Dedication of Prayer House in Volchansk (Ural Deanery)

On June 17th in Volchansk (Northern Urals, Sverlodvsk oblast ) the dedication of the prayer house of the congregation took place. For a long time the congregation, which has more than 40 members, waited for this event. Now they have their own property - a space which, before becoming a grocery story, had been a regular apartment in a 5-story residential building.

Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Urals, Siberia and Far East, Alexander Scheiermann presided at the dedication; the sermon was given by the Dean of the Urals Woldemar Jesse (Chelyabinsk). Dean Vladimir Vinogradov (Omsk) and Pastor Matias Schindler (Nizhny Tagil) also took part.

The administrator of the ELCUSFE Tatyana Muramtseva also addressed congregation with congratulations. Church Council President Andrey Gubashov and head of the Sunday School Svetlana Janzer, speaking for the whole congregation, thanked everyone who helped with their prayers, with their work and their finances.

One of the most memorable moments from the celebration was the reading of the poem for the occasion by Elvira Schmidt. She was the one who began the work of rebirth of the congregation and for many years served in it; she was called away to the Lord a week before the dedication took place.

We wish the congregation and their new space to be light and salt for those around them.

Pastor Evgeny Lukinov

On a Snowy Hill with the Apostle Peter

Krasnotyrinsk

From January 8 to 10 a camp was held for Sunday school children of the Krasnoturinsk (Sverdlov oblast) congregation. 12 participants read the Bible together and followed the story of the Apostle Peter.
The lessons touched on a number of important and vibrant episodes in the life of the apostle and his relationship with Jesus Christ. The starting point was “birth” based on Psalm 51.5. Then we went chronologically through the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles: “Meeting Christ – Walking on Water – The Revelation from the Holy Spirit – Denying Christ – Restoration (“Feed my lambs”) - Sermon on Pentecost.”
But the camp went well not just because of the lessons. God blessed us with good weather, and one of the most memorable moments was going to the forest to go sledding down hills.
Evgeny Lukinov

Christmas 2016 in Congregations of the Union of Evangelical Lutheran Churches

Christmas celebrations from around our church:

Anzhero-Suzhdensk (Russia)

Arseniev (Russia)

Chernokhovsk (Russia)

Dnepr (Ukraine)

Grodno (Belarus)

Kherson (Ukraine)

Krasnoyarsk (Russia)

Lviv (Ukraine)

Moscow (Russia)

Novgorord (Russia)

Orenburg (Russia)

Saratov (Russia)

St. Petersburg (Russia)

Tashkent (Uzbekistan)

Ulyanovsk (Russia)

Vladivostok (Russia)

Volgograd (Russia)

Yaroslavl (Russia)

Dedication of Congregational Space in Magnitigorsk

On November 6, 2016, the new worship space of the Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in Magnitogorsk (Ural Deanery) was dedicated.
We thank God for this opportunity to double the space that we have for our use. In particular our thanks goes out to Alexander Sergeenko who led the process and to Vladimir Yakovlich who financed the renovation of the space. May this gift stimulate the congregation's growth and maturation for God's glory!

The 25th Synod Assembly of ELCUSFE Elects a New Bishop

Omsk

From October 14-16, 2016, the anniversary 25^th synod assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Urals, Siberia, and Far East took place in the Christ Church Center in Omsk.

Those assembled heard reports from all four deaneries of the church; then Archbishop Dietrich Brauer spoke about the situation in the church as a whole. An important theme of the synod was mission; delegates spoke about the opportunities and difficulties they see in this regard. Changes were made in the church bylaws concerning pastoral ministry and wages.

The main event of the assembly was the election of a new bishop for ELCUSFE - Alexander Scheiermann. He had served for many years as the Dean of the Samara deanery.

A special joy for all those present was the ordination of three pastors: Evgeny Maul (Azovo, Omsk oblast), Vitaly Moor (Tomsk) and Valery Smirnov (Chelyabinsk). Lay preachers were also blessed: Sergei Zaibert (Zvonarev Kut, Omsk oblast), Maksim Shekker (Tjumen), Vitaly Schmidt (Tomask), Anna Gurai (Kuragino, Krasnoyarsk krai), Vadim Ermolaev (Omsk), Tatyana Ivanova (Berezovka, Omsk oblast).

