Weddings

Yesterday, I was interviewed for an internet broadcast on weddings (mtv3.fi/haat). The statistics say that some 60% of all weddings in Finland are celebrated according to the rites of the Lutheran Church. In addition, some 10% of the remaining civil weddings will have a church blessing.

I was surprised to find out that a second interviewee had been invited to the studio in order to represent civil weddings. There should have been no reason for a surprise had this person been an employee of a local magistrate or some other judicial body whose task it is to perform weddings. However, she represented a private company called Pro Seremonia, a firm founded by some anti-church and anti-religion associations.

You can see how the scene appeared. There is the church wedding (60%+) and then there is this other option, the civil wedding. Dear viewers, let's have a poll and find out what you think!

Of course, the Pro Seremonia person was in no position to represent people who choose civil weddings. After all, Pro Seremonia is a company selling their services to maybe a few dozen or hundred couples each year. No wonder, the lady was hesitant to give exact numbers. But the point is, the young and inexperienced reporter had no idea of what she had done. And I, naturally, had no choice but to adapt to the situation the best I could. Given these premises, I think the outcome was ok.

The funny thing was that the anti-church lady clearly had problems in keeping her composure. Church representatives and the active anti-church lobby rarely meet on even ground. She may have had wild ideas about what pastors represent. Or maybe they pump themselves up in (self)righteous wrath in their meetings, who knows. When we departed, I couldn't help saying "blessings". She was shocked and muttered, "Can I not receive that...?" Was she afraid that I put a spell on her?

After all, I think it was good that we met. This will be the scene more and more in the future. The younger generation clearly have no idea about and respect for the special place of the Church in our society. This brings the Church down from its pedestal. And it is always good for the church to be on the ground, fighting for its true identity.

Elections of the General Synod and Diocesan Boards

The elections for the General Synod and the Diocesan Boards were conducted yesterday and results are starting to come out. My first assessment is that there seems to be no major shift in church policies coming up. But a slight shift in balance might be enough for certain issues to become hot. Two of the most publicized issues for the newly elected General Synod will be to adapt rules of conduct in cases of openly homosexual clergy and to decide whether there should be a liturgical blessing for registered homosexual relationships. Unfortunately so.

Of course, this is my personal assessment only. These issues will definitely cause major division within the church. And there seems to be no way avoiding them. My hope is, however, that fresh thinking will help us avoid the worst case scenario. Local parishes should enforce policies where groups from different sides could coexist in peace and harmony. Well, maybe not harmony. That I don't have the courage to believe. But at least we could try to avoid kicking each others butts. Can we pray for that?

The Future of the National Church in Finland

The discussion is heated. Most people tend to agree that there is no way the established Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland (in this text: "Church") can turn the tide and stop people from leaving its ranks. Registered Church membership is still amazingly around 82% but Helsinki is showing the way to the future with a mere 66%. There are projections that say membership in Helsinki will reach the 50% milepost by the year 2012.

The official Church strategy is to fight for the status quo. Defeat will not be admitted but it will be expected. The heat of the discussion revolves around who is to blame: the conservatives, the liberals, or the bureaucrats. The liberal Helsinki parishes (total registered membership over 400.000) are spending hundreds of thousands of euros on a marketing campaign that is basically saying "honestly, we are cool but the conservatives are ruining it for us". At the same time, active Christians flock in services where preaching is strong and theology is traditional. Those who appreciate more liberal views do not even bother. By staying home they send the message that it is ok for the Church to be for true believers only.

But there are other voices, those that are seldom heard and often neglected. It seems that the national agenda in the Church does not recognize these voices as being different. They are voices that are ecumenically orientated, globally informed and spiritually inspired. Pirjo-Liisa Penttinen is the general secreatery of the YWCA in Finland. She was the only official delegate from Finland at the Global Christian Forum in Nairobi in November. Returning from Nairobi she has been talking about this new wave within the ecumenical movement. Theological issues are not forgotten but they are put aside for a while to allow for true encounters in prayer. In these encounters, common focus on Christ as the hope for humanity is easily rediscovered.

And there are those who say that the Church in Finland can never give up its original mission to make all nations followers of Christ. The visions of languish should be replaced by visions of rejuvenation. Strategies of survival should be replaced by strategies of revival. And the production of self-flagellating publicity should be replaced by the joyful celebration of the Good News. And that all this can be done without ever dividing people into liberals and conservatives, if we just agree on Christ as the center of the Church. It is all just a matter of respect and giving a little space.

No wonder these voices are neglected. They sound too optimistic, too naive, and way too spiritual. And I would like to be one of them.