Porvoon kirkkoyhteisön yhteydenpitoryhmä ja jäsenkirkkojen priimakset kokoontuivat Lontoossa 5.–8.10.2026 teemalla ”Kirkkona levottomina aikoina”. Kokouksessa käsiteltiin kirkkojen julkista vastuuta, kristillistä nationalismia ja anglikaanis-luterilaisen ekumeenisen yhteistyön vahvistamista. Keskeisin tulos oli priimasten yksimielinen lausunto Porvoon kirkkoyhteisön ja pohjoisamerikkalaisen Churches Beyond Borders -sopimusyhteisön rinnasteisuuden eli transitiivisuuden edistämisestä jäsenkirkoissa. Tunnustaminen syventäisi kirkkojen yhteistyötä ja loisi edellytyksiä virkojen vaihdettavuudelle kirkkojen omien vaatimusten mukaisesti. Suomessa vuonna 2028 pidettävän teologisen konferenssin valmistelut tulee käynnistää keväällä 2027.
Keskeinen sisältö
Keskeisin kokouksen anti oli se, että kirkkoyhteisön priimakset laativat yhteisen julkilausuman, jonka pohjalta he toivovat kunkin jäsenkirkon edistävän Porvoon sopimusyhteisön ja pohjoisamerikkalaisten sopimusyhteisöjen rinnasteisuuden virallista toteamista kussakin jäsenkirkossa niiden päätöksentekojärjestelmän mukaisesti. Kirkossammehan kirkolliskokous tunnusti Porvoon sopimuksen ja pohjoisamerikkalaisten anglikaanis/episkopaalis-luterilaisten sopimusten rinnasteisuuden tunnustaminen 9.11.2023. Tämän mallin mukaan myös Tanskan luterilaisen kirkon piispat tekivät vastaavan päätöksen – heillähän ei ole kirkolliskokousta, joka olisi tämän voinut todeta. Ruotsin kirkossa oli jo aiemmin tehty kahdenvälinen sopimus Amerikan episkopaalisen kirkon kanssa. Heilläkin on jäljellä siis vielä prosessi, jonka kautta tunnustettaisiin myös kanadalaisen sopimuksen rinnasteisuus Porvoon sopimuksen kanssa. Ohessa kokouksen tiedonanto, kommunikea, sekä priimasten yhteislausunto:
COMMUNIQUÉ
The Primates and Presiding Bishops of the Porvoo Communion met in London in the United Kingdom, together with members of the Porvoo Contact Group, during the 30th anniversary year of the Communion. The Porvoo Communion unites the Anglican churches of Great Britain, Ireland and the Iberian Peninsula with the Lutheran churches of the Nordic countries, the Baltic states and Great Britain. The Primates’ Meeting, which is usually held every three years, was centred on the theme “Being the Church in Turbulent Times”. The meeting was generously hosted by the Church of England at Lambeth Palace and included participation in Evensong at Westminster Abbey.
Prior to the full meeting, the Porvoo Contact Group reflected on the next steps towards establishing transitivity between the Porvoo Communion and the Anglican-Lutheran agreement in North America: namely, the Churches Beyond Borders agreement between the Anglican Church of Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, The Episcopal Church (USA), and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The Group was pleased to be joined by the Revd Dr Kirsten Guidero of The Episcopal Church, who offered insights from a North American perspective.
In a separate session, the primates and presiding bishops shared experiences from their respective contexts and reflected particularly on the need for a renewed ecumenical commitment between Anglicans and Lutherans. They agreed to prepare a statement on how the Porvoo Communion can achieve transitivity with the churches of North America, with the intent that this is shared within the individual member churches of the Porvoo Communion for further concrete action.
Building on the main theme of the conference, the Revd. Professor Luke Bretherton of Christchurch, University of Oxford, introduced the primates and presiding bishops to the question: “What is a Christian politics? And is there such a thing as a Christian nation?” Professor Bretherton underlined that politics is fundamentally concerned with the common good and seeks relational ways to advance it. From a Christian perspective, the basis of politics is love of neighbour. He noted the troubling return of a ‘friend-and-enemy’ dynamic, in which Christianity can be sometimes understood principally as constituting a nation (ethnos) rather than as the people of God (laos), and in relation to civic life as part of the demos (from which democracy takes its name). Ecumenism, mission and politics converge, he argued, when churches work for the common good in the light of faith, hope and love.
The theme of “Being the Church in Turbulent Times” continued with a visit to the Houses of Parliament at Westminster. There, the group learned about the role of the Church of England’s Faith and Public Life team within the formal structures of the nation’s political life, particularly in supporting bishops who serve in the House of Lords. The churches of the Porvoo Communion, especially the Lutheran churches of the Nordic countries, have their own histories of close cooperation with the state. Today, churches across Europe continue to seek ways of bearing witness together in the public sphere.
