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NWI: Greater Community Influence for Helsinki Churches
29 March 2005
Finland is a nation of five million people, but its influence is felt across the globe in areas including technology and communications.
The churches of Finland, even those of the evangelical and charismatic variety, tend to be very much on the conservative side when it comes to their style of presentation and their approach to community outreach.
A group of churches in Helsinki are committed to changing that and creating a new paradigm of church interaction with society.
The Vision Network, under the leadership of Pastor Rauno Kokkola, is pursuing a number of new initiatives to increase the visibility of the church in mainstream Finnish life, especially in the capital.
Among other things, the churches are investing in strategic plans for new community services in the Helsinki area. The network is also backing the growing involvement of some of its leadership in the nation’s political and business scenes.
Mal Fletcher was guest speaker at the Easter Conference hosted by some of the members of the network, including Greater Helsinki Church, Lighthouse Church, Mountaincastle Church and Free Evangelical Church.
After the event, Mal said: ‘I believe that this group of churches can establish Helsinki as a key centre for communication of the Christian message.’
‘Already, the city has a world reputation for communications technology, being the base for companies such as Nokia.’
‘These leaders are willing to think out of the box and to try new things from a strong local church base. Watch this network – it will produce some very big things.’
Last year, Mal spoke at the summer conference which is hosted by the same network. The venue for that event was the Ice Stadium, the largest indoor sporting arena in the capital.
That event also represented something of a watershed for the network and for the churches in terms of media promotion, with Mal and other guests being involved with press conferences and the like.
Well over 10,000 people attended during that week and the substance of Mal’s messages is still being reproduced in magazine articles across the nation.
Next Wave International is committed to helping this network of churches to increase the influence of Christian churches in Finnish society.
(See our separate news report on the Next Wave International MasterClass in Helsinki.)
Next Wave will return to Finland for the next Helsinki MasterClass, on ‘Media and Communication’, at this stage scheduled for early December this year.
For more information on this network of churches, or Helsinki MasterClass, contact Greater Helsinki Church, or email seurakunta@suhe.net. Phone: +358 (0)9 6222 110.
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