Opening of the Year of the Reformation in Russia

Moscow

On March 22 in the “President Hotel” in Moscow, the “Year of the Reformation” officially got its start. While the anniversary itself will be celebrated on October 31, celebrations will take place all year long and in many various places around the church. These events were “opened” on a national stage at this gathering, attended by representatives of traditional Christian denominations, state representatives, diplomats, and journalists. The Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia, Dietrich Brauer, welcomed the guests.

In his speech he underlined the importance of the contribution of Lutherans to the social, cultural, scientific and educational spheres of our country. The Archbishop suggested that everyone consider the fruits of the Reformation as a historical phenomenon. “It is important to remember that Lutherans in the Russian state were not, in contrast to many countries of Eastern Europe, isolated, but took an active part in the development of social-political life.” “Of course the exception to this rule under the monarchy were the peasant farmers who were invited to Russia by the tsaritsa who grew up as a Lutheran, Catherine II (the Great). The official civil head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Russian Empire was the Emperor (c.f., Code of Laws of the Russian Empire, 1832). Many leading Russians were Lutherans, including the Briullov brothers, Peter Faberge, Barclay de Tolly, Anton Delvig, Vitus Bering, Vladimir Dal, Iva Kruzenshtern, Sergei Witte. Lutheran churches to this day help make the central streets of Russian cities look beautiful. And despite all the difficulties and occasional repressions of Lutherans during troubled times, Lutherans always remained faithful to their homeland and deeply desired to work for its good. Christian exterior mission was for the most part limited to charity work, diaconal work as an expression of neighbor love. Thanks to many unique church-society projects the Lutheran Church has been able to successful move between confessional lines.”

Others who spoke supported this line of thinking. They included the journalist and historian Nikolai Svanidze, the former Minister of Culture Michael Shvydka, the representative of the International Union of German Culture Olga Martens, who particularly made note of the contributions of Lutheran pastors throughout history. Among the guests were deans and pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia who made the trip to Moscow specially for this event. The “Soli Deo Gloria" choir led by Oleg Romanenko contributed to the event by performing important Reformation-related songs – Mendelssohn's Reformation Cantata and Handel's “Alleluia” chorus.

“I was Hungry and You Fed Me”

Gusev, Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia)

What will we say when we stand before God at the judgment and we are asked what we did in order to relieve the suffering of our neighbors? Did we give comfort in grief? Did we feed the hungry? Did we give warmth to those who were cold? Did we support those who were in prison? Who were sick? If yes, then did we do so from a pure heart? As Christ did for us? These questions are worth thinking about.

It has become a good tradition in the Kaliningrad deanery to hold an annual “Diaconal Day,” just before the second Sunday in Advent. Staff of diaconal ministry, volunteers and congregational members gather together to talk about social service ministry in the Church. This year Diaconal Day was held on December 5th in Gusev. It was dedicated to the development of diaconal projects in the region and sources of financing. Participants were not only those who were active in the social work of the Church, but also the pastors of the deanery, representatives of congregations, leaders of women's ministries, youth and children's ministries. Our friends and mentors from Berlin came to take part – Thomas Passauer, Uwe Makward, Alexander Wom; they have supported this initiative for many years. We hear wonderful words of guidance from Winfred Gaiko who, though he was unable to attend because of illness, passed on his words through his colleague in diaconal work Uwe. 

  Frequently very respectable people ask me why the Church take up what should be the responsibility of the government – helping the needy? In our age of high technology, poverty, hunger, joblessness, a decrease in the authority of the family, a rise in suicides, abortions, drug abuse and alcoholism still exist. Hardness of heart is becoming ever more common, as are permissiveness and lack of respect for the law. Experience throughout the world shows that the most effective social defense is achieved when social structures and included together with the state in solving problems. The Church is part of society and it has much experience based in the Word of the Lord. It is capable of nurturing such virtuous traits as mercy, tolerance, sympathy, respecting the other's interests. In the Kaliningrad deanery diaconal projects help decrease social tension. Many years ago in Gusev a diaconal center was opened, and one of his tasks was to care for homebound or disabled people. Later a nursing home for the elderly and for the disabled was opened – the “Karl Blume House.” This later has been developed further in Kaliningrad and Slavsk, where care is given on an outpatient basis. Now Chernyakhovsk is getting involved. The deanery also organizes the feeding of children from underprivileged families, summer camps for handicapped children and for mothers with children in difficult circumstances. In Kaliningrad there is a group of support for parents of children with limited abilities (the “Kapelka” or “raindrop” group). In addition there are many charity events. 

