Message from the Chairman for the Day of the Augsburg Confession

Dear and beloved brothers and sisters in Christ!

Just a couple of days ago, we celebrated one of the most important days for our Synod, and for the entire Lutheran Church as a whole, the Day of the Augsburg Confession. As we all know, it was on this day in 1530 that Philip Melanchthon and the German princes briefed the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire on the provisions of the Lutheran faith.

The Augsburg Confession became an important milestone in the entire Reformation and served as the basis for many other doctrinal documents. For us, modern Lutherans, it is the second most important document after the Holy Scriptures, a kind of compass on the path of our Faith to Salvation. And we should at least remember this significant day, thereby being grateful to those people who fought for the purity of the Faith. Our task is also to preserve our Lutheran Faith and pass it on to the next generations. Why is it important?

Even during the lifetime of Martin Luther and his colleague Philip Melanchthon, the text of the Augsburg Confession changed. Even then, 2 versions of the document appeared: invariata and variata. The original text is just invariata, and the second version differs from the first in the changed understanding of the Communion to please the Calvinists. And later neo-Protestants, post-Protestants and other pro-Christian and pseudo-Christian currents that appeared later edited the text of the Augsburg Confession even more, more often to please their desires. If the Lutherans did not preserve the purity of the doctrine and did not follow the original text of the Augsburg Confession, then all the efforts of people during the Reformation could be considered in vain.

We call our Synod a “beacon of confessional Lutheranism” because, following the traditional Lutheran doctrine, we instruct people in the true Faith, and not for our own enrichment, but for Salvation. For only the Grace of Salvation is the true Gift.

I sincerely congratulate you on this Day, and wish you to preserve and increase the legacy of Lutheran theologians in our difficult times! God bless all of you!

With love and prayers
Chairman of the Synod
fr. Alexius (Suvoroff)