Days set apart

In Russia not many people celebrate Halloween; fewer still know of Reformation Day or of the western church's celebration of All Saints on November 1st. 

Yet the calendar is full of holidays during the fall, and I've been thinking about them this week. These days are not filled with joyous celebration, but are "holy-days" in the sense that they are "set apart." 1 They are set apart for remembrance.  

The content of that set-apartness, though, varies widely among individuals in this society still recovering from a traumatic past. For some the most important day is no longer celebrated in an official way, though it was the most important of days in Soviet times - November 7th, the day of "The Great October 2 Socialist Revolution."

For others November 4th  is an important day, at least insofar as it is a day off of work; "The Day of the People's Unity" was established in the mid-2000s as an alternative to "The Great October..." The idea behind this holiday is to recall events from the distant past when the Russian people resisted outside invaders. In current practice, however, the day tends to be an excuse for nationalists to get together in rallies and marches.

For a smaller, though no less significant group of people, the true holy day of the autumn is "The Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions." On October 30th every year time is set aside to remember those who suffered as a result of political repression in the time of communism, especially in the years of the height of the Stalinist terror, 1937-1938. 

The Resurrection Cathedral

In many cities throughout the country the day was marked by prayer services in Orthodox churches and a public gathering at memorials. In Novosibirsk a priest at the Resurrection Cathedral began the liturgy with a few words of comfort for those in attendance; those present (mostly elderly) held candles and flowers as lists of names were handed to the deacon who chanted them out as the choir echoed "Lord, have mercy."

Last Sunday we in our Lutheran congregation also recalled the victims of political repression. The text for the day could have hardly been more appropriate - Jeremiah 29:  

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare...  For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. (NRSV)

The story of exile is familiar to those in our congregation, as much from the pages of their family albums as from the pages of Scripture. If my calculations are correct the parents and grandparents of those in our congregation (Germans from Russia) would have read these words as they gathered secretly in homes in 1948, 1956 and 1964. What might they been thinking? Were they, like the ancient Judeans, searching for meaning in it all? 

It would have been hard to find meaning in Stalin's madness. Perhaps it would have been harder still to listen to the prophet's encouragement to "seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf." And most difficult of all might have been believing in the promise offered to the exiles: "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you."

More than 70 years have passed. Germans from Russia still are unsure about their homeland - is it Germany? The Germany their ancestors left two centuries ago no longer exists. Is it the Volga or the Black Sea? Decades of war, misuse and neglect have changed those lands dramatically...and even where the land has been restored, no one is inviting former residents to return. Is it Siberia? If it is, the prophet has words of comfort. He promises that the Lord has a plan; he uses images from Paradise (the garden, the directive to multiply) to help the people of faith to see that God is giving them an opportunity for a new start. 

Part of our ministry here is to encourage German Russians to see that God has accompanied them here, and that God will accompany the next generation of believers as well. If we can encourage them to grow in that trust, it is my hope that we can be a force for the "welfare of the city," that we might cultivate new life here, thus witnessing to our neighbors of God's goodness, even in and through our trials, in days set apart and every day. 

1. reflecting what is said to be at the heart of the Old Testament understanding of holiness.
2. "October" because pre-revolutionary Russia had not switched from the Julian calendar, which is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. 

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. 

General Synod - Day 4

September 14, 2012

Bishop (and acting Archbishop) Dietrich Brauer with new
President Bentzel and outgoing President Pivovarov.

In some ways the final full day of the General Synod was anti-climactic. After dealing with difficult and unpredictable discussions the day before, the main item on the agenda for the last day was the elections. With the resignation of Archbishop Kruze, a new person needed to be named. In addition, a new President of the Synod Council (aka General Consistory) needed to be elected. Here, it is clear, the General Consistory had done much work ahead of time considering the best options for leadership positions in our church. They suggested that the best option for the present was that Bishop Dietrich Brauer of the ELCER become the acting Archbishop for the next two years, while Pastor Wladimar Bentzel from Yekaterinburg would be the President. Because Bishop Brauer will be busy enough in his duties in Moscow, Pastor Bentzel will need to take on a number of new responsibilities for the General Consistory to be able to work effectively in the period leading up to the next General Synod in two years time. 

