GER-VOLGA-L Archives

From: "Horst W. Gutsche" <>
Subject: [GV] Life among our people in Kazakstan
Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2001 20:47:30 -0800

The following article is a report on the church convention of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Kazakstan (ELCRK). It was
written by Pastor Edgar L. Born from Hamm in Westphalia, Germany. He takes
care of the congregational partnerships between the Evangelical State Church
of Westphalia and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kazakstan. Apparently,
there are still about 600,000 Germans living in the former states of the
Soviet Union. I have heard the figure of 40,000 for Ukraine. I have
translated the article from the original German version which appeared in
the quarterly publication; "Lutherischer Dienst - Lutheran Service", the
periodical of the Martin Luther Society which seeks to help people and
churches in Eastern Europe.

Horst W. Gutsche


ALL DEPENDS ON JESUS

A report on the June synodical meeting in Astana, Kazakstan

When Pastor Natalia Boldt held the devotion on the evening prior to the
tenth synodical meeting of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic
of Kazakstan, not all of the 40 delegates had arrived as yet. They had to
come from six different deaneries, some of which are very distant. The
travel for the delegates was difficult to organize. Kazakstan is about
eight times as large as Germany. The roads are long and not always good.
The delegates often have to travel for more than a full day.

In his sermon held during the opening worship service, Bishop Hermann Beste
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg got to the point: "It
depends on Jesus!" The children's choir from the congregation in Astana (my
note: previously called Zelinograd?) was under the direction of Svetlana
Novgorodova and took part in the service, which was mostly held in the
Russian language. For the last years it has been customary to use mostly
Russian at the synodical conventions. This year translations were provided
in German and in English.

The President of the Synod was able to greet guests from America,
Mecklenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Westphalia, from Moscow and from St.
Petersburg. Besides these guests, Abbot Agafangel of the Orthodox Church
and Bishop Thomas Peter as well as Father Lorenz from the Roman Catholic
Church had accepted invitations to attend the meeting.

The representative of the government, Mr. A. Mukaschev, pointed out in his
opening greetings that there were about 2,200 religious groups from 44
religions registered in Kazakstan. He stated that the government is eager
to help with peace among the religions and to guarantee basic religious
freedom.

FINDING SPONSORS

Archbishop D. Dr. Georg Kretschmar praised the exemplary work in Kazakstan
and also stated that this work was not as easily compared to the other
regional Churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other
States. In Kazakstan there are congregations which usually meet in a small
prayer chapel. In European Russia the old confiscated church buildings have
been returned and new congregations are gathering in the buildings which
have to be renovated. The make-up of the congregations in the large cities
is different than in Kazakstan and the type of congregational work naturally
has to adjust to these differences. This is a process which provides mutual
benefits and new ideas. The better the pastors are educated, the more
varied is the ministry which they can provide and then the ministry goes far
beyond the reading of sermons from a book. In earlier years it often
happened that a person was ordained as a lay preacher if he could read
German and could basically understand what he could read. The problem of
congregations being dependent and becoming self-supporting, could,
according to Archbishop Kretschmar, only be ameliorated by finding sponsors
in the land who could help here and there.

THE MOVE WAS A GOOD ONE

After the many words of greeting given by the guests, Bishop Robert Moser,
who is ending his term as bishop, delivered his last report to the synod
gathering. He reviewed five years of work as bishop and described the
duties which had been carried out. Firstly, the somewhat controversial move
to Astana. It has proven that this move was right, for in the meantime, all
important offices of the Republic of Kazakstan have been moved to and are
now concentrated in Astana. Then the production of proper and available
constitutions and orders of service for various times of worship. These all
had to be adapted according to government laws. There were regulations for
the clergy as well as for the structure of the Church which had to be set in
place.

In the meantime, there are six deaneries which have been set up:

1) North Kazakstan (traveling pastor with the authority of a superintendent:
Ewald Krasovskiy),
2) East Kazakstan (Superintendent and traveling pastor: Viktor Bayev),
3) Kustanai (Superintendent Christian Rassmann),
4) Area of Akmolinsk with headquarters in Kokschetau (Superintendent Igor
Jung),
5) Pavlodar (Pastor Raikin Duerr) and
6) South Kazakstan (Cornelius Daidche).

