Finnish Seamen's Mission
Encyclopedia
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
two official languages it is known as Suomen Merimieskirkko ry in Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
and Finlands Sjömanskyrka rf in Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
. It was established to help Finns travelling abroad, particularly seafarers and migrant workers. It is a Christian organisation which, as well as providing church services and pastoral care, also aims to provide cultural and social services to the Finnish community. The Secretary General is Sakari Lehmuskallio.
The Finnish Seamen's Mission works in close co-operation with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is the national church of Finland. The church professes the Lutheran branch of Christianity, and is a member of the Porvoo Communion....
, although it is a separate organisation. Finnish Lutheran clergy are based in the missions.
There are also other Finnish Lutheran congregations and clergy outside of Finland, but the Finnish Seamen's Mission and the Finnish Church Abroad work together to prevent duplication of work.
Locations in Finland
Within FinlandFinland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, the Mission has branches at Hamina
Hamina
Hamina is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Kymenlaakso region. The town has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water. The population density is...
, Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, Kemi
Kemi
Kemi is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located very near the city of Tornio. It was founded in 1869 by royal decree, because of its proximity to a deep water harbour....
, Kokkola
Kokkola
Kokkola is a town and municipality of Finland.The town is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is...
, Kotka
Kotka
Kotka is a town and municipality of Finland. Its former name is Rochensalm.Kotka is located on the coast of the Gulf of Finland at the mouth of Kymi River and it is part of the Kymenlaakso region in southern Finland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water....
, Oulu
Oulu
Oulu is a city and municipality of inhabitants in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world....
, Pori
Pori
Pori is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäenjoki river, which is the largest in Finland. Pori is the most important town in the Satakunta region....
, Raahe
Raahe
Raahe is a town and municipality of Finland. Founded by Swedish statesman and Governor General of Finland Count Per Brahe the younger in 1649, it is one of 10 historic wooden towns remaining in Finland. Examples of other Finnish historic wooden towns are Kaskinen , Old Rauma, Porvoo , Jakobstad ,...
, Rauma
Rauma, Finland
Rauma is a town and municipality of ca. inhabitants on the west coast of Finland, north of Turku, and south of Pori. Granted town privileges on May 17, 1442 , Rauma is known of its high quality lace , and of the old wooden architecture of its centre , which is a Unesco world heritage...
and Turku
Turku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
. The headquarters is based at Albertinkatu in Helsinki. A new international seamen's church is being planned for the new Port of Vuosaari
Vuosaari Harbour
Vuosaari Harbour is a seaport facility in Helsinki, Finland, opened in November 2008....
in Vuosaari
Vuosaari
Vuosaari is a neighbourhood in the City of Helsinki, Finland. It is located by the sea in East Helsinki, and with its area of 15.38 km² is geographically the largest district in the city. It also has two Helsinki Metro stations, Rastila and Vuosaari...
, East Helsinki
East Helsinki
East Helsinki is an area in Helsinki, Finland, usually thought to comprise the city's eastern and south-eastern major districts , including the districts of Vartiokylä, Myllypuro, Mellunkylä, Vuosaari, Herttoniemi, Laajasalo and Kulosaari...
; this will open at the same time as the new port.
Locations outside Finland
Outside Finland, there are branches at Antwerp, BrusselsBrussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Piraeus
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
, Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
and Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. As well as seafarers, the facilities are increasingly used by Finnish truck drivers, students and other expatriate workers.
Belgium and Luxembourg
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
- Antwerp and Brussels. There are also services held from time to time in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
.
In Antwerp, the Merimieskirkko is located at Italiëlei 67.
In Brussels, it is located at Rue de Luxembourg 20. The pastor is the Revd Jussi Ollila. Communion services are, however, normally held at the Chapel of the Resurrection
Chapel of the Resurrection, Brussels
The Chapel of the Resurrection is a Roman Catholic church with an ecumenical vocation located in the heart of the Brussels' European Quarter of Brussels , next to the former Convent Van Maerlant...
in Rue Van Maerlant on the first and third Sundays of each month.
England, UK
There is only one Merimieskirkko building in the UK (in London), but services are also occasionally held in other towns and cities. The church is located at 33 Albion Street, Rotherhithe
Rotherhithe
Rotherhithe is a residential district in inner southeast London, England and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is located on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping and the Isle of Dogs on the north bank, and is a part of the Docklands area...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(near Rotherhithe station on the London Overground
London Overground
London Overground is a suburban rail network in London and Hertfordshire. It has been operated by London Overground Rail Operations since 2007 as part of the National Rail network, under the franchise control and branding of Transport for London...
network). A communion service is held on the first Sunday of each month at 11 a.m. (conducted mainly in Finnish). An evening service is conducted on Sundays at 6 p.m. and on Thursday at 7.30 p.m. In addition, services are held on church festival days.
The first person sent abroad by the Finnish Seamen's Mission was Elis Bergroth. He was initially posted as Finnish chaplain at the English ports of Grimsby
Grimsby
Grimsby is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996...
and Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
in 1880. Given the level of work in London, the chaplaincy was moved south in 1882.
The present building was opened in 1958 and is the third Finnish Church in London. The architect of the Church, Cyrill Mardall-Sjöström, designed the new church building for a plot in Southwark Park, but this plan had to be scrapped owing to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. A new site was later found in Rotherhithe, an area with a Scandinavian and Nordic connections where the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish seamen's missions also are present and where the four Nordic churches and the Church of Iceland community cooperate in their work.
See also
- British & International Sailors’ Society
- Church of Sweden AbroadChurch of Sweden AbroadThe Church of Sweden Abroad - in Swedish: Svenska kyrkan i utlandet - is accountable to a special committee under the General Synod of the Church of Sweden and is under the episcopal oversight of the Bishop of Visby. SKUT has approximately 45 congregations throughout the world, concentrated in...
- FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
- International Christian Maritime AssociationInternational Christian Maritime AssociationThe International Christian Maritime Association is an ecumenical association of 27 Christian organisations, representing different churches and Christian communities. The members are all non-profit making organisations actively engaged in welfare work for seafarers. It is registered as a charity...
- Mission to SeafarersMission to SeafarersThe Mission to Seafarers is an international not-for-profit charity serving sailor sailors in over 230 ports around the world. It is supported entirely by donations from the public, whose generosity has funded its work for more than a century and a half...
(Anglican) - SjømannskirkenSjømannskirkenThe Norwegian Church Abroad or The Norwegian Seamen’s Church is a religious organisation serving Norwegians and other Scandinavians travelling abroad...
(Norwegian Church Abroad)
External links
- Official website (in English, Finnish, French, German and Swedish)
- Finnish Church in London (in English and Finnish)
- Finnish Church in Rotterdam (in English)
- Mission in Antwerp, Brussels and Luxembourg (in Finnish only)
- Mission in Hamburg (in Finnish only)