While elections were somewhat of a formality, there was an air of tension about them. In my mind this revealed a degree of distrust between the two Russian synods based on the old politics of ELCROS. Such tension between the Russian churches wasn't so noticeable before since this is the first general synod where really only the Russian voices count. In other words if at earlier general synods there were a number of different currents of piety and church politics flowing all at once (Central Asia, Ukraine, Georgia, Russia....), now all the political tension is packed into the relationship between these two churches. That said, the elections went by without any major problems, and I believe that the next years will be filled with productive and cooperative ministry, and this will build up the trust that has not thus far been strongly established. 

The only other item of business for the day (other than once again confirming all the decisions that had been made up until that point) was to confirm the text of a letter to the press about recent vandalism in St. Paul's Church in Moscow. It is possible that you have already heard or read about the damage done to the organ there, but if you have not, I ask your prayers for Christ's peace to reign in that congregation that has suffered much at the hands of former leaders. 

The day ended up being "heavier" than expected. But despite all our frustrations, we ended on a high note - a Holy Communion service at Petrikirche in St. Petersburg with commissioning of those with new responsibilities (photos below).

General Synod - Day 3

September 13, 2012

The hardest day of the General Synod began with continued discussion about theological education. In the end it was clear that, on the one hand, the need for reform is great; on the other hand, it was also clear that there were too many possible options for them to all be given careful consideration in the context of the GS. For that reason the Synod decided to appoint a working group for checking into questions related to accreditation, while Seminary President Anton Tikhomirov will take on responsibility for reforming the program of the seminary, focusing on education by extension. The new General Consistory (which could also be called the Synod Council) will oversee this process and will form a new seminary board together with representatives from the other Lutheran churches in the former Soviet Union (i.e., former ELCROS churches, now united in the Union of Lutheran Churches). 

What proved to be even more difficult than education was the question of the Central Church Administration in St. Petersburg. In the years since I have started serving in Russia I have seen tensions rise in the relationship between the central office and its partners; in addition to that, there was significant pressure on church staff to perform well in the absence of the leader of the administration (i.e., the Archbishop). However synod delegates came to the conclusion that the manager had fulfilled his responsibilities neither in the Archbishop's office nor in the Theological Seminary, though in the latter he had been serving for most of a dozen years. The end result is that he was let go; there will be a search for a new church administrator, while the General Consistory will now consider whether or not the seminary needs a full-time administrator. In the meantime this will mean quite a bit of added work for President Anton Tikhomirov, who will have to sort out ways to deal with all the financial and administrative challenges at the seminary. 

Working on final changes to the text
 of the church constitution. 

The final act of business for the day was making changes to the ELC constitution. After a process of revision that was rather chaotic at the last General Synod, this was done in a way that was relatively orderly. Delegates had a chance to analyze and suggest changes to the text, though overall the structure of the revised document included a lot of positive clarifications. While it was a bit trying to go through all that "nit-picking," it was constructive. One of the most obvious changes is to the name of the church - we will now be known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia. 

I had the challenge and opportunity of closing the business of the day by leading a service of evening prayer. It felt great to once again be preaching in the seminary chapel and to look out upon those who had been my students, colleagues and friends throughout my decade of service in the country. We made it through the hardest day; not without difficulty, but we made it. Thanks be to God!

General Synod - Day 2

September 12, 2012.

Bishop Otto Schaude set a very positive tone for working together at the General Synod through his sermon at opening worship. At the center of his message was the message of 1 Peter 4.10:  "Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received." (NRSV). Reminding delegates of the great gift they had received and the responsibility to use it well, Bishop Schaude helped us to put aside any secondary concerns and to focus on the needs of the church in Russia at this moment in time. 

Consistory President Rev. Vladimir Provorov
leading the proceedings of the first day.

