

Berdyansk (Ukraine)

Grodno (Belarus)

Kazan

Krasnoturinsk (Russia)

Krasnoyarsk (Russia):

 

Moscow (Russia)

Odessa (Ukraine)

Omsk (Russia)

Rastaveli (Georgia)

St. Petersburg (Russia)

Tbilisi (Georgia)

Tomsk (Russia)

Ufa (Russia)

Ulyanovsk (Russia)

Volgograd / Sarepta (Russia)

The Sources of Faith of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Kazakhstan

Hamburg
From January 12 to 14 a conference of the Gustav Adolf Werk was held on the theme “The sources of faith of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Kazakhstan.” Among those attending were the President of the organization, Gabriele Wulz, General Secretary Enno Haaks, and the head of the organization in northern Germany (former Area Dean in Kaliningrad), Heye Osterwald. Archbishop Dietrich Brauer of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia gave a paper about the history and contemporary situation of the Lutheran Church in Russia. In particular he emphasized the way the events of the Reformation anniversary were organized with an ecumenical spirit and in constructive cooperation with government authorities.

The conference concluded with Sunday worship at the Church of the Cross, where Archbishop Brauer gave the sermon.

A New Church for Lutherans in Kazakhstan – the Church of Christ the Savior has been dedicated!

Astana

On September 17 congratulations rang out for the Lutherans of Kazakhstan who, for the first time in their century and a half history, have built and dedicated a new church building.

Among those taking part in the celebration: the Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia Dietrich Brauer, the Bishop of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine Sergei Mashevskii, representatives of the Circle of Friends of Kazakhstan from Mecklenburg Hans-Heinrich Yarkhov and Waldemar Henrich Zabilny, the representative of the Martin Luther Bund and the Gustav Adolf Foundation the Bishop of Halle-Wittenberg Johann Schneider, the representative of the Lutheran World Federation for Europe, Ireneus Lukas, the representative of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany Dean Parchima in the region of Mecklenburg Pastor Dirk Zauermann, the representative of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania Pastor Uve Zaidner, pastors, deacons, members of Lutheran congregations in Kazakhstan, sponsors of the building process.

At the ceremony of dedication representatives of the government were present – the minister of religious affairs and civil society, representatives of the akimat, the committee for religious affairs, parlament, embassies of Germany and Sweden, the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church.

The new church complex is made up of the cathedral and the church center.  The building process began in June of 2015 and was fininshed in only 2 years and 2 months.  “It was necessary to take this step” said Albert Rau, the sponsor of the building of the cathedral as he stood by the church gate. “We thank the akimat of the city for their help in providing a property on which to build, and we thank the people of various nationalities and denominations that have given offerings both of money and also of building materials: cement, tiles, bricks. In order for our church to have a future, it needs the right conditions for working with congregational members.”

Bishop Yuri Novgorodov broke tradition a bit by inviting infants to be the first to enter the building.

“It is a blessings and a large honor for me to be here as a guest,” said Irenues Lukas in Russian as he greeted the congregation in teh name of the Lutheran World Federation's 75 million Lutherans in 145 churches in 98 countries. “You are an important part of this family. While I am here for the first time as a guest, I am not a stranger among strangers. There is no doubt that this Church on a busy street will be not only be part of the beautiful architecture of the capital, but will also contribute significantly to the life of the country. As this church is opening I see two symbolic aspects – the Church will act as a living monument to the victims of repression and also as a new place of Reformation.”

In his sermon on the Good Samaritan Bishop Novgorod quoted the words “and see—we are alive” (2 Cor 6.9); this is also the name of the exhibition in the old church in Astana. “How does the story of the Good Samaritan relate to us? Of 2000 pastors in the Lutheran Church of the Russian Empire, by 1953 there were only thre left alive. In 1955 Evgeny Bachmann led a secret worship service. 90% of those who gave offerings for the building of our cathedral were Kazakhs, Muslims- Good Samaritans.” Bishop Novgorodov thanked the Lord for this happening, for the development of the country and the foundation of its stability, for inter-religious peace and agreement.

