On October 27, 2025, the St. Cross congregation in Vologda celebrated its first anniversary!
On October 27, 2024, bishop Ivan Laptev conducted the first worship service in the building of the former Polish Catholic church (it was built in 1913). Since that moment, the Word of God has resounded here once again, and the Sacraments are being administered. Since then, three parishioners have been baptized, and eleven have been confirmed. The words of the Gospel resonate through sermons, sacred music, exhibitions, and art.
The city is proud of a long and rich history dating back to at least 1147. The vast majority of the population identifies as Orthodox, and the city has many historic Orthodox churches. Against this backdrop, the ambition to transform the former Catholic Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross into a city-wide renowned art center and Lutheran church is all the more ambitious and significant.
During the Soviet years, the church building served as a Pioneer club, a dormitory for a veterinary college, a restaurant, and in our century—even as a nightclub and again as a restaurant. Meanwhile, Lutherans in Vologda have a long, though largely forgotten, history: the third Lutheran church ever built in Russia appeared in this city in 1689.
By God’s providence and grace, we are witnesses and participants in the revival of this church and the spiritual life within it—it is for this very purpose believers erected it over a hundred years ago. The current owners of the building, the Mikheev family, saw that the Church of Ingria has good experience in reviving church buildings practically “from scratch” (as in the case of the famous Annenkirche, which burned out internally). Catholics did not show great interest in the church. Lutherans responded keenly to the proposal to begin spiritual activities in the church. Pastor Alexei Kargaltsev, residing in St. Petersburg but originally from Vologda where his parents still live, was installed as the senior pastor. The congregation is regularly visited by pastors from St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, Nizhny Novgorod, and Petrozavodsk.
“See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. Your children hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you. Lift up your eyes and look around; all your children gather and come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride” (Isaiah 49:16-18).
