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.

200th Church Anniversary in Georgia

Tbilisi
The celebration of the 200 years of the establishment of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Georgia began on Saturday, April 8. A summer cafe (“The Martin Luther Cafe”) was opened up in the garden on the terrace; this was possible thanks to the equipment given to us by a congregation from the German city of Heppenheim. This cafe with live accordion music for accompaniment was at the center of the next two days’ events, even if the prices there didn't fully cover expenses. The children from the congregation in Rustaveli performed a German dance and two of them played on the flute. In the yard in the evening when it was cold and dark, music by a jazz trio was muffled by a storm.
In the first half of the day Temuri Bardavepidze and 12 representatives of the youth used Georgian to tell the story of the history of our church starting with German settlers in 1817 until 1917; they did the same thing in the evening, only in Russian. In the second half of the day Pastor Irina Solei spoke about the very difficult times between 1917 and 1991. She invited Nina Mindiashvili, the granddaughter of the last pastor from Tbilisi, the martyr Richard Maier, to join her for conversation. Earlier in the entryway an exhibition of artistic black and white photos was set up that, together with items from everyday life of German settlers, helped tell the history of the church.

Elena Ilinets presented her tri-lingual (Georgian, German, Russian) publication, the first attempt of our newsletter publishing team to print a book. Then Irina Solei and Kristina Hummel spoke about the time of rebirth of the church since 1991. Pastor Albina Zotova led evening prayer.
A joint worship service of all the congregations of the church was held on Sunday morning, April 9, also in 3 languages (or four if you count the prayer in Azerbaijani that was part of the service as well). Pastors Irina Solei, Viktor Miroshnichenko and I led the service which lasted two hours. Among those in attendance were a group of tourists from the Evangelical congregation in Heppelheim. The Tbilisi congregation shared the offering from that service with the congregation in Baku, which was represented by 4 congregational members.
Many people say that the celebrations went really well. 
On the morning after the celebrations, I sat down to write a letter to the President of Georgia expressing my disappointment that the national government sent no state representatives even to the Saturday evening event. The only country represented was Germany – by Ambassador Heike Paich. However the Georgian Orthodox Church honored us with its presence in the person of Protopresbyter Georgia Zviadadze, who welcomed us with great appreciation for our tradition. Also with us were our friends from the Evangelical Baptist, the Armenian Apostolic. Roman Catholic, and Adventist churches. Of course Pastor Varlam Ramishvili from Batumi and Beka Mindiashvili from the Committee of Religions were also there. 
Hans-Joachim Kiderlen

The Unfinished Business of Ecumenism

Tbilisi, Georgia

  The theme of the 2015 “Luther Days,” held February 10-16 in the Church of Reconciliation, was “The Reformation and Ecumenism.” The main presenter was Siegfried Kasparick, the Dean of Wittenburg, the city where Martin Luther lived and worked. Who else knows so much about the preparations for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 as he does? And who else is so capable of explaining the significance of this event for the ecumenical world, that is, for other Christian churches? The 95 Thesis hung on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg on October 31, 1517, were not a call to split the church, but simply one of many attempts to renew the Church through returning it to its roots – to the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Lutheran church that arose as a result was called to witness to the this.

  One of the central events of the “Luther Days” was the round table discussion that took place with the participation of leaders of various religious confessions – a priest from the Armenian Apostolic Church, Narek Kushyan, the Bishop of the Evangelical Baptist Church Malkhaz Songulashvili, the Dean of the Roman Catholic University in Tbilisi Vazha Vardidze, Beka Mindiashvili – a representative of the Center of Tolerance, and Bishop Hans-Joachim Kiderlen. The Georgian Orthodox Church, unfortunately, did not accept the invitation that was extended to them. The whole discussion was led by Nino Lezhava, the director of the Heinrich Boell Foundation in Georgia. Two themes were repeated brought up during this long discussion - “Christian love” between Christian churches and “Christian responsibility” in society. Also ecumenism should be part of the lives of church members, of ordinary believers.

  This time the annual reception that the ELCG organizes for representatives of the state, society and religious organizations was held as part of the program of the “Luther Days.” Dean Kasparick read a paper on the theme “The 500th anniversary of the Reformation from the viewpoint of the Churches.” The evening's entertainment was provided by a choir directed by Nataly Chaganava. Unfortunately there weren't as many people in attendance – from the ECLG, from other churches, from government and non-government organizations - as the church had planned. Yet the organizers of the Luther Days remain convinced that their work is not in vain; it has is bearing and will continue to bear good fruit.