Journal articles on the topic 'Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church of America'

From its establishment in 1892 until the 1920s the largest Finnish ethnic church in the United States, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, better known as the Suomi Synod, was among the staunchest defenders of Finnish language and culture. The synod built a network of Sunday and summer schools, coordinated by the Michigan-based Suomi College, that not only offered religious instruction but also spread the Finnish language and national romantic ideals to immigrant children. Tightening immigration laws and increasing demands for national unity in the 1920s led many immigrant institutions, including the ethnic Lutheran churches, to Americanisation. A debate concerning a language reform also started in the Suomi Synod, but was rejected by the nationalistic-minded wing. Adherence to the Finnish language alienated the younger generation and led to a drastic but temporary decline in the church’s membership.

Abstract Martin Luther’s ordination formulary (1539) followed the early Church in its essential elements of the word, prayer, and the laying on of hands. Ordination was also strongly epicletic, including the invocation of the Holy Spirit. Although Luther did not understand ordination as a sacrament, he affirmed its effective, instrumental character. The Lutheran Reformation retained bishops, but the Augsburg Confession’s article concerning ministry did not mention episcopacy. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland’s ordination is by a bishop through the word, prayer, and laying on of hands. Ordination is not merely the public confirmation of vocation but an instrumental and sacramentally effective act, in which benediction confers the ministry. If the Church is Christ’s presence and the incarnate Word is the basic sacrament in Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue, is a differentiated consensus possible concerning the ministry of word and sacrament, and ordination within this context, as a means of grace indwelt by God?

Abstract As the main religion of Finland, but also of entire Scandinavia, Lutheranism has a centuries-long history. Until 1809 Finland formed the eastern part of the Swedish Kingdom, from 1809 to 1917 it was a Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire, and in 1917 Finland gained independence. In the 1520s the Lutheran Reformation reached the Swedish realm and gradually Lutheranism was made the state religion in Sweden. In the 19th century the Emperor in Russia recognized the official Lutheran confession and the status of the Lutheran Church as a state church in Finland. In the 20th century Lutheran church leaders preferred to use the concept people’s church. The Lutheran Church is still the majority church. In the beginning of 2015, some 74 percent of all Finns were members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. In this issue of Perichoresis, Finnish historians interested in the role of church and Christian faith in society look at the religious history of Finland and Scandinavia. The articles are mainly organized in chronological order, starting from the early modern period and covering several centuries until the late 20th century and the building of the welfare state in Finland. This introductory article gives a brief overview of state-church relations in Finland and presents the overall theme of this issue focusing on Finnish Lutheranism. Our studies suggest that 16th and early 17th century Finland may not have been quite so devoutly Lutheran as is commonly claimed, and that late 20th century Finland may have been more Lutheran than is commonly realized.

AbstractThis article examines the historical and theological foundations of Lutheran doctrines of the ministry of word and sacrament in the Reformation and the Confessional documents and how this inheritance was transposed to the American context. Against this background, it considers the debates on ministerial issues that surrounded the founding of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the challenges with regard to ministry and mission that face Lutherans in America today as a result of fresh immigration and tensions between the local and the wider church.

In this study, I clarify what kind of attitudes the clergy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) have towards same-sex marriage and how they treat people who disagree with them. The empirical research material consists of 534 answers from Finnish clergy. The ELCF has rejected same-sex marriages, while in all other Nordic countries, the Lutheran churches are marrying same-sex couples. However, over half of the Finnish Lutheran clergy support same-sex marriages in the church. My article shows that the main justifications for their attitudes are: (1) theological justifications, (2) legal justifications, and (3) justifications related to the essence of marriage. Most of the priests treated respectfully those who disagree with them, while a third of the priests had negative thoughts. As a background theory I use the Theory of Moral Foundations, which gives useful tools for understanding why the clergy are divided by same-sex marriage.

Two established churches, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the Orthodox Church of Finland, have an active presence on several social media platforms. In this article, I review their online presence and analyze their Facebook content in depth. The analysis indicates that the churches have a traditional and educational output that represents a form of cultural Christianity. Additionally, I discuss how operating on social media is relevant to established churches, and that it is a reflection both of their desire to be visible and to construct a certain type of presence.

The Problem There are 70.5 million Lutherans in the world, with numbers increasing in Asia and Africa. Currently, only 14% of the Lutheran bishops are women, an increase from 10% in 2011. The role of bishop is a complex leadership position, requiring one to lead up to 150 churches and pastors in a geographical area. With more than 50% of the Lutheran church population comprised of women, their gender and voices are not being represented or heard at the highest levels of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). With one billion women projected to enter the workforce globally in the next two decades, more needs to be written and understood about women church leaders, such as Lutheran bishops. The purpose of this study was to explore the journeys of women who achieved the office of bishop, to glean what can be learned for the benefit of other women who might be called to these higher levels of leadership in the church. The Solution This research suggests that 70% of the ELCA women bishops interviewed had unique career journeys, important spouse support, few women mentors, many challenges, and key leadership competencies required for the role. These findings can be helpful to future Lutheran and other Christian church leaders. It can help current and future women bishops understand what is expected in the role so they can be more successful in it. Leadership development recommendations are also suggested for seminary and higher education administrators and educators. The Stakeholders This research contributes to the literature in human resource development (HRD) by concentrating on the experiences of women leaders in the church—specifically women who have achieved the office of Bishop of the ELCA. The findings offer insights that can benefit scholars and practitioners alike, as well as current and future women leaders across the globe, in the church setting as well as other settings.

