LTS holds April seminar in new seminary building.

Lutheran Theological Seminary in Novosibirsk held its regular monthly seminars April 11-13. These seminars are designed primarily for parish pastors, deacons, and church workers. Often ministers bring to Novosibirsk some people who have recently become Lutherans, and for these individuals the monthly seminars provide catechetical instruction.

At the April seminar we welcomed 18 guests from Khakasia, Buryatia, Irkutsk, and Chita. Studies in different areas of theology were offered to them: Sacraments in the Gospel of John (Fr. Alan Ludwig), The Lord’s Supper (Fr. Vsevolod Lytkin), and Montanism and the Church (Fr. Alexei Streltsov). Certain topics produced lively discussions. The level of the lectures was fairly high, but not incomprehensible to the listeners.

The most unusual feature of this seminar was the place where it was held. The current building of LTS was unable to host the increased number of seminar participants this academic year. Accordingly, the seminars have been held at the “church office” throughout the year, where the small space was barely adequate for the seminar. Thus it was decided to move the April seminar to the new building that the West Siberian Christian Mission and Lutheran Theological Seminary acquired at an auction in February of 2000.

Renovation and restructuring of this building are in the works, with the hope that LTS may move there completely by the summer of 2001. Bible Lutheran Church will also gather for worship in this new place. Now it looks empty. The lectures took place in the room that will become the seminary auditorium, and it was a little odd to meet in such a spacious hall after the tight quarters of the church office.

Even now, solid Lutheran teaching has begun to be proclaimed in our new structure in Novosibirsk’s Akademgorodok. We pray that this building, formerly the location of a Siberian bank where people kept money deposits and exchanged currency, will be used for the glory of God, who bought us from our slavery to sin and the devil “not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Pet 1:18-19).

News

News: Professor Kurt Marquart Gives Lectures in Ekaterinburg. [June 2000]

News: Completion of 1999-2000 Academic Year. [June 2000]

News: Summer Practicum. [June 2000]

News: Seminary Movie. [June 2000]

News: LTS Theological Journal. [May 2000]

News: Trip to Ulaanbaatar. [May 2000]

News: A Missionary and Catechetical Trip to Khakassia, Buryatia, and Irkutsk. [May 2000]

News: Student’s Daughter Baptized at the Chapel’s Baptismal Font. [May 2000]

News: Students Conduct Fieldwork during Holy Week. [April 2000]

News: LTS holds April seminar in new seminary building. [April 2000]

News: Dr. Scaer teaches full course in Novosibirsk in one week. [March 2000]

News: LTS student participates in international Christian Pedagogical conference. [March 2000]

News: New congregation comes into being due to the practical work of the students of the Biblical School in Khakassia. [March 2000]

News: Three New Students Accepted at the Seminary in Novosibirsk [February 2000]