21!

In the U.S. the number "21" is almost immediately associated with the age at which young people are no longer legally considered minors. By that time they should have reached a certain degree of maturity, society has determined. Attending the 21st synod assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Urals, Siberia, and Far East (Oct. 12-14), I could see that the same can be said of our church. On its 21st birthday, there is already a lot of life experience to look back upon - miraculous developments, tragic mistakes.... And all of it now can be seen in the light of moving towards spiritual maturity. 

This synod saw me "maturing" into my call by giving a sermon at the opening worship and being made Acting Dean ("probst") of the Central and Eastern Siberian Deanery, but much more important was what I saw and heard from others there - the founding of new congregations in the Urals, the pursuit of theological education by people in the Far East, the ordination of a young man from Omsk who grew up in their Sunday School and the installation of a local leader for women's ministries, just to give a few examples.

As with any 21 year-old, there are probably even more challenges lying ahead than behind. This church will continue to grow into maturity as it strives to work on stewardship, questions of theology and liturgical practice (Holy Communion was noted as an area that the pastors will look at during their meeting in the spring), as well as congregational redevelopment in those places that have not been able to adapt to the changing situation here in the past two decades (most especially the emigration of large numbers of German Russians).  

Now it is time to let the pictures do the talking. 

Bishop Otto Schaude reading his report to the assembly.

Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in European Russia and our Acting Archbishop, Dietrich Brauer, conversing with a delegate from our region, Elma. 

I gave a report on our region, as did leaders from the Far East, Omsk and the Urals.

Pastor Dmitry leading the closing worship.

Youth choir in the Omsk congregation

Ordination of Vladimir Vinogradov

Installation of Tatyana Serebrova as head of women's ministries.

Synod delegates as guests

After the Synod Assembly there was a seminar for
church leaders; I was given the opportunity to feel
 like a teacher for a little while again.

Anastasia was one of my students
in Novosaratovka. She has just
now begun her internship in Omsk...
and she also just celebrated her birthday. 

Interpreting - Part III

One of the surprises of our trip was running across a very interesting book in the church in Moscow - “To Siberia!” by Bishop Theofil Meyer. The book recounts Meyer's travels from 1925, when he made his way from Moscow to Baikal and beyond with the goal of strengthening the Lutheran church in the Soviet Union.I'll reflect more on Bishop Meyer's book in a later post, but here I'd like to share one quote that seems particularly appropriate for our journey:  “If everywhere in the world fellow believers of various nationalities  related to one another as well as they do here … then our Church would be much better and could contribute more significantly to [mutual understanding among] peoples.” Meyer was talking about a particular congregation, one which compared favorably with others that he visited. However, I think that his words reflect the experience of our delegation throughout all two weeks of travel and each of the 6 congregations we visited. I was thankful to be a part of it.

At the same time, I wasn't free of the work of translating! That was especially the case on our way from Vladivostok (where we were deposited by the train “The Ocean” on the morning of the 24th ) to Ussirisk and Arseniev. Once again, translation turned out to be as much cultural as linguistic  For example, I had to assure the terrified Americans sitting in the van that, yes, this was normal driving for Russia. At the same time, I was careful to selectively translate the irritated (to put it very mildly) exclamations of our small-city driver in big city traffic. Had I not been used to it by now, I might have even blushed. 

Sharing photos in Ussirisk. Oleg and his wife Olga in
the center; Ekaterina - far right.

At any rate, our first congregational visit in the Far East was to Ussirisk. Once again we visited a small congregation (St. Mary's) where most church events take place in the apartment. Like in Khabarovsk, there we saw a “family” type congregation with very impressive lay leaders, despite having no full-time pastor. As their lay preacher, Oleg, spoke of the situation of those living in the area, his words contained the mixture of hope (e.g., related to the economic prospects of the region as it developed ties with neighbors in Northeast Asia) with concern and uncertainty (related to the social/ political situation of the country) that we ran in to so frequently here. During our short visit, we experienced the warmth and hospitality Bishop Meyer knew so well almost a century before; our group came to the conclusion that the blinys (crepes) made by church council president Ekaterina win the prize for the best in Russia. 

