Palanga Lutheran Church

We visited the almost completed Palanga Lutheran Church in Palanga, Lithuania. This project is a partnership between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania and the Iowa East District of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. The Palanga program began in 2003 and ground was broken in July 2005. The dedication for the completed building is planned for July 2012.



Currently, the congregation in Palanga is worshiping in this house. There are 25 to 30 members in regular attendance on each Sunday. Pastor Darius Petkūnas said the congregation is eager to begin worshiping in the new building.



The sanctuary will soon be finished and features an energy saving heating system. The pipe organ comes from Germany.



Pastor Petkūnas explains how the sanctuary will be completed.



Pastor Petkūnas standing in what will be the church study / library.


Pastor Petkūnas shows us the living quarters in the church.



The Lutheran church in Palanga will be a hub of activity for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lithuania. The parish center will be a church, a deaconal center, and conference center.

- Rev. Dr. Albert Collver, Director of Church Relations

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Saulėtekio takas,Palanga,Lithuania

Lithuania Photo Highlights December 2011

Below are some photo highlights from my trip to Lithuania. There is a captioned photo album with more photos at the bottom of the page.

Photos from Vilnius, Lithuania

Belfry from Vilnius Evangelical Lutheran Church

Sanctuary from Vilnius Evangelical Lutheran Church

Vilnius Cathedral

Backside of Vilnius Cathedral

Street in Front of Vilnius Cathedral

Photos From Klaipeda

Klaipeda Christmas Tree

Photos From Priekule

Lutheran Church in Priekule

Photo Album with Captions

Second Sunday in Advent at Priekulė, Lithuania

The Lutheran Parish in Priekule, Lithuania

This morning we attended worship in Priekulė, Lithuania. It is one of 54 parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lithuania. Christianity came to Klaipeda, Lithuania in 1252, while the rest of Lithuania was pagan. In 1525, Klaipeda, then a part of Prussia, became Lutheran. The Lutheran congregation in Vilnius was established in 1555. The majority of the Lutheran congregations were established in the 17th and 18th centuries in Lithuania. The Lutheran congregation in Priekulė, Lithuania, where we worshiped, once had 6,000 members. Now about 50 persons worship in what was the old school house, the original church having been destroyed by the Communists in the Soviet Era. Before WWII, the Lutheran population was more than 200,000. Today, it is around 20,000 persons. The Lutheran congregation in Priekule retains a strong German identity.

Rev. Dr. Darius Petkūnas writes in the Resurgence of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lithuania after the Soviet Era, "All Lithuanians love to sing and Lutherans extend this love for music to parish life. From the days of the Reformation the Lithuanian Lutheran Church has been a singing church. The great German hymns were all translated into Lithuanian, and hymns by Lithuanian Lutherans have been added to this treasury," During worship, we had opportunity to hear this rich musical heritage in the confirmation choir and in the hymnody.

Confirmation Choir Sings During Worship

Watch the video below to hear the Confirmation Choir sing.

 

Pastor Petkuūnas preached on signs of the end of the world for the Second Sunday of Advent.

After the sermon, the congregation sang, "Kelkitės, šlovingai aidi" (Wake, Awake for Night is Flying or Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme in German) by Philipp Nicolai. 

Listen to the first stanza in Lithuanian in the video below.

The church is kept warm by an old wood or coal burning stove.

Our visit to Priekulė was very pleasant.

