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Anglican-Lutheran Society

Since 1984 the Anglican-Lutheran Society has provided a   meeting point where people can deepen their knowledge
  and understanding of the Lutheran and Anglican traditions   within the Christian Church.

  Membership is open to anyone willing to work and pray for   the unity of the Church, especially between Anglicans and   Lutherans world wide. Members are offered opportunities to   meet for worship and study, to get to know one another better   and to support each other in Christian witness and service.   

  We hope that you will enjoy visiting these pages. If you would   like to join the Society we should be delighted to welcome you.

  Whether you are a member or not you might like to join us in   Finland next September for our conference.

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Countries with churches of the Porvoo Communion. The Churches of the Anglican Communion have blue or violet names, while the Nordic Lutheran Churches have red names

The Porvoo Communion is the community formed through an agreement between twelve protestant European churches, none of which are in communion with the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox Churches. The agreement, entitled The Porvoo Common Statement, establishes full communion between and among the churches. The agreement was negotiated in 1992 in the town of Järvenpää in Finland. The name comes from the town of Porvoo where there was a joint celebration of Holy Communion after the formal signing in Järvenpää.

The churches involved are the Church of Ireland, the Anglican churches in Great Britain, the Lutheran national churches of the Nordic countries and the Lutheran churches of the Baltic countries of Estonia and Lithuania. Later negotiations brought the Anglican Communion churches of the Iberian Peninsula into the agreement.

Signatories of the Porvoo Communion:

* The Church of England
* The Church of Ireland
* The Scottish Episcopal Church
* The Church in Wales
* The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland
* The Church of Norway
* The Church of Sweden (formerly a state-church)
* The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
* The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church
* The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania
* The Lusitanian Catholic Apostolic Evangelical Church of Portugal
* The Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church

Other churches involved as observers:

* The Church of Denmark
* The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia

Official website of the Porvoo Communion

Canadian Society of Biblical Studies
http://www.ccsr.ca/csbs/MainPageEnglish.htm


http://www.biblesociety.ca/
Canadian Bible Society

 

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.


Pastor Martin Niemöller

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

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

Already ready the first page 

I make my web-site. 
Web-site name "Site of Religious Investigator"
 http://au.geocities.com/ebarkar/

Museum of the History of Religion

In 1930, an exhibition devoted to the history of different religions was opened in Leningrad. Very soon it turned into a museum. First, it was installed in the Kazansky Cathedral, then it moved to its current location: an ancient building on Pochtamtskaya Ulitsa. All the exhibits of the museum are devoted to the actual subjects of the religious cults of different countries and periods. The museum has exhibitions about the history of the world´s religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism), of the religious beliefs of African and Asian countries and also of the history of the religions of the Ancient world, Egypt, and primitive cultures. The most interesting and mysterious exhibits contain the objects and clothing of Siberian shamans. Also the museum has pictures on religious themes painted by famous artists.

The museum, founded in 1932 on the premises of the Kazan Cathedral, moved to its new building at No. 14/5 Pochtamtskaya Street in 2000. In the early 18th century, on the territory between the Neva and Moika rivers, General-Procurator of the Synod and an associate of Peter I, Count Pavel Yaguzhinsky built an estate.

In 1782 the estate passed to the General Department of Postal Affairs headed by Major-General Alexander Bezborodko. The Post Administration was accommodated in the Yaguzhinsky House. Later, in 1785, to a design by Nikolai Lvov, the architect Jakob Schneider erected the building of the Post Office (now the General Post Office) where the main services were transferred.

As the demand for postal services increased, the Post Office had to be expanded. On the site of the Yaguzhinsky House the architect Albert Cavos erected a new building to accommodate a department for delivery and sorting of mail, the Management and flats of the personnel.

The building is complex in plan, its facades giving on Pochtamtskaya Street and Pochtamtsky Lane, and it has three court wings. For the convenience of communication, it was linked to the Post Office by arches and galleries raised over the street. The finish of the facades incorporates elements of Baroque, Renaissance and Neoclassical architecture: rustification and stucco mouldings (keystbries, profiled cornices and surrounds, a-frieze with rosettes, pilasters of Corinthian order with a balustrade, mascarones in the form of female heads and so on).

The building served its purpose until the late 1920s. In the mid-1950s it was turned into a dwelling house and in 1980 was emptied for a major overhaul. Finally, in 1991, it was given over to the Museum of the History of Religion.

The extremely rich reserves of the museum (180,000 units of storage) include a variety of unique collections reflecting the history of different religions.

An exhibition entitled "The Gold Embroidery of the Russian Church" has been opened on the new premises. This will be followed by a permanent display providing insights into archaic and traditional faiths, the religions of the Ancient World, Siberian Shamanism, Orthodoxy, Old Belief, Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, freemasonry, etc.

