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Estonian United Methodist Church Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary |
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New York, New York, March 7, 2007—A century of Methodism in Estonia is being observed this year, with a major celebration set for early June. Methodism came to the northern-most of the three Baltic countries with traveling lay preachers from Russia in 1907. Estonia today forms an annual conference within the United Methodist Nordic and Baltic Episocpal Area led by Bishop Øystein Olsen. “This is an important mission anniversary for the Church,” said the Rev. R. Randy Day, chief executive of the denomination’s General Board of Global Ministries, the international mission agency. “Methodism in Estonia survived the long Soviet years and is a center for the growth and development of the church in the region.” The 12 year-old Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary draws students from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and the United States. In 2006, it graduated its largest class of 23 students. With some170 students, it is the largest United Methodist theological school in Europe. “Estonia—100 Years of Methodism,” the centennial celebration, will take place June 1-5 in several locations including Tallin, the Estonian capital, and Kuressaare, on the island of Saaremaa, with a kind of camp meeting near the site where the first Methodist preachers landed. Saaremaa has a monument to Pastor Martin Prikask, arrested in his church by Soviet officials and exiled to Siberia where he was killed as a Christian martyr in 1942. The Estonian United Methodist community today has 26 congregations and engages in a range of evangelistic and social ministries, including youth summer camps, food programs, and drug and alcohol prevention and rehabilitation. Day said that “the Church in Estonia exemplifies the basic principles of personal and social holiness built into our theology by Methodist founder John Wesley in the 18th century.” The Rev. Dr. Üllas Tankler, a clergy member of the Estonian Annual Conference, is the executive secretary for Europe and North Africa for the General Board of Global Ministries. Dr. Tankler said that Friends of Estonia, a group related to the World Methodist Council, and the General Board of Global Ministries are encouraging Methodists outside of Estonia to attend the anniversary celebration in June. Further information can be obtained from Dr. Tankler via email at utankler@gbgm-umc.org, or from World Methodist Evangelism at worldevangelism@worldmethodist.org. Two lay preachers, Vassili Taht and Karl Kuum, landed at Roomassaare Harbor, near the capital of Saaremaa Island, Estonia, on June 9, 1907. Originally affilated with US-initiated work in St. Petersburg, Russia, the small Estonian mission grew, so that in 1912, a small church was built and expanded across the years. In 1921 the Baltic and Slavic Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church was founded with headquarters in Riga, Latvia, covering Estonia, Lativa, and Lithuania. In 1924 the confrence had 46 congregations, 29 pastors, and 1,639 members, according to information from Friends of Estonia. Estonia fell under Soviet control in 1940 with the resulting loss of many pastors and lay members, although a remnant of loyal Methodists survived. Political independence in 1991 brought a revival of The United Methodist Church in the Baltic countries with new starts in Latvia and Lithuania, and an expansion of ministries in Estonia.
Date posted: Mar 07, 2007 |
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