Interview with Anastasia Tsyarashchuk

The history of Lutheranism in Minsk has a very long history dating back to the late European Middle Ages. So it is known that already in the 16th century, during the Reformation era, near the city of Minsk or in the city of Minsk itself, the gentry Y. Semenovich, who accepted the Evangelical Lutheran faith, built the first Lutheran church (kirkha) in the Belarusian part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the 19th century, already under the rule of Russian emperors, several Lutheran churches were built in Minsk itself for the German communities of the city. Unfortunately, their history has not been kind. Now two Lutheran communities are registered in Minsk, and we decided to meet with a member of one of them and talk about who modern Minsk Lutherans are, in particular, with Anastasia Tsyarashchuk.

— Good afternoon, Anastasia, I am glad to interview you for the Lutheran website and I want to ask you a question. How long have you been professing the Evangelical faith of the Lutheran persuasion?

— Hello! For as long as I can remember, I have considered myself a real Lutheran! At a very young age, my parents began to take me to the service, at first as an adult, and then they began to leave me in the Sunday school classes. I was not yet 4 years old when I was baptized. This is one of the most vivid memories of early childhood, I remember very well the smallest details of that day, even what I was wearing and how they gave me a big beautiful candle.

My parents led a calm, homely lifestyle, and it was the activity in the church that was for me the place where I gained impressions and talked a lot. I well remember the arrival of the Germans, I remember my bright performance at the Christmas scene. Then the whole family was watching me, and grandfather was the most proud.

Thus, I have been in Lutheranism for more than 22 years. I was in camps (at first as an ordinary child, and at an older age – as an assistant), and at courses in Odessa, and at various seminars abroad. The logical outcome was my desire to get a theological education – which, however, I interrupted, realizing that I did not have time with my main studies.

— Do you have German, Scandinavian or perhaps Baltic roots?

— No, I only know about my Slavic, including Ukrainian, roots. There were people in our community who became interested in the faith in many ways because of their background, but in my family it was different. My mother was looking for herself in the spiritual sphere, and most of all she liked Lutheranism for traditional religions for its understandability and closeness.

— Are all Lutherans in your family or not?

— Not all, but many. This is mom and dad, both grandmothers. From time to time, more distant relatives also go to the service, but they have not been confirmed. We also decided to baptize our son into Lutheranism. Despite the fact that my husband and his family are Orthodox, they supported my proposal and were happy to attend the service and get a new experience!

— What does the Christian faith mean to you personally?

— For me, the Christian faith is a guide that tells me if I am moving in the right direction. I try to follow the commandments and in difficult situations I think about what would be the right thing to do from the point of view of the Bible and the Christian faith. I also really appreciate the opportunity to pray and communicate with God. At one of the seminars we were taught that God accepts everything we say to him and does not reject it. That personal confession that a loved one cannot stand without condemnation, God will listen and accept. Even if we are talking about serious sins or resentment against the Lord, God accepts us as sinners as we are.

— How often do you read the Bible and reflect on what you read?

— Recently, alas, I do not do it as regularly as I would like. Rather, I resort to the Bible situationally. For example, when looking for an answer to a specific question. And sometimes I ask a question, open the Bible in a random place and try to interpret it for this question. This allows you to find new aspects in the same text of the Bible that were previously invisible.

— Where did you study Lutheran theology?

— I studied Lutheran theology in a one-year course in Odessa. It was an interesting experience, several times we met in Ukraine as a permanent team, and the rest of the time we studied on our own and wrote papers. I also studied at a remote seminary in St. Petersburg for about a year. We studied deeper works there, including historical data on the emergence of the Bible, on the Jewish people, on the emergence of Lutheranism. I remember that there were even thoughts to start learning Hebrew in order to have even better access to the materials! But then I was distracted by my main professional studies, and in general there was such a period that I wanted to devote more time to student life in Minsk.

Now I am a little less interested in theology, but I appreciate the development of spiritual aspects in my personality more. I am sure that Lutheranism opens up a lot of ways to grow and develop!

— Are you familiar with the works of M. Luther?

— Partly familiar. I read something a little myself, something – as a mention in educational materials. I liked The Book of Concord, but I read it a long time ago.

I want to study the writings of Martin Luther more consciously. It is one thing to listen to sermons or study guides, but quite another to study the original. And at the same time pass it through yourself, through your inner world and your circumstances.

— What role did the works of M. Luther have on your Christian worldview?

— It is difficult for me to draw any parallel, because the Lutheran worldview is, in fact, my only one. I did not convert from Orthodoxy or Catholicism. I think the writings of Martin Luther reinforced my sense of joy in being a Christian.

Firstly, it seems to me that Martin Luther derived an important formula of a strong personality: a believing person is not a slave, not a beggar who atones for his sins, but is still unable to atone for them. A believing person is one who goes through life with God in his heart and his support, and at the same time develops his inner talent in order to work for the benefit of people. Understands his sins and weaknesses, works to become better, establishes contact with God out of love for him.

Secondly, thanks to Martin Luther, there are no barriers between God and man. It is not necessary to go to church if you do not have one nearby, or maybe you disagree with the leadership with something (I can say from my personal experience that, alas, this happens). It is not necessary to memorize all the prayers, to read all the works, or to seem outwardly correct as a Christian (= to be a hypocrite). Or wait for the priest to turn to God instead of you. God is right here next to you. Pray, read the Bible, think about how you can become a better person.

— How do you feel about the liberalism that is present in many Protestant churches in Western Europe and the Western world in general, such as weddings of same-sex couples and ordination of gay pastors?

— I don’t agree with this kind of liberalism. Of course, God creates us all different, and lying to yourself or appearing to be someone else is the same sin of lying. I fully allow same-sex marriage at the legislative level: if people live together this way and that, and want to bear the same rights and obligations as an opposite-sex couple, then why not. Well, the wedding still involves the union of male and female souls and bodies. So conceived by nature, so conceived by God. Yin and Yang, to put it another way. The fusion of two entities, two beginnings.

As for the gender and sexual orientation of the pastor, here I do not have a clear answer. I admit that in some exceptional cases the pastor may be gay. For example, he worked as a pastor for many years, and then realized his true sexual orientation, but does not flaunt it. But still, the pastor should be a spiritual and personal example, and such an aspect of personality as sexual orientation is difficult to ignore.

— In modern Lutheranism in the West and even in Lutheran churches in Russia, for example, one can increasingly see women ordained as pastors, to what extent, in your opinion, does this not contradict the biblical texts?

— I think that we will not find a direct answer in the Bible regarding this topic. At the time when the last lines of the New Testament were written, the hierarchy and roles in society were arranged in a completely different way. A woman simply would not be perceived by men as an authority, because such familiar things as education, independence, financial independence were available exclusively to men. However, the fact that the Holy Scriptures do not draw a line between women’s and men’s affairs, and the fact that it also does not indicate that a woman has fewer rights, freedoms, etc., allows us to conclude that there are no good reasons to refuse women in their desire to serve in the presence of competence.

And by the way, what I like about the Lutheran doctrine is that the pastor is essentially the same person as all the other parishioners, but more theoretically savvy and ready to devote his life to the cause of service. And that person could be a woman, right?

— How traditional is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Belarus?

— Despite the fact that in the current legislation of the Republic of Belarus the Lutheran Church is indicated as traditional along with Orthodoxy and Catholicism, according to my subjective feelings, being a Lutheran in Belarus is something unique. Most people are not even aware that such a confession exists, and even more so that it is traditional in Belarus. Of course, this can be easily explained by the small number of parishioners relative to the population of our country, but I am convinced that this is not the only issue. In many ways, the reason is that there is no historical retrospective of the Lutheran denomination in the school and university curriculum. The origins of religiosity are presented exclusively as a result of the struggle between Poland and Russia, Catholicism and Orthodoxy. But the role of Lutheranism, or, say, Judaism, is not evaluated or mentioned in any way.

— It’s interesting to listen to you, really. The last question you would probably like to ask is about the prospect of the unity of the Christian world, do you believe in the ecumenism of churches of different denominations and that in the future all churches will unite into one Christian Church?

— I do not think that the unification of churches is possible in the near future, as world events perfectly demonstrate that most people identify very strongly with one or another community. Military conflicts over territories, racial and religious conflicts, the struggle for one party or another – all this clearly shows that it is difficult for people to give up their beliefs, change their views, even if the difference in views is not so great.

However, I want to believe that such a union will definitely happen. After all, the church is a living organism, and it must be updated, just like the world around. It is undeniable that there is a decline in the number of parishioners in Christian churches, and I think this is also a sign that some changes must occur in the Christian church in order to offer its new look to the faithful. And ecumenism is just the same opportunity to take a critical look at the current confessions and absorb the best and most important into a single Christian church. And the phenomenon of Martin Luther is excellent proof that transformation can be good.

— Thank you, Nastya, for your time and answers, which, I am sure, visitors to our site will be interested.

The interview was conducted by a member of the Minsk Lutheran community Igor Nesterowicz
December 2020