from the time of the reformation, estonia's primary religious tradition has been lutheranism, with a catholic polity, and episcopal government. the national church of estonia is the estonian evangelical lutheran church, of which st john's is a parish church. the motivation for construction was the large size of the existing congregation at the neighbouring holy spirit parish church (sometimes translated 'holy ghost'), which by the mid-nineteenth century numbered more than 14,000 members. fundraising began in 1851 to provide a new parish church in the expanding suburbs of the 'new' town of tallinn, at the lower level below the ancient hill-top city settlement (the "toompea"). from september 1862 local craftsmen worked on construction, and the church was consecrated on 17 december 1867.