Summarizes and discusses the responses of a sample of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America women in ministry to a questionnaire inquiring about their understanding and experiences of pastoral counseling as practiced in the parish context.

Abstract This article addresses eucharistic and communal transformations of two local Finnish churches, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) and the Orthodox Church of Finland (OCF), amid the COVID-19 pandemic and precautions. We analyze how eucharistic practices have transformed in the ELCF and the OCF and the ways these transformations are reflected in the experiences of both parishioners and pastors. The data consist of four questionnaires (N = 739) collected from Lutheran and Orthodox believers and Lutheran vicars during the pandemic. Our results indicate that the significance of belonging was emphasized during the time of social distancing. While among those in the ELCF, experiences of belonging were manifested in terms of Eucharist, among those in the OCF, belonging was most often reflected in relation to liturgical community. The differences in eucharistic theologies of the OCF and the ELCF have perhaps become more visible in exceptional circumstances.

Reports the findings of a survey of 491 United Church of Christ, Southern Baptist Convention, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Roman Catholic rural clergy from seven Northern Plains states. Offers implications for seminary and post-seminary training, placement of clergy in churches, pastoral counseling in rural congregations, and contextualized theory and ministry.

In the article, the author researches the creation in 1863 and reorganization in the early 1880s of the Lutheran parish in Yenisei Province. Until the end of the 19th century, the Lutheran population of the region was mainly replenished due to criminal exile. The exiled were placed in three colonies purposely established in the 1850s in the south of the province: Verkhniy Suetuk, Nizhnyaya Bulanka, Verkhnyaya Bulanka. Finns and Estonians lived in the first, Estonians in the second, and Latvians and Germans in the third. The author draws attention to the fact that this demarcation of the Lutheran population on a national basis was an initiative of the exiled themselves. The author identified the actors who participated in the creation and reorganization of the parishes: the administration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia, the authorities of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, the central imperial authorities, Siberian authorities, the population of the Lutheran colonies of Yenisei Province, the public in the Baltic states and Finland. Finnish authorities advocated the creation of a national parish, only for the Finnish population. Other actors proposed to organize a territorial parish for all Lutherans of the province. The second approach prevailed in 1863: the Lutheran pastor appointed to Verkhniy Suetuk was to guide all Lutherans of Yenisei Province. At the turn of the 1880s, the incapacity of this system became clear: residents of Verkhnyaya Bulanka and Nizhnyaya Bulanka were virtually without the care of a pastor because the latter did not know the languages of their inhabitants (Latvian and Estonian), and they did not know Finnish. This situation led to the revision of the decree of 1863, which resulted in decisions to transfer the center of the parish to Nizhnyaya Bulanka, to impose an obligation of knowing Estonian and Latvian on the future pastor, and to create a new parish with the center in Omsk exclusively for the Finnish population. The author suggests calling this Lutheran parish extraterritorially national because, on the one hand, it was intended only for the Finnish population; on the other, its territory did not coincide with any administrative-territorial formation in Siberia. Besides state structures, the population of the colonies and inhabitants of the Baltic states, who raised money to organize a new parish, participated in the reorganization of the spiritual life of Lutherans in the late 1870s. The Finnish public's participation was not direct; however, the author of the article cites facts of organizing assistance to Siberian Finns from their compatriots. The author evaluates the system created as a result of the reorganization as effective: despite a number of conflict situations between the parishioners of the two parishes, the question of its reform was not raised. The author evaluates the imperial policy regarding the Lutheran population of Yenisei Province (of both Siberian and central authorities, as well as the administration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church) as flexible, able to take into account spiritual needs.

ABSTRACT: This article examines the various new religious movements which are currently active in Finland. The somewhat ironic title of the article refers to the remarkable homogeneity of the Finnish religious field. In Finland, more than 80 percent of Finns profess membership in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. Yet underneath the surface of Finnish religious homogeneity, there exists a vibrant current of mysticism, a willingness to borrow and adapt foreign religious ideas, and currents of both fundamentalism and millennialism. ““Radical Religion in Finland?”” seeks to provide the necessary historical context to introduce the small but vibrant world of alternative spirituality in contemporary Finland.

