 Anton Lagoutine was born in 1975 in Leningrad, the USSR (now St. Petersburg, the Russian Federation.) The Soviet Union at that time was officially an atheist country. However, Anton's great-grandmother, Ekaterina (Catherine), was a devout Christian who kept her faith through many years of persecution. She insisted that her great grandson would be baptized, so Anton was given the gift of faith through the baptism in the Russian Orthodox Church at the age of three. Anton's parents, Grigoriy Titovich (Gregory Titus) Lagoutine and Marina Lagoutine grew up in a society where God was all but eradicated from the life of the people. Anton's father was an engineer working for the Soviet Navy in the field of submarine program development. Anton's mother was an engineer as well, designing equipment for the Soviet Space Program and other military projects. Confessing faith in God was not tolerated by the state, especially when it came to the citizens involved in important military projects. After the death of his great-grandmother, Anton did not receive any instruction or encouragement in the Christian faith since the age of seven. During his teenage years, the Soviet Union collapsed. The communist moral and value system were dethroned as well. It is during this time that the Holy Spirit led Anton to turn to the Bible to find answers in an environment that offered chaos and confusion. It is there in the Scripture that Anton realized what God has done for him, and that God had plans for his life. The Holy Spirit given to him in the baptism, the work of the Spirit through his great-grandmother, and the witnessing of other Christians resulted in faith and trust in God. Realizing the need in Christian fellowship, Anton started looking for a church community. After visiting several congregations of different denominations, Anton found the Lutheran Church to be the place where the Gospel of Christ was preached in the most clear way. He joined the ELKRAS Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Russland und anderen Staaten through confirmation. Anton became actively involved in the worship life and the youth group. Anton graduated from high school in 1992 and was accepted into the St. Petersburg Academy of Engineering and Economics majoring in Auto Transportation Management. The same year Anton got acquainted with Rev. Dr. Thomas Sluberski, a Concordia College New York professor, who was an LC-MS missionary to Russia during his sabbatical. With the help of Dr. Sluberski, Anton was able to come to the US to study at Concordia New York. After two years in Bronxville, NY Anton transferred to Concordia University, Austin, Texas. He graduated with B.A. in History from that University in 1997 and was accepted into Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, IN. Mr. Lagoutine spent his vicarage year at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Waco, TX. Following his vicarage year, he got married to Amy Gabler. They have a daughter Meghan and a son Troy. St. John's Lutheran Church is the first call for Pastor Lagoutine who graduated from the Seminary in May 2002 and started working at the church in June 2002. Pastor Lagoutine is a Chaplain of Conover Police Department and Catawba Fire Department.
Pastor Lagoutine enjoys working on this site, and also on his family site. He also maintains a community site: Russian North Carolina.
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