Rev. Daniel Johnson, Rev. Dr. Albert Collver, Juta Galkienė, Rev. Dr. Darius Petkūas

You can read the Resurgence of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lithuania after the Soviet Era here:

Resurgence of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lithuania After the Soviet Era

--Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver, Director of Church Relations

Vilnius Evangelical Lutheran Church -- Lithuania

Belfry from the Courtyard

On Friday, 2 December 2011, Dr. Timothy Quill, Director of Theological Education, Rev. Daniel Johnson, and Dr. Albert Collver, Director of Church relations arrived in Vilnius for a conference with Lutheran pastors in the Lithuanian and Belarus churches, held at the parish hall of Vilnius Evangelical Lutheran Church. Rev. Johnson presented on Lutheran spirituality, while Dr. Collver spoke on the church's life under the cross from 1 Corinthians. Bishop Mindaugas Sabutis of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania welcomed the LCMS group and explained how the Lutheran Church in Lithuania by the Lord's grace had been resurrected from death at the hands of Communism. He also encouraged the Missouri Synod to provide strong theological leadership to Lutherans throughout the world.

Conference with Pastors from the Lithuanian and Estonian Churches

Rev. Dr. Darius Petkūnas, Member of the Consistory of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania said, "The meeting was very important not only for the Lithuanian church but for the emerging church in Belarus, which is resurgent after many years of Soviet Domination. Acting Bishop Wladimir Meyerson in his report provided information regarding the situation of Lutheranism in Belarus and expressed his wish to strengthen relations with the LCMS through Bishop Sabuitus. He emphasized the need for theological education to train the men for the pastoral ministry. The Lithuania church is also very happy with this meeting, which was rich in theological presentations and conversation. It was very helpful for both churches."

The Belarusian Lutheran Church is under the spiritual leadership of Bishop Sabutis and functions as an extension of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania.

Dr. Timothy Quill remarked, "It was personally heartwarming to listen to the Belarusian pastors report on the progress of the BELC. It was ten years ago to the day, on December 2, 2001, that I attended the constituting synod of the Belarusian Evangelical Lutheran Church that took place in Vitibsk. It has been a difficult time for the faithful Lutherans trying to establish Lutheranism in a country where the Church was totally destroyed by the Communists. Leading their Notruf (plea for help) was a request for theological education to build a strong clergy. They inquired if the Seminary of the Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Novosibirsk, Russia could help train pastors and they encouraged the continuation of regular courses organized by Bishop Mindaugis Sabutis and Dr. Charles Evanson (LCMS theological educator in the Baltics and consultant to the ELCL). They also requested help in producing a Belarusian Lutheran liturgy and agenda. The Lithuanian and Belarusian Lutheran Churches share a common geographical and ecclesiastical history. BELC pastor Sergi Heil explained, 'The BELC is a young church in desperate need of its own liturgy, yet a liturgy that expresses her common tradition with Lithuania.' Pastor Heil asked if Lithuania could assist in this task. The ELCL is blessed to be home to Dr. Charles Evanson and Dr. Darius Petkunas who are not only recognized scholars in the area of the history of the Baltic and Russian liturgies, but key members of the ELCL liturgical commission that recently produced the new Lithuanian agenda."

The Parish Seal of the Vilnius Evangelical Lutheran Church

The first evangelical Lutheran church in Vilnius, Lithuania, was established in 1552 with the completion of the church building in 1555. The parish has had its own seal since 1560 wich depicts the Lamb of God with the inscription, "Diligite Veritatem Et Pacem" ("Value Truth and Peace"). Over the years the church building suffered a number of fires. The current structure had its foundation placed on 3 August 1739. The church was designed by Johann Christopher Glaubitz.

Altar

The altar piece consists of four sections that depicts the life of Christ. The scenes from lowest to highest portray the birth of Jesus, the Lord's Supper, the Crucifixion, and the Ascension of Christ. On either side of the life of Christ are statues of the four evangelists. During the period of Soviet oppression, the Christian symbolism on the altar area was removed and replaced with communist idols. The nativity scene was replaced with the Red Star. The Lord's Supper scene was replaced with images of Karl Marx, Lenin, and Stalin (the unholy trinity of the Soviet State). The crucifix and ascension scenes were removed. The sanctuary was partitioned into two floors, the lower level being a worship and the upper level a basketball court.

The Organ

Another view of the sanctuary.