The National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) claims moralistic therapeutic deism as the popular religion among our youth.1 The Study of Exemplary Congregations in Youth Ministry (EYM) discovered that exemplary congregations are one's who speak about God as one who is present and active.2 The God of moralistic therapeutic deism can not be present and active. Is God present and active? If so, how do our youth experience and interpret this presence and activity? This article gives voice to the ways in which youth of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) experience Christ's presence and activity. It finds that placing their subjective interpretations of these experiences into conversation with their tradition's interpretation of Christ's presence and activity as represented by Gustaf Wingren's creation-faith enhances both how they and their tradition understand God's work in our world. The exemplar descriptor for the experiences heard among these youth is referred to as proleptic vocational recapitulation.

AbstractHistorians like Oscar Handlin and Timothy L. Smith asserted that international migration, especially that of Europeans to North America, was a process which reinforced traditional religious loyalties. In harmony with this supposed verity, a venerable postulate in the tradition of Scandinavian-American scholarship was that most Norwegian immigrants in the New World (the overwhelming majority of whom had been at least nominal members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Norway) clung to their birthright religious legacy and affiliated with Lutheran churches after crossing the Atlantic (although for many decades it has been acknowledged that by contrast, vast numbers of their Swedish-American and Danish-American counterparts did not join analogous ethnic Lutheran churches). In the present article, however, it is demonstrated that anticlericalism and alienation from organised religious life were widespread in nineteenth-century Norway, where nonconformist Christian denominations were also proliferating. Furthermore, in accordance with these historical trends, the majority of Norwegian immigrants in the United States of America and Southern Africa did not affiliate with Lutheran churches. Significant minorities joined Baptist, Methodist, and other non-Lutheran religious fellowships, but the majority did not become formally affiliated with either Norwegian or pan-Scandinavian churches.

The Mari people living in the Republic of Bashkortostan are mostly followers of their ethnic religion (“Mari paganism”). There is also a small group of Orthodox Christians, formed in the midst of the Mari pagan population as a result of forced baptism in the past. Since the 90s of the last century, the Mari people have also become acquainted with Protestantism, from different denominations of which only Lutheranism has had a tangible impact on the religious life of the Mari people. The teachings of Luther were preached among them by Finnish missionaries, who positioned themselves as representatives of a kindred Mari people. The use of the ethnic factor was one of the main reasons for the dynamic development of the Mari Lutheran community in Bashkiria. As a result of successful preaching work in the city of Birsk, the Republic of Bashkortostan, the parish of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria was formed, which at one time was also the center of the Ural Brotherhood...

Before the mid-nineteenth century there were few subjects in the altarpiece tradition of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland in which the central figures accompanying Christ were female. Seldom used or new motifs involving female characters now emerged behind the altar. Most of the altarpieces with central women figures were painted in Finland at the turn of the twentieth century by the artist Alexandra Frosterus-Såltin (1837–1916). In the nineteenth century Frosterus-Såltin was the only artist in Finland who realized the motif of ‘Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene’ in her altarpieces. In her final representation of the theme, the altarpiece in the church of the Finnish Jepua commune, she chose an unusual approach to the motif. My interest in the subject lies in the motif’s affective nature – the ways in which altarpieces in general have been actively used to evoke feelings. Moreover, I consider the influence that Alexandra Frosterus-Såltin, a significant agent in Finnish sacral art, had on consolidating the position of women’s agency in the Finnish altarpiece tradition. I examine the motif in relation to the cultural and political atmosphere of the era, especially the changing gender roles and the understanding of women’s social agency as the women’s movement emerged.

At the beginning of the period, the Prussian General Law Code did not provide for equal rights for members of ‘churches’ and those of ‘sects’. However, the French Revolution decreed the separation of church and state and the principle of equal rights for all citizens. Between the Congress of Vienna (1815) and the revolution of 1848, Prussian monarchs pressed for the church union of Lutheran and Reformed and advocated the piety of the Evangelical Revival. The Old Lutherans felt obliged to leave the united church, thus eventually forming a ‘sect’ favoured by the king. Rationalists, who objected to biblicism and orthodoxy, were encouraged to leave, too. As Baptists, Catholic Apostolics and Methodists arrived from Britain and America, the number of ‘sects’ increased. New ways of curtailing their influence were devised, especially in Prussia and Saxony.

This article examines the religiosity of young people at a summer gathering of a Christian revivalist movement. Studies on religious mass events as social phenomena, as well as research on youth participation, are still quite few. The open-air summer gatherings of the traditional Finnish revivalist movements operating within the national Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland attract masses of people from all generations simultaneously as the church itself sustains losses in attendance at the more institutional collective practices. This article seeks to answer why one of these gatherings is appealing for a group of active young people by investigating their visitor experiences and the meanings attached. The study regards the event as an arena for expressing, negotiating, and reviving religious meanings. Drawing on interviews, participant observation, and narratives, this qualitative case study seeks to illustrate current religiosity and, in general, to contribute to the comprehension of collective religiousness in people’s somewhat individualized and private religious lives.

