Representatives of the Metropolitan District attended a meeting of the Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kazakhstan

August 9, 2024. Astana. A meeting of the Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kazakhstan (ELC RK) was held in the main Lutheran spiritual, cultural and administrative center - the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

Representatives of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan were invited to the event. With the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, the meeting of the synod was attended by the vicar of the Astana diocese, Bishop Veniamin of Talgar and the dean of the parishes of the capital, Archimandrite Sergiy (Karamyshev).

Among those present at the meeting: Chairman of the Committee on Religious Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan E.B. Nukezhanov; Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Astana, Archbishop Tomasz Bernard Peta; representatives of the Lutheran communities of Kazakhstan, Russia and the CIS countries.

Members of the Synod of the ELC RK gathered to resolve pressing issues of life and work, including the election of a new spiritual leader of the Lutherans living in Kazakhstan.

Bishop Veniamin read out the welcoming address of the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, which, in particular, stated:
- Since 2005, the Lutherans in Kazakhstan have been led by Archbishop Yuri Timofeevich Novgorodov - a man distinguished by extraordinary diligence, a talented organizer and a bright preacher of the Gospel truths. He managed to establish friendly relations with the Orthodox and Catholic hierarchs, worked hard and actively to strengthen inter-Christian and inter-confessional cooperation. Thanks to the tireless work of Archbishop Yuri, the Lutheran communities in Kazakhstan have been systematically strengthening and developing. May God grant that all the good and useful things that have been achieved during the two decades of his leadership will be preserved and multiplied.
The concern for the spiritual and moral perfection based on the Gospel, characteristic of traditional Christian confessions, allows us to unite efforts aimed at overcoming the various social problems facing society. We are called upon to testify in every possible way to our understanding of the family based on Christian moral values, mutual marital fidelity in a single marriage, the beauty of motherhood with many children and sacrificial fatherhood. In this regard, it is necessary to strive to influence public initiatives in defense of the dignity of the human person in its biblical understanding.
I would like to express the hope that Christian interfaith cooperation will continue and expand. Regular meetings at various levels will allow us to strengthen cooperation in education and enlightenment, will help to coordinate joint statements in the public sphere, and develop a unified position before the state and society on current spiritual and moral issues.

Archimandrite Sergiy (Karamyshev) read out the decree of Metropolitan Alexander on awarding Archbishop Yuri Timofeevich Novgorodov with a high award of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan - the order "Beibitshilik pen Kelisim" (Peace and Harmony). The head of the ELC RK was awarded a special sign of church attention for his significant contribution to the cause of establishing interfaith peace and interethnic harmony.

By the decision of the synod, Pastor Rostislav Novgorodov was elected to the post of head of the ELC RK. Since January 23, 2024, Pastor Rostislav has worked as Deputy Archbishop.

Protestantism in Kazakhstan has a long history. The first Lutherans appeared on the territory of Kazakhstan among the residents of military settlements from among the Germans after the annexation to Russia. The number of immigrants from the European part of Russia increased in the 80s of the XIX century. It was at that time that the first Lutheran communities were formed. Mass influxes of followers of this confession occurred during the years of Stolypin reform, Stalin's repressions and forced deportation in the 30-40s of the 20th century. Among the settlers were more than 360 thousand Volga Germans. In 1936-1937, a crushing blow was dealt to the Lutheran Church. Prayer houses were closed, all property was confiscated, priests were repressed. Of the two thousand ministers of the Lutheran Church in the USSR, only three people survived. In 1955, a Lutheran church community appeared in Akmolinsk. It was founded by one of the three surviving preachers - Pastor Bachman. In the 70-80s of the 20th century, Lutheran communities operated in almost all cities and most populated areas where the German population lived. The number of urban communities reached several thousand, but the mass emigration of Germans in the 90s sharply reduced the number and quantity of communities. Until 1993, the communities were part of the Lutheran Church united in the post-Soviet space, but Kazakhstan's independence prompted the registration of an independent "Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Kazakhstan". Since 2005, the Lutheran community in Kazakhstan has been led by Yuri Timofeevich Novgorodov, who was proclaimed archbishop in 2017.