  In the Diaconal Days there were many presenters. We value all our  projects. Our task is to support them and, when possible, to development them, uniting our efforts for effective work in the name of the Lord and for the good of the Church. 

Pastor Elena Kurmyshova

To the North and to the East

Syktyvkar / Ukhta/ Archangelsk

At the end of October and beginning of November 2015 it was my time to travel: as Dean Northwest Russia, I was to the north and east parts of the deanery.

In Syktyvkar and Ukhta they had been waiting for me for quite some time. They met me in the small congregational building; we worshiped together with the 10 active members of the congregation; the elderly members gather together before the service begins in order to sign hymns. After the service, which we lead together with Pastor Andrey Tashak, we met together for fellowship. The main theme was the congregation's building. It is very old and has even begun to tilt on its foundation... So a project for a new building is needed. Everyone was in agreement about that already, but now there is a project and we are now ready to start the search for finances. I think that we have a good basis for this – a living hope and the faith-filled songs of a small congregation. 

  On the next day Andrey Tashak and I went by bus to Ukhta. We were met by Elena Brott and congregational members. Worship services are held in the German cultural center. After worship we visited an interesting museum of the history of Germans in Ukhta. I was particularly impressed by the heart-felt reception given to me, the celebratory atmosphere of worship and the good musical accompaniment; all of that established a special mood that accompanied me during the day full of meetings and conversations. 

  At the beginning of November I once again visited the congregation in Archangelsk. After the holiday in June there were a few open questions, for example, about the historical building. How might we again be in dialog with local so that we could again have worship in the kirche, as was the case before 2008? And when can we install a memorial plaque on the building?  In conversation with the congregational members, we came close to an answer. Ludmilla Gergert, the church council president, is to thank for that. She is in constant contact with the local administration in order to resolve these questions. Thanks to Ludmilla there is a constructive atmosphere in the congregations, even though they don't have their own space. It was difficult for me to leave Archangelsk on Saturday before the Sunday worship service, but Pastor Elvira Zhaides led it and I am thankful to both sisters in Christ!

Dean Michael Schwartzkopf

Dedication of the Organ for St. Peter and Paul Church in Yaroslavl

Yaroslavl

On October 4^th a long-awaited event took place – the dedication of the organ for St. Peter and Paul Lutheran Church. The organ was donated to the congregation already in 2001, but since the building was in a very poor state at the time, it was not possible to install the instrument.

Therefore the main condition for being able to receive the gift from friends in Germany was the restoration of the kirche. Congregation members, led by Pastor Shirokov, took it upon themselves to do the work, most of which was finished this summer. The organ, then, was brought to Russia in June and the process of assembling and installing it began right away. The instrument has more than 100 pipes and other small details which needed to be put together by hand. When that was done the organ finally was able to play and the dedication was planned for the fall.

Key memberrs of the team that made this happen were the Dean of the Central Deanery Elena Bondarenko, Pastor Ivan Shirokov of the Yaroslavl congregation, and, of course, partners from Kassel (Germany) who gave the organ to the congregation and also support other congregational projects. 

The celebratory worship service was led by Archbishop Dietrich Brauer, Dean Elena Bondarenko, the President of the Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in European Russia Dean Olga Temirbulatov, Pastor Ivan Shirokov, the pastor of the congregation in Stariy Oskol Sergei Matjukh, and also Pastors Karl Leonhäuser, Heinemann and Schneider from Germany.

Yaroslavl's vice-mayor for questions of city government, Vycheslav Gavrilov congratulated the congregation in the name of the local administration. He noted that this was an important event not only for the congregation but also for the city of Yaroslavl insofar as it turns over a new page in the history of the religious culture of the city. The Russian Orthodox Church also sent a representative from their “Church and Society” department, Archpriest Alexei Kirillov, with congratulations, and the vicar of the local Roman Catholic congregation, Father Joseph, also expressed his congratulations.

The event was concluded with a large concert in which the organist of the Moscow congregation Irina Shashkova-Peterson, the choir of the congregation, the choir of the Moscow French-speaking congregation and the “Vozrozhdenie” choir took part.

