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It has been a busy week after being away some days last week. A good reminder that God has called us to stay in his presence. How often do we think that we do not have enough time? Why do we feel that? Will the whole world derail if we have to stop for a moment?
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This week we have continued preparations for the Harvest Festival and Deanery Synod. Preparations for Remembrance Day service and Christmas Bazaar are starting. And in no time Christmas is upon us and we must plan for those services, including Christmas night Carols service. And I just received a message about Easter 2022!
We hope to resume our Eucharistic service in Tapiola soon. Please follow these newsletters to receive more information.
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This newsletter is full of wonderful articles from various members of our church community. Sarah has become de facto Editor-in-Chief. I wish to thank her and all who have contributed to this newsletter!
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SERVICES
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Most of our Services can be viewed live on Facebook, or you can click this link to
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SUNDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER- HARVEST FESTIVAL
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10am Sung Eucharist. The Service has been adapted to be inclusive for All Ages. Refreshments are served in the crypt afterwards.
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The Season of Creation culminates with our Harvest Festival this Sunday! Each year we collect food donations for those in need. Offerings need to be non-perishable and all items must be in date. Here are some examples of the food that is most needed and gratefully received
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Tinned food (meat, fish, soup, beans, lentils)
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Instant food such as noodle cups
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Tea /Coffee/Hot chocolate powder
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New logo for St Nicholas' Church!
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One of the goals of the last council was to revamp our logo, which has not been fit for purpose for a while now! Luckily we have a budding graphic designer, Lily, in our Youth Group. We employed Lily to work on a new logo, and her design perfectly captures not only the unique architecture of our church but also a message of welcome and inclusivity. There was some debate in the Council about what colour to go for, so in the end a peaceful but vibrant blue was chosen - reflecting our Finnish home and location by the sea!
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The designer of the Church of England logo, John Morse, was kind enough to take a look at the logo for us and was incredibly impressed with what Lily had produced at the age of 16 - as are we!! Please join us in congratulating and thanking Lily for her tremendous work.
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Eucharist with Confirmation on Sunday 10th October
Six candidates are being confirmed on Sunday 10th October. We hope you will be able to join us as we celebrate this important milestone in their Christian journey. The Rt Revd Dr David Hamid will be presiding at the service. We are also joined by members of the Nordic and Baltic Deanery Synod who arrive in Helsinki at the end of next week.
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After the service we are having a Pot-Luck Lunch and we need your help to make this a fitting celebration! I would be very grateful if you could indicate to me whether you are able to bring a dish to share - such as a quiche, salad, bread and cheese, soup, a rice or pasta dish. Desserts are also welcome! Please bring any contributions down to the kitchen before the service, if possible.
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Below we have some wonderful contributions to end the Season of Creation!
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Thanks to Jane, Humphrey, Peter J, & Pimma!
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All things bright and beautiful?
Thank you to Jane Mayhew-Smith for sending us this adaptation of a well known hymn by Revd Andy McCosh...
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THE FUTURE CHALLENGES OF HOUSING US, by Humphrey Alexander Kalanje
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The proportion of inhabitants with a foreign background exceeded that of Swedish speaking Finns way back in 2007 and by 2020 the gap had grown to 4.3% from 0.3%. keeps growing. It is projected by Statistics Finland that by the year 2035, the proportion of inhabitants of Helsinki whose mother tongue is not Finnish, Swedish or Sami will increase to 25% from 14% in 2019. In Espoo it will increase to 30% from 16% and Vantaa from 18% to 34%. It is also projected that by then the largest foreign language will be made up of speakers of Middle Eastern and North African languages. One could argue that these would be mostly Muslim. Which brings us to the religious composition of the people currently resident in Finland. Statistics Finland again show that the number of members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland shrunk from 4,409,576 in 2000 to 4,004,369 in 2015. On the other hand, in the same period the number of Muslims grew from 1201 to 13,289, Buddhists from 26 to 956, Hindus from 37 to 324, Pentecostals from 20 to 8762 and the number of people who do not belong to any religion from 659,979 to 1,336,106.
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It is thus evident that the Finnish society is rapidly becoming more ethnically and racially diverse, the trope of a singular homogeneous Finnish identity which is predominantly white and Lutheran will increasingly be challenged. These different groups will demand different types of worship spaces which will often be deemed alien to the Finnish built tradition. The attempts of the Muslim community to build a mosque (there are only two built for purpose mosques in Greater Helsinki and they belong to the Tatar community which does not necessarily identify with the recent Islamic immigrants) and the resistance that it faces is only one of such conflicts. These will increasingly become more common especially once these groups gain significant economic and political power. These conflicts will not only be with the non-Christian faiths but also with fellow Christians whose more robust way of worship that include speaking in tongues and healing drives. Their penchant for mega churches might also not easily fit in the traditional Finnish urban landscape.
