From the Worldwide Faith News archives www.wfn.org
Estonian Archbishop Proposes Founding of Lutheran Church in Siberia
From
"Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>
Date
Wed, 10 Oct 2001 13:02:06 -0500
Dedication of New Church Building in Siberia
AKADEMGORODOK, Russian Federation/GENEVA, 10 October 2001 (LWI) - "We
have been waiting for this moment for almost ten years. In the past
we used to meet in all sorts of places-apartments and basement rooms.
Now we have our own church in Novosibirsk."
With these words, Pastor Vsevolod Lytkin welcomed, September 2, the
congregation and guests at the solemn dedication of a new church
building for the "West Siberian Christian Mission" in Akademgorodok,
near the Siberian capital Novosibirsk. Bishop Jonas Kalvanas Jr. of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania conducted the ceremony
on behalf of Archbishop Jan Kiivit of the Estonian Evangelical
Lutheran Church.
The new building in Akademgorodok will serve as a church for the
Novosibirsk congregation, and also as part of the Lutheran
Theological Seminary. Akademgorodok is considered an important center
of scholarly research in Russia-it is home to Novosibirsk state
university, has some 40 research centers, one academy for
agricultural science and another for medicine.
The "West Siberian Christian Mission" currently has around 15
Lutheran congregations within the area between Ekaterinburg and Czita
in Siberia. Six of these congregations are officially registered. The
congregations, their pastors and deacons belong to the Estonian
Evangelical Lutheran Church. Archbishop Jan Kiivit has proposed the
establishment of an independent "Siberian Lutheran Church" in the
near future with its own spiritual leader (bishop). This would be the
third Lutheran church in Russia after the Evangelical Lutheran Church
of Ingria in Russia and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and
Other States (ELCROS), both members of the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF).
The central congregation of the "West Siberian Christian Mission" is
the one in Novosibirsk, founded by Pastor Lytkin. He was ordained
after completing studies in Estonia, and in his parish work focuses
on the youth. With financial support from the LCMS seminary in Fort
Wayne, Indiana, United States of America, Lytkin has extended his
work to other Siberian cities and new congregations have been
founded.
There are currently ten students at the Lutheran Theological Seminary
in Akademgorodok, and another 16 recently enrolled for courses which
are conducted by guest professors from Fort Wayne.
During the worship celebration to dedicate the new building, Bishop
Kalvanas Jr. also ordained four deacons as pastors and consecrated
two new deacons. Among the guests at the celebration were Prof.
Timothy Quill from the LCMS Concordia Seminary in Fort Wayne, and
other professors presently teaching at the Lutheran Seminary in
Akademgorodok.
(By Irina Selezneva, ELCROS Public Relations Officer)
(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 133
member churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5 million of the
64.3 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its
member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical
relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights,
communication, and the various aspects of mission and development
work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)
[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material
presented does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of
its various units. Where the dateline of an article contains the
notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with
acknowledgment.]
* * *
LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
PO Box 2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Editor's e-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
Tel: (41.22) 791.63.54
Fax: (41.22) 791.66.30
http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/Articles/EN/LWI
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<DIV><FONT size=3>Title: Estonian Archbishop Proposes Founding of Lutheran
Church in Siberia<BR>Dedication of New Church Building in Siberia</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>AKADEMGORODOK, Russian Federation/GENEVA, 10 October 2001
(LWI) - "We<BR>have been waiting for this moment for almost ten years. In the
past<BR>we used to meet in all sorts of places-apartments and basement
rooms.<BR>Now we have our own church in Novosibirsk."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>With these words, Pastor Vsevolod Lytkin welcomed, September
2, the<BR>congregation and guests at the solemn dedication of a new
church<BR>building for the "West Siberian Christian Mission" in
Akademgorodok,<BR>near the Siberian capital Novosibirsk. Bishop Jonas Kalvanas
Jr. of<BR>the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania conducted the
ceremony<BR>on behalf of Archbishop Jan Kiivit of the Estonian
Evangelical<BR>Lutheran Church.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>The new building in Akademgorodok will serve as a church for
the<BR>Novosibirsk congregation, and also as part of the Lutheran<BR>Theological
Seminary. Akademgorodok is considered an important center<BR>of scholarly
research in Russia-it is home to Novosibirsk state<BR>university, has some 40
research centers, one academy for<BR>agricultural science and another for
medicine.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>The "West Siberian Christian Mission" currently has around
15<BR>Lutheran congregations within the area between Ekaterinburg and
Czita<BR>in Siberia. Six of these congregations are officially registered.
The<BR>congregations, their pastors and deacons belong to the
Estonian<BR>Evangelical Lutheran Church. Archbishop Jan Kiivit has proposed
the<BR>establishment of an independent "Siberian Lutheran Church" in the<BR>near
future with its own spiritual leader (bishop). This would be the<BR>third
Lutheran church in Russia after the Evangelical Lutheran Church<BR>of Ingria in
Russia and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and<BR>Other States (ELCROS),
both members of the Lutheran World Federation<BR>(LWF).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>The central congregation of the "West Siberian Christian
Mission" is<BR>the one in Novosibirsk, founded by Pastor Lytkin. He was
ordained<BR>after completing studies in Estonia, and in his parish work
focuses<BR>on the youth. With financial support from the LCMS seminary in
Fort<BR>Wayne, Indiana, United States of America, Lytkin has extended
his<BR>work to other Siberian cities and new congregations have
been<BR>founded.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>There are currently ten students at the Lutheran Theological
Seminary<BR>in Akademgorodok, and another 16 recently enrolled for courses
which<BR>are conducted by guest professors from Fort Wayne.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>During the worship celebration to dedicate the new building,
Bishop<BR>Kalvanas Jr. also ordained four deacons as pastors and
consecrated<BR>two new deacons. Among the guests at the celebration were
Prof.<BR>Timothy Quill from the LCMS Concordia Seminary in Fort Wayne,
and<BR>other professors presently teaching at the Lutheran Seminary
in<BR>Akademgorodok.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>(By Irina Selezneva, ELCROS Public Relations
Officer)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran<BR>tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has
133<BR>member churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5 million of
the<BR>64.3 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its<BR>member
churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical<BR>relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights,<BR>communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development<BR>work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service
of the<BR>Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted,
material<BR>presented does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or
of<BR>its various units. Where the dateline of an article contains
the<BR>notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced
with<BR>acknowledgment.]</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3>*
* *<BR>LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION<BR>PO Box
2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland<BR>Editor's e-mail: </FONT><A
href="mailto:pmu@lutheranworld.org";><FONT
size=3>pmu@lutheranworld.org</FONT></A><BR><FONT size=3>Tel: (41.22)
791.63.54<BR>Fax: (41.22) 791.66.30<BR></FONT><A
href="http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/Articles/EN/LWI";><FONT
size=3>http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/Articles/EN/LWI</FONT></A></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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