RINGO RINGVEE Charismatic Christianity and Pentecostal churches in Estonia from a historical perspective his article focuses on the history of Pentecostal these are part of larger churches or congregational and charismatic Christianity in Estonia from the associations. However, there is also a considerable Tearly twentieth century to the early twenty-first number of independent charismatic and Pentecostal century. From the 1870s onwards a series of religious re- congregations. vivals in Estonia created the context for the emergence The largest Pentecostal church in Estonia is of the Pentecostal movement in the early twentieth cen- the Estonian Christian Pentecostal Church (Eesti tury. Proto-Pentecostalism at the beginning of the cen- Krist­­lik Nelipühi Kirik) that began its formation tury transformed into a fully-fledged Pentecostalism in in 1989. However there is also the Association of the 1920s with the involvement of foreign missionaries Esto nian Evangelical Christian Pentecostal Con- from Sweden as well as from Finland. The Finnish con- gre­­gations (Eesti Evangeeliumi Kristlaste Neli- nection became important in the late 1960s with the pühi laste Koguduste Liit), the Association of Esto- emergence of a charismatic Pentecostal revival in the nian Christian Free Churches (Eesti Kristlike evangelical Christian churches, as well as amongst the Vaba koguduste Liit, which unites the Word of Life Baptists in Tallinn. By the late 1970s the prayer revival [Elu Sõna] congregations), and several independent had transformed into a healing ministry and this had congre gations, as already mentioned. At the same an impact on the charismatic movement in the Soviet time there are congregations in the Estonian Union Union . The foreign impact on Pentecostal and charis- of Evangelical Christian and Baptist Churches (Eesti matic movements in Estonia has also been important Evan­­geeli umi Kristlaste ja Baptistide Koguduste Liit) from the late 1980s onwards. There has been consider- with Pentecostal influences and/or backgrounds. able diversification of the charismatic and Pentecostal The history of Pentecostal and charismatic Chris- traditions in Estonia since the 1990s, and the trends tianity in Estonia is as yet largely unwritten. Much have reflected general changes in charismatic Chris- of the available knowledge on the early phases of the tianity. Although internally diverse the charismatic Pentecostal movement in Estonia relies on the mem- Christianity (including the Pentecostals) may well be by oirs of Evald Kiil (1997) who started his career as a now the second largest Protestant tradition in Estonia. Pentecostal preacher in the 1930s. The 1970s charis- matic revival is covered by memoirs or books based on the memoirs of the participants (Uuemõis 2010, Introduction Kraeuter 2012). Toivo Pilli (2008), Riho Saard (2010) At the beginning of the twenty-first century the and Jaanus Plaat (2001) have also paid attention to the Estonian religious landscape is still dominated by movements, however, often in a more general reviv- Christianity. Besides the two dominant denomin- alist context. There are also some unpublished BA, ations, the Lutherans and the Orthodox churches, MA and PhD theses on charismatic and Pentecostal there are also a number of new charismatic and Christianity in Estonia (Ritsbek 1996, Kroll 2006, Pentecostal churches and movements present in Hermaküla 2007). Estonia. In 2014 there were over 570 religious There is lack of reliable information concern- associ ations with legal entity status. The majority of ing Pentecostalism and charismatic Christianity Approaching Religion • Vol. 5, No. 1 • May 2015 57 in Estonia. Thus for example it has been estimated Örmso (1876). The coastal Swedes have lived side that there were between 200 and 2,000 Pentecostals by side with ethnic Estonians for centuries along the in Estonia in the 1930s (Teraudkalns 2001: 98). west coast of Estonia and it was from there that the According to the 1934 population census there were revival spread among local Estonians. On the island 191 persons who defined themselves as Pentecostals, of Ormsö the revivalists split away from the Lutheran 459 affiliates of Free Gospel Churches, and 306 Church in 1880. By that time the revival had spread Revival ists, which amounted to less than 1 per cent to the rest of western Estonia and in 1879 it became of the population (Rahvastiku koostis ja korteriolud known as the Ridala (or West Coast) revival, refer- 1935: 118–21). ring to its central hub (Plaat 2001: 66–7; Busch 1928). Among local peasants the revival took differ- ent forms including more charismatic features Relevant historical background such as jumping, clapping hands, dancing, shaking, In the sixteenth century the Lutheran Church and