Russian resurrection

Last week your blogger was on his hols in the beautiful Russian city of St Petersburg.

The now defunct Communist regime had no use for churches and many of them, like the one pictured, were converted to other uses.

We stumbled upon this church by chance but it had a fascinating story to tell.

The Soviets turned it into a swimming pool, complete with a diving board in the chancel (above), and worship and the ministry of the word halted - for a while anyway.

Then everything changed in Russia, and St Petersburg's German Lutheran Church underwent a dramatic physical and spiritual resurrection.

A picture of Christ crucified  replaced the diving board. The church was beautifully restored and is once again open for worship.

Just up the same road - in Nevsky Prospect, 'St Petersburg High Street' - the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, a museum under Communism, was thronged with worshippers, many of them young people... and a family had gathered for the baptism of its newest member.

The message was clear. In St Petersburg the church that very nearly died is alive and well.