{"id":5034,"date":"2026-10-07T13:53:55","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T12:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leuenberg.eu\/?p=5034"},"modified":"2026-10-07T14:03:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T13:03:24","slug":"the-communion-makes-the-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leuenberg.eu\/de\/2026\/10\/07\/the-communion-makes-the-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Makes All the Difference"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad that my son can simply say at school that he went to church on Sunday \u2013 and not be looked at strangely for it.\u201d Maarja Krussmets is standing in the break room at Kaarli School in Tallinn, speaking so animatedly that her corkscrew curls bounce. She is not only the mother of a pupil, but also an English teacher at the church-run school. And she is clearly enthusiastic about the school\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n

Not only are religious studies taught here, Christian festivals celebrated and Christian values imparted, but the educational approach is also unique: the school is situated right in the city centre and makes the most of this. \u201cWe don\u2019t have regular lessons on Wednesdays. All the classes go out and visit a different learning location. The three factors \u2013 environment, experience and knowledge \u2013 are intended to be part of the education,\u201d says Meelis Holsting, describing the concept. The deacon wears an earring and a clerical collar and teaches religion at the secondary school.<\/p>\n

The school has a long history. A church-run nursery existed as early as 1880, and the secondary school was founded in 1918. However, the school was forced to close under Russian occupation during the Second World War. It was not until the end of the Soviet era that the nursery could reopen in 1993; the primary school followed in 2013, and in 2023 the first pupils were admitted to the upper secondary school.<\/p>\n

English teacher Kruusmets shows us around the school\u2019s rooms. In one corridor stands a table with glass stones. The children are encouraged to say a prayer whenever something is on their minds and to place a stone in the bowl. Everything is bright, welcoming, and of a high standard, from the classrooms to the craft rooms in the basement. Yes, parents do have to pay school fees, confirms Maarja Kruusmets when asked. But there is also the possibility of receiving a scholarship.<\/p>\n

Not all the children and young people at the school come from families with a Christian background. \u201cMany appreciate the friendliness that prevails at the school, the freedom in how we interact with one another,\u201d reports Deacon Holsting. Iko is in the upper school and can confirm this. Religion doesn\u2019t really play a role in his family; he chose this school because some of his friends are here too. \u201cI like the sense of community here. It\u2019s a small school, almost like a family,\u201d he says. And religion? Much of it is new to him, but also interesting. \u201cI\u2019m learning a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

From this special place of learning in the centre of Tallinn, the tour continues to the premises of the Bethel congregation. There, from humble beginnings, a social centre for disadvantaged children and young people has been established. Alongside the day centre, which forms the core of the work, there is also a children\u2019s home where children and young people can live as soon as they are ready to attend school every day. The work also includes experiential learning activities such as summer camps.<\/p>\n

For Matti Sinisaar, who is guiding us through the centre, the Christian faith is the central motivation for everything he does. Time and again, the centre\u2019s director weaves a relevant Bible verse into his presentation. He speaks movingly about the early days in the late 1990s. Volunteers from the parish began by providing food for street children who were living in inhumane conditions in the Koplin district of Tallinn. He tells the story of Marina and her brother, who lived in the sewers. Only Marina managed to accept help \u2013 her brother did not. He is no longer alive today. Marina now has children of her own and, on the website, thanks the Peeteli Centre for the support that changed her life.<\/p>\n

The tour of the premises ends in the common room, where the large dining table stands. Eating together is a central part of the community, of which the Christian faith is naturally an integral part. Before the meal, a passage from the Bible is read \u2013 the children are allowed to choose the language themselves. And on the walls hang posters featuring the Lord\u2019s Prayer \u2013 in Russian, Ukrainian, Estonian and English, amongst other languages. \u201cIntroducing the children to the Lord\u2019s Prayer is precisely our aim,\u201d explains Sinisaar.<\/p>\n

He says that his many years of work at the centre have changed him too. The director explains that, shaped by Estonian history and the older generation\u2019s accounts of the atrocities committed during the Russian occupation, he grew up harbouring a hatred of Russians. And he sees it as God\u2019s plan that most of the children he has helped at the centre since then have, of all people, been Russian-speaking. \u201cDo not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good,\u201d he quotes from the Epistle to the Romans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Where in Tallinn is the Christian faith being passed on to the younger generation?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5039,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,22,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","category-featured","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leuenberg.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leuenberg.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leuenberg.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leuenberg.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leuenberg.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5034"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.leuenberg.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5042,"href":"https:\/\/www.leuenberg.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5034\/revisions\/5042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leuenberg.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leuenberg.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leuenberg.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leuenberg.eu\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}