Estonian Methodist Church

In 1907, George A. Simons, an American of German descent, was named the superintendent of Finland and Russia with a seat in Saint Petersburg by bishop William Burt in Zürich.

The first missionary in Estonia was Vassili Täht, a colporteur of the British and Foreign Bible Society in Saint Petersburg.

On 9 June 1907 Vassili met his friend Karl Kuum, a brother in the Moravian Church, on the island of Saaremaa.

The first Methodist service in Estonia was held in merchant Mihkel Trey's home in Kuressaare, Saaremaa.

[5] The congregation of Kuressaare, the first one in Estonia, was officially established on 26 August 1910 when three men and two women were accepted into communion.

[8] From the island of Saaremaa the Methodist mission spread to the mainland where the first congregation was established by Karl Kuum in July 1912 in Tapa.

Some members of the Methodist clergy were further repressed, e.g. pastor of the Tallinn congregation Aleksander Kuum was arrested and deported in 1952.

[18] From 1972 onwards the visits of Northern European bishops to Estonia became regular events, taking place once or twice a year.

The seminary is now accredited as an institution of higher education in Estonia offering both one-year diploma certificate and a three-year degree programme in theology.

On 1 January 2007 the United Methodist Church in Estonia had 24 congregations and 4 ministry points with a total membership of 1,731.

The main reason for this was the growing trend among the UMC bishops to ignore the church teachings on homosexuality and same-sex marriages that was not acceptable to the Estonian Methodist congregations.

[20] The decision was confirmed on 16 June 2023 at the Baltic Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, with 23 congregations voting in favour.