AbstractThe effect of legislative changes on same-sex unions on people’s attitudes toward homosexuality is a fairly well-researched topic. There is less research on how state legislation on same-sex unions has affected churches’ attitudes and policies on registered partnership and same-sex marriage. In this paper we focus on attitudinal polarisation in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) in the matter of same-sex marriage and why there is a gap in the attitudinal development of the church and the society. The analysis is based upon six sets of representative surveys among the Finnish population, the employees of the ELCF and the elected officials of the ELCF between the years 2012–2017. Whereas the majorities (55%) among the Finnish population and among the ELCF members (54%) are already favourable to the idea that same-sex couples should have the right to marry in the church, the ELCF has not approved of it. This situation has polarised the ELCF from within. Empirical analysis shows that the reason for the discrepancy between popular opinion and the ELCF stance stems from the fact that ELCF decision makers are older and more religious than the general membership. However, the data also shows that even among the most religious, younger age groups are already more favourable towards the same-sex marriage. Therefore, it is likely that the polarisation will lessen over time as more and more religious people accept same-sex marriage.

In this article the author discusses the role of ethics and religion in the context of the current political debate on assisted reproduction in Finland. There is reason to ask why the issues of family structures, gender roles and sexuality cause conflict situations in politics and society. How should we understand the nature of political conflicts concerning family, gender and sexuality? For a proper understanding of these conflicts, we need a nuanced analysis of the role of ethics and religion in political debates in a secular European culture. In this article the author focuses on two examples drawn from Finnish discussions of assisted reproduction. The first example comes from recent parliamentary discussion of assisted reproduction, and the second example from how the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland has reflected on the same issue.

As in the other Scandinavian countries, so in Finland an exceptionally high percentage of the population belongs to a religious community. Today, about 82 per cent of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. However, the picture of the Finnish religious and spiritual landscape is more complex than it may at first appear. The project ‘Religions in Finland’ was started in 2003. The project is a joint-effort of the Church Research Institute and the Research Network for the Study of New Religious Movements. The aim is to create an electronic database for describing, mapping and analysing religious associations and communities in Finland (active ones and also those that no longer exist). In August 2007 there were 777 communities and organizations listed in the database. They are classified into ten categories representing religious traditions according to their historical and cultural background. There are 29 organizations classified under the category Western esotericism. This article presents a general overview of the major and recently founded esoteric groups in Finland, most of which are registered associations.

Abstract In this study, the focus is on death attitudes among the clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and their role in clergy work. The aim is to find out whether these attitudes have any practical relevance in clergy work and to see if the death attitudes are linked to the work orientation and wellbeing among the clergy. The death attitudes are measured by the Death Attitude Profile-Revised DAP-R (N=650). The results show that death attitudes have a multifaceted role in clergy work. Negative death attitudes were linked to an outward motivational orientation in work and lower levels of work wellbeing, and positive, on the other hand, to lower levels of burnout and higher levels of work engagement. These results show the importance of the competence related to death in clergy work and these notions should be acknowledged in the education and further education of the clergy.

Earlier research has revealed contrasting gender results in standardized mortality ratios (SMR) for cancers and cardiovascular diseases of Finnish church musicians compared with the general population. In order to better understand the SMRs, our study examined gender differences in health and work-related experiences of church musicians with special focus on experienced stress and burnout on the one hand, and work engagement and mental well-being on the other. The data were collected by a questionnaire including both standardized measures and open-ended questions. Statistical methods (mostly χ2 tests) were used for examining gender differences in the measures, and the open-ended questions were analyzed using theory-driven content analysis. The two sets of data complemented each other. Analyses of the standardized measures showed that church musicians have more burnout and distress than the general population but the results were not gendered. However, the open-ended questions revealed clearly higher distress in females than in males. Based on the contrast between the measures and the open-ended questions, we raise the question about how well females who have distressing work can recognize the stress factors and change them, especially if distress becomes a “normal state”.

A similar problem faces both Anglicans and Lutherans, namely that the succession in the presiding ministry of their respective churches no longer incontestably links those churches to the koinonia of the wider church (The Niagara Report, paragraph 58).

AbstractRecently, a number of influential clergy leaders have declared their support for liberal immigration reforms. Do the pronouncements of religious leaders influence public opinion on immigration? Using data from a survey experiment embedded in the 2012 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, we find that exposure to the arguments from high profile religious leaders can compel some individuals to reconsider their views on the immigration. To be more precise, we find that Methodists, Southern Baptists, and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America leaders successfully persuaded respondents who identify with these religious denominations to think differently about a path to citizenship and about the plight of undocumented immigrants. Interestingly, we also uncovered that religiosity matters in different ways for how parishioners from different religious faiths react to messages from their leaders. These findings force us to reconsider the impact that an increasingly strident clergy may be having on public opinion in general and on support for immigration reform in particular.

