Bishop Arri Kugappi Archives - International Lutheran Council

Ingrian Lutherans consecrate new bishop

by Mathew Block | Feb 19, 2020

The consecration of Bishop Ivan Laptev as head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria. (ELCI Media).

RUSSIA – The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria (ELCI) consecrated its new bishop, Rev. Ivan Laptev, at St. Mary Cathedral in St. Petersburg on February 9, 2020. Rev. Laptev was elected bishop during the church’s synod in October 2019.

Bishop Laptev.

Participating in the service of ordination were the ELCI’s outgoing Bishop Arri Kugappi, who this month reached the church’s canonical age of retirement; Archbishop Jānis Vanags of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia; Bishop Vsevold Lytkin of the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church; Bishop Tiit Salumäe of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Estonia’s West and Northern Region; Bishop Seppo Hyakkinen of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland’s Mikkeli Diocese; and the ELCI’s Chief Secretary Mikhail Ivannon.

Rev. Ivanov served as liturgist for the event, with Bishop Elect Laptev preaching. His sermon was based on Matthew 20:1-16, the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Prior to the consecration, Bishop Kugappi called on his successor to remember the example of their predecessors and to stand firm on God’s Word even during times of persecution.

A number of ecumenical guests were present for the event, including General Secretary Timothy Quill of the International Lutheran Council (ILC). Following the service, Dr. Quill brought greetings on behalf of the ILC and its member churches, congratulating Bishop Laptev on his elevation to the bishopric. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria is a member church of the ILC.

Rev. Timothy Quill with translator Alexey Zubstov brings greetings from the International Lutheran Council.

Quoting from St. Paul’s writings to Timothy, Dr. Quill encouraged Bishop Laptev: “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:1-2). Dr. Quill said he looked forward to continued cooperation between the ILC and ELCI as they “work together and pray together for the strengthening of confessional Lutheranism throughout the world.”

Other ecumenical guests included representatives from the Russian Orthodox Church, the Russian Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Almaty. A number of other churches who were unable to be present for the event sent letters of greetings marking the event.

The evening before the installation of Bishop Laptev, a special service was held in St. Mary Cathedral to mark the service of Bishop Arri Kugappi. The event featured several of Bishop Kugappi’s favourite hymns, a presentation of historical photographs, and refreshments after the service. Those wishing to honour Bishop Kugappi’s service to the church were invited to make a donation to the Theological Institute of the Church of Ingria.

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Photos by Liliann Keskinen and Heikki Jaskelyainen via ELCI media.

Ingrian Lutherans in Russia elect new bishop

by Mathew Block | Oct 24, 2019

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria holds its 30th Synod in St. Petersburg, Russia. (Photo: ELCI News, Liliann Keskinen).

Bishop Elect Ivan Laptev.

RUSSIA – The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria (ELCI) in Russia elected Rev. Ivan Laptev to be their new bishop during the church’s 30^th Synod held October 18-19, 2019 at St. Mary Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Rev. Laptev will be installed as bishop on February 9, 2020.

Rev. Laptev was elected on the second ballot, receiving 48 votes out of the total 80 ballots cast. Other candidates for bishop who had allowed their names to stand were Rev. Olav Panchu, Rev. Mikhail Ivanov, and Rev. Ivan Hutter.

Rev. Laptev, born in 1979, is rector of the Theological Institute of the Church of Ingria. He further serves as head pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Gubanitsy and as pastor of St. George’s Church in Koltushi. All candidates for the position of bishop were required to have served at least ten years in the Church of Ingria; to have higher theological education; to have a good reputation; and to be no less than 35 years of age.

Bishop Arri Kugappi.

Rev. Ivan Laptev will succeed Bishop Arri Kugappi, who is soon to reach the ELCI’s canonical age of retirement; synodical statutes require the bishop to retire no later than 67 years of age, which Bishop Kugappi will reach in February 2020. Bishop Kugappi was ordained as bishop in 1996. From 1993-1995, he served as Bishop’ Vicar. He was ordained a deacon in 1990 and a pastor in 1992.

The ELCI’s 2018 synodical gathering had voted to make an exception in the case of Bishop Kugappi to allow hm to serve until seventy years of age. However, constitutional difficulties became apparent thereafter and so Bishop Kugappi advised the Synodical Council that he would leave the episcopal ministry in February 2020 as originally called for in church bylaws.

In the run-up to the election, the church met at St. Mary Cathedral in St. Petersburg for an Extraordinary Meeting of the Synod on September 14, 2019 to consider and approve amendments to church law.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria is a member church of the International Lutheran Council, a global association of confessional Lutheran churches.

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Russian and Norwegian Lutherans declare fellowship

by Mathew Block | Mar 16, 2017

ELCIR Bishop Arri Kugappi and LKN Provisional Bishop Torkild Masvie.

