The celebration of the new bishop of The Church of Ingria on February 9, 2020, which followed the service of ordination, included many congratulations, greetings, and good wishes extended by representatives of Russian and foreign Christian denominations, partner churches, mission organizations, and Russian and foreign government officials, many of whom presented various gifts and remembrances to Bishop Ivan Laptev. Below is only a partial list of the speakers (in order of presentations):
Mr. Vladimir Ivanov, Chief of the Office for Relations with Religious Associations of the St. Petersburg Governor’s Administration, who extended cordial greetings on behalf of St. Petersburg Governor Mr. Alexander Beglov;
Mr. Yevgeni Sirenki, Deputy Chairman of the Leningrad Oblast Committee for Local Self-Government, Interethnic, and Interconfessional Relations, Chief of the Dept. for Interethnic and Interconfessional Relations, who extended sincere congratulations on behalf of Leningrad Oblast Governor Mr. Alexander Drozdenko;
Mrs. Anne Lammila, Consul General of Finland in St. Petersburg;
V. Rev. Archpriest Georgi Schmid, assistant professor of the Bible Scholarship Chair of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, The Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate);
Most Rev. Jānis Vanags, Archbishop of The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia with a delegation;
Rt. Rev. Seppo Häkkinen, Bishop of the Diocese of Mikkeli, The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland;
Rt. Rev. Vsevolod Lytkin, Bishop of The Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church;
Rev. Timothy Quill, General Secretary of the International Lutheran Council;
Rev. Alexander Kikinzon, representative of The Russian Church of Christian Gospel Faith;
Executive Director Rev. Rolf Stefansson and Regional Manager Miikka Kallio from Suomen Lähetysseura (Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission, FELM);
Rev. Torvald Hjulfors, Chairman of LFF (Laestadianernas Fridsföreningars Förbund);
Rev. Markus Aitamäki, Rev. Juha Saari, Rev. Jukka Repo, and Ms. Regina Leppänen from Suomen Evankelisluterilainen Kansanlähetys (Finnish Lutheran Mission, FLM);
Rev. Dean Juha Auvinen from SANSA (Media Mission the Messengers),
Board Chairman Matti Taskila, Rev. Juha Kaarivara, and Translator Pentti Kähkönen from Suomen Rauhanyhdistysten Keskusyhdistys (Central Association of the Finnish Associations of Peace);
Rev. Pentti Marttila from Lähetysyhdistys Kylväjä (Finnish Lutheran Overseas Mission, FLOM);
Rev. Dean Valeri Antipov, Rev. Vitali Prasolov, Rev. Yevgeni Kurbatov, and Rev. Andrei Yurtaev from the ELCIR Moscow Deanery;
Rt. Rev. Kenzhebek Botobayev, Bishop of The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kyrgyzstan;
Rev. Alexander Burtsev from The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kazakhstan;
…and many other dear beloved brothers and sisters in Christ such as Esikoislestadiolaisuus (Firstborn Laestadians), Finland; Lutheran Congregation in Joutjärvi, Finland; Lutheran Congregations in Turku and Kaarina, Finland; ELCIR Ural Deanery, Russia; Concordia Foundation, Russia; ELCIR Congregation in Vyborg, Russia; ELCIR Congregation in Luga, Russia, and others.
Photo credits: Yelena Polevina