Congregational Anniversary Year Starts With Book Presentation

Saratov
On January 28th St. Mary's Evangelical Lutheran church in Saratov hosted a book presentation. O.Litsenberger, A. Deryugin and N. Kolomitsev co-authored a book about the Saratov congregation on its 250th anniversary... which will officially take place only in 2020; since historical documents give no exact date of the foundation of the congregation, this date is calculated based on the first time the congregation is referenced in external sources.
The book is entitled “St. Mary's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Saratov at the 250th Anniversary of its Founding.” This publication acts as a follow up to the first book about St. Mary's Lutheran, published 22 years ago, in 1995. It is targeted at historians and others for whom it is interesting to know about the Lutheran church in the city and its influence there throughout the years. The book covers the life of the congregation, its relationship with the government authorities, the difficult fate of those who ministered in the congregation in the 20th century, and the development of the congregation in our days.
The book presentation started the process of celebrating two other anniversaries related to the history of Saratov Lutherans. On October 6, 2018, 225 years will have passed since the dedication of the first St. Mary's church in the city, and on November 22 it will be 25 years since the congregation's rebirth. Unfortunately the first building lasted only 83 years
(1793-1876) and was seriously damaged in a fire. The second St Mary's arose 3 years later (1879-1970), but was destroyed during the time of state atheism. It was located on the central city street – German Street (now Kirov) and was built according to the plans of the world-famous architect from Berlin, Johann-Eduard Jakob Stahl.
The logo of the anniversary shows three crosses: the first is black-purple and symbolizes the tragic fate of the first building; the second is red and is a reminder of the sufferings of the period of repression, and the third is a white cross which is a symbol of the contemporary church building which is already 11 years old and the hope for long years of the the triumph of love, goodness and spiritual peace in Saratov and in the country as a whole. The appendixes to the book are also of great value – archival materials and rare photographs.

The President of the ELCR General Synod and Dean of the Saratov area Andrey Dzhamgarov, led the event. Elena Heydt, the representative of the publisher, the regional coordinator of the International Union of German Culture and the chair of the “National-Cultural Group of Russian Germans of the Marx region, personally congratulated those in attendance on the occasion of the anniversary and also read a congratulatory letter from the First Deputy President of the International Union of German Culture, Olga Martens.
Then the congregation and guests heard the letter from the main author of the two books, Professor Olga Litzenberger, Ph.D. “On this significant day I personally and all the authors of the book want to express to you, dear pastors, members of church councils and congregational members, our gratitude for your many years of irreproachable work. I congratulate all of you with the publication of this new book about the Saratov congregation.”

After this the co-authors of the book – church council member Alexander Deryugin and church council member, journalist and linguist Nikolai Kolomiytsev, spoke about how this publication was put together, and in particular drew the attention of readers to three very interesting chapters filled with abundant historical facts.
After this there was a ceremony thanking those who cooperated with the authors - each of the former of which were given a copy of the book and a certificate of thanks. Also a copy of the book was given to each of the two largest regional libraries.
Representatives of the government also were present at this event. Dmitry Konusov, the vice minister of internal affairs and civil society for the Saratov oblast, was in attendance. Elena Poznyakova, the head of the department of relations with cultural institutions for the Saratov oblast, also greeted the congregation and guests of the event.
Representatives of other Christian denominations in the region were also invited to the book presentation. The head priest of St. Clement Roman Catholic Church in Saratov, Andrey Slavik, gave a heartfelt congratulations to all in attendance on the occasion of the publication of the book and the double anniversary of the congregation.
After this those in attendance could ask questions of the authors and also receive signed copies. The day ended with a reception.

“Theatrical Sarepta”

Volgograd
The “Theatrical Sarepta” festival, which the Lutheran congregation helped organize and in which the congregation took part, was held on January 21-22. The ceremonial opening took place in the kirche and started with a celebratory concert of children's drama groups; locally-trained actors from Marx, Kamyshin and Volgograd presented their own original plays. For example the “Hoffnung” folk theater (led by Svetlana Gelber) put on a skit about Catherine the Great and the residents of the Sarepta Moravian Brotherhood colony which was founded near Tsaritsyno (now Volgograd) in the 18th century.