RUSSIA – On January 18, 2017 the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia (ELCIR) and The Lutheran Church in Norway (LKN) entered into church fellowship.

The decision came following talks in St. Petersburg between ELCIR Bishop Arri Kugappi and LKN Provisional Bishop Torkild Masvie. Also participating in the talks were senior advisors from both church bodies.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia and The Lutheran Church in Norway are both members of the International Lutheran Council, a global association of confessional Lutheran church bodies.

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ILC member churches in Russia strengthen ties

by Mathew Block | Nov 12, 2015

Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELC) Bishop Vsevolod Lytkin and Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia (ELCIR) Bishop Arri Kugappi.

by Rev. Alexey Streltsov

RUSSIA – In this time of disintegration of institutional Christianity in the countries of the developed world, it is noteworthy when the opposite trends mark the desire of confessional Lutheran Christians to abide in the unity of faith and love.

There was a time when the Lutheran Church of the old Russian Empire constituted one of the major Lutheran Churches worldwide. Well-known events of the communist revolution and atheistic purges of the 20^th century have tragically changed the course of Christianity in that part of the world. Lutheranism in today’s Russia is relatively small and insignificant, only a shadow of what it once has been. However, even now the Lutherans in Russia trace their origin and history to that old Imperial Church. A sense of history is important for the Russian Lutherans. Along with that those Lutherans who are serious about their confessional subscription to the Holy Scripture and the Book of Concord naturally tend to not be in isolation from each other.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia (ELCIR) and the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELC) are two voices of the confessional Lutheran movement in Russia today. These are two sister churches and share certain parts of their history. The Ingrian Church is the older of the two, with some of her parishes dating back to the early 17^th century. Being in origin a church focused mostly on serving ethnic Finns on the territory of Ingria (Ingermanland), the ECLIR has grown today to combine Finnish Ingrian tradition with an appeal to people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. SELC, which formerly was a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Estonia, has included people of various cultures from the beginning.

The SELC and ILCR bishops serve as communion celebrants together.

SELC Bishop Lytkin and ELCIR Bishop Kugappi serve as communion celebrants together.

SELC Bishop Vsevolod Lytkin and SELC Seminary Rector Alexey Streltsov recently visited the General Synod of ELCIR in October, the first such General Synod visit in 18 years. There has been remarkable progress in relationships between the two churches in recent years. Bishop Lytkin shared in the Eucharistic celebration with ELCIR Bishop Arri Kugappi at St Mary’s Church in St Petersburg, and preached for the service. Earlier this year, Rev. Alexey Streltsov preached at the service in the Moscow ELCIR parish of St. Peter and Paul in April and at Christ the Savior parish in Novosibirsk in November of this year.

Plans are being made for a joint seminar in spring of 2016 between the clergy of the Siberian deanery of ELCIR and SELC clergy. While instructor of the ELCIR Theological Institute, Dr. Sergey Isaev has been coming to the Theological Seminary of SELC in Novosibirsk for a number of years. And now, for the first time, Novosibirsk lecturers are scheduled to teach in Koltushy in 2016. ELCIR students residing in Siberia are likely to enroll at the seminary in Novosibirsk for the 2016-17 Academic year.

In short, some remarkable progress has been made within the last year. Bishop Kugappi observed at the Synod that such representation of the SELC at the Ingrian Synod was a major sign of unity of the two conservative Lutheran Churches in Russia. Bishop Lytkin states that never before in the history of the two churches were relations as close as they are now. He also expressed his admiration for the church’s strong witness of the declaration on the “Same sex relations” that was accepted at the ELCRI Synod. Their position is all the more admirable, he said, given the strong pressure from liberal European Churches that the ELCIR comes under for its confessional position on human sexuality.

Relations between the two Russian Lutheran churches have not always been as close as they are now. While conscientious Lutherans in both churches have hoped that obstacles would be overcome in the future, it is remarkable that such positive changes have occurred already in this generation. While there were historically challenges between the two churches, the fellowship between the sister churches was never broken: SELC seminary graduates served in the ELCIR parishes, there was interchange in hymnody, and in the work in the youth summer camps. Now relations between the two churches have grown to a strong new level.

There is an important lesson to learn here as well as great cause to give glory to God for the true unity in faith that comes only from Him. When people are serious about their confession and tradition, they naturally tend to join together in common witness for the truth. We are stronger together. In such a traditional society as Russia’s, it is extremely important to present Lutheran values in the public square not as a strange modernist antinomian phenomenon but as a historic Christian confession with clear emphasis on Christ and His Gospel, a serious attitude toward the commandments of God, and a respect for the liturgy and sacraments.

As Russian Lutherans move forward, they are hopeful that they will be able to keep faithful to their roots and present a viable alternative to apostate voices in which the voice of the Shepherd can no longer be recognized.

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Rev. Alexey Streltsov is Rector of the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church’s Lutheran Theological Seminary.

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