While Lent saw me spending most of my time in the congregation in Novosibirsk, April and May have "showered" us with guests and with opportunities for travel.
First, Pastor Stephanie Fendler (one of the clergy couple who had responsibility for the Novosibirsk congregation before I arrived) made a brief visit to Novosibirsk before traveling on to Omsk to lead seminars for women and for married couples the ELCUSFE. Our congregation very much appreciated seeing their former pastor, and I certainly enjoyed reflecting with her about the life and development of the congregation. Stevie and Michael are continuing to work for my employer, ELM (Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Lower Saxony), in the area of partner congregation relationships, so I'll be blessed with further opportunities to be in contact.
While Pastor Stevie was an old friend of the congregation, the next weekend saw the congregation welcoming new guests. Two of them were also from Hermannsburg (where ELM is based), while two others were from Omsk. Niels von Türk and Ingrid
Höse had led a seminar for youth workers in Omsk the week before, together with Vladimir Vinogradov, a recent graduate of the extension program of the Theological Seminary and the coordinator for youth programs in the ELCUSFE. In our congregation Vladimir preached, while Pastor Evgeny Phillipov, the president of the ELCUSFE council, acted as translator and guide. Niels and Ingrid have been in charge or organizing weekend retreats for youth in Germany, usually based upon life and questions of faith in some foreign country. Therefore, in addition to the congregation, I tried to show them some of the sights in Novosibirsk, so that they might get a feel for life in the "capital of Siberia." Niels even joined me in the trip to the banya before my regular Bible study in the rehab center on Sunday nights.
When these four young visitors left for places further south and east, after a few days I moved in the same general direction...but to that in a minute.
For now I'll remain concentrated on Novosibirsk where, for the third weekend in a row, we had a guest – Pastor Helmut Grimmsmann, Asia secretary for ELM. Helmut has loads of international experience and has been traveling to Russia for 5 years now...so I was proud to be able to offer him something new – a trip to the opera and ballet theater. As I've mentioned in previous posts, it is enormous and pretty impressive. We went toe theater's birthday concert, so were treated to segments by the symphony, both classical and modern ballet, and opera that included an attempt to bring together Stalin, the theater's birth as a part of the Soviet propaganda machine, and the current political environment. I'm not sure that I can say that we liked everything at the concert, but I very much respected their attempts to both entertain and to challenge their audience. Yet, the main purpose of the visit was to speak with Helmut, and he was helpful in talking with the church council about a few practical questions in addition to giving a powerful sermon.
Immediately preceding and in between these visits, I was away from Novosibirsk. First I traveled to Omsk, where 5 days were split between a meeting for all the pastors of our church and the synod consistory (much like a synod council). This visit to Omsk helped me learn a lot more about the life of our congregations in the far west (Urals) and Far East, as well as about the administration of the church. I was once again impressed by the development of ELCUSFE's structures; they show a maturity that compares favorably to some of the other Lutheran churches in the former USSR. At the same time the church structures are still young. One example – until now there have been no written guidelines for determining the process of ordination. Bishop Otte Schaude shared a draft text on this question with the consistory, though discussion with the synod and the pastors and approval of the document will happen only in the coming year.
My second trip took me the farthest east I have ever been – to Krasnoyarsk. There pastors connected with ELM met for two days of Bible study and business. Pastor Gleb Pivovarov was our host, and it was joy to be in his congregation, one of the most rapidly developing in our church. Below left: Gleb talking with Niels; we met with them again in Krasnoyarsk. Below right: a view of the Yenisei River outside of Krasnoyarsk.
In between all of that, regular life in the congregation in Novosibirsk continued. I must admit that I'm struggling a bit to write about congregational life as such, since a blog is probably not the best place to express one's frustration. A short way to express things would be to say that, for cultural and historical reasons, mistrust is the norm for many in Russia, and particularly among the Russian-Germans. This presents particular and rather peculiar challenges to ministry; most concretely right now I am feeling how this slows down the process of new birth (new initiatives and ministries) in the congregation. So, while nature around us is blooming (more pictures related to that to come), May's flowers have yet to break through the soil in the congregation.
Yet, Sunday is Pentecost, a reminder of how God can suddenly breathe new life on to and into a group of weak and scared believers. We'll be praying for the Spirit, and ask your prayers as well.
First, Pastor Stephanie Fendler (one of the clergy couple who had responsibility for the Novosibirsk congregation before I arrived) made a brief visit to Novosibirsk before traveling on to Omsk to lead seminars for women and for married couples the ELCUSFE. Our congregation very much appreciated seeing their former pastor, and I certainly enjoyed reflecting with her about the life and development of the congregation. Stevie and Michael are continuing to work for my employer, ELM (Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Lower Saxony), in the area of partner congregation relationships, so I'll be blessed with further opportunities to be in contact.
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| Pastor Stephanie is second from right. |
Höse had led a seminar for youth workers in Omsk the week before, together with Vladimir Vinogradov, a recent graduate of the extension program of the Theological Seminary and the coordinator for youth programs in the ELCUSFE. In our congregation Vladimir preached, while Pastor Evgeny Phillipov, the president of the ELCUSFE council, acted as translator and guide. Niels and Ingrid have been in charge or organizing weekend retreats for youth in Germany, usually based upon life and questions of faith in some foreign country. Therefore, in addition to the congregation, I tried to show them some of the sights in Novosibirsk, so that they might get a feel for life in the "capital of Siberia." Niels even joined me in the trip to the banya before my regular Bible study in the rehab center on Sunday nights. When these four young visitors left for places further south and east, after a few days I moved in the same general direction...but to that in a minute.
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| The older woman appreciated the opportunity to hear a sermon in German; one of the woman in the congregation that morning, Tamara, kindly agreed to translate for Helmut.. |
Immediately preceding and in between these visits, I was away from Novosibirsk. First I traveled to Omsk, where 5 days were split between a meeting for all the pastors of our church and the synod consistory (much like a synod council). This visit to Omsk helped me learn a lot more about the life of our congregations in the far west (Urals) and Far East, as well as about the administration of the church. I was once again impressed by the development of ELCUSFE's structures; they show a maturity that compares favorably to some of the other Lutheran churches in the former USSR. At the same time the church structures are still young. One example – until now there have been no written guidelines for determining the process of ordination. Bishop Otte Schaude shared a draft text on this question with the consistory, though discussion with the synod and the pastors and approval of the document will happen only in the coming year. My second trip took me the farthest east I have ever been – to Krasnoyarsk. There pastors connected with ELM met for two days of Bible study and business. Pastor Gleb Pivovarov was our host, and it was joy to be in his congregation, one of the most rapidly developing in our church. Below left: Gleb talking with Niels; we met with them again in Krasnoyarsk. Below right: a view of the Yenisei River outside of Krasnoyarsk.
In between all of that, regular life in the congregation in Novosibirsk continued. I must admit that I'm struggling a bit to write about congregational life as such, since a blog is probably not the best place to express one's frustration. A short way to express things would be to say that, for cultural and historical reasons, mistrust is the norm for many in Russia, and particularly among the Russian-Germans. This presents particular and rather peculiar challenges to ministry; most concretely right now I am feeling how this slows down the process of new birth (new initiatives and ministries) in the congregation. So, while nature around us is blooming (more pictures related to that to come), May's flowers have yet to break through the soil in the congregation.
Yet, Sunday is Pentecost, a reminder of how God can suddenly breathe new life on to and into a group of weak and scared believers. We'll be praying for the Spirit, and ask your prayers as well.
