Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church
Who we are
The Lutheran Church is still the largest church in Estonia, around 10-15 percent of the Estonian population are members. The church’s Institute of Theology is an educational centre for the entire church: for preparing clergy, other church workers, lay people, church musicians, etc., for various types of work within congregations. The institute also trains teachers of religious education in public schools, as well as military, prison and hospital chaplains and people who are going to work in the mass media.
The church is actively involved in diaconia and social work as a bridge between congregations and local communities. The congregations have to develop into capable partners for both the state and local municipalities. In cooperation new structures and new value are created. This does not mean that church cannot have specific clerical goals. It may and should have them, but both the church and the state are just tools for serving others. This means serving our brothers and sisters in the broadest sense of these words.
Why we are involved in SEMPRE Accelerators
SEMPRE Accelerators addresses issues relevant for the church and the work of congregations. It enables empowering people in congregations in remote areas of the country and strengthening of cooperation between various stakeholders. An international arena would assist in fulfilling the local goals better and draw more attention to the activities. SEMPRE and SEMPRE Accelerators enable addressing target groups that have not been addressed by other international projects so far such as families at risk, ex-offenders, NEET (not in education, employment or training) youth, etc. The project enables empowering of risk groups on local level and assists them in improvement of their own lives by providing training to create jobs. The project increases social entrepreneurship on the local level. These are all values that the Evangelical Lutheran Church also shares.
Our micro project in SEMPRE Accelerators
Our goal in Harkujärve is to develop the church into a community centre, into a stable social enterprise. This is the "roof", this is our micro project in SEMPRE Accelerators. Under this roof, we aim at developing and stabilising several activities, such as the work with ex-offenders or the setup of a library. These services should help to sustain our community centre. To learn more about our path from micro project to social start-up, please check our social start-up biography.
| Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church Eesti Evangeelne Luterlik Kirik Tallinn, Estonia |
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