For decades, mainline Protestant denominations in the United States have experienced steady membership declines. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is no different, and our research team has been exploring this topic for years. Faith Communities Today (FACT) is an interfaith project consisting of a series of surveys conducted by the Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership, of which the ELCA is a long-standing member. In this article, we examine data collected from the three decennial FACT surveys to discern where, despite declining membership, God is, to quote the prophet Isaiah, “doing a new thing.” We find that over the past twenty years, the typical ELCA congregation has had a gradually increasing: sense of vitality, belief that it is financially healthy, desire to become more diverse, willingness to call women to serve as pastors, openness to change, and clarity of mission and purpose. Because there are multiple possible explanations for these positive trends, we recommend approaching such trend lines cautiously, viewing them through a critical-thinking lens. Even though there is an increased perception of congregational well-being, overall finances and the number of people involved in the church continue to decline. There is still much work to be done.

There is much going on in the modern religious scene, particularly in America under the name of ‘Evangelical Christianity’, that seems strange to those of us whose Church experience is shaped more emphatically by an Old-World Presbyterian, Anglican or Lutheran theological orientation. The emphasis upon the individual and the individual's personal ‘saving’ experience sounds strange to ears more attuned to social responsibility and the development of the Christian character in the nurture of the Church community. Where does this emphasis on the individual and his or her personal experience come from? And how did it come to be so much a part of American Church life? Both of these questions could introduce ponderous volumes of social, historical and theological research. But, generally speaking, this tendency to reduce the religious life to an experience of salvation can be traced to the era in the history of dogma which gave rise to Reformed Scholasticism. On the American continent, this approach to Christian faith was promoted by the early Puritan settlers in the context of their own theological concern to maintain a particular manifestation of the nature-grace dichotomy which stressed the legal duly of the individual Christian, and to gain a sense of assurance of election, however elusive that sense might be. While it is well beyond the limitations of this brief essay to trace the development of the Puritan theological orientation, this study will examine one incident in the life of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to profile the development of this Puritan inclination toward experiential individualism which, in various forms, still endures.

<p>The Norwegian Evangelical-Lutheran Church in America decided in 1861 to build their first college close to the western frontier of The Upper Midwest. The site chosen was a bluff above Upper Iowa River, highly visible from Decorah, a small town founded only 12 years earlier, few years after the first settlers arrived. The college building became a relatively vast structure erected between 1862 and 1865, completed to its originally planned symmetrical composition in 1874. The building style and its composition were common among American colleges and universities further east in the US. It is also demonstrated how the Luther College building façade in composition and detailing shows clear influences from a specific German building. This particular building has been designated as especially typical of the German <em>Rundbogenstil</em> (<em>S</em>tyle of the Rounded Arch) with its great mix of various stylistic elements.</p><p>The architect was known as C. H. Griese from Cleveland, Ohio. He is identified as Charles Henry Griese (1821–1909), who immigrated from Germany about 1850 and was known as a mason and contractor, from now on also as an architect. In 1869, Griese also designed the three Norwegian Lutheran churches of Washington Prairie, Stavanger and Glenwood in rural Decorah. They represented a Neo Gothic style which was new to the area, and had an evident architectural character contrasting the more ordinary vernacular churches in the area. They signify a change of style and, like the college building, they demonstrate architectural ambitions new to these Norwegians, giving insight also into the general architectural and vernacular development in the area.</p>