Then the chair of the Synod Council Pastor Zhanibek Batenov voiced the decision of the council from August 24: “the name of the newly dedicated Evangelical Lutheran Cathedral in Astana will be the Christ the Savior Cathedral.”

Archbishop Dietrich Brauer reminded those gathered of their common history as he presented the book “Five Centuries of Moscow Lutherans.” “Everything that took place was not not in vain. What seemed to be the end became a beginning. Evgeny Bachmann was able to get the congregation registered with the state after all the repressions.”

Bishop of Halle-Wittenberg and representative of Martin Luther Bund and the Gustav Adolf Foundation Johann Schneider presented an altar Bible with the wish that the Word of God will remain forever.

Dean Dirk Zauermann in his speech remarked that it would be impossible to build such a big church campus in such a short time in Germany; this new building was a real breakthrough.

For 23 years Hans Yakharov has made annual trips from Mecklenburg to Kazakhstan: “I am like part of the inventory of this church. Congregational members know me; I've listened to their stories, and I am thankful for these meetings. We have been connected with your church for more than 50 years; we have seen it's growth and strengthening.” He presented the first symbolic organ pipe for the future instrument that could be a part of the church.

At the end of the ceremony of dedication a folk choir gave a concert with German and Russian folk songs. Then all of the participants and guests could continue fellowship in front of the cathedral, take pictures and try out Kazakh food and fruits.

Synod Assembly of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine

Dnepropetrovsk

September 8-10 in St. Catherine's Church the synod assembly of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine.

Pastor Igor Taranenko and Bishop Sergei Mashevsky led the opening worship; the guest preacher was Pastor Gennday Khonin (Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan).Another guest, the administrator of the Archbishop of the ELC (in Russia) Marina Khudenko, read greetings from the head of the Council of the Bishops of the Union of Evangelical Lutheran Churches Bishop Yuri Novgorodov and Archbishop Dietrich Brauer.

The synod confirmed the makeup of the acting Presidium, which has changed in the last year. The members of the presidium of the GELCU at present are: President of the Synod Konstantine Burlov-Vasiliev (Kiev), preacher Alla Wolfe (Lozovaya), Pastor Alexei Chizhov (Odessa), Ljubov Galimova  (Dnepropetrovsk) and added to the members of the group pastor Vladislav Tsekhanovich (Shostka).

For the first time representatives from congregations in Crimea did not take part in the the synod. According to the 3 way agreement between GELCU, ELC - European Russia and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria and also in according with documents adopted in April 2015 at the Bishops' Council of the Union of Evangelical Lutheran Church, GELCU Bishop Sergei Mashevsky proclaimed that the Lutheran congregations in Crimea are no longer a part of the GELCU. At the same time he emphasized their voluntary decision to re-register in the Russian Federation.

The leadership of the Church confirmed the list of congregations that belong to the GELCU. 21 congregations received membership papers in the GELCU, while in the future it will have to be determined whether or not the congregations in Novogradovka, Donetsk and Zmeevka will be considered members of the church. 

In the past few months a difficult situation has developed in the Ukrainian church: conflict with the founders of the "Kirchenbau" company (founded to support the upkeep of the GELCU church compound); the end of the long-time partnership with the ELC Bavaria, a lack of financing, including for the wages for pastors for a couple of months. Synod Presidnet Konstanine Burlov-Vasilev spoke about all this in his report. The task of the church today is regain church property and to form an effective and transparent system of administration. At the same time, according to Bishop Sergei Mashevsky, these problems have been a blessing for the church. In some ways they have encouraged an "awakening" of congregations, an independent search for means of financing their ministries and the work of the GELCU office. 

