On Sunday 3.3.2024, the Secretary General of the Ecumenical Council of Finland, Mayvor Wärn-Rancken, visited the parish of St Nicholas in Helsinki and preached at the morning service. The language of the service is English, as the congregation is very international. There are also activities in Urdu and Arabic. The congregation meets in the Agricola Church in Helsinki, where the church office is also located.
The Anglican Church has been active in Finland for over 100 years. Due to the revolution in Russia, the congregation in St. Petersburg fled west and settled in Helsinki. Today the church covers the whole of Finland and regular services are held in Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Kuopio and other cities. In many places there is cooperation with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The cooperation is based on the Porvoo Treaty, which was signed between Anglicans in Europe and Lutherans in Northern Europe. The congregation is part of the Church of England’s Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe.
The service was followed by a church coffee morning, where there was a cheerful chatter of parishioners of all ages. The parishioners also received an English-language brochure on the activities of SEN. The Anglican Church of Finland is one of SEN’s denominational members.
Tuomas Mäkipää, vicar of the church, will join the Anglican church in Copenhagen in the summer.