Risk

There are times here in my ministry that I feel like I'm one of the armies in a game of Risk, being

shifted from "Russia" to "Urals" to "Siberia" to "Irkutsk" and back. (I'm still waiting for the opportunity to be shifted to the real Yakutsk or Kamchatka...too bad we don't have any congregations there!) Last week I had the rather odd series of experiences: transversing the continental divide between Europe and Asia 4 times in two days, visiting one of Russia's most vibrant provincial cities (Ekaterinburg) and one of its rather depressed (but in its own way beautiful) industrial neighbors (Nizhny Tagil), of spending time with a congregation that has been without a pastor for almost two years and in the congregations in the "capitals" of Russian Lutheranism, Omsk and Moscow.

The topics of two of the short seminars that I led fit well with the image of "Risk" - Conflict and Introduction to Christian Ethics. I led the latter in geographically-European ELCUSFE congregation in Polevskoe. I've know the congregation's pastor, Denis, for quite a long time, both as a student at the Theological Seminary in Novosaratovka and as a colleague. Since he and his wife live in nearby Ekaterinburg (officially in Asia) our hour-long bus rides took us to a new continent. Denis is quite open-minded, and it seems to me that a small city like Polevskoe particularly needs people like him; there our congregation can be a place both for those with German-Russian roots and for "lost souls" seeking a community.

After two days there I went to visit a fellow missionary living and working two hours north of Ekaterinburg. Mattias and his wife Lena have committed themselves to the "long haul" in circumstances that are far from easy. It was wonderful to share with them a moment of joy along the way; after a few years of meeting in an apartment, the congregation has been given the opportunity to use a former store as their center. They've done renovations there that make it very comfortable, even if the surroundings outside of the walls are not. I will hope and pray that this opportunity for their congregation will open up new doors form them in ministry.

South and east (already outside of "Urals" and in to "Siberia"), Tjumen is a quickly developing city thanks to income from gas and oil in the north part of the state ("oblast") of which it is a capital. The congregation there, too, is a mix of elderly Russian Germans and younger folks who felt attracted by our congregation for one reason or another. People from both of these groups were engaged participants in short lessons that I led about images of Christ and about conflicts.

Fun facts about Tjumen: 1. During WWII Lenin's body was evacuated from the mausoleum on Red Square and brought secretly held in a building of the regional Institute of Agriculture. 2. Rasputin's hometown is not far from Tjumen. Although I didn't make it there this time, I've heard that it is run by a man whom claims to be the grandson of that wild-man monk. 3. Apparently the abundance of newly planted pine trees in the city is a result of influence of a local bureaucrat whose family name ("Yelkin") shares a root (pun intended) with the Russian word for the tree ("Yelki").

And overnight's trip further east still (but still part of western Siberia, 3 hours ahead of Moscow

time), Omsk is a familiar and friendly place (OK, at least the congregation there is. Not everyone gets that excited about the city itself), and I was happy when the newly-appointed Dean of the region, Vladimir Vinogradov, talked with me about the possibility of running a number of seminars there. My experience, though positive overall, convinced once again that it is difficult to give even a short introduction to Christian Ethics in one, 5-hour day.

Catching the plane back west early the next morning, I arrived in Moscow to see that Spring had sprung while I had been away. That said, despite the green grass appearing everywhere, the day was scattered with snow storms. At worship I was privileged to witness a joint service of the "local" congregation and the francophone Protestant congregation that has been celebrating its 15th anniversary.

The theme for the discussion planned with extension education students in Moscow - “Jews and Christians – Paschal Reflections” came about as a result of my experience with inter-religious dialog in Tomsk. There a representative from the local Jewish congregation mentioned that from his point of view, there was no need for the Incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ. While on the one hand this was obvious, I decided that it would be worthwhile to explore the question of what believing Jews of the 1st century might have said about this, especially regarding the sacrificial aspect of Jesus' death and the way various movements did or did not expect bodily resurrection and why. However, we had to keep my program short because of an extra-long worship and because the opportunity arose to make a group excursion together with the congregation's confirmands to Moscow's main synagogue. (Perhaps more about that later). It seemed to me that it would be better to use this opportunity to meet representatives of the Jewish community instead of just hearing me talk about Judaism, and I don't regret that decision. The topic still interests me, though, and I hope that I'll have the opportunity to further develop the material and use it one day.

Now I'm firmly back near the border with "Scandinavia," and have a couple of weeks to recoup before my next turn - headed south for my first visit to the deanery of the North Caucuses. More about that in May.