After worship and a lunch provided (as usual, with significant skill) by the seminary staff, we moved on to introductions and other formalities that usually occupy the first hours of all official proceedings here. There were greetings given from partners in attendance, including Rev. Arden Haug, the ELCA Global Mission representative in Europe, Dr. Eva-Sibylle Vogel-Mfato, the Lutheran World Federation representative responsible for the region, and Oberkirchenrat Michael Huebner from the Evangelical Church in Germany. Others could not attend but sent letters of greeting. There were two people whose absence were felt even as their letters were read - Bishop Arri Kugappi., from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia (ELCI); the last General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church seemed to point toward greater cooperation between Lutherans in Russia, but there are some (including myself) who are rather disappointed at the progress made in that direction. Even more difficult for those at the GS was the absence of ELC Archbishop August Kruze. His call in this ministry was very difficult ever since his election in 2008. At the time he was Bishop of ELCUSFE, though he fulfilled his duties not from the church's center, but with the help of a very good administrator in Omsk, from his home congregation in the Urals. The election process during the last General Synod was an indication of future developments; there was not good order then, nor did Archbishop Kruze have an orderly time in his position. A number of factors contributed to this, but in the end the very frustrating situation he found himself in led him to refuse to fulfill his functions as the Archbishop for most of the last year of his service. Rev. Kruze wrote a lengthy and difficult letter to the synod; it was read and the reaction of the delegates (this one, at least) was sympathy and sadness. At the same time, we all felt a degree of relief that there was official resignation after an extended period of time when there was no clarity.

The day's business went by rather quickly, but that just meant that we were able to move on of the difficult item on the agenda - education - up one day. The topic was difficult because of the challenges facing our Theological Seminary. We heard the report of Seminary President Dr. Anton Tikhomirov, during which he explained the decision he made to suspended the program of full-time education at the seminary for this academic year. Dr. Tikhomirov pointed to two major factors - a lack of students available for full-time studies and the expenses related to running a seminar in the traditional way. He presented a plan for re-focusing educational ministries in our church; Bishop Schaude and I added on our own suggestions. With that, the day's business was over, giving us the opportunity to return to more concrete decisions about education the next day. 

General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia (formerly ELCROS)

September 11-15, 2012. Novosaratovka (St. Petersburg)

A lack of internet access made it impossible for me to post a blog entry each day of the proceedings, as I had hoped. Had we been connected to the internet, though, that would not have guaranteed that I would have found the time to gather and type up my notes; even when the official business meetings of the synod were finished for the day, parallel to the synod other meetings were arranged that kept most of us occupied until later into the evening.

In the following pages you'll find short articles based on my notes from the end of each day; at the end, I'll write a short summary.

September 11. (Day 1)

The first day of the General Synod began in the evening, when delegates began to gather from the two church bodies (the Evangelical Lutheran Church in European Russia (ELCER) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Urals, Siberia and Far East (ELCUSFE)) and the many regions of this enormous country; Kaliningrad and Vladivostok each sent representatives and thus the western and eastern reaches of the church were present.) Evening prayer felt like home in the seminary's St. Catherine chapel, where I attended weekly worship (as well as daily morning prayer) with students for many years. Afterwards delegates from the ELCUSFE (including me) gathered for an orientation in the issues that were to be a part of the agenda for the synod. While it had been clear for quite a while that the General Synod was not going to be an easy and uplifting event, I ended the day feeling rather concerned about the days ahead. What was clear was that the Consistory (much like a “synod council” in the U.S. context) had done the best they could to make the sure the days of the General Synod would go by as effectively and as peacefully as possible.

Deportation Day Remembered

Citing danger from behind the front lines to to the Red Army as it fought against Hitler, in August of 1941 Joseph Stalin ordered that German Russians be deported from European territories to far-flung corners of the Soviet Union.

By then ethnically German Russians had already been living on the Volga for more than two centuries. Some of them supported the Bolshevik revolution; even for those who did not, the Soviet Union was their homeland, and they were as ready and willing as anyone to defend it from fascism. 

This is one of the reasons why remembering the deportation is particularly painful for German Russians today. They had no sympathy for Nazism, yet because of their language, faith and cultural traditions, they were associated with the enemy. Now, every 28th of August, German Russians gather together to remember the injustice of Stalin's regime (and the regimes that followed) and the innocent suffering their people experienced.  In this part of Siberia a very large percent of Lutherans have their roots in the Volga region; some even remember their childhood homes there. Yet for decades they had no chance to return, and now there is nothing to return to...