Seminar - Pastoral Care Over the Internet

Novosaratovka

An intensive course on the basics of psychological counseling and pastoral care over the Internet ("Chat of Trust") was held September 23-25 at the Theological Seminary. Teachers from Germany - Stephan Loretz and Ludmila Hoech led very informative and extremely interesting lessons. Participants were ministers and active lay persons from Russia and from neighboring countries. Both the theoretical lessons and the first experiments in online work were held in a warm and friendly atmosphere .

It was thanks to this positive environment that it was easier to take on the sometimes difficult subjects that arise in pastoral care, such as work with the dying, various aspects of work with the mentally ill, with those who are suicidal, etc. 

It is thought that such online pastoral care might become the first such service in Russia - analogous to the ministry that is already functioning with the support of the Evangelical Church in Germany. The project is aimed at helping in especially painful, dangerous or critical situations when the person needing help also needs full anonymity and confidentiality. Such work helps prevent suicides and depression and sometimes it is the only way to support our neighbors in their difficult hours of loneliness, suffering and grief.

Anastasia Arsenieva

The Cross of Lutherans in Smolensk

  The altar in Smolensk is now decorated with a new crucifix. Is it really worth it to write an article about this? In a large congregation with its own church building such a change in the altar decoration would go unnoticed. That's understandable - it's a simple, everyday event. But if the congregation is small, almost a family congregation, which has neither its own building or its own pastor, which actually has nothing at all except its faith and its desire to maintain its Lutheran identity, then such an event becomes significant.
  And this cross has a story. In December of 2014 one of our church members, Vera Tkach, was approached by an Eastern Orthodox family she was friends with. They had a problem. They had a cross hanging in their home for quite some time, but when they brought it to the church to get it blessed, the priest told that the cross wasn't from the eastern Christian tradition, but was a western cross. Since Orthodox believers couldn't imagine either using the cross or throwing it away, they decided to ask their Protestant friends if they might need it. This was the beginning of the path for the cross to become  the altar cross for the congregation in Smolensk.
 We will hope that this event is a good sign...and that eventually it will be possible to put this cross on the altar of the historical Lutheran church building in Smolensk, which is at present occupied by the local chess club.

Something New Every Time

Abakan
  In 2014 the congregations of Khakasia and the souther part of the Krasnoyarsk region (central Siberia) renewed their efforts (after a long period of dormancy) to organize a Christian summer camp for children. The success of that first effort gave the team of volunteer leaders there the confidence to plan for another such camp in 2015. They were assisted in their efforts by Anastasia Razinkova, the person responsible for youth ministry in the region. Anastasia helped bring them together for a weekend planning retreat this spring; she arrived in Abakan from Omsk bearing gifts, more concretely, with an idea for the camp theme and program. The next step was adapting the material that Anastasia provided so that it fit the ages of those children who were expected to attend and the gifts and limitations of the situation “on the ground.”  In this case it was particularly important to take into account the resources the volunteers could provide – Viktoria Matskevich, who is a talented musician with a lot of experience with children; Andrey Masiorov had many years  experience with the Boy Scouts; the youthful and energetic Arthur Ertel could lead sports and Anna Guray's experience with language camps in the past means she knows a lot about organizing.
  There was good news before the seminar – the number of kids who wanted to attend just kept rising and rising. This helped the volunteers remain optimistic and energized, despite all of the challenges of planning.
  While Anastasia was in the area, she was invited to take part in the youth group meeting in Chernogorsk. This was one more ministry that was inert for quite some time, but lately Pastor Dmitry Schweitz and others in the congregation have helped re-start this important part of the congregation's life; it is hoped that some of the youth from Chernogorosk will take part in the church-wide seminars that are planned in Omsk.

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.

Conflict in the Congregation, Society and the World

Novosaratovka
  The first seminar held in Novosaratovka in 2015 looked at conflict from a wide variety of perspectives; Pastor Karin Ludwig-Braun and Pastor Kurt-Juergen Schmidt, long-time friends of our church from Germany, were the central teachers for this seminar. They used their training as chaplains and CPE supervisors to help students work through conflicts in congregations. Seminary President Anton Tikhomirov lectured on conflict and the human condition, while Pastor Bradn Buerkle led lessons on the role of conflict in Church History. The Seminary was also privileged to welcome once again Father Vladimir Fyodorov; he spoke about inter-religious conflict from the point of view of an Orthodox priest.

