Estonian Clergy Conference





At the invitation of the Archbishop of Estonia, the Most Revd Andres Põder, I attended the annual clergy conference of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, which was held from 24-25 January in Roosta, in the NW of the country. The theme of the gathering, which brought together over 100 priests from the Estonian Church, was preaching. The Bishop of Rochester and I (the diocese of Rochester and the diocese of Estonia are twinned) ran a workshop on preaching in the Anglican tradition. 


A highlight of the annual clergy conference is a banquet where several people are honoured, including the "priest of the year", who is chosen by secret ballot of clergy colleagues. The priest of the year must have had particular success during the past year in a particular project or parish programme. (I am not sure this would work in the Diocese in Europe; for one thing, we could not agree on what constitutes "success"!) 


The Church of England is in communion with the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, through the Porvoo Agreement. The Revd Gustav Piir (above) is licensed to serve our Church of England congregation of SS Timothy and Titus in Tallinn.


  

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