Though more than seven decades have passed, for many it has been hard to reach a point of healing. One of the reasons for this is the fact that ethnic Germans (unlike many other minorities that Stalin suppressed) were never officially acknowledged as a “repressed people;” it is as if the government is saying, somehow, that the deportation was justified. And it painful. Both Father Clemens Wert (S.J) (right) at the Catholic cathedral and I tried to address their pain and to bring words of comfort. It wasn't easy, though, insofar as it was not clear the degree to which we could speak with those gathered (first at the Cathedral, then at a chapel outside of the city) as those sharing with us one faith.

Knowing how small our own, Lutheran congregation is, I had hoped to see that the participants (more than a hundred) in the day's services were practicing Catholics (since so few of them are practicing Lutherans). Yet, it was clear by their confusion during the prayer service that that was not the case. Perhaps German Russians today, in terms of religious affiliation, are similar to the wider population, which, to a large degree identifies themselves with a particular faith tradition based on family history, though does not actively participate in any congregation. It comes to mind that, because of their history, perhaps Russian Germans are even more alienated from their traditional faith than others here. 

The day was filled with memories, with prayers, and with the desire to take some lessons from these events, insofar as younger participants are now generations removed from that fateful fall when their grandparents or great-grandparents were  loaded in cattle cars and brought to Siberia.

Retreat in Krasnoyarsk

In the Russian Lutheran church the term “retreat” is unfamiliar (in fact, if any of my Russian-speaking readers know a good translation for the word, please tell me!), as is the practice. However, one of the congregations in our region, the one most willing to experiment, decided to do something new. For 3 days in mid-August, more than a dozen congregational members and friends gathered outside of the city at the dacha of their church council president for Bible study, prayer and fellowship.

Pastor Gleb Pivovarov (above left) organized the event, and chose challenging Biblical texts for study - Jacob's wrestling with a man /an angel/ God (Gen. 32), the book of Job, and Christ's temptations in the desert.

I was asked to lead Bible study on the first day, and I had the joy of dealing with one of my favorite Biblical narratives – the story of Jacob. Many in the group were relatively new to the church, and it was moving to be reminded again together with them of the ways stories of faith that come to us through Scripture can change our outlook on life.

  

Although I could attend only two of the three days, I can say that experiment was a fruitful one. In many of our churches there is a certain degree of passivity, and the congregational makeup is fairly uniform; more concretely, most of our members are elderly, ethnic German women. The congregation in Krasnoyarsk has always differed from the norm in this regard, but in the year and half since Gleb has been in the parish, there has been a large influx of young members. It was really heartwarming to be in a church gathering here with old and young together, going deep into Biblical texts, singing, cooking, and playing games. I hope that the example of Krasnoyarsk will encourage other congregations to expand their ministry in new ways in the future. 

The Wild, Wild East

Russians who live near the Pacific Coast here, familiar with the American "Wild West," sometimes joke that they are living in the "Wild East." This refers to more than the wildlife, in which the region is truly rich (e.g., we drove through a wildlife reserve meant to protect the critically endangered Amur leopard.) However, the "wildness" of the Far East is primarily tied with lack of contact of the region with the rest of the country, particularly with the federal government in Moscow. When you visit the Far East, you are struck pretty quickly with the differences that come with living much closer to China, Korea and Japan than even to central Siberia, not to mention the nation's capital.

Near the end of July, my family and I had the pleasure of taking part in a seminar for leaders in Lutheran congregations in the region, which has its center in Vladivostok. Dean Manfred Brockmann was able, for the 19th time, to find the significant financial resources needed to bring everyone together - from as far west  (1800 miles) as Chita, and as far northeast (1300 miles) as Magadan. You can read a bit more about the deanery here.

Seminar participants. Dean Brockmann is on the far left in the first row.

The theme of the seminar this year was "Education in the Lutheran Church;” it turned out that the theme arose at a very important turning point in the church here. During the past year, the seminary where I served as a teacher for 8 years, Novosaratovka, went through a great deal of change, the most significant being a move to a "modular" type of curriculum (somewhat similar to the one-course-at-a-time program that is used in some U.S. colleges). While the transition, as expected, was somewhat rough, it is possible that support from the church's leadership would have allowed the program to continue. In its absence, however, Seminary President Dr. Anton Tikhomirov made the decision to suspend full-time education there for the 2012-2013 academic year.  