  But it would be wrong to say that the assembly spoke only about problems. Ljubov Galimova spoke about diaconal work in her report - now in the GELCU there is a unit for diaconal and humanitarian work. The foundation of this structure began at a seminar in Odessa in December of 2014 with the cooperation of the "Interdiac" international academy. The coordinator of youth ministry Igor Shemigon spoke about the "Confirma" camp; the church council president in Berdyansk, Arthur Kozhevnikov, informed the synod about the registration of the church building there. Bishop Sergei Mashevsky emphasized in his report the importance of the education of staff of the church. The GELCU plans to hold continuing education course 6 times in a year. Also this year 20 congregation members from various congregations of the Ukrainian church applied for entrance into the distance education program of the Theological Seminary in Novosaratovka.

Synod delegates listened with thankfulness to the report of Elena Dyakova, the editor of the church-wide "Der Bote" magazine, about all the press resources that unite the whole Union of Churches: the magazine, the website, and the "Lutheran News" bulletins.

The synod worked upon and approved a new liturgy for use in GELCU congregations. Having a unified liturgical practice in all congregations is one of the tasks of the church. Small groups of delegates discussed the identity of the church and strategies for its development. Pastor Vladislav Tsekhanovich gave a theological report on the theme of the appearance and development of various church offices, foremost, the office of the bishop, and also on the preservation of church traditions.

The assembly closed with a worship service with Holy Communion. For the first time in many years the synod met somewhere else other than Odessa. This experience allowed synod delegates to become acquainted with the life of various congregations. In the future, if possible, the synod will also be held in various regions of the church.

Theology Conference - "Man in the Age of Apocalypse"

St. Petersburg

An ecumenical theological conference titled "Man in the Age of Apocalypse" was held in Petrikirche on September 26.

Taking part in the conference were: Michael Schwartzkopf, dean of the Northwest Deanery of the ELCER, Archpriest Vladimir Fydorov of the Prince Vladimir Orthodox Cathedral, President of the Theological Seminary of the ELC Anton Tikhomirov, priest and teacher at the Roman Catholic seminary Alejandro Jose Karbaho Olea, deacon of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria Evgeny Mikhailov and teacher of religious studies at RGPU Alexei Gaidkov. The moderator of the seminar was the church council president at St. Catherine's Lutheran Church, Elvira Zheids. 

Among the topics discussed were: faith a demagogry, religion and ideology, the sources of inter-cultural and religious conflicts, finding paths for dialogue between believers and non-believers and the opportunities offered by pluralism. 

Pastor Anton Tikhomirov spoke about his experience teaching in a Lutheran congregation in Kazakhstan: "I see the main task of the church on the whole and this seminar in particular to be to make connections with the people who are around us," he said. "My recent experience in leading a seminar in Astana among conservative-minded people showed that themes of eschatology are particularly controversial. Of all the theological disciplines, in questions of eschatology there is the least amount of theological clarity. Discussions with participants of the seminar showed how deep the filters or lens sit within us that we use while reading the Gospel; they do not allow us to see that which lies beyond that narrow field of vision which we have created for ourselves. It is quite common to find an inability or very slight ability to take on a new point of view. I came to the conclusions that we need to develop language both outside and inside the Church for reaching other people with what we really think. There are huge barriers here: priests in the church frequently speak in only in "church dialect," using concepts that are understandable only to those on the inside - grace, salvation, following Christ and others; these things don't mean anything for someone outside of the church. All the same we understand this barrier and try to overcome it. The second is more difficult and it is related to the expectations of people outside of the church. They expect us to speak in religious jargon. I've very often met people who are capable of interpreting philosophical texts, prose or poetry in a free and creative way, but as soon as they run in to religious texts them become like stone statues. In other words for most people religion is a selection of dogmas that cannot be put aside even one bit. How do we teach people that faith, theology, religion - these are also spheres of creativity, freedom and thought for which there are no firmly fixed borders - that's the biggest problem. We should work in this direction."

