On May 10, 2021 at the ELCIR Theological Institute, there was a symbolic “meeting” of two men who have a great significance for The Church of Ingria: the first bishop of the re-established Church of Ingria Leino Hassinen (1924–2015) after whom is named the Institute’s brand-new building, and Selim Jalmari Laurikalla (1882–1957) who was the leader of The Church of Ingria in the years of Soviet atheistic persecution (1924–1937), after whom was named the precursor of the current Theological Institute – the Training & Diaconia Center. On May 10, the Leino Building hosted the Laurikalla Lectures, an international academic conference which focused on the topic “The Sacral and the Sacred in Religious Practices.”
The first week of May showed that the new facility was built just in time. The participants of the seminar for pastors and their wives taught by Pastoral Leadership Institute International and several other theological seminars concurring at the same time had barely enough room even in three buildings! We keep our Theological Institute in our prayers, wishing to overcome all difficulties with God’s help and to serve the good of our church for many more years!In photos:
Bishop Leino Hassinen dedicates the old building of the Training & Diaconia Center on August 27, 1995;
Married couples seminar participants in front of what has been known as the new building;
The conference in the “newest” building;
Construction process;
The bishop shows the seminar participants the newest building outside and inside;
Last photo: All the three buildings in one frame.
Photo credits:
1st photo: the book “Put very dlinnoyu v stoletiya” (“The Centuries-Long Journey of Faith”)
Group photo on the porch: TICI group on VK
Construction photo: Aleksei Zubtsov