GER-VOLGA-L Archives

From: "Horst W. Gutsche" <>
Subject: [GV] Our people in Samara
Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2001 05:28:38 -0800

The following information was sent to me by parish worker Olga Temirbulatova
and Pastor Markus Schoch of the parish of Samara. This includes not only
congregations in Samara but also in the following cities/towns. The
majority of the people are of Volga German heritage and settled here because
of the better economic situation compared to the area further south.
Apparently, the local governor was more positive toward people resettling
from Siberia and Kazakstan.

1) Samara - this is where Pastor Markus Schoch lives; over 200 members
worship in their historic Lutheran church, named St. George Lutheran Church.
2) Sysran - the congregation has 30 members who meet in a residence. The
city of Sysran was the center of the Lutheran and Orthodox Churches in the
area during the time of the Soviet Union.
3) Togliatti - The congregation has 30 members, who meet in a room rented
for the worship service. Not only elderly people attend the service, but
young people as well.
4) Pochwistnevo - The congregation has 50 members, who meet in a room rented
for the worship service. The congregation was registered in the year 2000.
5) Otradny - The congregation has 45 members, who meet twice a week in a
room rented for worship services. Lay minister Alexander Mut, who is quite
elderly, works here. He lives in Otradny. He has done this work for many
years and leads the worship services and leads the congregation. The
congregation was registered in the year 1999.
6) Oktjabrsk - The congregation has 35 members. They meet in a house which
was purchased in 1992 in order to hold worship services. The lay minister
recently died.
7) Makrajewka - village
8) Solowjewo - village
9) Wysotino - village - When the pastor holds the worship services, there
are between 15 and 25 adults and the same number of children who attend.
10) Johannesfeld - village
11) Settlement of Mirny - The congregation has 30 members (older ladies),
who meet in the home of lay minister Maria Schott. She shows her concern
for all the members of the congregation, often visits her elderly friends,
supports them spiritually and holds funeral services.
12) Solnoje - village - The congregation has 25 members (older ladies), who
meet in a house. The settlement of Solnoje is situated on the opposite side
of the shore of the Volga River, and in order to get there with a car, one
must make a detour over the dam near Togliatti.

A History of the Congregation

There is an Evangelical Lutheran congregation in Samara. The outward sign
of this very diverse and active congregation is the church and the attached
buildings which are situated on Kuibyschev Street. How did it happen that
there is a Lutheran congregation and a church building here in Samara?

How it all began...

In the 1850's many German businessmen moved to Samara. The majority of them
were Lutherans. One of the first governors in Samara was a German and a
Lutheran. His name was Karl Grot. He founded the congregation in 1854 and
also led the congregation. The congregation had 112 members by the year
1854 and belonged to the "Moscow District"; one of the five Lutheran
consistories in Russia.

Their own church building...

The St. George Church was originally built as a Roman Catholic church
building. The Russian merchant, E.N. Annaev, a Catholic, gave the money for
the building of the church. In 1863, when the church had been almost
completed, there was an uprising in Poland, which at that time belonged to
Russia. Because of this uprising, everything which was "Polish" was
persecuted and the church was confiscated and - with the assent of the
Catholics - given to the Lutheran congregation. The Catholic Church at that
time was synonymous with "Polish", just as the Lutherans were identified as
being synonymous with "German".

On September 26, 1865, army division Chaplain Pundani, who came to Samara
once a year in order to baptize and to celebrate the Lord's Supper with the
congregation, and Pastor Meier from Simbirsk didicated the church. The
church building was completed thanks to donations given by the citizens of
Samara and the support of the Lutheran Aid Societies.

The congregation in Samara had its own building, but still did not have its
own pastor. It was served from time to time, as had previously been the
case, by Pastors Pundani and Kern. In July of 1868, the congregation
received its first pastor, Eduard Johansen, who moved to Samara together
with his wife and two year old son Hermann Friedrich.

Flourishing congregational life ...

In the year 1878, the congregation had 300 members and according to the
official government records, 3.5 % of the population of the city of Samara
consisted of Germans. For many years the Evangelical Lutheran Church was
the center of spiritual and social life for the Germans in the area in and
around Samara. There was a society for "the support of education", which
cultivated the language and culture of the Lutherans and founded schools.
the church had a private school and a kindergarten for the children of
German families. Donations provided support for the teachers and pupils.