New Space for the Chernogorsk Congregation

On July 31, 2016, the new congregational space in Chernogorsk (Khakasia) was dedicated – the conclusion of 4 year's worth of effort. They were supported along the way by the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Lower Saxony (Hermannsburg), and Gustav-Adolf-Werk (GAW). The Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Urals, Siberia and Far East (ELCUSFE) also contributed to this project through offerings gathered throughout all the congregations of the church on Harvest Day celebrations.

The space that the congregation was using earlier was not large enough, and rent costs were high. “Your new space is a sign of hope for you, for us and for many others beyond the congregation's walls,” said Enno Haaks, the General Secretary of GAW.

A Small World with Big Snowbanks

Bochuchany, Krasnoyarsk Krai (Russia)
  It is New Years Day. Our fuel tank is filled to the lid; two spare tires, a gas can and a small
 selection of shop tools fill the tiny trunk, while all the seats in the car are taken by us and by our tightly-packed things that we'll need for the next few days.

  It had been the intention of the Krasnoyarsk congregation to goto Boguchany for quite some time, and at first we decided to go as a “train” - with two cars. Then we could have brought more people and things with us; besides, if something happens to one of your vehicles at -37 degrees Celcius, a second will sure come in handy.  
  But only one of the vehicles made it to the starting line, so we had to go just with the Lada Largus; it has never let us down, so the 7 us took the risk and relied on our faith and set off.  
  We arrived with no problem, having been kept “sober” by the fresh air and the night sky. They were waiting for us. And they were waiting for the Word. They were waiting for songs and for answers to their questions – serious questions! Stevlana Medvedeva, who at one time was baptized in our church, prepared everything that was necessary for the service – a place to stay, a place to worship (the “cultural house” of the town),. She invited people who would find it interesting. It was particularly heartening to see young people ready to listen, to argue and to show us the beauty of the Angara, to pull us out of the snow bank in which we had gotten stuck. They really were waiting for us! And during the evenings people came to have tea and we could just have fellowship – argue, preach and pray.  What is necessary for there to be a living Church? Desire and “two or three” gathered in the name of Jesus.
  Here there were both. And now more than ever it is important to pray for these people, for this place and for the people who are ready to serve and preach in this severe but so blessed place! Angara. Boguchany. This small world with a big sky, with snow banks and with very kind and open-hearted people. While is it necessary for us to speak about this now? Remember the idea with summer camps? With forgotten villages and nature? That's over there, further. Beyond the Angara. Join us! At the very end of July!
  And for now we returned home with dreams and plans to go back in the spring to meet again with this still very small congregation which knows how to love and where the doors are never locked. 

Lutherans and the World's Largest Lake

Irkutsk, Russia 
  Bradn Buerkle writes:
  One of the natural wonders I have had the privilege to visit here is Lake Baikal in southeast Siberia. The deepest and perhaps the most ancient large lake in the world, it contains approximately 20% of the planet's unfrozen fresh water. When we recently planned a retreat of our church's Central and Eastern Siberia region to be hosted by the nearby congregations in Irkutsk and Shelekhov, we thought that we should start by taking out-of-town guests (many of whom had never been to Baikal before) for a visit. It was my third trip to the great lake, and I was struck again by how at the most accessible location (the source of the Angara River near Listvyanka) you don't really realize how unique the lake is. A stop at the natural history museum changed that impression, thanks especially to a great tour guide – a researcher in the area of climate change. I was most struck by what he had to say about the lake's 1000+ endemic species, i.e. those organisms that live in Baikal and nowhere else on the planet. They all have adapted to their environment so well that they are unable to survive elsewhere. When I heard about the fat and lovable Baikal seals, the golomyanka fish (mostly transparent, gives birth to live young, able to survive at most any depth), and supreme water-cleaning crustaceans, all of which have no home other than Baikal, I felt overcome with sadness. It was a completely illogical reaction to scientific fact, I know. Maybe it has something to do with the volatile emotional environment of life in Russia at the moment. Or maybe it is because I couldn't help but comparing endemic organisms to our Lutheran church in Russia. Our approach to Christian faith originated in Europe and has adapted very well to northern European and North American environments... it seems to be on the way to adapting to the warmer waters of Africa...but what about here, in the world's largest “lake,” Russia? Can it survive here? I didn't have much time to contemplate that question, however, because we soon had to leave Baikal in order to make it on time to the “Blue Spruce” center, where we would meet for our retreat.
  My time with congregational members did much to disperse my doubt regarding the viability of our church here. There I saw people (almost 40 of them!) who strove to grow and develop, to apply their faith to everyday life, even if the environment is not particularly welcoming. The theme that our staff in Omsk, Natasya Razinkova and Natalia Sivko, chose for the seminar - “Ironman” - fit very well for this group. Participants were also well supported (both in logistical and in spiritual questions) by Pastor Thomas Graf Grote and by me as the person responsible for the “Equipping for Service” project. Even if we had a limited amount of time together, we were able to hear something new, to reinforce some of what we already knew, to share with one another, pray with one another, and to sing together...well, in regards to music, maybe it is difficult to say we sang together. At seminars with congregations that are spread apart, it becomes quite clear that the development of
various singing styles is part of the local adaption that takes place in each of our congregations in its own way.After the seminar was over, I would have been happy to visit Baikal again. Next time I'm sure that I won't feel sad. Instead I know understand that God created nature (and us together with it) with the capacity to find new paths to abundant life, wherever we may be. Maybe our church is just one tiny “microorganism” in this enormous country, but it also has an important place here. Without it, the environment would be poorer and would suffer. I think we can embrace this identity and go forward.

