Blog

Though being formed and being active all ready since 1984, the Anglican Lutheran Society might be new to some of you. Anglican Lutheran Society aims to promote a wider interest in and knowledge of our respective traditions and common developments, to develop opportunities for common worship, study, friendship and witness, and to encourage prayer for the unity of the Church and especially between Anglicans and Lutherans world wide.

In their publication “The Window”, October issue introduced a variety of aspects to read about. Page 18 presents The Most Rev Dr Tapio Luoma, the Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, as he was interviewed about his role as a ‘Thursdays in Black Ambassador. According to Revd Luoma: “Each generation must therefore recognize where people’s rights are being violated and involve themselves in advocacy on their behalf.”

Page 21 presents the Roman Catholic perspective to the past 60 years of ecumenical relations. It provides some excellent background to the Roman Catholic Church’s engagement in the ecumenical process since the Second Vatican Council and also touches the new multilateral body in which the Catholic Church is actively involved: the Global Christian Forum (GCF).

Page 25 presents a text from Revd Clare Amos, a former programme coordinator for Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation at the World Council of Churches, and a former director of theological studies in the Anglican Communion Office in London. She writes about how Orthodox and Anglican appeals from 1920 remain inspiration for unity today. Revd Amos notes that: “Looking back on both documents from the perspective of 100 years one can give thanks for what has been achieved.”

Page 31 looks ahead towards The Third Ecumenical Kirchentag which is due to take place from the 12th to 16th May, 2021 in Frankfurt. It is expected to be “hybrid” event due to COVID-19. The first Ecumenical Kirchentag in Berlin in 2003 gathered about 200,000 participants. At the Second Ecumenical Kirchentag in Munich in 2010 there were about 130,000 present. Both previous events had more than 5000 international participants and the organizers hope that some international participation will be possible in 2021, depending on official regulations

Please, Click “The Window” and read in full. Enjoy!

A couple of weeks ago, our Youth Sunday School teacher asked if I could attend a webinar about how young peoples’ lives have been affected by the pandemic. It sounded quite interesting, as the pandemic had affected my life, just like everyone else. In Finland, we had a lock down, like many other places, and everything switched to online platforms. But these were not as interactive as face-to-face meetings, and it felt duller. The situation has eased, but there are clear signs of the pandemic still – masks, social distancing, etc. So, I was interested to hear about other peoples’ experiences during the pandemic, about how it was similar to mine and how it was different.

There were three panelists in the meetings. One of them was called Salma. She thought that the pandemic brought out the best in people. The Muslim communities she practices her faith with organized Zoom meetings so that no one would be lonely, and a lot of people attended these meetings. But at the same time, she had had negative experiences. A lot of people started avoiding her because of reports that a lot of Somalis had the coronavirus. Ramadan and Eid, two of the most joyful experiences of the year, felt boring and dull without the company of family and friends. And then there was the fear of the pandemic. But Salma was able to get over her fear after finding a verse in the Quran: “Every soul shall taste death”. This helped her realize we are all mortal, and helped control her fear of the pandemic.

The second panelist was named Daniel and he was from Ireland. He had just become manager of a Buddhist center when the lock down had started. For him, the coronavirus was an eye-opener, with the pandemic showing him that our lives are uncertain and are not controlled by us, but by God. The coronavirus also highlighted the importance of friendship with people of the same age and religion. Most of his friends are atheists, meaning that their priorities and struggles are very different. Being friends with someone who shares your values and principles gives you someone you can talk to. Having someone of your same age and faith also helps you to be bolder when showing that young people do practice faith. Daniel felt this was one of the responsibilities of young people during the pandemic.

The last panelist, Roni, was from Finland. In his opinion, one of the drawbacks of the pandemic was the inability to physically go to an event, for example a Sunday service. He normally volunteers for a lot of organizations, but suddenly those were also gone. Not attending events in person was something that affected his physical life and his spiritual life. When he went to confirmation camp, he had been taught that Christian faith was a chair that stood on four legs – reading the Bible, Holy Communion, prayer, and connection with other people. Suddenly one of the legs of the chair was gone. There were online services and online meetings, but to Roni they just didn’t feel the same. He found it hard to adapt to new situations and surroundings. Two things helped him adjust to the new normal: prayer and the bible verse Acts 17: 27-28: “God is not far from any one of us. In him, we live, move and we are.” The bible verse showed that God is not only present in places of worship, but also near every one of us.

