European CELC Meets in Latvia

From April 30th to May 2nd the Confessional Lutheran Church of Latvia (CLCL) hosted the Europe Regional Conference of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC). The Conference was held in Saulkrasti, a town on the Baltic Sea coast not far from Riga. There were 26 representatives from various Europe region churches including Latvia, Czech Republic, Germany, Portugal and Russia. The theme for the Conference was “Thy Will be Done.”

In five papers presenters from our sister churches addressed the issue how the will of the Lord is exercised. The essays were well prepared and also demonstrated an original approach to the theme how God generously provides for both the spiritual and the material needs of the world and of His believers. Particularly, the ever-growing request for wealth and comfort was
discussed from a critical perspective as opposed to the words from the Bible that encourage modesty and content.

There were also discussions on the stewardship of the Word and the Means of Grace with regard to mission outreach for the Christian church. The power and self-sufficiency of the Word of God was emphasized as opposed to methodology. The world today is preoccupied with economy problems. Interest of the society in which our churches live is not in the Christian message. Even so, the overall spirit of the Conference was quite optimistic. The Lord has not promised that there will always be a rich harvest in terms of numbers. But, what is required from our churches, as well as from every church, is faithfulness to the Gospel message.

Thoughts of Faith Board of Directors

Board of Directors – Thoughts of Faith - April 3, 2009
Pictured here are, from left: (back row) Rev. Wayne Borgwardt, Leroy Meyer, Dan Browning, Mark Schwan; (middle) Dave Ewert, Tom Conzelman, Keith Wiederhoeft, Kermit Traska; (front) Rev. John Petersen, Paul Fick, Rev. George Orvick, Rev. Paul Schneider, and Rev. Erwin Ekhoff.

The Thoughts of Faith (ToF) Board of Directors meets three times a year to review, discuss and direct the administrative and mission activities in Central and Eastern Europe. We thank these men for faithfully serving ToF and its missions.

Easter in Sevastopol Ukraine

Little Angels with real Ukrainian Easter Eggs



The members of the congregation from the Ukrainian Lutheran Church in Sevastopol took time to pose for a picture on the front steps of their church after the Easter service on April 19th. The Ukrainian Lutheran Church follows the Eastern calendar resulting in Easter for 2009 being one week later than we celebrated in America. Pastor Viktor Pashchenko, in white robe, serves the congregation in Sevastopol.