Latvian Lutherans are in full Communion with the Church of England and therefore with the whole Anglican Communion. For the last couple of years, St Mary de Castro have hosted our Latvian Lutherian brothers and sisters for their monthly celebration of the Eucharist.
This year’s Christmas Eve service made the news in Latvia and a video of interviews with Daira Vavere, Dean of the Latvian Lutherans in England, and some of the congregation was shown on television this week!
The video is of course in Latvian, but I hope you will enjoy it. An extract of the video can be found on our Facebook page. Click the link below to see the full news report.
A Google translation of text from the website is below. Please forgive the grammar and translation error. Google cannot accurately translate, but has a very good try!
British Latvians gather for Christmas service
Authors: Ilze Kalve (author of Latvian Television and LSM.lv in Great Britain)
In Britain, compatriots have gathered for Christmas services in several places in both London and Central England. At one time, religion was one of the unifying factors of exiled Latvians, which has lost its importance today, however, pastors in the diaspora are honored and respected, and services are still held.
In the church built in 1107, the name of which translates as St. Mary’s Church near the palace, King Richard III himself once prayed, but nowadays the Latvian congregation is also welcome in the repeatedly rebuilt premises.
Daira Vāvere, a spokeswoman for the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in the UK (LELBL), said: “It would be 916 Christmases here, and for our, the Latvian congregation, it is the second Christmas that we celebrate here in this church. But in Leicester, Latvians have been gathered since the founding of the church, here in the UK, when the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Great Britain was formed in 1948.”
The Central England congregation is led by a pair of pastors – Viesturs Vāvere and Daira Vāvere, who a year ago became the first woman in history to serve as presiding officer of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Great Britain.
“The basic task of the clergyman and pastor is to gather compatriots around the word of God, around the sacrament in the church, which is also our main task. And, of course, to ensure that continuity,” she explained.
In the sermon, everyone was called to become a carrier of light and goodness, because only in this way can one live in peace and harmony in these insecure times.
Brunis Vishnyakov, a parishioner of Central England, admitted: “We come with joy, with gratitude. Of course, with our repentance, as we sinners are. But we come with the hope that we will worship here, and we will unite with Christ, and receive Christ’s blessing for us, in our families, in our nations.”
For her part, parishioner Agnese Stepāne said: “We are very happy to have such a pastor and Daira who gives us everything we need, and peace and harmony in the family. And a blessing in this world! Such a terrible time that something is happening everywhere…”
Interestingly, there are a large number of gentlemen in the parish of Central England.
Maris Randers, a parishioner, said: “I believe and I hope more girls will come, that there are so many gentlemen already. The right place to meet, not in a pub! It’s better to be here.”