Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (in Finnish Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko; in Swedish Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland) is the Lutheran national church of Finland (The Finnish Orthodox Church is also recognized as a national church). Though it has lost some of its membership as society has secularized, it retains the allegiance of a large majority of the population (83.1% in (2005)).
The head of the church is the Archbishop of Turku, currently Jukka Paarma.
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[edit] History
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is a successor to the Church of Sweden of which it was a part until 1809, when the Grand Duchy of Finland was established as a part of the Russian Empire. In 1889 a law was passed allowing other religions to act freely in the country. Since 1923 it has been possible to leave the state church without having to join another religious congregation.
[edit] Teachings
The Church of Finland is part of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. It is Lutheran in doctrine, following the teachings of Martin Luther. The church is a member of the Lutheran World Federation and the Porvoo Communion.
The church does not control its members strictly. Rituals, such as weddings and funerals, are often considered to be the most important reasons to remain a member.
There were five Revivalist movements in the history of the church: Beseecherism, Evangelicalism, The Fifth Revivalist Movement, The Laestadian movement and Pietism.
[edit] Organization
Finland is divided into nine Dioceses. Each diocese is headed by a Bishop and a cathedral chapter. Eight dioceses are regional, with the remaining one covering all of the country’s Swedish speaking parishes. The Church's supreme decision-making body is the Synod, which meets twice a year. Laymen make up a majority of the Synod, but a fixed number of seats have been set aside for clergy.
The Synod proposes changes in the Ecclesiastical Act and decides on the Ecclesiastical Order. The Synod deals with questions of doctrine and approves the books of the church. The Synod directs the Church's common activities, administration and finances. Congregation elections are held every four years to fill administrative posts at the local level.
[edit] Dioceses and year of formation
- Archdiocese of Turku (1156)
- Diocese of Tampere (founded in Viipuri 1554)
- Diocese of Oulu (1851)
- Diocese of Mikkeli (1897)
- The Swedish Diocese of Borgå/Porvoo (1923)
- Diocese of Kuopio (1939)
- Diocese of Lapua (1959)
- Diocese of Helsinki (1959)
- Diocese of Espoo (2004)
[edit] Finance
The evangelical lutheran church of Finland is a national church that has a privilege to collect taxes from members through the state, which only 2 religious institutes have. In addition to member ship tax, businesses also, to some extent, participate by a way of taxation in contributing financially to the church. Avoiding the church tax has been one of the popular reasons cited for resignation from the church [1].
