Bishop Robert has published a blog today about a recent pastoral trip:

Helsinki, the capital of Finland, is the most northerly of continental European capitals. Sometimes known as ‘the white city of the north’, the view of the marvellous ‘white cathedral’ is one of the leading features of its impressive waterside. When we visited, runners were assembling there for a midnight run.   

We had come to visit the Anglican congregation of St. Nicholas Helsinki. Our programme began with a ‘Last Night of the Proms’ benefit concert kindly hosted by the British Ambassador, Laura Davies, at her residence. 

We were particularly enthralled by the nyckelharpa, a traditional Finnish instrument that was capable of being played with a bow, plucked or played like a keyboard instrument. It sounded magical in combination with violin. 

The St. Nicholas singers are a (semi?) professional chamber choir, directed by the church organist, Erik Johannes Riekko. The setting of the Ambassador’s residence made for an intimate and lovely venue for them. Finland has a particularly fine musical tradition, with some 15 symphony orchestras, which is pretty good for such a small population. 

Ambassador Laura Davies enjoyed the occasion as much as everyone else. 

I thought this was a splendid example of co-operation between an Embassy and the Church – and a model which might be replicated elsewhere. 

The following morning we took the two hour train journey inland to Tampere, a city sometimes described as ‘the Manchester of Finland’. We loved seeing the chimneys and millwheels of cotton and paper mills from an industrial past. 

We were made warmly welcome by Matti Repo, the Lutheran Bishop of Tampere, whom I had met at Archbishop Sarah’s installation in Canterbury. He was proud to say that his house had been built with advice from the Bishop of London in the 1930s. We discussed many subjects – he was particularly interested in Anglican ways of reaching out beyond the church building, such as messy church and new ways of being church. In exchange, I listened in admiration to the depth and reach of confirmation in the Lutheran church. We concluded with prayers together in his private chapel. 

The Anglican ‘International Church of Christ the King’ meets in a fine Lutheran building in the centre of the city. 

The community is led by The Revd Kati Eloranta, a Lutheran pastor with PtO from me (fifth from left in the back row). The Revd. Amos and The Revd. Yousif (to my left) are Anglican pastors amongst the ‘White Nile’ congregations that serve people who have arrived in Finland from North Africa and specifically Sudan. John Mills (on my right) is a longstanding Lay Reader. 

We found this a most wonderfully diverse and welcoming congregation, with a strong and evident sense of love and care between its members. 

It was back to Helsinki for Sunday morning worship with the St. Nicholas congregation. I mentioned music in Finland, and there was a magnificent choir and organ. On all my travels around our diocese, I think this is the one of the biggest and best appointed of all the worship spaces that we use, and it is given to us freely by our Lutheran friends. This is an enormous blessing of the full communion we enjoy with the Nordic Lutherans through the Porvoo agreement.  

I had the great pleasure and privilege of confirming these five teenagers – three from our Turku congregation and two from St. Nicholas. 

One of our candidates, Annan (left) is the son of proud parents The Revd. Parvez Gill and his wife Nabeela Parvez and brother of Rujla Gill, Helsinki Synod representative. 

After the post-service refreshments, I met with the church council and chaplain Maria Obafemi-Onuigbo (on my right). Reverend Maria has been leading the congregation for just one year now, but is much loved and respected, and I was delighted to see how well she was doing. 

The Porvoo agreement in Finland is a great boon to the Anglican communion. We benefit greatly from buildings, resources and people. Indeed, the inter-relationships are so strong that in my conversations with the many clergy I encountered, I found it difficult to tell whether I was speaking to a Lutheran, or an Anglican, or both! 

In this northern country, our congregations are highly international. They offer much valued support to people arriving in Finland who want and need to worship in English (given the difficulty of Finnish). There is a good deal of mobility and building community is demanding. I met some fantastic people, and I pray for the continued flourishing of these various communities in Helsinki and in Tampere.