The museum engaged in scientific research, offers lectures and guided tours. A school and an archaeological class-rooms will be open for the study of the history of religion.

 

Exhibitions of years past (1928-1999)

The formation of St. Isaac's Cathedral and Museum began, in a way, from development of the plan and design of an exhibition catalogue, entitled "History of construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral".

The exhibition was prepared in 1928. Materials of the exhibition, in addition to historical and technical aspects of the building process, included three more sections, on artwork, sculpture and mosaic, showing sketches and cartoons of the cathedral artwork; portraits of artists, such as Neff, Basin, Bryullov, Bruni, Alexeev, Shebuev, Maykov, Pluchard, sculptors Pimenov and Vitali, architect Montferrand; designs of internal and external sculptures of the cathedral.

Opening of the exhibition became the first stage on the way to creation of the general exposition of the future museum. In January, 1929, to mark the occasion, there was a special meeting held in Leningrad at the Office of the Representative of the Education Minister. The decision was adopted to add propaganda antireligious materials to the exposition, without which the opening of the museum was deemed impossible. The work on adding the materials corresponding to the objectives of political education of the masses took two years.

The first exposition held at St. Isaac's Cathedral, which in 1931 became the Antireligious Museum, can be seen on unique documentary photographs. These photos show numerous stands, multilevel constructions and separate exhibits styled in accordance with the standard of Socialist Constructivism. The materials, which were included in the exposition, were very informative but carried a strong ideological message.

For example, the Foucault's experiment, which was first shown in the museum on April, 12, 1931, included the drawings explaining its principle, materials on the history of the experiment, and tables with mathematical calculations. The experiment was tied to the heliocentric ideas of Copernicus and Galileo, and the exhibit was complemented further with a large canvas by K.-F. Reichert, entitled "Galileo Before the Roman Inquisition", standing in the background.

 

The exposition of the museum included the following sections: history of religion, religion and church construction, electrical power sector of the USSR, agriculture of the USSR, and astronomy. In addition to the permanent exposition of the 1930s and then in the 1970s, much work was being done to organize exhibit tours.

The modern exposition shows materials on the history of St. Isaac's Cathedral, stages of its construction and functioning as the museum. The history of the construction of the cathedral is illustrated by the engravings based on Auguste Montferrand's drawings from his album of 1845, published at the best lithography establishment of that time in Paris, as well as documentary photographs of different years, including those on restoration of the cathedral.

By the quantity and quality of the material in the funds of the museum, the theme of restoration of the cathedral could amount to an independent voluminous exhibition. In the photos presented in the exposition one can see various stages of restoration work: cleaning the dome of the cathedral, restoration of molded decor, sculpture and artwork.

The exhibits representing organizational, scientific and restoration work in the museum and its branches have been published by St. Isaac's Cathedral and Museum over the last decade. Publications on various issues of museum work, shown at the exhibition in St. Isaac's Cathedral, allow for a vivid demonstration of the present day of the museum center.

As a whole the collection of St. Isaac's Cathedral and Museum allows to demonstrate a variety of aspects of its scientific, educational, depository and restoration functions.

 

Over the last several decades St. Isaac's Cathedral and Museum and its branches organized a number of exhibitions devoted to various topics of Russian history.

St. Isaac's Cathedral :

1975:

• Photo exhibition: 30th Anniversary of the Victory in WWII;
• Exhibition: Fine Arts in Atheistic Education;
• Exhibition dedicated to the 150th Anniversary of Decembrist Revolt: St. Petersburg on December, 14, 1825;
• Photo exhibition: Leningrad Artists on the Great Patriotic War.

This exhibition presented thirty works by talented Soviet artists, showing the city and its residents during the most complicated and great moments of their life.

Etchings, lithographs, and engravings awoke interest both from the artistic, and the historical point of view. Among them there were the works of V.A. Vetrogonsky, entitled "Spring on the Road of Life", V.A. Vlasov's "Grandsons", A. Kaplan's "Petrovskaya Embankment. Fireworks in Honor of the Victory", "Repairing Embankment of Griboedov Canal", "Cleaning Snow on Moika Embankment", V. Kurdov's "Funeral of the Guerrilla Fighter", A.F. Pahomov's "On the Mars Fields During Raid of 1943", "POWs in Town"; "Public Guard Seen Off To Fight"; V. Slyshchenko's "Blockade Evening", "Bomb Spares Nobody", "Leningrad Women", A. Smirnov's "Hoarfrost" from Memory of Leningrad Series.

1976:

• Exhibition: St. Isaac's Cathedral DuringWar and in Peace.

