Religious Beliefs and Spirituality in Estonia

The largest church in Estonia is Evangelical Lutheran Church followed by equally influential religions namely Russian Orthodox, Estonian Orthodox, Baptist Methodist, Roman Catholic, Seventh-Day Adventist, Pentecostal, Word of Life, and Jewish religion. Religious organizations in Estonia have been a form of silent protests during the Soviet Administration but after the Independence, the silence had been broken and religions begun to appear.

The Council of Estonian Churches or CEC in 1989 was established. Its main objective was to unite the different churches in the country to advocate spiritual development for all Estonians. In the end, the dominance of Evangelical Lutheranism prevailed and until the present time, it plays an important role in the lives of many religious Estonians.

Historically speaking, during the 13th century, Estonians were Christianized by the Teutonic Knights and this event extended to the Reformation period in Europe and the spread of Lutheranism together with its religious practices was officially established in 1686 until it reached the 20th century.

The constitution of Estonia gives its people the freedom to choose their religion. The separation of church and the state is clearly established. People enjoy their individual right to privacy in terms of beliefs and religion. However, based on statistics, Estonia has the highest level of irreligious individuals, those who stated that they don’t have specific religious affiliations. There are still many Estonians who are not particularly religious people and this perception toward religion is attributed with German feudal rule. For the record, there are around 68,000 atheists Estonians.