New Life for the Congregation in Yaroslavl

  In the last weeks of 2013 the congregation in Yaroslavl took an important step in itself development when it welcomed its first full-time pastor in 90 (!) years. On December 15, Ivan Shirokov, a native of Volgograd and a graduate of the Novosaratovka Theological Seminary, was ordained and installed as pastor.
  The congregation has 30 to 40 active members, though with the appearance of a new, young Russian pastor, there have been many more new people visiting the church than in the past. They meet in the historic Lutheran church, St. Peter and Paul's, in the center of the city. After many years of neglect, the building had fallen in to disrepair, but Ivan, together with a group of friends from Cassel, Germany, have made great efforts and much progress in making the building into a comfortable home for the congregation and a welcoming space for guests. One of the first steps in this process was building a glass-enclosed chapel inside of the walls of the historic building. This allowed the congregational members to stay warm in the winter and also to keep the space of worship at least somewhat separated from the area being restored.

They've also worked on cleaning up the territory and insuring the structural integrity of the building. However, because repairs to the exterior are lower on the list of priorities, there have been some questions as to whether or not there would be pressure on the congregation from the city administration. Dean Elena Bondarenko and the head of the ELCER church administration Viktor Weber helped the congregation with this issue by meeting with the city administration. Now the congregation has also acquired its own organ, and the building is feeling more and more like home. The most recent news is that the city of Yaroslavl plans to return the ownership of the building to the church. Praise the Lord!

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.

Like a Large Canvas

Moscow
“The Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace” - these words from Ephesian 4 were the theme for the second annual “Church Days of the ELCER,” held February 9-10, 2015, in the Moscow oblast at the “Dom Bosko” Roman Catholic retreat center.
  Representatives of the deaneries of the ELCER – pastors and active congregational members – gathered together for a day of fellowship; they told one another about what life is like throughout the church. Representatives of the deaneries took turnings giving short presentations about their congregations – through pictures it was obvious both how alike and how different the congregations are. One thing unites them all – an accent on diaconal work. Carrying for the elderly, for orphans or the disabled, for those who need pastoral care, for the homeless and for those who are HIV positive...  while most of society is indifferent to such needs, that is not the case with Russian Lutherans. That is one thing that is obvious from the presentations given during the ELCER Church Day. It also remains clear that our church is like a large canvas made up of various pieces that can only fulfill their function by being together.

  A number of congregations and their historical buildings celebrated special anniversaries this year – in Samara, Ulyanovsk, and Perm. Others are working on finding the resources to restore historic buildings or to build new ones; this is the priority of such congregations as Yaroslavl and Saratov. In Kazan the full restoration of the building has been completed...and few people know that there is a building of the Lutheran Church in Vladikavkaz! But right now it is used by the orchestra (as is the case in Archangelsk.)
  There are Lutheran congregations not only in the big cities, but also in villages, for example in the Samara, Saratov and Kaliningrad deaneries. It was news to many that a small, new congregation has now been founded in the Northwest deanery - in the village of Krestsy in the Novgorod region. For the first time, congregations from Crimea took part in the Church Day; the congregations in Simferopol and Yalta are now in the process of re-registration and will soon become official congregations of ELCER. The Crimeans introduced their congregations to the rest of the church and expressed a wish that friendly relationships with Russian church would develop quickly.
  Throughout the day representatives from the ELCER's new partner church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Saxony, were also present and took part. The day ended with Bible study and evening prayer led by pastors Viktor Weber (Moscow) and Elena Bondarenko (Moscow area Dean). The conclusion of the Church Day was worship the next morning, presided at by Archbishop Dietrich Brauer. The preacher was recently-ordained Andrey Dzhamgarov from Saratov.

You Will Be Free Indeed!

Moscow
 On December 11th in the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Moscow ELCR Archbishop Dietrich Brauer and ELC Seminary President Anton Tikhomirov presented their recently published book - “You Will Be Free Indeed” (“Istinno svobodny budete”).
  The theme for the book was chosen quite deliberately. The experience of freedom and of being freed is at the heart of the Christian faith. In the Christian faith freedom has a double meaning – first as an instrument through which we are called to solve ethical dilemmas. Second, freedom is something valuable and important in and of itself; it brings us close to our own (almost -unrecognizably- deformed by sin) human essence and, as a result, close to God. The book is decided to this deep and not always recognized aspect at the heart of Christianity; freedom is analyzed from spiritual, theological, political and social points of view. “You Will Be Free Indeed” is one of the few books of truly contemporary Lutheran theology offered for Russian-speaking readers and in this sense is very important both within and beyond the walls of our church.