A Rooted Man and a Sacred PoetBy Viggo MortensenA Review of A.M. Allchin: N.F.S. Grundtvig. An Introduction to his Life and Work. With an afterword by Nicholas Lossky. 338 pp. Writings published by the Grundtvig Society, Århus University Press, 1997.Canon Arthur Macdonald Allchin’s services to Grundtvig research are wellknown to the readers of Grundtvig Studier, so I shall not attempt to enumerate them. But he has now presented us and the world with a brilliant synthesis of his studies of Grundtvig, a comprehensive, thorough and fundamental introduction to Grundtvig, designed for the English-speaking world. Fortunately, the rest of us are free to read as well.It has always been a topic of discussion in Denmark whether Grundtvig can be translated, whether he can be understood by anyone except Danes who have imbibed him with their mother’s milk, so to speak. Allchin is an eloquent proof that it can be done. Grundtvig can be translated and he can be made comprehensible to people who do not belong in Danish culture only, and Allchin spells out a recipe for how it can be done. What is required is for one to enter Grundtvig’s universe, but to enter it as who one is, rooted in one’s own tradition. That is what makes Allchin’s book so exciting and innovative - that he poses questions to Grundtvig’s familiar work from the vantage point of the tradition he comes from, thus opening it up in new and surprising ways.The terms of the headline, »a rooted man« and »a sacred poet« are used about Grundtvig in the book, but they may in many ways be said to describe Allchin, too. He, too, is rooted in a tradition, the Anglican tradition, but also to a large extent the tradition taken over from the Church Fathers as it lives on in the Orthodox Church. Calling him a sacred poet may be going too far.Allchin does not write poetry, but he translates Grundtvig’s prose and poetry empathetically, even poetically, and writes a beautiful and easily understood English.Allchin combines the empathy with the distance necessary to make a renewed and renewing reading so rewarding: »Necessarily things are seen in a different perspective when they are seen from further away. It may be useful for those whose acquaintance with Grundtvig is much closer, to catch a glimpse of his figure as seen from a greater distance« (p. 5). Indeed, it is not only useful, it is inspiring and capable of opening our eyes to new aspects of Grundtvig.The book falls into three main sections. In the first section an overview of Grundtvig’s life and work is given. It does not claim to be complete which is why Allchin only speaks about »Glimpses of a Life«, the main emphasis being on the decisive moments of Grundtvig’s journey to himself. In five chapters, Grundtvig’s way from birth to death is depicted. The five chapters cover: Childhood to Ordination 1783-1811; Conflict and Vision 1811-29; New Directions, Inner and Outer 1829-39; Unexpected Fulfilment 1839-58; and Last Impressions 1858-72. As it will have appeared, Allchin does not follow the traditional division, centred around the familiar years. On the contrary, he is critical of the attempts to focus everything on such »matchless discoveries«; rather than that he tends to emphasize the continuity in the person’s life as well as in his writings. Thus, about Thaning’s attempt to make 1832 the absolute pivotal year it is said: »to see this change as an about turn is mistaken« (p. 61).In the second main section of the book Allchin identifies five main themes in Grundtvig’s work: Discovering the Church; The Historic Ministry; Trinity in Unity; The Earth made in God’s Image; A simple, cheerful, active Life on Earth. It does not quite do Allchin justice to say that he deals with such subjects as the Church, the Office, the Holy Trinity, and Creation theology.His own subtitles, mentioned above, are much more adequate indications of the content of the section, since they suggest the slight but significant differences of meaning that Allchin masters, and which are immensely enlightening.It also becomes clear that it is Grundtvig as a theologian that is the centre of interest, though this does not mean that his work as educator of the people, politician, (history) scholar, and poet is neglected. It adds a wholeness to the presentation which I find valuable.The third and longest section of the book, The Celebration of Faith, gives a comprehensive introduction to Grundtvig’s understanding of Christianity, as it finds expression in his sermons and hymns. The intention here is to let Grundtvig speak for himself. This is achieved through translations of many of his hymns and long extracts from his sermons. Allchin says himself that if there is anything original about his book, it depends on the extensive use of the sermons to illustrate Grundtvig’s understanding of Christianity. After an introduction, Eternity in Time, the exposition is arranged in the pattern of the church year: Advent, Christmas, Annunciation, Easter and Whitsun.In the section about the Annunciation there is a detailed description of the role played by the Virgin Mary and women as a whole in Grundtvig’s understanding of Christianity. He finishes the section by quoting exhaustively from the Catholic theologian Charles Moeller and his views on the Virgin Mary, bearing the impress of the Second Vatican Council, and he concludes that in all probability Grundtvig would not have found it necessary to disagree with such a Reformist Catholic view. Finally there are two sections about The Sign of the Cross and The Ministry of Angels. The book ends with an epilogue, where Allchin sums up in 7 points what modem features he sees in Gmndtvig.Against the fragmented individualism of modem times, he sets Gmndtvig’s sense of cooperation and interdependence. In a world plagued with nationalism, Gmndtvig is seen as an example of one who takes national identity seriously without lapsing into national chauvinism. As one who values differences, Grundtvig appeals to a time that cherishes special traditions.Furthermore Gmndtvig is one of the very greatest ecumenical prophets of the 19th century. In conclusion Allchin translates »Alle mine Kilder« (All my springs shall be in you), »Øjne I var lykkelige« (Eyes you were blessed indeed) and »Lyksaligt det Folk, som har Øre for Klang« (How blest are that people who have an ear for the sound). Thus, in a sense, these hymns become the conclusion of the Gmndtvig introduction. The point has been reached when they can be sung with understanding.While reading Allchin’s book it has been my experience that it is from his interpretation of the best known passages and poems that I have learned most. The familiar stanzas which one has sung hundreds of times are those which one is quite suddenly able to see new aspects in. When, for example, Allchin interprets »Langt højere Bjerge« (Far Higher Mountains), involving Biblical notions of the year of jubilee, it became a new and enlightening experience for me. But the Biblical reference is characteristic. A Biblical theologian is at work here.Or when he interprets »Et jævnt og muntert virksomt Liv paa Jord« (A Simple Cheerful Active Life on Earth), bringing Holger Kjær’s memorial article for Ingeborg Appel into the interpretation. In less than no time we are told indirectly that the most precise understanding of what a simple, cheerful, active life on earth is is to be found in Benedict of Nursia’s monastic mle.That, says Allchin, leads us to the question »where we are to place the Gmndtvigian movement in the whole spectmm of Christian movements of revival which are characteristic of Protestantism« (p. 172). Then - in a comparison with revival movements of a Pietistic and Evangelical nature – Allchin proceeds to give a description of a Grundtvigianism which is culturally