Leadership should promote unity, says Russian Lutheran Archbishop Brauer
Solidarity for reconciliation and peace in Ukraine
Archbishop Dietrich Brauer, recently consecrated as head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia (ELCR), says that the role of archbishop is a complex one, joining together the two parts of the broad church with their different traditions, history, and spirituality.
Speaking with the LWF after his consecration on 8 February in Moscow, Brauer affirmed his commitment to continue promoting unity in the ELCR, which comprises two regional churches – the European Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia (ELCER) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East (ELKUSFO). “Despite the differences, we are united in our common history and church structure,” he said. “That is why the archbishop is a very important figure, joining the two sides and making an important contribution to the unity of the church,” Brauer added.
Brauer was elected ELCR archbishop at the church synod last September. Until then he had been bishop of the ELCER and interim archbishop of the Russian Lutheran Church, whose congregations stretch between Moscow and Vladivostok. He succeeds in this office Archbishop August Kruse, who has gone into well-earned retirement.
Relations with the neighboring church in Ukraine
The new archbishop also discussed relations with the neighboring sister church – the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ukraine (GELCU) – especially amid this violent political conflict in Ukraine, in which pro-Russian fighters are involved. “The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia has always tried to support the sister church’s contacts with the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ukraine,” Brauer said. He noted that, on 6 March this year, the World Day of Prayer services in the Lutheran churches in Russia would include prayers for peace and reconciliation with Ukraine.
It is planned that in 2016 full-time theological education will be reinstated at the ELCR Theological Seminary in St. Petersburg, where Ukrainian students will also be invited, he noted. After the 2014 referendum that annexed Crimea to the Russian Federation, the council of bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States advised the seven Lutheran congregations in Crimea to remain under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian church. Despite the political changes, internal decisions about belonging to one or another Lutheran church “the Crimean congregations will make themselves and independently,” the archbishop added.
The ELCROS federation groups together the ELCR, the ELKUSFO, and other regional Lutheran churches in Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
Lutheran witness in Russian society
On the Lutheran church’s witness in Russian society today, Brauer said that the ELCR’s ecumenical engagement – with the Russian Orthodox Church on the one hand and with other Protestant movements on the other – is an important contribution. It is also a “church of modern theology” that continually works to make Lutheran theology accessible in the local language. “Our local theologians publish books in Russian and translate the works of German Lutheran theologians,” he noted. The church also organizes theological seminars and produces a radio program on Lutheran theology.
The ELCR is a church that is visible in the country’s cultural life, Brauer explained. “It is a place where church music and culture can flourish: in all the cities where we have historic buildings and organs, we offer church music concerts. This is an enormous contribution to Russia’s cultural life,” he added.
The participation of the Lutheran communion
At Brauer’s consecration, the LWF was represented by the Vice President for Central and Eastern Europe, Bishop Dr. Tamás Fabiny (Hungary), who presented a letter of greeting from LWF General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge.
The General Secretary assured Brauer of the Lutheran communion’s accompaniment and support as he takes up leadership over the geographically most extensive LWF member church. “Your duties as bishop of the European part of Russia are diverse and challenging,” Junge wrote to Brauer. “In these vast expanses, expectations of the archbishop and his presence are immense,” he added.
Brauer’s consecration at the Evangelical Lutheran Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul in the Russian capital was attended by leaders of the ELCROS and other European churches, as well as representatives of the Russian government. The ELCROS joined the LWF in 1989. Its regional churches, in roughly 450 congregations, bring together more than 70,000 Lutherans.
News prepared on the basis of information provided by the LWF http://www.lutheranworld.org
Photo: ELCROS
Dr Thilo Fitzner Dr Thilo Fitzner LCCN/Felix Samari
Translated from English by LELBāL pastor Ieva Puriņa
Proofreader Mag. Theol. Milda Klampe