A Joy-filled Visit

  Dean Manfred Brockmann writes:
  It had been a relatively long time since Dean Brockmann had visited the St. Luke’s Congregation. What a pleasant surprise awaited him when he made a visit at the beginning of January 2015. In the previous year and a half year the congregation has developed and consolidated nicely; a cross and sign made it very clear that their building is a church, and the rooms in the interior of the house have been made quite beautiful - the sanctuary with its altar, organ and icon; the fireplace and the office for the pastor; the kitchen, the meeting room with a library, the guest rooms and also all the faithful members and staff.
  St. Luke’s is very active ecumenically, especially in relationship to the Roman Catholic Church. We visited the Catholic congregation in Arsenyev and had a very lively and fraternal discussion with their Pastor John. Pastor John even joined Pastor Lapochenko for a joint ecumenical service at St. Luke’s.
  All of this is the result of Pastor Lapochenko’s continual work as well as the work of organist Svetlana Filotovitch and the ever-faithful Tamara Jershova, the heart and soul of the congregation's building. There has also been additional hard work by all of the members of the congregation, especially  the very proficient Valentin Yavorskiy and Zhenya Slinchenko.  We cannot forget that all of this is possible thanks to the financial help from their partner congregation Trinity Lutheran Church, Great Bend Kansas, led by their dedicated pastor, Jim Strasen, who invited Pastor Lapochenko and Zhenya Slinchenko to visit the Central States Synod from June 6th to June 25th, 2013.
  Despite the progress made in remodeling of the church building and cost-saving measures such as installing insulated doors and windows, there are still some major structural problems with the building. St. Luke’s is built on swampy ground, so they are going to have to solve the problem with ground water or else the foundation will be damaged. The chimney for the fireplace needs to be repaired and the ceiling in the entryway needs to be completed. Some money has been raised for this, but they need more. We are confident that it will be done thanks to help from our friends and partners and to the work of dedicated members of the congregation.
  With thanks to all and wishes for God’s blessings!”

Historic Exhibitions in Siberia

Novosibirsk
  Photographs and documents, household items and clothing, hand-written hymn collections and antique Bibles – the exhibition “Lutherans: Three Centuries in Siberia” brought all of this and more together for visitors in Novosibirsk and Tomsk this winter. A lot of work in the state and personal archives led to a large amount of interesting historical material being gathered together that help tell the story of our church.

  On January 22 the exhibition opened in the Novosibirsk Russian-German house. There visitors could learn about the three stages of the spread of Lutheranism in Siberia – first, through the resettlement of ethnic Germans and others to Siberia during the imperial period, then through the repressions and exile of the Soviet period (including the confiscation of church property, the murder of pastors and the closing of congregations). It was this second period, despite all the trials, that saw real growth in the church, especially thanks to those who came from the Volga region. The third period, beginning in the 1970s, started when the repressions of the church began to wane. Small groups of believers who met in private homes began to receive the right to form congregations and to openly preach the Word of God. The exhibit showed the history of congregations in Tobolosk, Tomsk, Omsk, Barnaul, the Krasnoyarsk region, Irkutsk and other places.
  The opening of the exhibition was attended by many guests, including representatives from the Russian-German house and the city and state administration, the German Consul Vitkor Richter, Bishop Joseph Werth from the Roman Catholic Church. ELCUSFE Church Administrator Tatyana Muramtseva (who led our church's delegation); pastors and congregational members from Omsk and Novosibirsk greeted those in attendance. The Gute Laune  ensemble provided musical accompaniment, and a short film on the history of Lutheran was shown, followed by a reception.
  As Tatyana Muramtseva noted, the Church has two tasks – to spread the Gospel and to serve people. We hope that these exhibitions will be useful for understanding the rich experience of our brothers and sisters in faith and will inspire those who attend not only to get acquainted with the Lutheran church, but also with the One who stands at the center of the Church, Jesus Christ.