open, but nevertheless has close affinities with a medieval, classical, Western monastic tradition: a theocentric humanism. »It is one particular way of knitting together the clashing archetypes of male and female, human and divine, in a renunciation of evil and an embracing of all which is good and on the side of life, a way of making real in the frailties and imperfections of flesh and blood a deeply theocentric humanism« (p. 173).Now, there is a magnificent English sentence. And there are many of them. Occasionally some of the English translations make the reader prick up his ears, such as when Danish »gudelige forsamlinger« becomes »meetings of the godly«. I learnt a few new words, too (»niggardliness« and »esemplastic«) the meaning of which I had to look up; but that is only to be expected from a man of learning like Allchin. But otherwise the book is written in an easily understood and beautiful English. This is also true of the large number of translations, about which Allchin himself says that he has been »tantalised and at times tormented« by the problems connected with translating Grundtvig, particularly, of course, his poetry. Naturally Allchin is fully aware that translation always involves interpretation. When for example he translates Danish »forklaret« into »transfigured«, that choice pulls Grundtvig theologically in the direction that Allchin himself inclines towards. This gives the reader occasion to reflect. It is Allchin’s hope that his work on translating Grundtvig will be followed up by others. »To translate Grundtvig in any adequate way would be the work of not one person but of many, not of one effort but of many. I hope that this preliminary study may set in train a process of Grundtvig assimilation and affirmation« (p. 310)Besides being an introduction to Grundtvig, the book also becomes an introduction to past and contemporary Danish theology and culture. But contemporary Danish art, golden age painting etc. are also brought in and interpreted.As a matter of course, Allchin draws on the whole of the great Anglo-Saxon tradition: Blake, Constable, Eliot, etc., indeed, there are even quite frequent references to Allchin’s own Welsh tradition. In his use of previous secondary literature, Allchin is very generous, quoting it frequently, often concurring with it, and sometimes bringing in half forgotten contributions to the literature on Grundtvig, such as Edvard Lehmann’s book from 1929. However, he may also be quite sharp at times. Martin Marty, for example, must endure being told that he has not understood Grundtvig’s use of the term folkelig.Towards the end of the book, Allchin discusses the reductionist tactics of the Reformers. Anything that is not absolutely necessary can be done away with. Thus, what remains is Faith alone, Grace alone, Christ alone. The result was a radical Christ monism, which ended up with undermining everything that it had originally been the intention to defend. But, says Allchin, Grundtvig goes the opposite way. He does not question justification by faith alone, but he interprets it inclusively. The world in all its plenitude is created in order that joy may grow. There is an extravagance and an exuberance in the divine activity. In a theology that wants to take this seriously, themes like wonder, growth and joy must be crucial.Thus, connections are also established back to the great church tradition. It is well-known how Grundtvig received decisive inspiration from the Fathers of the Eastern Church. Allchin’s contribution is to show that it grows out of a need by Grundtvig himself, and he demonstrates how it manifests itself concretely in Grundtvig’s writings. »Perhaps he had a deep personal need to draw on the wisdom and insight of earlier ages, on the qualities which he finds in the sacred poetry of the Anglo-Saxons, in the liturgical hymns of the Byzantine Church, in the monastic theology of the early medieval West. He needs these resources for his own life, and he is able to transpose them into his world of the nineteenth century, which if it is no longer our world is yet a world in which we can still feel at home. He can be for us a vital link, a point of connection with these older worlds whose riches he had deciphered and transcribed with such love and labour« (p. 60).Thus the book gives us a discussion - more detailed than seen before – of Grundtvig’s relationship to the Apostolic Succession, the sacramental character of the Church and Ordination, and the phenomenon transfiguration which is expounded, partly by bringing in Jakob Knudsen. On the background of the often observed emphasis laid by Grundtvig on the descent into Hell and the transfiguration, his closeness to the orthodox form of Christianity is established. Though Grundtvig does not directly use the word »theosis« or deification, the heart of the matter is there, the matter that has been given emphasis first and foremost in the bilateral talks between the Finnish Lutheran Church and the Russian Orthodox Church. But Grundtvig’s contribution is also seen in the context of other contemporaries and reforming efforts, Khomiakov in Russia, Johann Adam Möhler in Germany, and Keble, Pusey and Newman in England. It is one of Allchin’s major regrets that it did not come to an understanding between the leaders of the Oxford Movement and Grundtvig. If an actual meeting and a fruitful dialogue had materialized, it might have exerted some influence also on the ecumenical situation of today.Allchin shows how the question of the unity of the Church and its universality as God’s Church on earth acquired extreme importance to Grundtvig. »The question of rediscovering Christian unity became a matter of life and death« (p. 108). It is clear that in Allchin’s opinion there has been too little attention on this aspect of Grundtvig. Among other things he attributes it to a tendency in the Danish Church to cut itself off from the rest of the Christian world, because it thinks of itself as so special. And this in a sense is the case, says Allchin. »Where else, at the end of the twentieth century, is there a Church which is willing that a large part of its administration should be carried on by a government department? Where else is there a state which is still willing to take so much responsibility for the administration of the Church’s life?« (p. 68). As will be seen: Allchin is a highly sympathetic, but far from uncritical observer of Danish affairs.When Allchin sees Grundtvig as an ecumenical theologian, it is because he keeps crossing borders between Protestantism and Catholicism, between eastern and western Christianity. His view of Christianity is thus »highly unitive« (p. 310). Grundtvig did pioneer work to break through the stagnation brought on by the church schisms of the Reformation. »If we can see his efforts in that way, then the unfinished business of 1843 might still give rise to fruitful consequences one hundred and fifty years later. That would be a matter of some significance for the growth of the Christian faith into the twentyfirst century, and not only in England and Denmark« (p. 126).In Nicholas Lossky’s Afterword it is likewise Grundtvig’s effort as a bridge builder between the different church groupings that is emphasized. Grundtvig’s theology is seen as a »truly patristic approach to the Christian mystery« (p. 316). Thus Grundtvig becomes a true all-church, universal, »catholic« theologian, for »Catholicity is by definition unity in diversity or diversity in unity« (p. 317).With views like those presented here, Allchin has not only introduced Grundtvig and seen him in relation to present-day issues, but has also fruitfully challenged a Danish Grundtvig tradition and Grundtvigianism. It would be a pity if no one were to take up that challenge.

