Evangelical Lutheran Church of European Russia

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of European Russia (ELCER) is a diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia (ELCR), which belongs to the network of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asia (ELCRAS) and has its seat in Moscow has.

history

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of European Russia has existed since 1992.

Before 1941, western Russia was still home to the vast majority of Russia's Lutherans.

After the Second World War , there were hardly any Russian-Germans and Lutheran Christians here. In 1975, only four small communities with ten to twenty members were named in the Volga region . But during and after perestroika , numerous new municipalities were founded in cities, mostly from Russian-German cultural associations and lobby groups. Since the majority of the members of these communities have little or no command of the German language, these communities soon developed an attraction for people of non-German origin.

In 1999 the number of parishes of the Regional Church of European Russia was put at around 150, of which the largest parishes are in Saint Petersburg (Leningrad) , Kaliningrad (Koenigsberg) , Volgograd (Stalingrad) , Saratov , Ulyanovsk (Simbirsk) , Perm (Molotov ) , Orenburg (Tschkalow) and Izhevsk .

structure

St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Moscow

center

The Ecclesiastical Center of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of European Russia is located in the Russian capital Moscow 101000, Starosadski 7/10, House 8, in the St. Peter and Paul Church .

Synod

The highest constitutional and decisive body of the ELKER is the regional synod . Its president is Pastor Olga Temirbulatowa .

Through its representatives, ELKER also takes part in the synod of the member churches of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asia (ELKRAS).

bishop

The bishop is responsible for the spiritual direction of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in European Russia . He also belongs to the supra-regional council of bishops of the ELCRAS.

Official:

consistory

In 2006 the synod decided to set up a consistory as a church governing body alongside the synodal presidium and the bishop's office. It is composed of the bishop, his deputy, the head of the bishop's office, the synod president, her deputy and two elected representatives of the conference of provosts.

Propsties / parishes

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of European Russia counts 170 parishes and parish groups. They are looked after by 48 pastors and 50 preachers.

The cathedral in Kaliningrad as an example of friendly ecclesiastical neighborhood: In one tower there is the chapel of the Evangelical Lutheran congregation, in the other that of the Russian Orthodox congregation.

The congregations belong to a total of eleven provosts , headed by a provost or provost:

The largest provost's office is the Kaliningrad provost's office with 44 communities, most of which are Russian-German emigrants.

The provosts are connected to one another through regular provost conferences in the spacious ELKER.

Partner churches

literature

  • Wilhelm Kahle: Ways and Shape of Evangelical Lutheran Churches. From the Moscow Empire to the present . Martin Luther Verlag, Erlangen 2002, ISBN 3-87513-117-7 .
  • Joachim Willems: Lutherans and Lutheran Congregations in Russia. An Empirical Study of Religion in the Post-Soviet Context. Martin-Luther-Verlag, Erlangen 2005, ISBN 3-87513-142-8 (Hamburg, University, evang. Theol. Dissertation, 2003).
  • Lutheran Service , ISSN  2196-5978 , Vol. 48 (2012), Issue 2: Special Issue European Russia .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ European Russia (= Lutheran Service. Vol. 48, Issue 2 = special issue). Martin Luther Verlag, Erlangen 2012.