KA-52 "Alligator," made in Arseniev

The trip to Arseniev was suprising in a number of ways. Perhaps I  had expected things to look and feel familiar since I know their pastor, Alexander, and a number of their lay leaders pretty well thanks to my work in education in the church. What I hadn't known, for example, was the degree to which Arseniev is surrounded by natural beauty. Areas of fertile soil made for rich farmland, while the forested, high-rising hills and quick-flowing rivers reminded me that we were now in the real wilderness. Going into the city, too, I could see that it would be different than the rest of the places we had visited. With the exception of Ussirisk, everywhere else that we had been had the status of a state capital; these other cities had recently done much to improve the quality of life of their residents, and it was clear that development was still going on. Not so with Arseniev. Here we were experiencing the “provinces,” and a depressed economic situation similar to what I had seen in certain parts of European Russia. Arseniev's situation is made even more complex by the fact that it is more or less a “mono-city,” i.e., a city based on a single factory. Arseniev's “Progress” factory makes helicopters, and the fortunes of everyone in town is based in one way or another on the number of helicopter orders the factory receives in a given year. Despite the more difficult economic situation, we were impressed by the warm and positive interactions we had in the city. 

Our evening there began there with an organ concert. We had arrived in the Vladivostok region during the “German Cultural Days” organized by Dean Brockmann. Many of the congregations in the  Far East use culture as a way of reaching out to new people, and the primary means of doing this is music. Arseniev has very little by way of cultural events, so an organ concert (by a German organist, held in a Soviet era hall that had clearly not seen renovations since the 70s or 80s) was a big deal. While Pastor Alexander had hoped for a better crowd, we were impressed both by the music and that so many people would come out on a weeknight to attend it.

Pastor Alexander Lapochenko with Bishop Mansholt

After the concert we went to the church, St. Luke's. Like our congregation in Novosibirsk, the church building is a private home that has been remodeled. Unlike Novosibirsk, Arseniev is a congregation that was founded with no tie to German-Russians. Here, too, we were met warmly by the congregation as our conversation stretched late into the evening. As someone in our group remarked later, in Arseniev it became especially clear how frequently we saw the people of this country striving toward beauty – for example, in their singing and renovations of their church. 

And speaking of renovations of the church building, in our final destination, Vladivostok, this was at the very center of our attention. St. Paul's there is the only historic Lutheran building (from the Urals to the Far East) currently in the possession of our church. Before being returned (in very poor condition) the building housed the Museum of the [Russian] Pacific Fleet. Besides commemorating 15 years from the date of the building's return, we also were celebrating 20 years of Dean Brockmann's ministry in the Far East. Our days in the city included concerts at the church, a city tour, and worship. To give you a sense of the guests represented at the anniversary celebration, the Gospel lesson on Sunday was read in Russian, German, English, Slovak, Finnish, Afrikaans, and Korean! Besides visiting St. Paul's and Dean Brockmann, we had a very good opportunity to meet with other guests, including ELCUSFE Bishop Otto Schaude.

On the 1st of October we were in Vladivostok's new airport for our trip back to our respective homes. There we were reminded one final time of the vast distances of the country; a mosaic in the terminal shows how far it is to various cities – Anadyr (in the very NE corner of Russia) – 3750 km. Tokyo was much closer (1500 km), and even Singapore (5000+) was nearer than Moscow, seven thousand km away. We covered those kilometers and saw much along the way. At the same time, of course, we still missed much more that we saw. That means that I can hope that these two weeks of interpreting will not be my last.

PS. I read a newspaper on my flight back to Novosibirsk. In it I stumbled across a number of articles that really stuck out. For example, I read about how the head of the Russian Orthodox, Patriarch Kirill, had just visited Vladivostok before we arrived, and how the turnout for his appearance was disappointingly small. I read about a festival of native peoples of Siberia and the Far East, a topic that came up frequently in the museums we visited. There was an article on helicopters from Arseniev, the quality of Russian airplanes, as well as a number of items on politics and corruption. As our trip came to a close, then, I received a small sign of confirmation that we had been talking about the right things as we traveled, and that we had all taken some steps the right way in the path of being interpreters of culture.  

Interpreting - Part II

Translating at Evening Prayer. The congregation's preacher,
Alexander, is to my right. Pastor Loren Mai is giving the sermon.

As our group was reflecting on the journey we had made together, one person commented - "the fact that any of these churches are in existence today is a miracle." It was a powerful reminder of what could otherwise be taken for granted. It is certainly not obvious that the strong, pre-revolutionary congregation in Krasnoyarsk would be reborn 60 years later. Nor could one have predicted that new congregations would spring up in the Far East. Traveling with a group of people that were thoughtful, flexible, funny, adventurous and faithful helped me appreciate with fresh eyes the wonder of God's work in this country, even as I continue to be concerned about those areas of society and the church that are yet to see the effects of the Gospel's freeing power. 

So, while I was translating in a number of ways during this trip, others (Americans and Russians) also translated for me, helping me to understand the world around me differently.  