“The Spiritual Thread” - Khabarovsk

Khabarovsk
  Spring began in the congregation of St. John with a happy event – Pastor Markus Lesinski's visit from March 2 to March 8. Seven days of fellowship breathed new life into the congregation and brought new ideas. During evening lessons the topics of discussion were the Bible and the Koran, Christians and Muslims, Lutherans and Orthodox and where these spiritual paths might intersect in the present or in the future. Pastor Lesinski gave detailed answers to the congregation's questions; he spoke at length about theological questions and about current international affairs. The idea of ecumenism carried through many of these discussions. That was no accident, since  Pastor Lesinski has been a member of the planning team for the EKD Kirkentag for many years. He is always open for discussion with representatives of other confessions from all over the world, for example, his work with Egyptian Copts or singing in an Orthodox choir or taking part in Roman Catholic liturgy in India. It's no surprise, then, that Pastor Lesinksi had contact not only with the congregation, but also with two universities and a school while visiting Khabarovsk. He even received an invitation to give a lecture about Lutherans to the students of the local Orthodox theological seminary; they had a good discussion afterwards. Later a teacher at the seminary invited members of the Lutheran congregation to visit St. Innocent of Irkutsk Church to see its unique frescoes.
  Pastor Lesinski also continued to work with Stas Mel as the latter prepared for baptism; Markus began the classes on his previous visit to Khabarovsk in 2014, and this time they were brought to completion. Stas's baptism was one of the highlights of worship that the congregation celebrated together on the 8th of March.
  For 12 years the spiritual threat that tied the congregation and Pastor Lesinski has held strong; despite his active work in congregations tens of thousands of kilometers away, he continues to remember his former congregation in Russia; he supports them with advice, through material he sends for youth ministry or for use at worship. He always remembers to send cards and letters for special holidays and birthdays...  While the congregation is now small in numbers, both its members and its former pastor are confident that one day the seed of the word that has fallen into the ground will bear fruit and bring a plentiful harvest.

New Pastor in Tomsk

  On Palm Sunday, March 29th, the congregation in Tomsk (central Siberia) installed Vitaly Moor as its new pastor. After almost two years of a pastoral vacancy it was wonderful to receive the new pastor for whom the congregation had been hoping and praying for so long.
Vitaly Moor was born in Barnaul (also in central Siberia) in a family of Russian Germans who had been displaced there. In 1998 he finished the foreign languages department in Barnaul, and worked for a time as teacher there. In 2002 he and his family left for Germany, and in that same year he began his studies at the Hermannsburg seminary, which he finished in 2011. Vitaly had an internship with Manfred Brockmann in Vladivostok, and that positive experience helped him see that he would like to work as a pastor in Russia. The synod council decided to invite Vitaly to become a pastor in ELCUSFE,  and in 2015 all the details were worked out to make it happen. We wish Vitaly and his congregation God's blessing on their new path together.

Walls to Protect or to Divide?