The Revd Dr Helen Paynter of Bristol Baptist College continued the theme with a presentation on “Christian Nationalism in the UK: Ideology, Theology, and Pastoral Responses.” Her contribution prompted reflection on how churches might challenge the unhelpful conflation of Christianity with political ideologies. She emphasised the importance of responding to Christian nationalist movements with careful theological engagement and suggested avenues for church leaders seeking constructive and dialogical responses.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Sarah Mullally, joined the primates and presiding bishops and the members of the Porvoo Contact Group for the final session. Reflecting on what it means to be the Church in turbulent times, she proposed three marks of Christian witness: being a community that remembers, a community that refuses fear, and a community that makes reconciliation visible. She reminded participants that the Porvoo Communion is more than a pragmatic or institutional arrangement: it is a gift of reconciled diversity, grounded in a shared sacramental life. The Archbishop encouraged participants to reflect on how this ecumenical gift enables the Communion to more fully live out the Gospel in our world today.
The theme provided an opportunity for rich discussion about the role and challenges of the Porvoo Communion in the years ahead. Future major gatherings of the Porvoo Communion will include a thematic consultation in Iceland in 2027, a theological conference in Finland in 2028, and the next meeting of primates and presiding bishops in Estonia in 2029.
Priimasten lausunto transitiivisuudesta:
Primates’ and Presiding Bishops’ statement on transitivity
The primates and presiding bishops of the Porvoo Communion, meeting in Lambeth Palace, London, between 6 and 8 October 2026, agreed unanimously that the Porvoo Communion should pursue a relationship of ecumenical transitivity with Anglican/Episcopalian and Lutheran churches of North America known collectively as Churches Beyond Borders (namely the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; the Episcopal Church; the Anglican Church of Canada; and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada). The primates and presiding bishops appreciated the theological work that had been achieved, both within the Porvoo Communion and Churches Beyond Borders, which had led them to be able to agree this common position. They pledged to advance this move in their respective churches by whatever means were deemed necessary and expedient in order to enable transitivity to happen. The resultant recognition of ordained ministries would open the possibility of ministers serving across Anglican and Lutheran jurisdictions, subject in each case to the canonical, legal and other requirements of the receiving church. Moreover, any church wishing to advance would not be impeded by any sister Porvoo church still discerning the way forward.
The primates and presiding bishops are convinced that this development does not contravene the Porvoo Common Statement. Rather, the Porvoo Communion is being invited to affirm that the agreements which underlie the theological and ecclesiological foundations of Churches Beyond Borders in North America are parallel, equivalent and wholly consistent with those of the Porvoo Communion. Moreover, a development of this kind follows the lead of the global Anglican-Lutheran International Commission in its 2014 report “To Love and Serve the Lord” which calls for the growth of relationships of transitivity in order to allow the practice of ordained ministry across the Anglican and Lutheran traditions (see page 52). Certain member churches of the Porvoo Communion – such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, the Church of Sweden and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark – have already taken concrete steps in this direction. Hence, this invitation to all the churches of the Porvoo Communion marks a further development in a movement already underway. The primates and presiding bishops of the Porvoo Communion agree that these developments have an urgency in this 30th year of Porvoo with respect to ministry, mission and community globally.
This common statement was affirmed by the primates and presiding bishops present at Lambeth Palace on 8 October 2026.
Johtopäätökset, suositukset, toimenpiteet
Suomessa 2028 pidettävän teologisen konferenssin valmistelut on syytä käynnistää keväällä 2027 ja varata sitä varten määräraha vuodelle 2028. On syytä edelleen seurata ja osallistua prosessiin, jonka kautta toteutuu kirkkoyhteisön laajuisena kolmen anglikaanis-luterilaisen sopimuksen rinnasteisuuden tunnustaminen yli Atlantin, niin että Porvoon kirkkoyhteisö ja pohjoisamerikkalainen Churches beyon Borders voivat kehittää yhteistyötään ja edistää luontevaa virkojen vaihdettavuutta teologisen tunnustamisen kautta kirkkojen voimassa olevat koulutus- ym. käytännöt huomioon ottaen.
Tomi Karttunen
johtava asiantuntija, ekumenia ja teologia,
Porvoon kirkkoyhteisön yhteydenpitoryhmän jäsen
Mukana matkalla myös arkkipiispa Tapio Luoma (priimasten kokous 6.–8.10.) ja piispa Matti Repo, yhteydenpitoryhmän luterilainen pj.