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These immigrant communities will also prioritise different leisure activities from those of the host community (for example, football and cricket will be more popular with them than ice hockey). At the individual house level, different sensibilities to privacy issues (the kitchen as a closed space occupied by women and also containing the different aromas that are a result of their culinary traditions), need for different activity spaces (spaces where Hindus can perform puja, separate areas where visitors can be received and entertained etc.) and the demands for larger bedrooms that can be shared ( in some cultures children are expected to share sleeping spaces), separate bathrooms for parents etc. and disinterest in saunas will need to be recognised and addressed. All of these demands will require planners and architects to be more creative in their visualisation and realisation of homes and urban public spaces for the community of the future.
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Those of us who identify as Christians will have to acknowledge those whose norms and values, we consider alien to ours and find ways in which they could be accommodated in these cities that we all share. It is important that we realise public spaces in which someone wearing a micro mini, saree or a burqa will all feel equally welcome. This will require all of us to become more creative and accommodative of our different identities and forge a future that will belong to each one of us.
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We are sharing some wonderfully healthy and warming soups for the Season of Creation.
If you have a recipe to share then please email Sarah at office@anglican.fi
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Thank you to Pimma for sharing her recipe this week...
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Courgette Soup- Pimma Knight
This is an easy-to-do soup but tasty. This is for 6-8 persons. I usually freeze a few portions for later use. I learned this recipe from Ritva Joy (and gave it my own coriander twist).
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1,5 - 2 packages of Koskenlaskija cheese: (Voimakas =black label)
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1 - 2 teasp. of ground coriander (seeds, not leaves)
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(wheat flour/corn starch)
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Chop the courgettes into small blocks. Chop the onions too.
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Cook them in water with the stock cube, in a big saucepan c. 30 min.
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Then use a blender to mash the courgette and onion cubes, so you get a nice soup.
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Add the cheese (in chunks), coriander powder and black pepper (and salt).
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Let the soup cook till the cheese has melted.
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If you find the soup too watery, you can add a tablespoon of corn starch or wheat flour to the soup but mix the flour first in half a cup of cold water (to avoid clumps) and then add it to the soup.
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Stir and let the soup simmer for a while. If you like tarragon (rakuuna), you can add some in this soup.
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We’re still hoping for a few more Autumn days (dare one ask Him for weeks?) of fine and pleasant weather to put the garden, plot or balcony nicely to bed before winter sets in. I hesitate to rattle on about our own garden as I realise how privileged we are to have a nice large garden to potter around in.
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Still, I can’t help boasting that we are still enjoying lovely autumn tints; a large maple tree is a glory – for just a few days more. Our dahlias escaped a near-frost a week or so ago by the skin of their teeth, and are still shouting out loud in brilliant scarlet. In more low-lying, frost-prone gardens the dahlia show will have blackened. Michaelmas daisies can be trusted to shrug off a few light frosts and should continue to impart misty blue and lilac tones even to colder gardens well into November.
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A maple tree? What a nuisance, you’ll say, with all those leaves to rake up! Not a bit of it. I spread the raked up leaves between rows of leeks and carrots to prevent the soil from freezing up too rapidly. I can then easily dig them up for the kitchen (or storage) in frosty or muddy weather. Likewise, a thick layer of leaves around dahlias and gladioli allows one to leave the tubers / corms in the ground well after the tops have blackened. After I’ve finally got around to lifting roots for storage, I dig the leaves in or compost them.
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Which sort of brings me back to bokashi composting – but allow me to diverge a little for a couple of paragraphs. At home, we’re used to composting conventinally nearly all kinds of organic waste in a rat-proof plastic composter (biolan kompostori) that stands at the bottom of the garden. Very handy, but it set us back something like 300 euros, and that was some 15 years ago. And nowadays I wonder how much damage the manufacture of such a large lump of plastic caused to our carbon footprint (and will continue to cause when we eventually have to get rid of the monster! And it ain’t a thing of beauty.). Anyway, there stands the plastic moloch so we may as well continue to feed it with organic garbage in a (reasonably) rat-free manner – until the rats finally chew their way through the cladding. As one of Roald Dahl’s characters observed in one of RD’s admirable children’s books: ”Rats is clever animals!”.
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The good thing about the garbage monster is that will happily work on waste containing a moderate proportion of bulky newspaper, used tissues etc. mixed in with the animal and veggie waste generated in the kitchen. When the kitchen bucket (lined with newspaper to make it easier to scrub clean) starts to get rather full (or pongy with fish remains) I tip it into the moloch. A good dousing with pee accelerates the subsequent fermentation. More on conventional composting methods in another write-up.