I came to realize through the webinar that faith helped everyone to come to terms with the pandemic. It helped me realize that there are a lot of values in different faiths which offer consolation in difficult times. Faith also helped people to come together even when distanced. Online Sunday services and meetings with the respective faith communities helped people to come together. In some cases, these have been the only interaction people received in the whole week. People who believe in God will have better mental health during the pandemic because they have something to believe in and are able to see the broader picture and not just the immediate future. Practicing faith is a different and a better way to live out your life. The webinar was a good and new experience for me. I am grateful to the Anglican church for allowing me to participate.

Joel Sam Johnson

Please click on this link to view the edited Webinar on YouTube

I am excited to join you all and begin my musical work and development at the Anglican Church of Finland.

During the course of the summer, we are beginning to implement music back into the service in various forms after a significant and lengthy absence due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Music is worship. For many people, it is the most intimate and powerful expression of their faith.

It is in this spirit of faith and worship that I am collaborating with the broader musical and artistic community in Helsinki and inviting them to join in the services at the Anglican Church of Finland. 

The presence of guest musicians at our services will serve two fundamental purposes: to assist the existing choral community to reach their highest individual and collective potential and for the professional musicians to share, through their skill and expertise, their own experience of faith and reality with our congregation through their various art forms.

This collaboration is not one-sided. The grand musical tradition of the Anglican Church will be made alive with each performance and many in this city and country will be exposed to its sublime beauty and subtle power for the first time.

It is this circular collaboration that I hope to foster to the highest level possible at the Anglican Church of Finland thereby creating a spiritual, cultural, and musical exchange in this community and country.

Erik Johannes Riekko
Director of Music

How are our leaders leading through uncharted territory, meeting moral obligations of loving our neighbors and ourselves, guiding and caring for our people in an unprecedented time of uncertainty, and holding out hope in the face of despair? Those were the questions the Anglican Church in Finland and the Dublin City Interfaith Forum wanted to find out and discuss together.

Webinar was co-organized 15^th May to facilitate mutual sharing between Faith communities in Finland and Ireland. Webinar gave light to the diverse role and devotional and practical responses of Religion during the Covid-19 pandemic.

 Revd Katri Kuusikallio (National Forum for Cooperation of Religions) emphasized the importance and power of interfaith dialogue and cooperation during time of crisis. She also shared practices and responses carried out by National Forum for Cooperation of Religions in Finland.

Hilary Abrahamson (Chair of Dublin City Interfaith Forum) raised a concern for children and young people and how they are being catered for. She also shared about the responses DCIF had made.

Revd Alan Hillard (Pastoral Care and Chaplaincy Service for TU Dublin) highlighted 6 pains he had identified together with University students while discussing about the current pandemic.

Revd Eeva-Kaisa Heikura (The Evangelical Church in Finland) shared the diverse ways Lutheran Church in Finland had contributed, and yet received feedback saying they are not doing enough. She raised a question about how faith communities could get their message more visible in today’s world.

Chaplain Tuomas Mäkipää (The Anglican Church in Finland) looked at the question from communications point of view. He reminded that religious communities are global communities. In online world, our audience is both national and global. Realizing that might make a significant impact.

Most Revd Dr Michael Jackson, Archbishop of Dublin and Bishop of Glendalough, concluded the webinar stating that, Religious communities are inter fold fabric of the society. He also stressed a need for Theology of Pain, Compassion and Hope.  

To make your own findings, we invite you to please click on the Link to view the Webinar Summary in You Tube.

Words are important, but action really matters. Like ecumenical dialogue reports between churches are not completed until words in the paper have been fulfilled in the life of the churches. Like when the Word of Gospel becomes fulfilled and purifies the heart of Christians. So my words should become fulfilled in my heart and walk with the message.
I need to take action and steps for love.

I am very concerned that Finland is one of the most racist countries in Europe.[1] Especially for women, but for men and children too. What is wrong in our society? We need to openly declare and accept this and be prepared to denounce and change this, beginning with our own families, our communities and neighbors. We should all work against this racist harassment ecumenically in Finland.

Our church as well has committed to work against racism and violence and work for equality issues. Everyone’s experience matters. I wish you would like to tell me about your thoughts about these issues. It is important that we share our thoughts. We need to work together – to create a community where everyone has a voice and where we can be ourselves.

