Ecumenical Worship Service during Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

This past weekend, I had the privilege of preaching at the ecumenical service during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at the local Roman Catholic cathedral.

Father Dariusz (to my right) led the liturgy; Father Alexander
(to my right) also gave a sermon. Father Corrado
(Franciscan) and Archpriest Alexander (Russian Orthodox
Church) in the second row. 

The theme of the week first struck me as rather strange - “We will all be changed by the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15:51-58). First of all, it seemed odd that a passage about the resurrection would be used to talk about something else entirely – Christian unity. Second, there were a couple of words in the theme that immediately raise red flags for Lutherans - “victory” and “change.” (OK, the second is a joke. Sort of.) About what victory could we speak if we look at the state of the church today? And if we were to think of victory as strictly eschatological (that is, that the victory will be ours only at the end of time), what impulse would that give us for praying and working for the unity of the church now?

After thinking about the text and getting acquainted with the very-well-done preparatory and liturgical materials (you can find them on the site of the Vatican, if you didn't have a chance to participate in the service yourself), I realized that the key to understanding the Biblical passage and the week as a whole was verse 57 - “but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” God gives us the victory. Victory is a given...and that means our standard way of achieving victory (hard work through competition) is annulled; instead the hard work comes after the victory, in our attempts to live in accordance with that gift which we have been given. That thought was at the heart of my sermon.

Women from our congregation in front and other friends
behind as we shared bread as part of the service.

For those of you who know me, you can imagine that I was a might bit nervous when I got up to preach. But the atmosphere was warm (even if the building was cold), the acoustics were great (and that means I didn't have to worry about not being heard), and there were a number of congregation members and friends there – I calmed down quickly.

 After the service, we all gathered in the congregation's parish hall (a.k.a. basement) to hear about an ecumenical project based on the principles of the L'Arche movement. You can read about L'Arche here. You'll see that it is a rather radical form of faith-based living even for the West; in the Russian context it is very unusual and very brave.

I didn't have much chance to mingle after tea, because I immediately got into a rather intense and long conversation with the newly ordained Greek Catholic (Uniate) priest in the city, Father Pavel. It became clear that he and I will continue to have a lot to talk about, so I promise to blog more about him (and about the Greek Catholic church in general) in the future.

Father Pavel speaking about his experience as an intern
 in the ecumenical project based on L'Arche.
All pictures from: sibcatholic.ru

Entering the Jordan

The longest season of the year in Russia has passed its midpoint; despite unseasonably warm temperatures throughout much of the country, apparently there were no problems in experiencing the extreme-sports-like celebration of the Baptism of Christ (January 19^th according to the Orthodox calendar). This year I join the crowds that jump into various bodies of blessed ice-water, “entering into the Jordan,” as they call it here. 

I must admit that deep, spiritual meaning behind this event is still a bit foggy to me - I've learned in the last few days, that many in the Orthodox church consider this tradition a bit suspect, too - the Metropolitan Tikhon* of Novosibirsk said he didn't see it as necessary; one local Orthodox priest who went to the river to bless the water did go in, but when he came out he said - "it's very cold. I don't recommend it." 

Here I am "in the Jordan".....
OK, that's not really me. Thankfully, no one was around to take my picture.

What, after more than a decade in Russia, is pushing me to participate in this rather unusual practice? Was it that I hope to improve my prayer life as I asked the Lord to help me survive? Was it sermon research (since this week's text is the story from 2 Kings 5 about Naaman's healing from leprosy after washing in the Jordan?) Was I trying, in my own way, to imitate President Medvedev, who took a swim in the river Jordan yesterday? 

No, actually it was none of these things. Instead, it was jumping out a window. That's right. I've started jumping out a window regularly in the past few months. It has part of my weekly trip to the banya (the Russian version of a sauna) ever since winter started – there's a window from the shower room that gives you direct access to a snowbank, and I've found that going out into the snow after sitting in the heat makes the banya even better than before. While there was no banya on the 19th (there was, thankfully, a heated tent for changing your cloths - they even distributed hot tea inside), going "to the Jordan" was simply stepping it up to the next level.

Local news reported that many thousands of Novosiberians went into the water
at one of the 7 official sites around the city.
(Changing tents in the background - I must say that the  whole experience
 would have been much less pleasant without them).

The "prorub" or "ice-hole"...at one of the few moments
when no one was waiting to get into the water.

The reason I write about these rather insignificant and personal experiences is that, for me, they are symbolic of what I want 2012 to be. The last few months have been a time of moderation: the situation in the congregation is stable; the ecumenical situation in Novosibirsk has also been generally positive; the church structure in which I am working (ELCUSFE) shows positive signs, and even the situation in the country as a whole has improved, insofar as people have started to come together to make their voices heard and to push for change.

I realize that it would be easy to be content in each of these areas – in some ways, it is already better than one could reasonably expect. Yet, thanks to the snowbank outside of the banya, I've been reminded not to start the year ready to settle for “good enough.” Instead, I'm going to try to start it by taking it to the next level, even if that means diving in to the shocking cold. 

*Tikhon had been an Archbishop until a few days ago. Patriarch Kirill is making significant changes in church structures including, in this case, elevating the status of the church and its leaders in Novosibirsk.

Christmas celebrations in Novosibirsk

This year our congregation was fortunate to have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas (according to our western, Gregorian calendar) on a weekend; when the 24th and/or 25th fall on a workday, they appear to be days just like any others in the lead-up to the big holiday here, New Year's. But having the opportunity to come together Saturday and Sunday meant that we were able to simply enjoy worship (including more German liturgy than usual and a number of German hymns in order that the older people might feel as "at home" as possible) and fellowship in a harmonious and relaxed atmosphere. Below you'll find a few photos from Novosibirsk taken during the the last days of Advent and Christmas. 

4th Sunday of Advent

Christmas Trees being sold near the apt. where I live

Christmas Tree on Lenin Square

Prayer house decorated for Christmas

In our prayer house

Christmas Tea