Fall 2014 Seminars through a New Educational Initiative

  2014 was filled with opportunities for the development of the new educational program of the ELCR (supported by the ELCA and the Hermannsburg Mission) - “Equipping for Service.”  The core idea of the “Equipping...” project is “to maximize accessibility to quality educational opportunities in the Evangelical Lutheran Church through a program that is collaboratively planned, flexible, and decentralized.” While in the first part of the year this mostly involved Bradn Buerkle (responsible for the program) teaching at various seminars, in the second part of the year the program was also responsible for organizing independent events.

   The first of these came together in a place very familiar to Pastor Buerkle - in Krasnoyarsk, a congregation where Bradn formerly served as Acting Dean – the theme was “Two Issues in Christian Ethics.” This active congregation values educational opportunities, and  it was possible to try an experiment there by talking about concrete (and sometimes sensitive) issues in Christian ethics. In a society that leans towards either a legalistic or a nihilistic approach to ethical questions, Lutherans sometimes would prefer to avoid the question altogether. But given the conflict between Russia and its neighbors and the influx of refugees from easter Ukraine that have come even to Siberia, it is important to help congregational members apply their faith to engage these questions. The two evenings brought together a total of 24 participants, which is pretty successful for weeknight seminars in a context where people are dependent on public transport.

   The second event was south of Krasnoyarsk in the region of Khakasia. The region has 10 congregations spread over a 150 mile radius; most of them get only monthly visits from their pastor, Dmitry Schweitz, who was instrumental in helping organize this retreat, called "I am a Servant." The main idea of this seminar was to support the team of people leading congregations on a week to week basis. The idea was to reach this goal both through fellowship and through thinking about the following questions together - “What does it mean  to serve? When do I feel like a  servant? How can one serve effectively?” In the process related questions also arose - the way service is understood in society and in the Bible, Jesus as a model of  service, love at the center of Christian service, the Lutheran understanding of internal and external call, and the communal call as the church in this place. A number of concrete ideas were raised that the leaders intend to bring to  realization – e.g., fund-raisers to help those in acute need, printing fliers about Lutheranism for distribution, and a cooperative attempt to form a new youth group in one of the congregations.  

  In October the church was  pleased to welcome Pastor Chris Repp back to  Russia. Pastor Repp taught Church History, Systematics and Ethics at the Novosaratovka Theological Seminary for four years, though for most a decade now he has been serving congregations in the United States. Chris was invited to participate in an academic conference co-organized by ELCUSFE, and in addition to being there, he also helped Bradn lead two 3-day seminars, one in Omsk  (Siberia) and one in Ulyanovsk (in European Russia on the Volga). The title, “Law, Gospel and the Lutheran Confessions Today,” was aimed mostly at pastors and students, but while there were participants from these groups, it turns out that the topic had wider appeal than was originally expected. In Omsk there were 9 full participants (along with 7 others who were in and out) and in Ulyanovsk a week later we had a very large number – always more than 20, and most of the time around 30. Although the theme of the seminar was the same, in each case the material was adapted to the different audiences.  In Omsk the main thrust of Bradn's teaching was to help participants see that we do have official confessional documents, though we are far from familiar with their contents and that we need to familiarize ourselves with them in order to decide for ourselves what role(s) they are to play in the life of our church. Chris focused on the issue of Law and Gospel as address in the Augsburg Confession and the Apology, demonstrating why this was important and how it applies to the interpretation of Biblical texts. (In this he has been influenced by the theological approach of the  Crossings Community). In Omsk Seminary President Anton Tikhomirov was also available to teach and he first spoke about the confessions as a textual expression of Luther's Reformation break-through and then traced the development of Western (especially Protestant) theology from that time forward.  In Ulyanovsk the approach was kept simpler, giving the most attention to the uses of the law and to Biblical interpretation. In both places local leaders (a special thanks to Tatyana Muramtseva in Omsk and Vladimir Provorov in Ulyanovsk) did an excellent job of solving logistical issues.

Omsk

Ulyanovsk

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.