1981:

• Exhibition: 50 Years of St. Isaac's Cathedral and Museum: St. Isaac's Cathedral in Art.

Paintings and drawings of high artistic quality and the works of significant historical interest were selected for this exposition.

Artwork from various museums and organizations of the city was shown at the event, including artwork from the State Hermitage, the State Russian museum, the State museum of Leningrad History, Research Museum and Science Library of the Academy of Arts, Saltykov-Schedrin State Public library, and own funds of St. Isaac's Cathedral and Museum.

The exhibition presented a total of seventy works by masters of painting and drawing, created over a significant period of time, from the early 18th century up to the present time. The exposition was arranged in the chronological order.

 

The exhibited material was systematized and shown to such a large extent for the first time and although the presented works did not cover completely the entire historiography and iconography of the Cathedral, the exhibition, nevertheless, allowed for full enough representation of the history of artwork in St. Isaac churches in St. Petersburg, and that in many respects promoted a better understanding of the development of the art of landscape. Among the submitted works were:

• H. Marcelius. Admiralty viewed from the Neva, 1725, paper, feather, ink.
• G.A. Kachalov (from the drawing by M.I. Mahaev). A panorama of the Neva from the Winter palace and the Academy of Sciences downstream. 1753. A cutter, etching.
• B. Patersen. Vasileostrovsky Bridge And Vicinities. 1799. An etching, Aquatint.
• Unknown artist (From the engraving by B. Patersen). The view of St. Isaac's Cathedral built by architect A. Rinaldi and completed by architect V. Brenna. 1st quarter of the 19th century. Watercolor on paper.
• K.F. Sabat. Construction of belltowers of St. Isaac's Cathedral, 1830s. Paper, feather, ink, watercolor.
• P.A. Aleksandrov. The view of Isaakievsky Bridge and Senate Square from the side of the Neva. 1827. Lithograph.
• V.S. Sadovnikov. The Parade of Cavalry Regiment near Cavalry Guard Manege. 1840s. Paper, watercolor.
• A. Dyuran. St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Building of the Senate. 1845. Lithograph, water color.
• P. Blanchard. Ceremony of Inauguration of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. 1858. Xylography.
• V.I. Surikov. The view of the Monument to Peter I on Senate Square in St. Petersburg. 1870. Canvas on oil.
• A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva. St. Isaac's Cathedral on a Foggy Day. 1922. Autolithograph.
• P. Chesnokov. The View of Neva Embankment from the Side of Vasilyevsky Island. 1922. Oil on wood.
• S.V. Viharev. St. Isaac's Cathedral in Hoarfrost. 1957. Lithograph.
• M.A. Kaneev. The Palace Square. 1981. Oil on cardboard.

1986:

Exhibition: 200th Anniversary of Auguste Montferrand.

This exhibition included unique materials from the museum funds. All the publications of Montferrand's lifetime were represented. For the first time visitors could see the drawings from his albums dated 1820, 1836, 1845 and 1858.

1995:

• Photo-exhibition: St. Isaac's Cathedral. 1941 - 1945.

Vestry of Savior on Spilled Blood Cathedral and Museum:

1996:

• First exhibition: Emperor Alexander II. 1818-1881.

It was the first memorial exhibition dedicated to Emperor Alexander II. There were logical reasons for this exhibition's creation. It took place near the Cathedral constructed in memory of the tragic death of the Sovereign. The person of Alexander II is seen by the authors of the exhibition as a symbolical embodiment of the epoch of mid-19th century. The mind and the will of the Czar formed his position in life, and his reign resulted in radical reforming of the Russian state. The tragic end of Alexander Nikolaevich's life shows a striking contrast between the aspirations of the person who wanted prosperity for his country and people, and his death as a martyr.

The exposition shows the things, which belonged to Alexander II, the majority of which were exhibited for the first time; also included were various drawings and paintings, including lifetime images; Alexander's II books kept in the library of the State Hermitage; autographs of the emperor, and photos of people close to him.

 

Sections of an exhibition - from the Czar's childhood and young adulthood to his tragic death - were combined into a smooth story of the Emperor's lifeline. A special section talks about state and political work of Alexander II over his twenty-six years' reign.

1998:

• Second, updated, Exhibition: Emperor Alexander II (1818 - 1881): Dedicated to the Czar's 180th birthday.

The exhibition presents items from the funds of St. Isaac's Cathedral and Museum, and materials presented by the Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts, Russian National Library, Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, City Creative Youth Center, Mining Museum of St. Petersburg State Mining Institute, State Museum of St. Petersburg History, State Russian Museum, Central Naval Museum, and Central Museum of Railway Transportation.

