Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Kazakhstan

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Kazakhstan (ELCRK) is an independent regional church in the network of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asia . Its official seat is in Nur-Sultan .

history

In the middle of the 20th century, Kazakhstan became the strongest Lutheran republic in the former USSR with the deportation of around one million Germans (around two thirds of them Lutherans), Finns , Karelians and Balts . Their beliefs defied the government's harsh regime. Pastor Eugen Bachmann, who survived the persecution, came to Akmolinsk (today Nur-Sultan) in 1955. He began to hold secret services there and gave the church legal status in 1957. This congregation became the first officially recognized Lutheran congregation in the former Soviet Union, which was a meeting place for the faithful as well as so-called “national cultural centers”. After the collapse of the USSR and the country's independence, the church experienced a heyday that soon came to an end with the mass emigration of Kazakh Germans. In 1993 the remaining Lutheran congregations of Kazakhstan merged to form an independent Evangelical Lutheran Church under the direction of the then superintendent Richard Kratz. Robert Moser was elected first bishop at the 1996 synod. In order to open the church to locals as well, he introduced Russian as the language of preaching, as the services until then were held in German.

Aqmola (formerly Akmolinsk, today Nur-Sultan) became the center and bishop's seat of a total of 50 parishes in Kazakhstan. In 2017 the congregation moved from their prayer house to the first Lutheran church building, which had been completed by then.

Since 2003, on the initiative of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the international "Congress of World Religions" has been held in Nur-Sultan every three years for representatives of all major world religions , politicians, public figures and representatives of the United Nations. The Bishop of the Church of Kazakhstan represents the Lutheran World Federation.

structure

Community structure

The ELCRK comprises 80 congregations and congregational groups, which are cared for by 14 pastors and 35 preachers. Most of the parishioners are Russian-Germans, but there are also increasing numbers of Russian-speaking members.

Since 2012 there are seven regional municipalities with the status of a legal person:

  • City only Sultan
  • Kostanai region : the cities of Kostanai, Rudny and Lisakovsk and the village of Sadchikova
  • Northern Kazakhstan region: the cities of Tagynscha and Petropavlovsk and the villages of Letovochnoye, Krasnaya Polyana, Krasnokamenka, Yuzhnoye, Gorkoye and Kazanka
  • Akmolinsk region : the cities of Kokschetau and Dershavinsk and the villages of Sadovoe, Kamysheka, Pervomaika, Novodolinka and Pavlovka
  • Pavlodar region : the town of Pavlodar and the villages: Rosovka, Voskressenka, Lugansk, Michailowka, Kalinowka and Kachiry
  • East Kazakhstan region: the cities of Ust-Kamenogorsk , Semej and Schemonaicha and the villages of Novaya Shulba, Georgievka, Petropavlovka, Glubochanka, Beloissowka, Verkhberyosovka and Kokpekty
  • Region Zhambyl : the city of Tekeli and villages Kordai, Birlik, Pervomayka, Akmola Region and Karabulak.

Church center

The ecclesiastical center of the ELCRK is located in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan 473000, ul. Bajan-Aul 101. It is also the official seat of the bishop and the office of the synod.

Synod

The highest constitutional and decision-making body of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Kazakhstan is the regional synod , to which the parishes send their delegates. The current chairman of the synod is Rubin Sternberg .

bishop

Yuri Novgorodow in the parish church of St. Marien (Plau am See) , 2019

The spiritual direction of the church is incumbent on the bishop , who by virtue of his office also belongs to the bishops' council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asia . The current incumbent is Yuri Novgorodov , who succeeded Peter Urie in 2005 , who has held the post since 2001.

Facility

  • Lutheran Spiritual Seminary in Nur-Sultan

Partner churches

German partner churches are the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg and the Evangelical Church of Westphalia .

literature

  • Johannes Schleuning, Eugen Bachmann, Peter Schellenberg: And see, we are alive! The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia in four centuries. Martin Luther Verlag, Erlangen 1982, ISBN 978-3-87513-028-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jurij Novgorodow: The Church in Kazakhstan is developing into a multinational community . In: Special issue Lutheran Service , Volume 53, 2017, Issue 2, p. 4 f.
  2. ↑ Edda Schlager: Congress of World Religions ( Memento from August 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive )