During the synod of the “Evangelical-Lutheran Church in the Urals, Siberia and Far East” in Omsk on 14 October, Alexander Scheiermann was consecrated as the church’s new bishop. His official inauguration will take place in Omsk on 23 April 2017.
The election of a new bishop had become necessary after the passing of the South German pietist Otto Schaude in Germany on 27 September. A pensioner, Schaude, who had served as bishop since 2010, had been diagnosed with cancer in 2014. He nevertheless faithfully fulfilled his church duties along with his wife Brigitte until only several days before his death. Bishop Schaude had even expressed the desire that Scheiermann be his successor.
Alexander Scheiermann, born in Omsk region in 1967, has served as superintendent in Saratov/Volga since 1998. Together with his parents, he had emigrated to Germany in 1988. During the years 1990-94 he studied at the St. Chrischona theological school in Switzerland. Only a year later, he returned to Russia as a German citizen along with his wife, Irene. Today, the couple has three children. The new bishop, along with the Saratov work in general, is allied closely with the East European programme of Germany’s “Marburger Mission”.
William Yoder, Ph.D.
Smolensk, 4 November 2016
This is an official release of the Russian Evangelical Alliance. It may be reprinted free-of-charge if the source is cited. Release #16-13d, 198 words.
