The Anglocatholic Church

Members on the College of Bishops of The Anglocatholic Church are: Patriarch Heigo Ritsbek, Patriarch Coadjutor Raphael Marie Villiere, Primate James Christian Macaire Miafouanandi, Primate Earl Lewis Frazier, Metropolitan Archbishop Augustine Urumbayev, Archbishop Emeritus David Smith, Bishop Emeritus Paul Jacob Boardman, Bishop Florent Moussolo, Bishop Raivo Kodanik, Bishop Adriano Amato, Bishop Richard Dickerson. Total Eleven Bishops.

On Sunday, June 23, 2024, His Beatitude Lord Most Reverend Dr. Heigo Ritsbek, MA, MDiv, DMin, LittD, DD, Patriarch of the Anglocatholic Church, gave in Pärnu at Emmanuel Baptist Church – Tallinn Patriarchate Order of Honour – to the Right Reverend Dr. Joosep Tammo, MDiv, DD, former Vice-President of the Council of Churches in Estonia and Former President of the Baptist Union of Estonia.

From left: Mrs. ÜLLE RITSBEK, Patriarch Lord Dr. HEIGO RITSBEK, Pastor Emeritus Dr. JOOSEP TAMMO and Mrs. AIME TAMMO.

On Saturday, June 1, 2024, His Beatitude Lord Most Reverend Dr. Heigo Ritsbek, MA, MDiv, DMin, LittD, DD, Patriarch of the Anglocatholic Church, gave in the presence of church people and relatives the First Order of Honour of Tallinn Patriarchate to His Excellency, Most Reverend Dr. Raivo Kodanik, Bishop of the Diocese of Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of God of the Anglocatholic Church, in Tallinn, Estonia.

Order of Honour of Tallinn Patriarchate – the greatest honor to our clergy and lay people.

Today we celebrate Pentecost. It has been called the the birthday of the Christian Church.

At the beginning of the Bible. Genesis chapter 12 speaks of God’s intervention in human history in one special way through the calling of Abraham. Before that, “human history” or history without God in so-called quotation marks will enter total chaos in the story of the Tower of Babel, where one wants to build a tower to God in heaven and make a name for oneself. However, this “making a name for yourself” ends up for tower builders with God mixing up their language and they no longer understand each other. Even later, in history, attempts have been made by people to make a name for themselves. Attila, Nero and many others tried to make a name for themselves. Hitler tried to build a thousand-year-old empire. Lenin, Stalin, Pol Poth and others tried to make a name for themselves and build the world according to their own extraordinarily inhumane notions. But those times are over. Making a name for yourself in this world never ends well. For the name is only on God.

In the Pentecostal story we heard today from the book of Acts in the Bible, God, who has a name, unites people into one. It does not occur as a result of any manipulations or human learning, but it occurs through a divine linguistic miracle, where people again understand each other, it occurs through the action of God Himself. God intervenes in the history of mankind in a special way and gives His followers courageto our followers, the courage to go to people with a message of joy, and we can convey the message in such a way that people understand it.

In light of this, it is not extraordinary that today, we are united in the service of the Lord. Dietrich Boenhoeffer has said that “Christian unity is not an ideal we should aspire to, but it is a reality, created by God in Christ in which we can participate”.

The Pentecostal vow is in baptism—after the listeners are asked what they should do, the holy Apostle Peter said, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins” (Acts 2:38). Baptism is very important at the beginning of the Christian journey, it is divine action in accepting you into God’s family – the Church – it is, using the terms of the story of the Tower of Babel, your renunciation of making a name for yourself and instead entrusting yourself to God, Baptism is very important at the beginning of the Christian journey, it is divine action in accepting you into God’s family — the Church — it is, using the terms of the story of the Tower of Babel, your renunciation of making a name for yourself and instead entrusting yourself to God, who has a name. God’s name is then upon you. Then you will be Christ forever and ever.

“I have been crucified with Christ, now it is no longer me who lives, but Christ lives in me,” says the holy Apostle Paul (Galatians 2:19–20). says the holy Apostle Paul (Galatians 2:19–20). With Christ, and Christ lives in me and in you. The first Pentecostal with Jews who believed in Jesus was a linguistic event accompanied by the extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit. The Christian Pentecostal event has its roots in the Jewish holiday of the weeks. It was a time in late spring when the first ripened fruits were brought before God in gratitude for His grace and generosity.

This holiday was held 50 days after Passover, hence the Pentecostal name – pentecoste in Greek. On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit of God was poured out for the purpose of the mission of the Christian Church, the mission of the Christian Church. Before the Ascension, Jesus had said, “… ye shall receive power from the Holy Ghost, which shall come over you, and ye shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The Christian Church exists not for itself, it exists for the world, that the whole earth The Christian Church exists not for itself, it exists for the world so that the whole world can be transformed. Made to be quite different.

This is the mission of the Church, that is, beloved sister and brother, your mission and mine. Today on Pentecost, it’s good to remember that again.

God promises to renew not only individual people, but also the relationships between them – which, of course, should be renewed by themselves as people renew. The Spirit of God unites people: “For we are all baptized into one body by one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13), as the holy Apostle Paul writes.

Today, the question arises – are we ready for this? Are we prepared to be witnesses of the Lord all the way to the ends of the world. Inside the edge of this world is our beautiful Maryland. Here in Estonia and all the world there are people who long for the divine message of love and forgiveness. May God help that the Pentecostal we celebrate today will inspire us all even more to do so—to be God’s mission.

Our prayer today is: Lord, send your Spirit and renew the face of the earth!

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Amen.