The exhibition presents for the first time the following pieces of art:

• Unknown artist of the 19th century. Nikolay I. Portrait of 1859. Biscuit Porcelain.
• Vasily and Ivan Boyaryshnikovs. The View of St. John Chrysostom Church from a Pond. 1827. A watercolor.
• Unknown artist of the 19th century. Foundry, Domain Furnaces and Cupola Furnaces. A watercolor.
• Unknown sculptor. 2nd Half of the 19th Century. (Chizhov M.A.?). Alexander II Wearing Hussar Uniform on Horseback. 1870. Bronze.
• Tipolt, A. (?) Portrait of Alexander II. 19th century. A medallion on porcelain biscuit.
• Portrait of Alexander II made of the letters of Emancipation Proclamation for Russian Serfs. Late 19th - early 20th Century. Typolithography based on drawing by V. Malyushitsky.
• Gallery of Battle Pictures (1877 - 1878) in the Winter Palace. Colotype.
• Album of pictures in commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of Russo-Turkish war of 1877 - 1878. Colotype by K.A. Figner from canvases of the picture gallery of the Winter Palace.
• Lieutenant Skrydlov's Attack Aboard The Shutka Against Turkish Steamship at Megchi Island on the Danube on June, 8, 1877. Colotype from A. Bogolyubov's picture.
• 23 Day Camping Out at Bayazet. Fighting Off Turkish Attack on June, 10, 1877. Colotype from L. Lagorio's picture.
• Introducing Captured Osman-Pasha to Alexander II in Plevna. Colotype from N.D. Dmitriev-Orenburgsky's picture.
• Solemn Opening of the Monument to Emperor Nicholas I.V.F. Timm Printing House. 1859. Lithograph.
• Trip of Their Imperial Majesties with the Royal family from Nikolsky Island to Main Grounds of Valaam Monastery. 1859. Lithograph.
• Nikonov, V. Medal In Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Mikhailovskaya Artillery Academy. 1870. Bronze.
• Emperor Alexander II with His Daughter. Late 1870s - Early 1880. A photo.
• Grand Duke Nicholas Aleksandrovich. Photographer A. Elkin. XIX century.
• Grand duke Pavel Aleksandrovich. Photographer S.L. Levitsky.

St. Sampson Cathedral and Museum

1999:

• Photo Exhibition: St. Sampson Cathedral in the Early 20th Century;
• Exhibition Dedicated to 290th Anniversary of the Poltava Victory: Poltava Battle on June, 27 (July, 8) 1709.

In his time emperor Peter I ordered to celebrate annually the anniversary of groundbreaking at St. Sampson Church, a monument he built to victories of Russian arms. After Peter's death this tradition was not observed, but in 1909 the bicentennial of the Poltava Battle was celebrated as a national holiday. The purpose of the exhibition entitled "Poltava Battle" in St. Sampson Cathedral revived this remarkable tradition.

St. Isaac's Cathedral and Museum, A. V. Suvorov's State Memorial Museum, State Museum of City Sculptures (St. Petersburg), Central Naval Museum, Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House), Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts, State Museum of St. Petersburg History, Peter the Great's Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkammer), State Russian museum, and the Russian State Archive of the Navy contributed to this exhibition.

 

The exhibition presented the Coat-of-Arms of the Russian Empire (1720), Charles XII posthumous mask, engravings with portraits of Peter I and Charles XII, articles of Peter the Great's time, coins, books, including "The History of Peter the Great", published in Amsterdam in 1747, and "Works by A.S. Pushkin", an illustrated anniversary edition of 1899 by M. Konradi, as well as medals, weapons, sculptures, etc.

St. Isaac's Cathedral and Museum cooperates with other museums of St. Petersburg, and loans its funds for exhibitions. For instance in 2002 the Marble Showroom of the Russian Ethnographic Museum presented an exposition entitled Living Values of Russian Orthodox Tradition, which alongside with articles from a personal collection of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Alexis II and materials of the Ethnographic museum also presented the Small Gospel of St. Sampson Cathedral (1703. Paper, wood, velvet, silver, engraved copper, gilded molding. Printed by Kiev and Pechora Laura), and icons from St. Sampson Cathedral, such as "Presentation of Our Lord" (late 1730s), "St. Sampson the Hospitable" (1st Quarter of the 18th Century), and "Resurrection of Christ" (late 1730s).

 

St. Isaac's Cathedral and Museum took part in InterMusei 2002, the All-Russian festival of museums, organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Union of Russian Museums and Moscow Media Tour Center of Cultural Programs which took place on May 18-23 2002 in Manege Central showroom in St. Petersburg. The section entitled "Museums of the 21st Century present the publishing side of the museum's activity.

Prepared by E. N. Lvova