Baptists in Finland

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Finnish-speaking Baptist Church in Tampere .

There is evidence that Baptists in Finland have existed since the mid-19th century. You belong to three different Finnish municipal associations. The Finnish Swedes among them have come together to form Finlands Svenska Baptistsamfund . Finnish speaking Baptists are connected in the Suomen Baptistikirkko . Two Finnish congregations are Seventh-day Baptists . There are also some independent Baptist congregations, including the Grace Baptist Church / Armon Baptistiseurakunta in Tampere . Previously, the congregation was known as Perinteinen Baptistiseurakunta in Finnish and International Baptist Church in English . The Agape International Baptist Church in Pedersöre is also one of the independent Baptist congregations.

history

Baptist Church in Vaajakoski

Swedish Baptist missionaries founded the first Finnish Baptist church in Föglö ( Åland ) around 1856 . At that time Finland was still part of the Russian Empire. The Lutheran state church dominated religious life and tried by all means to hinder the emergence and expansion of free communities. Nevertheless, another Swedish-speaking community was established in Jakobstad ( Finnish : Pietarsaari) in 1870 . That same year, a Finnish sailor named Henriksson was evangelizing in the Satakunta countryside in southwest Finland . The Luvia Baptist congregation attributes its origins, also dated 1870, to its effectiveness .

The three named Baptist congregations are considered to be the first free churches in Finland. They were later followed by the Methodists , Pentecostals and other free Evangelical churches. Today these churches are connected in the so-called Free Church Council .

After only the Swedish Baptists had supported the reconstruction work in Finland in the first few decades , the Mission Society of the American Baptist Churches (USA) participated in its financing from 1889 . In the same year, Finnish Baptists were legally allowed to register as an independent body alongside the Evangelical Lutheran State Church . Three years later the parishes around Jakobstad founded a regional Swedish-speaking association. In 1892 the magazine Finska Månadsposten (= Finnish monthly post ), launched by IS Osterman, appeared for the first time, and in 1896 the Finnish-language counterpart Totuuden Kaiku (= Echo of Truth ) published by the writer Veikko Palomaa (1865–1935 ). In 1904 the Finnish-speaking municipalities also formed a federation.

Seventh-day Baptists began in the 1980s. You are connected to Thomas McElwain, a US citizen who at the University of Turku in the Department of Comparative Religion and Social Policy taught. Between 1986 and 1990 he volunteered to lead the Seventh-day Baptist Mission in Northern Europe. In addition to the church founded by McElwain in Turku, there is another one in Helsinki . The two congregations are nationally involved in the Baltic Convention , which they founded with Estonian Seventh-day Baptists.

In Tampere , one of the independent Baptist congregations arose among Russian immigrants. It emerged from the pioneering work of the Baptist Mid Mission couple Tom and Linda Ruhkala. Since 2006, besides Russian and Finnish-language church services, events in English have also been offered.

Theology, structure, statistics

The two Baptist unions differ not only in belonging to different language groups, but also in their theological orientation. While the Baptistikirkko represents evangelical positions in many subject areas , the Baptistsamfund tends towards liberal views and practices, for example, women's ordination and open communion . The training of full-time employees takes place in various institutions. While the Swedish speakers study at the ecumenical Åbo Academy , the Finnish speakers attend a Bible institute run with other free churches .

In the external mission, the Baptistikirkko cooperates with the Danish and Swedish Baptists and supports missionaries in Africa, Asia and South America. She also participates in various missionary projects in Estonia . The Samfund is one of the supporting churches of the European Baptist Mission .

Both associations are congregational at local level and synodally organized as a national association . They are member churches of the European Baptist Federation and thus also of the Baptist World Federation . The Seventh-day Baptist Churches also belong to the World Baptist Federation through their international organization.

The Finlands Svenska Baptistsamfund Association has 17 congregations with 1162 members. In the Suomen Baptistikirkko 14 parishes are united with 691. The Seventh-day Baptist Fellowship has two 35-member congregations. The membership and parish numbers of the independent Baptist churches are unknown.

literature

  • Albert W. Wardin (Ed.): Baptists around the World. A comprehensive handbook . Broadman & Holman Publishers: [no location] 1995. ISBN 0-8054-1076-7
  • Euvo Aaltio: A History of the National Baptists in Finland . Baptist Theological Seminary: Rüschlikon (Switzerland) 1958
  • David Eden: Svenska baptisterna in Finland historia. 1856-1931 . AB Frams: Vasa 1931

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Baptist.fi: Finlands Svenska Baptistsamfund ; accessed on December 6, 2017
  2. ^ Baptisti.fi: Suomen Baptistikirkko ; accessed on December 6, 2017
  3. ↑ The data and facts in this section are based (if not stated otherwise) on Albert W. Wardin (Ed.): Baptists around the World. A comprehensive handbook . Broadman & Holman Publishers: [no location] 1995. pp. 241-243
  4. ↑ Veikko Palomaa later confessed to theosophy and experimented with different forms of family coexistence. Towards the end of his life, he revoked his theosophical views and turned back to the Christian faith. See: Baptisti.fi: Lehtemme perustaja oli monitaitoinen mies - Veikko Palomaan elämästä (Finnish) ; viewed on December 7, 2017
  5. ↑ BMM.org: Finland ; accessed on December 8, 2017
  6. ^ IBC Tampere: Our church ; accessed on December 8, 2017
  7. ↑ The data and facts in this section are based on Mai-Britt Vehkoja / Albert W. Wardin jun .: Finland (Swedisch, 1856; Finnish, 1870) . In: Albert W. Wardin (Ed.): Baptists around the World. A comprehensive handbook . Broadman & Holman Publishers: [no location] 1995., p. 242
  8. ↑ The figures refer to 2016; see EBF.org: Finland ; accessed on December 9, 2017
  9. ↑ The figures relate to the period before 1995; see Mai-Britt Vehkoja / Albert W. Wardin jun .: Finland (Swedisch, 1856; Finnish, 1870) . In: Albert W. Wardin (Ed.): Baptists around the World. A comprehensive handbook . Broadman & Holman Publishers: [no location] 1995., p. 241