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One limitation of bokashi composting – as I soon discovered when I started it – is that if you put appreciable quantities of relatively inert material such as newspaper, used tissues, twiggy material and suchlike, the bokashi bucket is going to fill up very quickly indeed. If I’d realised this sooner, I would have separated the inert stuff from the juicier: the more inert materials would have been consigned into the moloch and only the juicy stuff would have gone into the bokashi bucket. So now I have the rather yucky task of separating the two categories by hand – good job that a lifetime of gardening has cured me of most types of squeamishness.- But I wouldn’t recommend such a mucky job for many of you more tender souls!
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The separation of inert stuff reduced the volume entering the bucket by about 60%, I’d guess, so 2 weeks from starting the experiment there’s still room for one more consignment. As yet, no juice has found its way into the lower compartment, but at least the fermentation doesn’t smell bad (my wife hasn’t left me yet – I feared that things might reach crisis point: ”Either that thing goes, or I move out!”), and there is a thin layer of white mould on the surface of the fermenting mass – I’ve read that that’s as it should be. So far all is well with the world.
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There are lots of videos on bokashi composting in the internet. I think one of the best is a 10-minute video produced by the Greencuisine Trust. Google this name and add ’bokashi’ if the following link doesn’t work: youtube.com/watch?v=-w3jajq5-tM.
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When you get tired of messing around with compost, take a stroll in kaupungin puisto or around the wooden house and garden area of puu-Käpylä. It’s a real tonic.
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Last Sunday's Walk
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Thank you to everyone who was able to join us on a lovely sunny walk down to the sea. Several people stayed to chat and have a coffee at the cafe, and we agreed this was something we ought to do more often!
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Walking together was one of our activities for celebrating the Season of Creation. If you would like to suggest another walk, not necessarily in Helsinki, then please get in touch!
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The Christmas Bazaar!
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Please let Sarah or Johnson know if you can help with the Bazaar this year! We are also planning a small entertainment programme at the Bazaar which will include Carol Singing and the Helsinki Morris Dancers!
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SUNDAY SCHOOL & YOUTH GROUP
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We had a joint meeting of Sunday School and Youth Group last Sunday, preparing for harvest festival . We talked about the crops grown in Finland and voted for our favourite – strawberries! Then we read from Genesis 1 and reminded ourselves that all our food comes from God. We discussed sharing our food and avoiding food waste. The group also watched a short film about Tiaho and Loyara who are farmers in Burkina Faso and decorated boxes to collect harvest food donations.
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Sunday School takes place on Sundays at 10am in the crypt! Young people aged 11 and above are kindly asked to wear a mask, as are parents accompanying their children. Please wash and sanitize hands on arrival. Sunday School meets at the far end of the crypt and Youth Group meets near the crypt entrance.
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Exciting News! The Diocese in Europe is organising a Youth Alpha course online, starting 3rd October at 20.00 Helsinki time.
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If your children are interested, they can sign up here. Please also inform Jane or Sarah if you have a young person signing up to the course.
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Please contact Erik at erik.riekko@anglican.fi if you have any questions about the choir. We need singers for Sunday services, Evensong, Concerts and the Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols!
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takes place on the following Sundays at 18.00, Töölön Kirkko
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3.10.2021, 21.11.2021, 5.12.2021, 16.1.2022
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COVID guidelines when coming to worship at St Nicholas
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Social Distancing is no longer required but we continue to wear masks and practice good hand hygiene. Those with symptoms of Covid-19 or other respiratory or flu-like illness, or an elevated temperature, or who are particularly vulnerable to infection should not attend public services.
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Please wear a mask on entering the Church and wait to be directed by the Verger to your seat.
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SAVE THE DATE!
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Evensong at 6pm, Töölön Kirkko
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Bishop's visit, Confirmation Service, & 'Pot luck' lunch
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Service of Nine Lessons & Carols
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SUPPORTING US
Your continued support is greatly appreciated, please consider donating towards our ongoing costs via our Donate buttons on our website or by means of a bank transfer using the details below:
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Suomen Anglikaaninen Kirkko (The Anglican Church in Finland)
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IBAN: F173 3131 1000 3282 07
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PRAY WITH US
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You crown the year with your goodness
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and you give us the fruits of the earth in their season:
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grant that we may use them to your glory,
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for the relief of those in need and for our own well-being:
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through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
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who is alive and reigns with you,
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in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
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one God, now and for ever.
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Please continue to keep in your prayers the troubled places of our world, in particular where food is scarce and harvests are poor
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Church of England: Diocese of Liverpool, Bishop Paul Bayes, Bishop Beverley Mason
Church in Wales: Diocese of Monmouth, Bishop Cherry Vann
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark: Diocese of Haderslev, Bishop Marianne Christiansen
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Father Tuomas Mäkipää (050-3099132)
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[Please use the contact emails provided]
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