– Rev. Dr. Albert B. Collver, Director of Church Relations - Assistant to the President

Big Cigar = Big Success

Here is a cigar ad from 1943. (Originally from BoingBoing.) The extra 17% in cigar length corresponds to professional success -- at least according to Blackstone Cigars.

Faster than Light Neutrinos -- Who Cares?

Neutrino Tracks

Perhaps you heard of the recent news about a neutrino traveling faster than the speed of light. Recently, Italian scientists running the experiment called OPERA (Oscillation Project with Emulsion-tRacking Apparatus) detected neutrinos hitting their detector 60 nanoseconds faster than light could travel the same distance. In essence, the scientists claimed that neutrinos were traveling faster than light, something Einstein's Theory of Relativity prohibits. This is either ground breaking science that demonstrates the universe operates differently than the best theories predict, or it is a mistake. Scientists are somewhat caught in a pickle over this situation. Einstein's Theory of Relativity has been experimentally demonstrated numerous times leading most scientists to assume some sort of mistake had been made by the OPERA scientists. The other problem is that all the obvious sorts of mistakes the OPERA scientists might have made have been investigated; no obvious mistakes have been found. Of course, to the average human being, a neutrino traveling faster than the speed of light does not seem to have any impact on day to day life. So who cares -- apart from the fact that what seemed to be science fiction might now be possible?

World's First Observed Neutrino In A Hydrogen Bubble Chamber

A neutrino is a subatomic particle that does not carry electrical charge and do not readily interact with matter. Scientists say billions of neutrinos pass through our bodies every second, never to colloid with another atom in our bodies. Neutrinos had been theorized to exist in 1930, but were not detected until 1956. The first detection of neutrinos won the scientists a Noble Prize. So why care about neutrinos? Scientists say without neutrinos the sun wouldn't shine. For something that is hard to detect and doesn't interact easily with matter, it is a pretty important particle.

So back to the question who cares if a neutrino went faster than the speed of light? The answer to this is more philosophical, perhaps even theological, than scientific. The short and simple answer is that according to Einstein's Theory of Relativity, the speed of light is the ultimate speed limit in order to protect causality. According to Einstein, if something travels faster than the speed of light, it does not just arrive some place faster than light, it in fact time travels into the past. If Einstein's theory is held to be true or to represent reality, the implication of a neutrino traveling faster than the speed of light is that the neutrino arrived at the detector before it was sent -- time travel. A neutrino traveling faster than the speed of light is akin to seeing a window shatter from a brick passing through it, while the brick is still in your hand unthrown -- at least if Einstein's Theory of Relativity is accepted.

This also explains why so many scientists are certain that there must be a mistake in the measurements. Causality must be protected -- something cannot happen before an action that causes it occurs (the brick cannot break the window before it is thrown). Therefore, it is impossible for the neutrino to go faster than the speed of light. At the heart of the issue, which at first appears to be "scientific," is a deep philosophical (and theological) discussion on causality and the nature of time. These are both philosophical ideas that have been debated at least since the ancient Greek philosophers (if not earlier). While physicists are good at mathematics and detecting subatomic particles,  physicists usually are not known for their study of philosophy or theology. Questions related to the nature of time or causality might be better left to philosophers and theologians than to physicists who excel at measuring the physical world but do not necessarily excel at describing the nature of a thing, or its essence.

Science in the late 19th and throughout the 20th century has assumed that the measuring of a thing gets at its essential nature. For instance, before the late 19th century, philosophers discussed the nature of time. At the end of the 19th century and throughout the 20th century, scientists became very skilled at building machines to measure time. For instance, in August of 2011, British scientists that they had developed the most accurate atomic clock in the world, one that would loose a billionth of a second every two months. Einstein's Theory of Relativity predicted and experiments of particles traveling near the speed of light and of atomic clocks in earth's orbit (the GPS system) have demonstrated that these atomic oscillations slow down as an object speed increases. In essence, the faster the clock is traveling, the slower it runs. Scientists have assumed that the slowing of the clock is in fact a slowing of time. According to Einstein's Theory of Relativity, if the "clock" were to hit the speed of light, the clock, that is the atomic oscillations, would stop. Hence, time stops. Once again, the assumption is that the movement of the clock corresponds to time itself. Rather, Einstein predicts that time itself is relative and that there is no universal time that governs the entire universe. These big questions are more philosophical than scientific.

