Bishop Anti Toplaan of Saare-Lääne concluded his episcopal visitation to the local authorities of Pärnu County with a meeting at St Elizabeth’s Church, where he also met the Mayor of Pärnu, Kristel Voltenberg. The hosts were the Revd Toomas Nigola, pastor of St Elizabeth’s Parish and dean of Pärnu Deanery, and Andres Riivits, chair of…

On Saturday, 25 October, the outer windows on the Kuninga Street side of our church that had been replaced by plastic sheeting in recent weeks returned from the restoration workshop. If you have a moment while walking through town, look up—aren’t they beautiful! The next windows will soon have their turn, so we hope to…

It is the penultimate Sunday before the beginning of Lent. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work” (John 4:34). The Letter to the Hebrews, quoting the Old Testament Psalter, says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” (Hebrews 3:15)…

The official said to Jesus, “Sir, come down before my little boy dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. (John 4:49–50) The Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost is dedicated in the Church year to the struggle of faith.…

“Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in Jesus. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.” (John 12:42–43) In today’s Gospel reading (John 12:37–43), it is said of…

Jesus says: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” Matthew 25:31–32 When…

On 28 February at 11:00, Liisa Rossi, MTh, will lead a Bible study in the confirmation hall. The subject is St Paul’s Letter to the Colossians. Liisa Rossi’s Bible studies take place on the fourth Saturday of February, March, April and May, enabling participants to work through the whole Letter to the Colossians during the…

Look, your king is coming to you; righteous and victorious is he! (Zechariah 9:9) Archbishop Urmas Viilma sends this greeting for the beginning of the new Church year: Once again the moment has arrived when we light the first Advent candle and set out on the journey into a new Church year. Advent is a…

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders, chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. (Matthew 16:21) The First Sunday in Lent sets before us the question of how we…

Christ is coming soon! “Soon”, as we know, is a highly relative term. Its precise meaning depends on the context. In any case, when Christ says “soon”, it means that his coming is not an event that has no bearing on us yet. The opposite of “soon” is something still far away—something that, in our…