Finland Times

 

The essence of Christianity is increasingly subject to a vote in Finland. Liberal and value conservative candidates are trying to attract supporters in the media and in street posters as the country prepares for a nationwide election of Lutheran Church councils. Advance balloting is under way and Election Day is Nov. 9.

In a national poster campaign, a Green Party Member of Parliament, also a well known liberal, has urged people to vote.

Participation in church elections has been traditionally low, well under 20 percent.

Political parties are increasingly involved in the election. Even the True Finns party--known for its strongly value conservative attitudes -- has set up candidates.

Although some 75 percent of the Finns are still members of the national Evangelic Lutheran Church, the country is very secular and permissive. Church membership has declined by 15 percentage points during the past 20 years. In the event of the True Finns and other conservatives being able to mobilise their supporters, the church would be more at variance with the society.  

The composition of the church councils will impact doctrinal issues such as the church attitude towards same sex marriage.

The Secretary General of the Church Bishops' Conference Jyri Komulainen told Xinhua the congregation council members elected now will choose members of the next General Conference or Synod.

Parishes do not have doctrinal or theological autonomy, but are tied to the decisions taken at the high level General Conferences of the church.

Researcher Vesa-Matti Salminen from the Church Research Institute told Xinhua that the clergy and staff of the church are largely liberal and the trend has been enhanced with more retirements.

The elected councils meanwhile have often represented more traditional thinking. "I do not believe that there would be a landslide towards conservatism though," he said, but further polarisation could not be excluded.

The Church has nationally 20,000 employees, but has had to downsize due to declining membership. Vicar Pauli Niemela, the chairman of the Parish Council in the City of Oulu, said some 20 to 50 employees out of 400 must leave within a few years.

At the same time there are pressures that the church should offer more social work. "But the social safety net in Finland has for decades been a government responsibility and a change could be difficult," Niemela said. "The Church has assisted people who have dropped out of the system. We would not have funding for a large scale increase." The national budget of the Church was last year slightly over 1 billion euros (1.25 billion U.S. dollars).

An increased value conservative character of the councils could inconvenience the position of liberal priests and thus increase tension.

Jyri Komulainen explained that the position of the clergy in Finland is fairly protected in terms of job security. "They enjoy the status and pay which resembles a civil servant."

Even though no longer a state body, the Evangelic Lutheran Church is part of the public sector and the church taxes are collected as part of the regular income tax. The church tax is usually 1 percent of taxable income subject to local decisions. The smaller Greek Orthodox church has also a public position and taxation rights of its members. Other religious organizations are of private character in Finland.