In the year 1875, there was a massive fire in Samara. St. George Church was
also destroyed. The church was burned out and could no longer be used.
Soon however, the church was newly rebuilt. During the construction phase,
two neighboring buildings were also constructed. They serve church life
even today as the parsonage, the home of the pastor, and the olther building
serves as a congregational hall.

The time of repression and persecution...

Until the year 1924, the congregation in Samara could more or less continue
its work unhindered in service to God and to man. Later, the congregation
suffered more and more persecution and on January 5th, 1930, the new city
council decided to finally "lock" the church, "at the request of the
workers", as was made public. From that time onward the church building was
no longer used for the purpose for which it had been built. At first the
"Society of the Godless" used the building for meetings. Later on the
church building was uses as a storage room. The fate of the Lutheran church
in Samara was the same as the fate of other "Houses of Worship" in Russia.
Later, many congregational members were sent to camps because they were
Germans or they were deported. Congregational life could no longer function
publicly.

A new beginning for the congregation...

On August 19th, 1991, the "Evangelical Lutheran Congregation" was officially
registered (again) with the government officials. Thanks to the efforts of
the congregation, the German Russians and the public in the city and the
area of Samara, the congregation received the entire church plant back for
"gratuitous use" and in order to administer the property. This was stated
in decision number 651 of the city administration. Just prior to this,
there had been a fire in the balcony and the supporting beams were in danger
of collapsing.

On December 21st 1991, when it was minus 21 degrees Celsius - about minus 10
Fahrenheit (the heating system in the church had broken down), the first
Christmas service could be celebrated after more than 60 years. The
celebration was on December 21st instead of December 25th, because the
Pastor came from Moscow and there were several other congregations on his
list which he had to serve as well.

Since this new beginning, there have been many changes in our church and in
our congregation. Thanks to several lay ministers in our congregation, it
was possible to celebrate worship services twice a month. On September 8th,
1993, we placed the cross back on the church steeple. Since that time, it
can again be seen from a distance. On September 4th, 1994, the church was
rededicated after the first renovation. Little by little, the other
buildings were renovated so that today almost all rooms have been redone and
are in use. This was only possible because of the support which came from
so many sources in Germany, especially from our partner city of Stuttgart.

And today...

Our congregation was served by Superintendent Friedrich Demke after 1995.
He commuted between Ulyanovsk and Samara. Because of this, regular worship
services could be celebrated every two weeks with Superintendent Demke.
Since 1997 we have had our "own" pastor; the Evangelical Church in
Wuerttemberg commissioned Pastor Rolf Bareis for service in Samara. Besides
the congregation in Samara, he also served eight congregations in the region
around Samara. Congregational life has since become more lively and has
further developed. Now we can not only celebrate worship services every
Sunday, but there are also groups for children, ladies and youth as well.
There is also a children's choir and a church choir. In the last while we
have also been offering congregational retreats once a year for the youth,
the ladies, and the senior citizens. Besides this, there are seminars about
questions regarding the faith and there are also may concerts which take
place in our church. New church members appear and so our congregation is
growing.

>From the beginning, social and service ministry involvement has been
important. In the last while we have even been able to employ two social
workers who visit the elderly and sick people who have no family members
left and who are dependent on our support. Besides this, we are at present
establishing a second hand clothing distribution center for the needy.
These activities are only possible, as was the case before, throught the
support of many friends. We are very thankful for this help.

At the end of 2000, Pastor Rolf Bareis returned to Germany. The Evangelical
Church of Wuerttemberg then commissioned Pastor Markus Schoch for service in
Samara. Pastor Markus Schoch now serves and is continuing the work.

If you would like to know more about our congregation, then please come for
a visit. We have worship services every Sunday at 10 a.m.. The service is
bilingual - Russian and German. We look forward to having you with us!

Address:

St. George Evangelical Lutheran Church of Samara
Superintendent Markus Schoch
Ul. Kuibyscheva 115/117
443099 Samara, Russia

Tel: 007 8462 32 15 66 (office)
Tel:/Fax: 33 03 26 (parsonage)
E-mail:
or:

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• [GV] Our people in Samara by "Horst W. Gutsche" <>