HOPES OF SURVIVAL ONLY WITH THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

It was a difficult task to slowly, bit by bit, change the whole life of the
church into Russian. Only congregations which use Russia have hope of
continuing. The older brothers and sisters (the Brethren) had to be
convinced of this and this was not always easy.
The lay preachers and pastors are now relatively young. One can say that a
change in the generations has occured. The old ladies rightly say: "This is
not our Church anymore.". But there is no other choice. Neither the
German language nor the traditions of the brethren can make a Church
attractive in Kazakstan in the third millenium. So the Lutheran Church has
a new profile: Lutheran yes, Russian yes, - not at all costs however.
Robert Moser stated that in any case one must work at making sure that being
Lutheran is not confused with being German.

THE FUTURE WILL BE FORMED BY THE SPIRITUAL SEMINARY

Robert Moser also spoke regarding his main focus of ministry over the last
five years; namely that a "good and complete education must be provided for
all church workers". The establishment of the Spiritual Seminary is one of
the most important successes of his term of office. This is where future
lay preachers, pastors, congregational leaders and choir directors as well
as catechists and deacons will receive their education. The plan is to have
an Evangelical Trades School attached to the Spritual Seminary where the
education of "voluntary pastors with secular occupations" can take place.
The pilot project of this particular program will be completed at the
beginning of 2002, when six such graduates will be available for the
congregations. Moser also emphasized that a good education will reduce the
danger of splits within the congregations.

THE GOAL IS A LIVING AND STABLE CHURCH

Rector Viktor Moser reported on six different programs of study which are
offered at the Spiritual Seminary. The main problem continues to be those
who move. Some of the graduates leave the country sooner or later, most of
them in the direction of Germany. "We don't want to become a large,
powerful church, but a living, stable, functioning Church. With education,
however, the Church will not be properly armored for unspiritual (ungodly)
influences.". The Spiritual Seminary and the Trades School are registered
with and the schools are recognized by the government. It was also clear
that something else concerned Moser: "We need students and they can be
educated, but we simply have too few candidates. The reason behind this is
not only the continuing resettlement. Many congregational leaders are
afraid of competition and do not support possible students enough.".

The administrator of the church office, Yuri Novgorodov, gave a report on
the work of the church office, the commissions of the Consistory of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kazakstan as well as that of the deaneries.
Novogorodov specifically thanked the sponsors (partners) from Mecklenburg
and Westphalia, from the Gustav Adolf Society and from the Martin Luther
Society.

DESPITE A LACK OF PROSPECTS: THE CHURCH IS ALIVE

The reports of the superintendents included not only references to the
spiritual problems and the lack of church workers, but the very difficult
social and economic situation. Superintendent Christian Rassmann from
Kustanai summarized the situation in these words: "The lack of hope in the
future is the real catastrophy for the people in our congregations.". The
consensus was, that because of this the emigration would continue, even if
it is not on the same large scale. Many take a short detour via Siberia.
Despite this fact, people are joining the congregations if they offer
ministry in the Russian language. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Kazakstan is alive; thanks be to God! and the Church has a future.

" RAY OF HOPE: " A MINISTRY OF SOCIAL SERVICE

The head of the diaconal work of the ELCRK, A. Chimitsch, reoported on the
development of social services in the Church. There is a place in Astana
which works with people ill with alcoholism and with their families. It is
called "Ray of Hope" and is led by Kasimir Muchinov. It has been possible
for clinical pastoral care to be introduced in a few hospitals. In other
situations the work of the Church is often rejected. Many heads of medical
clinics openly state that they are atheists and strictly forbid all church
work.

BISHOP PETER URIE IS INSTALLED IN HIS NEW OFFICE

At the close of the synodical meeting, the new Bishop of the ELCRK, Peter
Urie, who had been elected in December, was joyously installed by Archbishop
Kretschmar, Bishop Beste, Bishop Sailer, Bishop Moser and Pastor Edgar Born.
In his words to the congregation at the time of the installation, the
Archbishop asked the congregation to: "Pray for your bishop, pray for our
church and pray for yourselves."

Peter Urie, age 46, had been the superintendent in Moscow and was born in
the former German Democratic Republic. He is a preacher with the
Evangelical Fellowship Society of Sachsen-Anhalt and has had much experience
in the area of youth ministry; camps, seminars, retreats and rehabilitation
as well as street ministry. He made it clear that he wanted to emphasize
these areas in his future work.
The archbishop honored the retiring bishop. He called Robert Moser a
"visionary and a practical person". Despite the huge loss of members
because of the emigration and the generally difficult situation, he did not
lose heart, but believed in the future of the Church; believed in the Church
with a future. He often said that if the Church has Christ then it has a
future. But the Church cannot stay simply as it is. It has a chance only
if there are continuous reforms. He saw that the existence of the Church
depended on education.
In the future, Moser will be the representative bishop and pastor of Astana
and will be available to the Spiritual Seminary as a professor and as a
consultant.

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