Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asia

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asia, in short: ELCROS, is a communion of Lutheran regional churches and communities on the territory of the former Soviet Union, 76,000 members (as of 2010 ) is one.

History

ELCROS is the legal successor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church ( ELC ) in the Russian Empire.

The first Lutheran congregations on Russian soil already existed in the 16th century. In 1576, Ivan IV allowed the construction of a church ( St. Michael ) in Moscow. In the following years, the Church spread in the Russian Empire, and their constitutional rights have been secured by the adoption of the Statute of 1832.

At that time the church was divided into the two Konsistorialgebiete Moscow and St. Petersburg, in turn, subdivided into deaneries, which in turn were made up of several church circles. A church district consisted of several municipalities.

The church has since founded his own educational institutions and institutions of diakonia.

Although a new church constitution was adopted and approved by the Soviet government in 1924, the repression took to the church in the twenties of the last century. Early 30s many church buildings were expropriated, pastors, so that centralized management structures could no longer be maintained executed or banished. In the closure of the Moscow St. Peter and Paul Church in 1938 and the end of the ELK is seen as an organization. Recently had jointly held the post of Bishop Theophil Meyer (1924-1934) and Arthur Malmgren ( 1924-1936 ).

Individual believers and groups remained. The actual reconstruction of the church began in 1989. First bishop of ELCROS (then Superintendent of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Soviet Union) was pastor Harald Kalnins from Riga, who had since 1969 attended the German Lutheran congregations in the republics of the Soviet Union. On November 13, 1988 Kalnins was blessed with government approval in Riga for the bishop for the Russian-German Protestant churches in the Soviet Union. 20 senior preacher brothers who had gathered in Riga, Kalnins gave their consent.

In the following period, the structures were introduced into the local church ELCROS and staffed. Following the adoption of a new intra- ecclesiastical order was confirmed on 25 August 1999 the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, the registration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asia, according to the law of the Russian Federation on 1 October 1997 "On the freedom of religion and religious associations ".

Structure

The Central Church Office has its seat since 1992 in St. Petersburg (Leningrad, Petrograd ). There resides the Archbishop. Capital and episcopal church is the St. Peter's Church.

The heads of the regional churches form the Bishops together with the Archbishop and his deputy. The Spiritual Direction of the universal Church is entrusted to the archbishop.

The highest decision -making body in the universal Church, the General Synod, which meets every 5 years.

The church leadership, the consistory is composed of the Executive Committee of the General Synod, two members of the Bishops' Council, Archbishop, his deputy and the head of the Central church office. The Presidency is the Archbishop. The consistory is usually 2 to 3 times a year.

Regional churches

  • Evangelical Lutheran Church of European Russia ( ELCER )
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Urals, Siberia and the Far East ( ELKUSFO )
  • German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine ( GELCU )
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Kazakhstan ( ELCRK )
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church in Uzbekistan ( ELKU )
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kyrgyz Republic
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church in Georgia ( ELKG )
  • And the nascent churches under construction: Evangelical Lutheran Church in Azerbaijan
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tajikistan
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church in Turkmenistan

The Association of Evangelical Lutheran congregations in the Republic of Belarus has resigned from the ELCROS on 22 April 2006.

Central Church Office

The Central Church Office is located in St. Petersburg 191186, St. Peter's Church, Nevsky Prospect 22-24. Conductor: Hans Schwahn

Archbishop

(until 1999 was the official title of bishop)

Facilities

  • Theological Seminary in Novosaratovka, founded in 1997.

Rectors:

Lutheran Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Protestantism in Uzbekistan
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