But now - back to the journey.  We took the "red eye" to Khabarovsk, where we were met by the church council president, Tatyana (one of 3 Tatyanas we met in the small congregation); we rested before taking a city tour with Tatyana #2, mostly in the rain. Even then it was clear that Khabarovsk was a big, vibrant and quite beautiful city. 

By evening we had made it to the apartment of St. John's Lutheran. Like Krasnoyarsk, the apartment is the center of the congregation's life, while they rent space for worship. Also both congregations are similar insofar as they have excellent quality lay leadership...which also means that everyone is very busy. Particularly challenging for such congregations in a Russian context is the lack of their own church building; most people here believe that only very strange people would meet anywhere other than in a "real church" if they were seeking spiritual growth or comfort. Khabarovsk has the additional challenge of being without their own pastor for most of a decade. 

Dean Manfred Brockmann (center in the picture right, together with church council president Tatyana and Pastor Gary Teske, of St. John's partner congregation in Lawrence, KS) came up to meet us from Vladivostok. He does much to support this and other congregations in his deanery, and we were happy to have him with us as we started out on this leg of the journey. He was one more translator among us as the members of our American congregation shared stories of life and faith with the group that had gathered in order to meet with us. Besides visiting the congregation, we had the chance to take a boat ride on the Amur (below) and visit the city's excellent history and natural museum.

We left Khabarovsk on the overnight train to Vladivostok feeling very blessed for the quality of our visits; those who were returning to Russia noted that there was a new openness in interaction, and that bodes well, I believe, for the possibilities of partnership in the future. 

In order to not make these posts too long, I'm going to stop now and add another installment in the next day or two. 

Interpreting - Part I

The planning began a year ago, though certain details were being worked out at the last minute. How could it be otherwise when a church delegation from America comes to visit their partners in Russia? The ELCA Central States Synod has had a long relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Urals, Siberia and Far East. The initial connection came in the early 1990s through German-Russian communities stateside taking an interest in the fate of their distant relatives (figuratively and geographically) in the former USSR. A German pastor serving in the Russian Far East, Manfred Brockmann, made visits to the U.S. and developed partnerships. Today, almost 20 years later, there was an opportunity both to celebrate what the relationship has been, and to look toward where God might be leading in the future. Bishop's Associate Janice Kibler did much work to prepare the visit; ELCA Global Mission staff also shared their experiences, while I added a little local expertise. 

I say "a little" even after more than a decade in Russia. One of the reasons for that is that I had never really led such a group before; yes, I have frequently spoke with Americans about life in Russia and the situation of the church here, but I had never showed it to them. This time I would have to be a cultural and language interpreter on the ground, and I wasn't sure that I was ready.

This was particularly the case in Moscow; despite its relative proximity to my previous calls, I have never really felt at home there. Yet, my confidence grew as we were able to navigate through the city, see a few of the sites, and have good conversation both the Bishop Dietrich Brauer of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of European Russia and with leaders of the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy. The former gave us a wonderful introduction to the history of the Lutheran Church in Russia and an overview of its contemporary life, while the latter helped us understand what it is like to be a part of the expatriate (or refugee) community in a diverse, expensive, traffic-jammed, difficult and beautiful city.

Bishop Brauer (center) showed us around the site of Sts.
Peter and Paul Cathedral in Moscow. On his right is
Bishop Gerald Mansholt from the Central States Synod,
farther right still is Pastor Loren Mai, while Kathy Walter
and I are soaking up the sun during the tour. 

Sometimes Moscow is so busy that
it is easier to pay attention to the cars
than the monuments (e.g., to Cyril and
Methodius, missionaries to the Slavs)

Our time in Moscow was short, however; we wanted to dedicate most of our time to cities east of the Urals. Our first stop was in my deanery, in Krasnoyarsk. I've written about the congregation there a number of times, in large part because of the vibrant ministries the congregation and its pastor have taken upon themselves. 

While a number of those in the CSS delegation had been to Russia before, none had been to Siberia. We therefore made a significant stop there, which gave us the time both to develop a sense for the place as well as the opportunity to hear stories of life and faith from members of the congregation. In the course of 5 days we went for very long walks through the city (one through some significant rain) and outside of it; we experienced morning prayer, Bible study, youth group, and Sunday worship with the congregation. 

Bible study in the congregation's apartment

Bishop Mansholt and Pastor Gleb Pivovarov descending a
ski lift overlooking the city 

A group photo with many of the congregation members
after worship on Sunday.

Yet, even after we left Krasnoyarsk, we had completed only half of our journey. From there we moved on to the deanery of the Far East, where we would visit 4 more congregations. I'll fill you in on that part of the trip in "Interpreting - Part II," to be posted in the near future.