wfn.org | Archbishop John Vikstrom Visits ELCA Churchwide Office

[ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE NEWSBRIEF

August 21, 1996

CHURCH BETWEEN EAST AND WEST

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) has been the
site of many "battlefields," Archbishop John Vikstrom told staff
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America during formal
visits to the ELCA's Chicago offices Aug. 8-9.  "Finland is a
country at the border between Eastern and Western Europe.  This
position on the map of Europe has influenced the life of our
nation and our church," he said.  In 1982 Vikstrom became the
Archbishop of Turku and Finland, 53rd successor to Bishop Henry
of Uppsala and Turku who came to Finland in about 1155.  In the
19th century Finland was a grand duchy under a Russian Orthodox
czar, and at that time the church distanced itself from the
state, said Vikstrom.  Some arrangements with the government
"remind us" of a state-church background, such as the public
funding of church schools, but parishes pay for their own
programs and the salaries of the clergy, he said.  About 86
percent of Finland's population are ELCF members.  The collapse
of the Soviet Union, a major trading partner, left Finland with
high unemployment and domestic hardships.  The archbishop has
participated internationally in theological talks with the
Russian Orthodox Church and with the Anglican Church, and in
doctrinal discussions of the Lutheran World Federation on the
Leuenberg Concord between Lutheran and Reformed churches.
Vikstr#m was accompanied to Chicago by the Rev. Ilkka Makela,
acting executive secretary for ministry to Finns abroad, and Dr.
Risto Cantell, executive director of the Department for
International Relations of the ELCF.

For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service,
(312) 380-2958; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955