Work Continues in St. Mary's Lutheran, Saratov

Saratov, Russia

  The church of St. Mary in Saratov, besides its ordinary congregational work, also does a lot of social service projects. These include diaconal projects for supporting the sick and elderly, a cloths barn, the annual youth camp - “Hope,” a Christian rafting camp, the “iVolga” youth forum, etc. During each of these events congregational members meet with a large variety of people. In this way every member of the congregation becomes a representative of our church for others; this means that members have a lot of responsibility to incarnate the values we confess. It is possible to give many concrete examples. At present the congregation is continuing to build a new building, St. Mary's. Much is done by congregational members themselves, e.g., waterproofing the roof, the grounds work and many other things. The church building is in a residential region and surrounded by high apartment buildings. For a long time the territory around the church was an abandoned lot. Before the church building was built local residents paid little attention to this area, but then the church began to clean things up; congregational members hauled away garbage and began to beautify the area. This example has already began to show fruits – neighbors now not only look after the surrounding territory, they also gently remind one another to keep things clean; they thank us for improving the neighborhood and tells us that they look forward to visiting the church when the construction is done. This is a great miracle that God works through the hands of each congregational member! Just by doing this good work dialog with local residents has begun; this opens up the path for the growth of the congregation. We always need to remember that each of us is an ambassador of the Good News, whether we are conscious of it not. 

2014: 100 Years After the First World War; 75 Years after the Second World War; 25 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall Europe and Russia Today

Vladivostok, Russia
  Dean Manfred Brockmann writes:
  This year the Cultural Days in Vladivostok were a joint project of Germany, France, Poland and Russia. There were three different aspects to the event: 1) the political aspect 2) the celebratory aspect 3) the standard aspect.
  1) 2014 is a special year in the history of the world. Three wars celebrate their anniversary years: the First World War, the Second World War and the so-called “Cold War”. We want to remember these wars not only to honor the veterans, but also to ask the following question: What are the positive outcomes of these three negative experiences?
Image  For Europe the positive outcomes were obvious and include he road to the European Economic Union, which is now the heart and soul of German-French friendship. That is why we are so happy that the French Ambassador (along with other diplomat staff from France) brought an exhibition that shows us through pictures and in Russian the formation of this friendship and how it points to the formation of the European Economic Union. We opened the cultural days on the October 1 with the revealing of this exhibition in our church courtyard. Poland also sent a high-level delegation, headed by the Polish Ambassador, and accompanied by world-renowned organist Wittold Salewski from Krakow. Poland, Germany and France were at odds with each other in the course of last century, but came together as one in Vladivostok. This is something we can be proud of - the German Cultural Days were transformed into European Cultural Days.
  The first evening, October 1, had the theme: “The Peaceful Unification of Europe as the Fruit of Two Bloody Wars and the end of the 'Cold War.'”What was the situation for Russia at the end of these three wars? That was the theme for our second evening, October 2. The theme for lectures that night was “The Unusual Road to Peace and Prosperity in Russia and Its Role in the Present-Day World of Tension.” This was the most exciting and interesting evening of all of them. One organization and two lecturers had to cancel their speeches because they were afraid of the current political situation.
  The celebratory part consisted of two receptions at St. Paul’s Church. A. The reception to honor the German National Holiday “The Day of German Unity” was held on October 3. It was given by the Honorary Consul for the Republic of Germany Jaroslaw Kotyk and the German Embassy in Moscow. There was also a reception on October 6 given by German Ambassador to Moscow Rüdiger Freiherr von Fritsch. At this reception Manfred Brockmann received the German Federal Cross of Merit.
  The standard part of the celebration was in the hallways of the University, where we met with the students. There was a gathering of German students in the Goethe Lecture Hall (Speaker was Ludmilla Kornilowa). The Theme for this lecture was “The Theme of War in German Literature.” There also was the traditional “Evening of Polish Music” hosted by the Vladivostok National Organization, “Dom Polski”. There were four organ concerts at St. Paul’s. Two of them featured Christian Lorenz from Pfungstadt, Germany and two superb concerts by Witold Zalewski from Krakow. There was a concert by a Brass and String Ensemble from the Vladivostok Opera along with a Clarinet Quintet playing Mozart. The final concert was put on by the ensemble “Concertone” under the direction of our own Alexander Borghardt.

  Almost all of the events took place in the St. Paul’s Church. This church proved once again that it is a church that is at the center of life in this city and is always available to the city. It is always open and has lots of visitors. Our church council president Konstantin Pawlenko says quite often: “The people going into the church always come out of it with a different look on their faces. They leave with a look of comfort on their faces.”
  We wish to thank all those who became involved in the difficult task of organizing these special cultural days. We also thank all the participants and guests who traveled such a long distance to be with us. We thank all of those who for 18 years have kept the faith concerning these cultural days. Finally, we especially thank our sponsors who have so faithfully supported us.
Manfred Brockmann, Pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Dean of the Russian Far East and Honorary Consul for Germany