wfn.org | Major changes in Finnish church

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

State will no longer appoint bishops

TURKU, Finland/GENEVA, 25 May 1999 (lwi)   The state president will
no longer appoint bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Finland (ELCF), according to a decision passed by the ELCF synod
meeting in Turku from 3 to 8 May 1999.

According to a press release from the ELCF information center, it is
expected that with effect from March 2000, the appointment of bishops
will be decided only through the election process by pastors and lay
people. The diocesan chapter (bishop's board) will then appoint the
person who receives the majority votes at the election.

According to the current Ecclesiastical Act which regulates the ELCF,
the state president may appoint as bishop any of the three candidates
garnering the most votes from the church election. But the
endorsement of the recent synod decision will mean that the candidate
with the highest number of votes is elected bishop by the church,
thereby nullifying the state's involvement.

Another major change proposed by the synod is the inclusion of a
representative of the indigenous Saami population into the Finnish
Synod. The Saami Parliament which represents some 7,000 Saami people
in Finland is entitled to elect one lay delegate to the Synod. This
means that the total number of synod members will be increased from
106 to 107. It is expected that this practice could be implemented by
May 2000, at the first session of the new synod.

A member of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the ELCF has over
4.5 million members representing about 86 percent of Finland's
population. The church is divided into eight dioceses, each headed by
a bishop and a cathedral chapter. The  supreme decision-making body
is the Synod, which meets twice a year. Laymen are the majority in
the synod, but a fixed number of seats have been set aside for
clergies. The synod proposes changes in the Ecclesiastical Act and
decides on the Ecclesiastical Order. It also deals with questions of
doctrine and approves the books of the church.

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/