Archpriest Vladimir Fyodor noted that the main question for the contemporary Church is what language the clergy speaks in, what people hear from them, and what they understand. Theology isn't like math or other exact sciences - it is not about definitions, but about images, since theology is figurative thinking. "We try to describe a mystery and mathematical logic will not help us with this, only images. The description of a mystery should be in figurative language and then it will always be relevant," said Father Vladimir.  In his opinion the main tension that exists in society is not interconfessional, interreligious or conservative / liberal split, but it is between enlightenment and willful ignorance or "obscurantism." In Russian this word ("mrakobesie") points to a source in the demonic and in the dark. A person can be possessed by darkness. When there is no light, a person becomes insane. Enlightenment is a deeply Christian term - Christ enlightens us with the light of truth, ignites the light of reason. Revelation is possible only when there is light. In the fast few centuries this Christian understanding has been distorted by the rational approach that was dominant in the era of Enlightenment. The conflict between darkness and light exists within every confession; it is no surprise, then, that an Orthodox theologian understands a good Catholic priest almost immediately, while two Orthodox priests with different levels of education might consider one another to be heretics.  "Today it is very important to have the skill of reading holy texts since only through interpretation is something revealed. In the contemporary world there is not enough communication, not enough exchange of interpretations. A person who seeks the truth is seeking God whether he or she recognizes this or not. In order for there to be enlightenment, there needs to be the light of Christ. For me this light of Christ is the search for that language in which I can communication my religious experience. I am only able to communicate that which I know - my own internal experience," said Father Vladimir. 

The representative from the Roman Catholic Church priest Alejandro Jose Karbaho Olea told about how in his home country, Spain, the church was unable to find a suitable language for communicating with youth, and therefore the majority of the people of his generation and younger are lost for the church today.

The importance of the right kind of dialogue with the congregation was emphasized also by the deacon from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria, Evgeny Mikhailov. In his words the preacher, communicating with the congregation, to a certain extent answers the question he himself put forward and not always those which are interesting to people. 

"There are various levels of truth," said Father Alejandro, "the understanding of Revelation is different now then in the 13th century. The interpretation of truth changes with time." "Pluralism is good when it is a result of education, not the lack of education," added deacon Mikhailov. "It is good when there are many opinions if these opinions are of high quality."

The participants of the conference agreed that the main task of the clergy today is to seek for forms which can be used to reach people with the Gospel."

From materials from the "Water of Life" information agency. 

(http://mitropolia.spb.ru)

LWF President Visits the Church in Kazakhstan

Astana
  Bishop Munib Younan, President of the Lutheran World Federation, visited the church in Kazakhstan on June 11-12.  He shared his impressions through a LWF press release:
  “This was my first visit to Kazakhstan as LWF president. I learned a lot about the joys and challenges of the Kazakhstan Lutheran church. I explained our work together with the member churches: caring for refugees, advocacy for climate justice, women’s empowerment, theological reflections, ecumenical relations and inter-religious dialogue and so on,” Younan said.
  “Being in the communion means we are in pulpit and altar fellowship,” Younan said. “This means when I visit your Church I am at home with my sisters and brothers in Christ as we celebrate the Holy Communion that sends us together to the world with a call to holistic mission.”
  The conversations helped clarify the LWF’s role in the relationship with its member churches. “It was important to emphasize that the LWF as a communion of churches respects the autonomy of each church and that we accompany the churches upon invitation.”
  However, being churches in communion “also means that we are accountable to each other,” Younan remarked.

