Henrik Renqvist, the founder of the Karelian Praying Movement, served as a chaplain in Sortavala from 1836 until the end of his life. He was also a pioneer of the temperance movement in Finland and his most famous work, "The Abomination of Alcohol", was still being printed in 1835.

The total number of works, written or translated by Renqvist, appeared in 245 books, including reprints. In the 1830s and 1840s he was the largest publisher of Finnish-language literature in Finland. Renqvist's extensive publishing activities were continued by the Otava publishing house.

On 15 August 1943, the second anniversary of the liberation of Sortavala, a ceremony to unveil a memorial stone to Henrik Renqvist was held in the courtyard of the house of the chaplain of Sortavala rural parish. The monument was designed by the well-known Finnish cemetery architect Ilmari Wirkkala.

The following text was engraved on the memorial stone:

HR

Henrik Rehnquist, born 1 August 1789, was given a peaceful hut in this Pastor's house with his wife in 1836.

From here he led the praying revival movement prayer movement through the power of the word and books until his death on 5 November 1866.

Karelia blesses his work.

The fate of the memorial stone has been unknown since the end of the Continuation War.