Self-perception of the Lutheran Church in Latvia: in History and Today

Linards Rozentāls The article examines the transformation in self-perception of the Lutheran Church in Latvia from a historical point of view and briefly describes the reasons for the origin of such self-perception. It presents several models of self-perception: group, movement, community, institution, people’s church, and organization. Particular attention is paid to the institutional changes in the church during the authoritarian and the soviet periods, as well as the alterations caused in the Church by the resistance movement in the 80ies. The influence of the trauma caused by the WWII and the soviet regime on the various contradictory models of self-perception today is underlined.