  Geographical isolation
The ELCRK’s core membership is made up of 2500 people in 50 congregations scattered across the country. The distance between congregations can be up to 3000 kilometers. The president saw his visit as an opportunity to learn firsthand the challenges of being geographically isolated.
Image  “I certainly felt how being far and in such a big country, and in another language context, can be a hindrance. I came to understand the difficulty of even gathering pastors to a national church meeting,” said Younan, who is bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.
  Education and formation of pastors are key priorities of the ELCRK. The LWF president also heard the church’s excitement over plans to build a new church in Astana that will include a community center, youth services and guest house, and about its good relations with the government.
  Spirituality
But it was the church’s spirituality and deep piety that most struck the LWF president. “You have a certain spirituality in Kazakhstan; and I invite you to come to the table with your spirituality. It is an added value,” he said, referring to conversations with the pastors, and his church attendance.
“I suggested that they should be more involved in the life of the communion, including the Global Young Reformers’ Network, the women’s networks and other aspects of LWF,” he said. “This for me was a pastoral visit, and I let them know how important they are as part of the Lutheran communion.”
  Countering extremism
  Younan was in Astana also to participate in the international Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. At the gathering, he challenged the religious and political leaders to enhance their own engagement in fighting extremism and in peace building efforts.
  “Extremists exist in all religions. None has a monopoly on extremism. How do our speeches in the churches, mosques, temples reflect living together and co-existence? That is a challenge for us right now,” he noted.
  Younan emphasized his call to faith groups to examine the curricula they teach and offer their countries by asking: “Do we promote extremism or acceptance of the other that is different? Do we promote the concept of seeing the image of God in the other?”

Reflections on Harvest Festival / Thankfulness by Pastor Zhanibek Batenov

Astana, Kazakhstan

The watchword of the month of September: “Be generous when you worship the Lord, and do not stint the first fruits of your hands. With every gift show a cheerful face, and dedicate your tithe with gladness.” (Sirach 35.10-11)

Dear Readers! Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ!

In Old Testament times there was a special place in the Jewish calendar for the holiday celebrating the first fruits. On this day every family was to be happy for the new harvest and to sacrifice to God the first sheaf of barley. But the temptation to minimize the first fruits of their labors was a problem not only for the ancient Jews, but remains so for contemporary farmers. And not only for them. It is rare that you hear from someone in our villages that it was a good harvest of potatoes or wheat. Even if it was an abundant harvest a village dweller will search for a reason to be dissatisfied: “there's a lot of potatoes, but they're little. They won't preserve well..” “There's too much wheat. We don't have time to dry it all out. It's burning up in the sun.” Those who have dachas do the same thing. It is as if every person is literally scared to be happy for the harvest. When the harvest is poor people complain about that. When it is not, they also complain. There's a joke in Germany – “when a peasant boy is born, they put a rock on his chest so that he learns right away how to whine and complain.” The reading from Sirach is relevant in our day for our church, too. Many pastors and ministers in our church as well as regular congregational members are like those complaining village dwellers. “There were more of us before.” “Again two families left for Germany.” “Our congregation is getting smaller.” They forget, though, that there was a family that was baptized not long ago, or the grandmother and her two little granddaughters who started coming to church regularly. But even if our first fruits are few, we still have no right to minimize them. When we do that we neither value our own labor nor that which the Lord does. It is God who gives Christian faith through the preaching of the Gospel in the sermon; it is God who unites us with the Kingdom of God through Baptism; it is God who gives forgiveness of sins. God does this all through our hands...or through out mouths when we speak to people of His great love for them. Therefore I ask you, dear brothers and sisters, to notice the wonderful things God is doing in our congregations. Rejoice that our sisters and brothers are saved. Rejoice for new people in the congregation. Rejoice at that which to you seems to be insignificant, but which before God is a great miracle – the forgiveness of sins which God gives to us here and now. Rejoice for the sermon which you and the worship service in which you take part. But, of course, most of all we should praise God “with a cheerful face” for that which we can be thankful even if we are in prison, seriously ill or facing death – that is Jesus Christ who died for all and who rose to save all. Honestly speaking there are a lot of reasons that can be found for rejoicing before the Lord. Maybe they are the ones that I wrote about here...but maybe instead it is the little things – a sunny day after a rainy week, rain after a drought, clean air which you breath in deeply in the early morning as you stand on the balcony, the smell of fresh ink in a new textbook... we have that and much more in our lives. We all have something to be thankful for.