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Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia (ELCIR)
HISTORY
Lutheran congregations in Russia have three roots: (mostly German) immigrants
from Europe to all the large cities of the Russian Empire, starting in the 16th
century; indigenous Lutheran Christians who came under tsarist rule when Peter
the Great conquered the areas around the Baltic Sea; and German farmers who were
invited to the settled along the Volga river and in the Black Sea region during
the reign of Catherine the Great (starting in the 1760’s). Lutheran
congregations in Russia remained very close to their ethnic roots, since it was
a requirement of the law that worship take place in a language other than
Russian, and it was a criminal offense to change religions in the Russian Empire
until 1905.
After World War I and the Russian Revolution, the Baltic territories of Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania became independent. Those Lutheran congregations that
remained in the former Russian Empire remained for a time, but suffered
persecution in the late 1920s and 1930s. The result was the closure or complete
destruction of many Lutheran church buildings and the complete demolition of all
Lutheran church structures. In the years leading up to World War II, many
Lutherans were deported to Soviet Republics in central Asia and the Far East
because they, as ethnic minorities, were seen as a threat to Soviet state
security. The church survived, however, not as an organization, but as
underground faith communities led by lay leaders.
The Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia has its roots in those local Lutheran
Christians (of an ethnic group related to the Finns) whose land came part of the
Russian Empire in the 18th century. Ingria is a name for the territory (which at
various points in history has belonged to Russia, Sweden and Finland) that
includes modern St. Petersburg and which lies along the southern shore of the
Gulf of Finland and along both banks of the river Neva. In the west it borders
Estonia, in the south and in the east its borders run along the rivers Luga,
Oredezh, Tosno, Mga and Lovat. At the time when the Lutheran faith established
its roots in Scandinavia and Finland, it became a major religion south and east
of the Gulf of Finland. As early as 1655, there were 58 parishes, 36 churches
and 42 pastors.
The number of congregations remained stable under tsarist rule, and these
congregations were part of one united Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Russian
Empire, which was dominated by Germans. After the persecutions of the
1920s-1950s, ethnic Ingrians and Finns began to gather together, even managing
to establish a few legally registered Lutheran congregations in NW Russia (under
the administration of the Estonian Lutheran Church) in the 1970’s. But the real
rebirth of church structures and congregational life began in the 1990s.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia and Other States, with a mostly German
background, also re-established itself in the former Soviet Union with its own
identity and traditions. There is a moderate degree of cooperation between
ELCROS and the Church of Ingria.
PRESENT SITUATION
At present the Church of Ingria has 67 congregations, a third of which are
Finnish-Russian. While most of the congregations are in Ingria, there have been
churches established as far away as Murmansk on the Artic Ocean, Voronezh in
south-central Russia, in Siberia and on the Pacific Ocean coast. The Church of
Ingria has active missionary, youth, and diaconal committees. Together with
them, education is a priority. The main educational center of the Ingrian Church
is the Theological Institute of the Church of Ingria.
A Companion Synod relationship exists between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Ingria and the ELCA
QUICK FACTS
Web Page http://www.gotish.spb.ru/ (Russian only)
Church Leader: Rev. Aarre Kuukauppi, Bishop
Location: Ingria, Murmansk, Voronezh, Siberia and the Pacific Ocean coast
Headquarters: St. Petersburg
Languages: Finnish, Russian
Membership: 16,000
Church Workers: pastors, evangelists, lay leaders
Church Structure: 67 congregations
Memberships: Lutheran World Federation since 1964, Conference of European
Churches
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