Pt. 2.
Under the title "The Estonian Church and the Veterans", an article appeared in Võitlus attacking the state's previous policy towards the church and making demands. It was the church that was said to have been most oppressed by the parties. The Church's first wish for the Veterans was, according to the article, to regain "to recognise its work and activity as necessary in the moral and spiritual life of the people". The religious work of the church was to be the cornerstone of the state, and religious education in schools was to be compulsory. Political parties were said to be "...Satan's instruments against the soul, the spirit and the purse of the people". On the other hand, the new Estonia under the leadership of the Veterans would have to link itself to the church. The epistle ends with the cry: 'God, help us!'.
When the results of the constitutional referendum were known, the Veterans held thanksgiving services in several places. In Tallinn, according to the newspaper "Päevaleht", as many as two services were held at the same time - in St. John's Church and Toomkirik, respectively. Both churches were already full half an hour before the start of the service, and many had to stand behind the door. Sirk and his wife, as well as Larka, also attended the Eucharist at the Toomkirche service. Teacher Uhke was the speaker. Among other things, he spoke about the fact that when the Estonian state was founded, there were people who thought that God was not needed. Such people, in his opinion, had been punished by God on 16 October following the victory of the Vaps Constitution.
In Narva, thanksgiving services were also held in two churches. In St. Peter's Church, the sermon was preached by the teacher G. Kiviste. Here too the church was so crowded that not everyone could get in (Päevaleht, 21.10.1933:1). According to the Veterans' newspaper, the crowd was so large that 2000 people remained outside the church door. Teacher Kiviste's speech was very political, he sharply criticized the politics of the political parties (Võitlus, 21.10.1933:3). The Narva Veterans' chapter had asked for two churches for the services, but the Alutaguse provost J. Kleistiev was very critical. J. Jalakas had refused to give the church of Alexander's congregation for worship, because he did not find it acceptable to take politics to church. The second church where the thanksgiving service was held in Narva was, somewhat surprisingly, the Church of the Resurrection of the Apostolic Orthodox of Joaor. According to Päevaleht, as many as five teachers and eight deacons took part in the service there. In addition, it is mentioned that teacher Kalksin gave a speech in Russian.
Professor Tennmann of the Faculty of Religion at the University of Tartu attracted the attention of the press with a presentation in Pärnu at the invitation of the Veterans, which was considered by the "Postimees" to be "propaganda of Hitlerism", a 'national crime'. According to the newspaper, Tennmann's appearance as a speaker for the Vaps Movement had made him a "pioneer of Hitlerism" (PM, 13.04.1933:3). According to the socialist paper "Rahva Sõna", Professor Tennmann, a former pastor of the Maarja-Magdaleena parish, was an agitator of the "kaikamehed" (The word kaikamehed meaning 'men with clubs' aka trying to say that the Vaps were willing to use violence of need be to gain power). The fact that Tennmann's home language was German was, in the opinion of the 'Rahva Sõna', evidence of the old connection of church leaders with the barons (Rahva Sõna, 05.04.1933:4). "The former pastor, Prof. Tennmann, became an agitator for the Vaps", writes S. Raudsepp in his thesis. Professor Tennmann had also advocated for Estonia aligning with a new, Hitlerist Germany.