Probably you might know a tiny mustard seed.  It is very little, but it grows to become a great tree which gives fruit for many when it is given care and comfort.  We all are those little seeds and we need comfort and care for grow. I wish we all could live in a community where we can be safe and feel loved.

Saija Kainulainen is a member of the Section for Equality at the Finnish Ecumenical Council representing The Anglican Church in Finland; and also advocates for women’s issues at the Scandinavian ecumenical committee of women representing The Evangelical Lutheran church in Finland. She has almost completed her academic studies for a Master of Theology at University of Helsinki. Furthermore Saija is also a respected artisan and designed liturgical textiles for Suomenlinna Church in Helsinki.

Don’t hesitate to contact about any equality issues: saija@anglican.fi

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[1] https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2017/second-european-union-minorities-and-discrimination-survey-main-results

Dear people of St Nicholas, Helsinki!

Since Bishop David’s visit in the beginning of March to preside at a confirmation service much has happened. The following Sunday we still had a service, but soon after that, the government asked all religious communities to close their places of worship. We really did not have time to plan anything before we were all asked to stay at home as much as possible.

But now we are allowed to gather again! The Government has announced that public gathering of no more than 500 hundred persons are permitted if rules about social distancing and hygiene are observed.

The Diocese in Europe has published guidelines which each Chaplaincy must follow, alongside with local regulations, when opening churches again. I have discussed about our plans with the Dean of Helsinki also. The Chaplaincy Council met two weeks ago at Mikael Agricola Church to decide how we move forward.

Many of the new practices are actually familiar to those who have worshipped in a cathedral: vergers will greet you at the entrance and will guide you to your pew. They will give instructions when to move to receive Eucharist and so on. The most notable differences to the previous are that the eucharist is administered in one kind only (bread) and there is no singing in the service at the moment.

I look forward to seeing many of you soon! I am aware that not all of you are able to attend at the moment. Please do contact me if you wish to receive the communion at home (brought to you from the Communion celebrated at the Church). 

COVID-19 Guidance

Before entering the Church, please use the hand disinfectant provided or wash your hands in the vestibule bathrooms.

1. The Vergers are here to ensure your safety and those of other members of the congregation by overseeing the seating arrangements and providing guidance during the service.

2. The seating arrangements in the Church have been planned to ensure that a two-metre distance is maintained. Please respect the “keep free areas” signs. If you are here with your family or individuals who live with you in the same household, you are welcome to sit together.

3. Should you feel the need to cough or sneeze, please use a tissue or your sleeve. Used tissues can be disposed of in the bin at the entrance.

4. Please note that no singing will take place during the service.

5. At the point at which we are enjoined to share a sign of peace, please maintain a safe distance from other members of the congregation. The sign itself can take the form of a bow or a smile instead of shaking hands.

6. Holy Communion will be administered in the form of the wafer only. It is a clear principle of Anglican theology that the sacrament of Holy Communion is present and complete in either of the consecrated elements. The wafer will be administered by the Chaplain and you will be guided at this point in the service by the Vergers.

7. The Vergers will ensure that safe distancing is maintained when leaving the Church, please wait for their signal that it is safe to leave.

8. Offerings can be placed in a basket at the exit when leaving the service.

9. Please note that there is no post service gathering for tea and fellowship in the Crypt.

It is with great sadness that I have learnt the news about the death of Emmanuel Eneh. Emmanuel passed away on Thursday, 23rd April 2020.

Emmanuel was a long-standing member of the Anglican Church in Finland and had a significant lay ministry at the International Congregation of Christ the King in Tampere. He served many years as an Anglican Licensed Lay Reader, working together with the priests of the Lutheran Parishes in Tampere in providing pastoral and liturgical ministry to the international church community gathering in Vanha kirkko. His commitment to the implementation of Porvoo Agreement (between Anglican and Lutheran Churches), and his service to the wider community by participating in local politics in Tampere, were a source of inspiration for many.

Emmanuel remained as a member of the Diocesan Synod of the Diocese in Europe until his death. He was also a member of the Deanery Synod of the Nordic and Baltic states.

We remain grateful for Emmanuel’s ministry and pray for him and his family. He is survived by his wife and three children

Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace:
your word has been fulfilled.
My own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people;
A light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel. Luke 2.29-32

Tuomas Mäkipää

Chaplain
Chair of the Diocesan House of Clergy