Church History and Leaders
During the early years of settlement in Russia, the Volga German suffered from a lack of pastors to serve the colonies. Despite the great preponderance of Protestants, few pastors came or stayed with the colonists due to the meager salaries of the clergy who were faced with ministering to scattered parishes often numbering over 2,000 souls. The lack of pastors became an acute problem. By 1805, there were only fifteen Protestants pastors in the entire colonial enclave, these living in Messer, Grimm, Beideck, Galka, Dietel, Frank, Norka, Stephan, Jagodnaja Poljana, Saratov, Rosenheim, Warenburg, Bettinger and two in Katharinenstadt. Protestant seminaries were eventually built to provide students with a better chance of studying closer to home. Despite this fact, shortages persisted and even up to 1910, there were between three to five colonies in a Kirchenspiel (or parish).
The University of Dorpat (now the University of Tartu) in Estonia was the nearest theological school but the great distance and expense virtually prevented enrollment by eligible Volga German men.
Norka became a parish center for the Bergseite region which included three colonies: Norka, Huck and Neu-Messer. By 1906, Joseph Schnurr states that the parish had a church membership of 23,179 souls served by one pastor. Another source provides the number of parish residents over various years: 12,832 (1886), 17,827 (1894), 20,700 (1905), 24,040 (1911).
This parish, like the others, came under the direction of the Moscow Evangelical Lutheran Consistory.
The pastor lived in Norka since it was the largest colony of the parish and as result the parsonage was built there. From Norka, the pastor traveled to each congregation within the parish nearly every week.
The clergy, in addition to a state salary, were granted a payment of 180 rubles, which was secured by way of a special collection (Steuer) from the colonist's families. Large families paid 96 kopeks, medium families paid 80 kopeks and small families 64 kopeks. In addition, he received free horses for travel and an additional payment for maintenance of his own horses at a rate set by special negotiation with member of his parish a verified by the district commissar. The pastor also received payment of wheat, rye, barley, hay, potatoes and wood. On average, the salary of a clergyman reached 500 to 600 rubles as opposed to a common laborer who earned about 12 rubles per year.
Read more about each of the Pastors who served the Norka parish.