Omsk
  “Let us go build a wall!” - this was the theme of the latest seminar for Christian men held on February 20-22 at the Admiral Makarov camp in the Omsk region. These seminars take as their theme one particular person from the Bible, and this time it was the prophet Nehemiah. Around 2400 years ago Nehemiah, who occupied a high-level government office in the court of the Persian king, asked to become the governor of the province of Judea and was granted permission to restore the city of Jerusalem. “”Let's go build a wall!,” he told his fellow countrymen. And they responded. Despite enormous difficulties – a huge need for resources, enemy attacks, treacherous friends and the burning sun – Jerusalem was restored.
  The wall that defended the holy city from its enemies was built in a record time – in 52 days! Nehemiah's work was a great success. How did that happen? The book of Nehemiah tells us...and it gives us guidance as to how we can attain our goals in life – that was what the seminar was about. A wall is that which, first and foremost, defends us, our families, our faith. A strong wall cannot be built alone, but only together...yet even unity among people is not enough: “Unless the LORD builds the house,  its builders labor in vain.” Nehemiah inspires us to trust the Lord God in all our endeavors.
  Walls also function in another way - they divide, not only cities and countries, not only people of various nations and faiths, but also people who had once been close to one another – spouses, parents, children... We build these walls ourselves and it is not easy to break them down. During the seminar participants also learned how the Word of God helps us to tear down the walls that divide us. The Scripture lessons were reinforced by time spent in fellowship, for example, through sports – the participants learned how to play rugby this time!

  There were many surprises throughout the seminar, but some things remained the same – wonderful weather, fresh air, friendly fellowship, well-organized events and the Lord's blessing. The latter will help all who participated build walls that protect and tear down walls that divide.

Scripture Alone, Dialog Alone

Abakan, Russia
At the end of February for the first time the congregation in Abakan was visited by guests from the youth group of the local Russian Orthodox Church. In conversation after worship they shared their positive impressions and expressed their desire for further fellowship. The congregation members from the Lutheran side were also encouraged by this encounter and suggested that the contacts between the two confessions grow. That led to a meeting between the congregations leaders – two priests and a youth group leader from the Orthodox congregation and, on the Lutheran side, Pastor Dmitry Schweitz, Alexander Ertel (church council president in Abakan), and Zoya Heintz (preacher in Chernogorsk).The Orthodox guests suggested “sola Scriptura” as a theme for discussion, and Pastor Schweitz spoke about the Lutheran perspective on this Reformation principle, while the Orthodox representatives spoke about their position. Even after a couple of hours of dialog it became clear just how much there is to talk about. Such meetings give hope for the development of inter-confessional cooperation, which is so important in our secular society.

300 Years of Lutheranism in Siberia

Omsk, Russia
  The International Academic Conference entitled “Lutherans in Russia: Marking the 300th Anniversary of Lutheranism in Siberia” was held in Omsk on October 9-10. The goal of this meeting was to think about the historical role of representatives of the Lutheran church in the settlement of new Russian territories, and in its unique contributions to the material and spiritual culture of the region.
  Lutherans began to move to Siberia at the end of the 18th century, especially by taking part in the building of the fort of Omsk, where Swedish Lutherans were prisoners of war; already in 1716 the first Lutheran church of Omsk was built. A stone building, St. Catherine's Lutheran Church, was built in 1792 in Omsk; for a long time it was the only Lutheran church building in Siberia and it contributed to the development of the largest Lutheran congregation in Siberia.
  More than 100 people took part in the work of the conference. There were representatives from 22 cities in Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Estonia and the United States. The disciplines touched upon included ethnography (including a special working group dedicated to the culture of Scandinavian and Baltic peoples in the history of the region), history, architecture, sociology and theology.

  The conference brought public attention to the role that the Lutheran church has played and continues to play in the public life of the region, including its role as a peacemaker.
  On the 9th of October the papers of the conference that were submitted before hand were presented in published form; lectures and public discussions on these papers followed. Our church was represented by Pastors Anton Tikhomirov (Theological Seminary), Dimitri Schweitz (Abakan region), Bradn Buerkle (Equipping for Service project) and former seminary teacher from the United States, Chris Repp. On the 10th conference participants traveled to the Azov German National Region of the Omsk oblast, where there was the opportunity to visit a museum dedicated to the daily life of a German-Russian Siberian village and to watch a concert by local singers and dancers.