Diaconal workers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland have traditionally worked on the borderline between parish work and public welfare services. However, the role of parish diaconal workers in social services and nursing services has diminished as the Finnish welfare state has expanded. In conjunction with this downsizing, the so-called intra-church diaconate process has re-demarcated parish diaconal work. Andrew Abbott’s theory of how professional jurisdictions are negotiated in the societal arenas in which different actors are engaged inspired the analysis in this article. Using Thomas F. Gieryn’s concept of boundary work, the jurisdictional settlements that reshape professional parish diaconal work are examined. It is argued that institutional boundary work and disputes over whether the culture of diaconal work is secular or spiritual, serve to renew its cultural jurisdiction.

In 2017, the Finnish Immigration Service received approximately 1,000 asylum applications and appeals based on conversion from Islam to Christianity. The applications claimed that converted asylum seekers would face mortal danger if returned to their countries of origin. The applications posed an unprecedented dilemma for the Finnish Immigration Service: how was it, as a secular state institution, to evaluate these claims of conversion? This question also became an object of significant public and media debate. In this article, I examine how journalists writing for a religious media publication, Kirkko ja kaupunki, the newspaper of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Helsinki region, sought to intervene in the debate on asylum seekers’ conversions. I focus my analysis on one central line of argument in their reporting: a call for the better- inclusion of and engagement with religious expertise on Christianity by the Finnish Immigration Service when evaluating conversion-based asylum applications and appeals. I show that this call both positioned religious expertise as an antidote to the challenges that efforts to evaluate conversion-based asylum appeals posed to Finnish Immigration Service employees in this time period, and constituted expertise as a site for negotiations over the ‘proper’ relationship between religion and state.

Abstract The Finnish author Pauliina Rauhala’s award-winning debut novel, Taivaslaulu (2013; Heaven Song)—which investigates the nexus of gender, agency, and familial and religio-communal belonging—is set in the world of Conservative Laestadianism, the largest revival movement within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. This conservative pietist movement is known, among other things, for its birth control ban, which extends not only to artificial contraception but also to fertility awareness methods and, in its most extreme form, even to marital celibacy. This article argues that “continuous traumatic stress” (CTS)—a term that, unlike post-traumatic stress, focuses on chronic, ongoing trauma—and “religious trauma” together constitute a relevant conceptual lens through which to examine Rauhala’s depiction of the life of her female protagonist under the Conservative Laestadian birth control ban, a prohibition operating in the realm of religious regulation of both body and mind. More generally, this article posits that examinations of gendered and gender-specific traumas resulting from “destructive uses of religion” (psychiatrist James L. Griffith’s term; italics added) are an integral part of the interdisciplinary study of religion and gender.

AbstractThe aim of this article is to discuss confirmation training from the perspective of mobile technology and social media. Previous research has focused on comparing confirmation training practices implemented in different Lutheran Churches. This article contributes to this research area by providing a new viewpoint to the discussion. Results indicate that (1) workers, in particular, received new ways of working with enthusiasm, (2) but the actual use of mobile devices and social media like Facebook proved to be low and not innovative, and (3) mobile technology cannot be integrated into confirmation training until new content and methods that are meaningful to young people have been developed.