speaking in tongues. The revivalist movement became the dominant Landskirche, as it is in present became known as the free-churchers (priilased) or day Estonia. The religious diversification of Estonia the revivalist free churches. started in the eighteenth century with the arrival of When the German Baptist pastor Adam Schiewe the Moravian Brethren missionaries from Herrnhut, from St Petersburg arrived in Estonia in 1884 the Germany. The Brethren movement (vennaste­ revival was in full swing. In February 1884 Schiewe kogudus) was initially invited by the Baltic German conducted the first baptisms of faith in Estonia gentry and clergy who were influenced by Pietism, (Wardin 2013). In subsequent years some of the but due to the missionary efforts of the Brethren it revivalist free churches joined Baptists who were per- became popular among the native peasantry and was mitted to operate in the Russian Empire, while some accompanied by ecstatic movements (Vööbus 1974: of the revivalist free churches remained as independ- 103–46). From the early eighteenth century onwards ent, close-knit communities. The Baptists became a variety of local prophets and ecstatic movements one of the fastest-growing religious denominations emerged. One of the best known examples of the in the ensuing decades. ecstatic movements are the heaven- or skywalkers The end of the nineteenth century and the first (taevaskäijad), who were mostly young maidens who decade of the twentieth century were years of rapid claimed to visit heaven as well as hell, and brought urbanization and industrialization and this was also a back messages (Plaat 2001: 42–4). time when many Christian traditions new to Estonia arrived. In 1897 the Seventh-day Adventists arrived, followed by Methodists in 1905 and an emotionally- The 1870s revival charged local revival also took place in 1905, started From a more recent perspective the introduc- by a young revivalist preacher, the Jewish-born tion of charismatic Christianity into Estonia can Lutheran convert Johannes Rubanovitsch (Betz and be said to have taken place at the end of the nine- Lohmeyer nd). The 1905 Pietistic revival movement teenth century during the period of Russian imperial became known as the Evangelical Christians (evan­ Russification. The coastal Swedes of north-western geeliumi kristlased) (Pilli 2008: 3). Estonia, who had become the subjects of the Russian czar as a result of the 1721 Nystad peace treaty, became concerned at the missionary activities of the The Pentecostal movement at the beginning Russian Orthodox Church and in 1873 the Swedish of the twentieth century evangel ization society, the Evangelical Homeland The exact birthdate of the Pentecostal movement in Foundation (Evangeliska Fosterlandsstiftelsen) sent Estonia is rather hard to establish. Many of the fea- missionaries to Estonia at the request of the Lutheran tures which are often characteristic of the Pentecostal clergy of the coastal Swedes (Plaat 2001: 62–3; movement (such as speaking in tongues, for ex ample) Kaups 1935: 102–5). Thure Emmanuel Thoren and had already been introduced into Estonian religious Lars Österblom were missionaries and schoolteach- life before the end of the nineteenth century, as a con- ers who triggered revivals among coastal Swedes in sequence of various revivals. The Pentecostal move- Noarootsi/Nuckö (1874) and the island of Vormsi/ ment has been viewed as a continuation of the holi- 58 Approaching Religion • Vol. 5, No. 1 • May 2015 ness movement which had arrived in Estonia in the stipulated freedom of religion and indicated that 1890s (Pilli 2007: 233). there was no state religion. The governmental atti- The earliest contacts with proto-Pentecostal tude to religion was rather indifferent. In 1922 the move ments date back to the early 1900s when first Swedish missionary came to Estonia with the Baroness Margarethe von Brasch, having been filled intention of learning the Russian language, as in with the Spirit at an evangelical service in Germany the 1920s Russia was seen as a potential missionary had begun to organize worship services at her home country. Yngve Valdemar Ölvingsson (also known as in Estonia. The British missionary Eleanor Patrick, Voldemar Ellingsson) settled in north-west Estonia who became Pentecostal in 1908 and had a role in amidst the Swedish settlements along the coast. He the Pentecostal mission in Russia, also visited Estonia had been affiliated with the Methodist Church and between 1909 and 1912 (Anderson 2014: 108; Mozer had become associated with the Swedish Pentecostal and Bornovolokov 2011: 261). movement. His preaching became popular among The arrival of Pentecostal movement to Estonia revivalist circles. In 1924 Ölvingsson established his has been dated back to 1907