At the end of the festival a family drama group from the congregation, led by Nelly Tretyakova, put on a play that she had written - “A History of One Poem.” In this play the story revolves around an anonymous poem found in the congregation's porch; the actors showed how an intergenerational family (a grandmother, daughter, granddaughter and two grandsons) reacted to this text and the theme of forgiveness that is at its center. The grandmother helps the younger generation come to a true understanding of forgiveness. Special treats of the day included music by Nelly's grandchildren on the guitar and piano and her homemade traditional German “krebles.”

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.

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

“The World is in Me, and I am in the World”

Krasny Yar

The congregations in Tolyatti and Samara held their annual children’s camp during the winter holidays January 3 to 8 in the village of Krasny Yar in the Samara oblast. The theme was chosen deliberately. Many children today ask questions about how faith in God can be integrated into everyday life and how to act so that this faith is spread.

Human life can be divided into, let's say, three social “spheres.”The first has a radius of one meter around the person - we'll call it “I myself.” The second – with a radius of three meters - is “I myself, my friends and relatives.” The radius of the third sphere is endless - “I myself and the world around me: people, animals, nature.”
For 5 days the kids thought about how God spreads His love through all these “spheres” and how we can reflect that, how we can influence the world for the better.

Tatyana Zhivodyorova

Christmas 2017

Astana (Kazakhstan)

Grodno (Belarus)

Kazan

Krasnoyarsk

Lozovaya (Ukraine)

Lvov (Ukraine)

Moscow

Omsk

Rustaveli (Georgia)

St. Petersburg

Samara

Saratov

 Tibilisi (Georgia)

 Tomsk

Ulyanovsk

Volgograd (Sarepta)

ELCA Partner Visits

2017 showed that the ELCA continues to remain engaged in partnership with the church in Russia. In February regional representative Arden Haug made a trip to St. Petersburg and Moscow together with Bishop Cindy Halmarson, Global Mission Director for Europe, Middle East and North Africa. As usual they visited the central church administration, Bishop Kugappe of the Ingrian Church, and ELCA Pastor Bradn Buerkle in St. Petersburg, and then in Moscow visited Archbishop Brauer and his staff, the French-speaking congregation, and the Moscow Protestant chaplaincy.This trip came at the conclusion of Arden's many years of faithful service in accompanying the Russian church on the behalf of the ELCA; his knowledge of the situation and his efforts on behalf of our church throughout the years have been very much appreciated.

Northwest Washington delegation with Bishop Brauer

In March a group of 5 people from the Northwest Washington Synod, including Bishop Unti, came to Russa to visit the two capitals and their partner synod (ELCER) and congregations in Yaroslavl and Tolyatti. They were very impressed by what they saw, and they are filled with a desire to strengthen ties further. Eva Mader, who was not able to join the delegation that came in March as she had originally planned, did make a short trip to St. Petersburg in September to attend the service of dedication for the new organ in Petrikirche, the partner congregation of her home Grace Lutheran in Bellevue.

Pastor Gary Teske, Pastor Gleb Pivovarov, and Olga Vinogradova

In September and October, a delegation from the Central States Synod made their first trip to Russia in 5 years; while they might not be frequent, they do cover a lot of ground! They began in St. Petersburg and made stops in Moscow, Omsk, Khabarovsk and Krasnoyarsk before reaching the congregations to which they have been historically tied in the Far East. Their meetings with church leaders along the way helped the delegation get a sense of the challenges the church faces and some of the hope-filled new aspects of church life in ELCUSFE, including the leadership of a new bishop, Alexander Scheiermann, with whom the delegation's leader, Gary Teske, had already become acquainted in Omsk at the bishop's installation in April.

Bishop Halmarson and other church leaders at the Reformation Anniversary

Viking Dietrich, the new ELCA area representative, joined the group in Vladivostok, where they all celebrated together with Dean Manfred Brockmann his 80 birthday and the celebration of 25 years since the congregation has been reborn.
Finally, our church was honored to have Bishop Halmarson with us again for the Reformation anniversary celebrations in Moscow over the last days of October through the beginning of November. Her presence was more than just a reminder that this event is being celebrated world-wide, it was also a chance to gain a deeper understanding of one another and one another's church life.