Many lay preachers in the Far East had studied at Novosaratovka, and they were concerned about its future; Dr. Tikhomirov, who was present for part of the seminar, helped calm some of their fears. It is hoped that the General Synod in September (including visits from other former ELCROS churches that have used Novosaratovka for their educational needs) might come to some conclusions about how to reform education in our church. 

In addition to providing my own perspective on a Lutheran approach to education, I was responsible for leading lessons in Old Testament, New Testament, Church History. We used the Moravian daily texts (popular in devotions in the Siberian church) as an entry point for how to read the Bible, as well as covering topics of church history that might shed some light on our identity. There were a wide range of themes taught by others as well, from Luther's life to liturgy, the Augsburg Confession to homiletics. 

Not all of time in the Far East was so serious. Rather, it was serious, but in a different way. Whenever the schedule and the weather allowed , we spent our time near the water. The seminar was located a few hours south of Vladivostok (not too far from the border of North Korea, actually) at the cove of Vityaz. While I am quite accustomed to bad roads, what I saw here reached new “heights” of low quality. Yet, there is a certain (Russian) logic to it; local residence said that if the roads were good, they would destroy them. The roads being as they are limited the amount of visits to the area; for the first time, someone has explicitly told me what I long suspected here – roads are not a means to get from one place to another, but a barrier for doing so. Now it all makes sense! That thought will help me smile was I drive on bad roads in the future.

However, it was not my intent to write about the roads! What is worth writing about is the nature of the area. The area was very beautiful - a bit like California and a bit like Hawaii – dense flora and unusual fauna (my boys were particularly impressed by the sea urchins!) along a rugged coastline.

 Overall, my first trip to Russia's “wild East” made me want to go back there to visit the people and places that I had a chance to become acquainted with; the sooner this will happen, the better.

(And I'm blessed to know that it will happen soon, since I'll be accompanying an American church group to the Far East in September!)  

Krymsk

One of the strongest impressions from the past month comes from our first days in southern Russia. As we made our annual camping trip to Abrau-Durso, we drove through torrential rains. We knew that this was not convenient for setting up camp; we had no idea that the rain would be the cause of a tragic situation for our neighbors. Because of the isolation of our location a few days past before we even learned what had happened about 50 miles away in the city of Krymsk. We had driven through there before the rain started...and by the time we drove through again, many residents had lost their homes.

As I see it, no one is completely safe from natural disasters, and human decisions about where (in this case, in a valley) and how (in this case, mostly in cinder block homes) to live contribute to the circumstances that sometimes lead to tragic results. Yet, this case was different from disasters I've witnessed in the past. This time I saw a distrust towards the government that would make even my fellow Montanans look government-friendly in comparison. Immediately there were all sort of rumors about the tragedy...and the circumstances around it certainly were strange. A large portion of Krymsk was washed away by a huge wave; people were asking, “how can rain lead to a wave?” There must have been dam broken somewhere, was the conclusion. And how could that happen? “The government blew it up” as a way to avoid the possibility of flooding for a more well-off area, people speculated. And government emergency services and the region's governor, while denying any wrong-doing, were very slow in coming up with alternative answers. Officials spoke of around 160 deaths, while “everyone knew” that the local morgue, which holds up to 400, was full and that a grocery store warehouse was being used to hold more bodies. My apologies for the gruesome nature of such details, but it reflects the real thoughts and words of people in the area. The government did not help their case at all; it is clear that emergency warning systems didn't work, and that those with the right connections knew ahead of time about the approaching disaster...while the most vulnerable (the poor and elderly) were left to fend for themselves.

Despite all these very sad aspects of the tragedy, I witnesses once again the way Russians, when moved by pity for the neighbor, can be moved to give of their (sometimes very limited) resources to show support. Even more impressive were the efforts of volunteers who traveled to Krymsk in order help with cleanup; for Russia, this is a rather new mark of developing civil society.

Yet, once again, the government's reaction shows an enormous degree of mutual distrust. After the initial wave of public reporting on the event, lawmakers proposed a bill that would control and limit the efforts of volunteers; a need, it was said, that was recognized after volunteers in Krymsk “spread ugly rumors.”

I don't pretend to know what really happened in Krymsk. What is clear enough, though, is that the people do not trust the government and vise versa. This situation is in no one's best interests, and it multiplies the negative effects of tragedy.