Have no fear. If the faster than light neutrino experiment results are upheld, causality will be protected and there will be no time travel. Physicists will simply redefine the cosmic speed limit as the newly discovered faster than light neutrino, or develop other theories to explain how the neutrino travelled faster than light could -- such as jumping through another dimension we did not previously know to exist. 

This raises the larger question are scientists actually measuring what they think they are? Does the speed of light in fact protect causality? Does faster than light travel equal time travel? These are really philosophical and theological questions rather than scientific questions. So let's have physicists do physics and leave metaphysics alone.

In any case, the paper published by the OPERA scientists on faster than light neutrinos is given below.

-- abc3+

Neutrino FTL Arxiv 1109

ACNA–LCMS Dialogue III

[caption id="attachment_1889" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="ACNA-LCMS Dialogue III at Walther Library"][/caption] The third dialogue between the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS) on "Contemporary Issues Facing the Church in North America," began on 27 October 2011 on the campus of Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne. Presentations engaged the question of the ordination of women to the office of Holy Ministry and on other challenges facing the church such as post-humanism and trans-humanism. The first dialogue, held 10-11 November 2010 in Saint Louis at Concordia Seminary, focused on the historical backgrounds of the ANCA and the LCMS. The second dialogue, held 12-13 May 2011 held in Bluebell, PA at the Reformed Episcopal Seminary, focused on the question of authority, both Scriptural authority and ecclesial authority. Participants from the Anglican Church in North America (ANCA) included: Dr. Grant LeMarquand, Professor of Biblical Studies and Mission at Trinity School for Ministry, Dr. Jonathan Riches, Assistant Academic Dean and Associate Professor of Liturgics and Theology at the Reformed Episcopal Seminary, and Bishop Ray Sutton, Diocese of Mid-America, REC/ACNA and Chair of Ecumenical Relations Task Force (ACNA). Participants from the LCMS included: Rev. Dr. Matthew Harrison, President, Dr. Frederic Baue, Pastor Emeritus, Dr. Albert Collver, Director of Church Relations, Dr. Joel Lehenbauer, Executive Director of the CTCR, Dr. Lawrence Rast, President of Concordia Theological Seminary, and Rev. Larry Vogel, Associate Executive Director CTCR. Participants from the LCC included, Dr. John Stephenson [caption id="attachment_1890" align="aligncenter" width="315" caption="Dr. John Stephenson Preaching in Kramer Chapel"][/caption] Rev. Dr. John Stephenson, Professor of Historical Theology at Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary Brock University of the Lutheran Church – Canada (LCC), preached in Kramer Chapel on Matthew 15:1-9. After lunch, the group toured the campus of Concordia Theological Seminary. [caption id="attachment_1891" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="ACNA-LCMS Group Touring CTSFW Campus"][/caption] While there are many areas of agreement between the ACNA and the LCMS, there also are differences. The dialogue has taken an open and honest approach in recognizing differences between the church bodies. President Harrison noted that Herman Sasse said that there is more fellowship between Christians who honestly disagree with one another than with Christians who gloss over or who agree to disagree about their differences. At 7 PM, there will be an Open Forum, featuring President Matthew Harrison of the LCMS and Dr. Jonathan Riches of the Reformed Episcopal Seminary, speaking about contemporary issues facing the church. The public is invited to attend the open forum. Some photos from the dialogue. The agenda for the dialogue is posted below: Dialogue III Schedule-final