The Church of Sweden is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest Lutheran denomination in Europe and the third-largest in the world, after the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.
A pastor is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Anglicanism, pastors are always ordained. In Methodism, pastors may be either licensed or ordained.
The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church is a Lutheran church in Estonia. EELC is member of the Lutheran World Federation and belongs to the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe. It is also a member of the Porvoo Communion, putting it in full communion with the Church of England and other Anglican churches in Europe.
The Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church is an Orthodox church in Estonia under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Under Estonian law it is the legal successor to the pre–World War II Estonian Orthodox Church, which in 1940 had over 210,000 faithful, three bishops, 156 parishes, 131 priests, 19 deacons, two monasteries, and a theological seminary; the majority of the faithful were ethnic Estonians. Its official name is the Orthodox Church of Estonia.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia is a Lutheran Protestant church in Latvia. Latvia's Lutheran heritage dates back to the Reformation. Both the Nazi and communist regimes persecuted the church harshly before religious freedom returned to Latvia in 1988. In contrast to Estonia, where state atheism reduced the once 80% Lutheran majority to barely 10% by 2011, the Latvian Lutheran church saw its membership drop to around 20% but has recovered and now includes approximately 30% of the population. The church reports having 250,000 members according to the Lutheran World Federation.
The Church of Sweden Abroad is an institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden. The Church of Sweden Abroad (SKUT) has more than 40 parishes throughout the world, concentrated in Western Europe. Another 80 cities are served by visiting clergy.
Andres Põder is an Estonian clergyman, bishop emeritus and the former archbishop of Tallinn and primate of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Estonia (EELK) from 2005–2014. Põder is the current president of Estonian Council of Churches since 2013.
Jaan Kiivit Jr. was the Archbishop of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church from 1994 until 2005.
Kuno Pajula was an Estonian prelate who served as the Archbishop of Tallinn and Primate of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church between 1987 and 1994.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asia, also known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and the Other States (ELCROS), is a Lutheran denomination that itself comprises seven regional Lutheran denominations in Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan as well as individual congregations in Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Established in its current form in 1999, ELCROS currently has about 24,050 members in more than 400 congregations within its jurisdiction.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria is a Lutheran church of the Scandinavian tradition in Russia. It is the second largest Lutheran church in Russia, with 90 congregations and 15,000 members, and is active mostly in Ingria and Karelia.
The Siberian Evangelical Lutheran Church is a Confessional Lutheran denomination that operates in Russia. It originally grew out of evangelistic efforts by their first bishop Vsevolod Lytkin, who began preaching Christianity in Novosibirsk in the early 1990s. The church was previously affiliated with the Church of Estonia as the 'West Siberian Christian Mission' until it gained administrative autonomy in 2003. On May 6, 2007 Vsevolod Lytkin was consecrated as Presiding Bishop of the SELC by Archbishop Andres Poder along with Jānis Vanags, Kuna Pajula, Mindaugas Sabutis, and Einar Soone in a ceremony at St. Mary's Cathedral, thus granting the SELC full autonomy from the EELC. The SELC participates in the International Lutheran Council and as of July 22, 2013 the SELC has been in full communion with the LCMS.
Jakob Kukk was an Estonian prelate who served as the first bishop of the independent Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Hugo Bernhard Rahamägi was a prominent Estonian prelate and politician who served as Minister for Education in the Estonian government between 1924 and 1925 and later as Bishop of Tallinn and Primate of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church from 1934 till 1939.
Jaan Kiivit Senior was an Estonian prelate who was the Archbishop of Tallinn and the first primate of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church from 1949 and 1967, after the break away from the exiled Estonian Evangelium's Lutheran Church.
Alfred Tooming was an Estonian prelate who served as the Archbishop of Tallinn and Primate of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church between 1967 and 1977.
Edgar Hark was an Estonian prelate who was the Archbishop of Tallinn and Primate of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church between 1978 and 1986.
Einar Soone is an Estonian prelate who served as suffragan bishop to the Archbishop of Tallinn and the first Bishop of the Diocese of the Northern Region in Estonia.
Joel Luhamets is an Estonian Lutheran prelate who is the current bishop of the Southern Region whose seat is in Tartu, Estonia.
Tiit Salumäe is an Estonian prelate who is the current bishop of the Western and Northern Region in Estonia, whose episcopal seat is in Haapsalu.
