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The Estonian congregation, EELK Baltimore Markuse Kogudus, gathers each month for worship on the third Sunday and as announced on the calendar, at 1900 St. Paul Street, Baltimore. This congregation has been meeting at St. Mark's since 1950. 
The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (Estonian: Eesti Evangeelne Luterlik Kirik) was constituted in 1949, when the previous church hierarchy, Eesti Evangeeliumi Luteriusu Kirik, headed by bishop Johan Kõpp, had escaped to Sweden in 1944. When the Soviet Union invaded Estonia in 1940, most Christian organizations were dissolved, church property was confiscated, theologians were exiled to Siberia, and religious education programs were outlawed. World War II later brought devastation to many church buildings. It was not until 1988 that church activities were renewed when a movement for religious tolerance began in the Soviet Union. As of 2006 the EELK reported approximately 200,000 members. 
The EELK is member of the Lutheran World Federation. The current archbishop is the Most Rev. Andres Põder.
The Archbishop of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad (with about 8,000 members) is the Most Rev. Dr Andres Taul, also a pastor of the Lutheran Church - Canada. For more information, see the EELK website. (Click on the British flag at the top for English text.) The white church (pictured above left and right) is the Lutheran cathedral in Tallinn, Estonia: the Cathedral of St. Mary the Virgin -- also known as the "Dome Church." |