17 Thursday Aug 2017
In the main hall of the LWF assembly there were several banners showcasing the history of past LWF assemblies.
The images were neat to see and to see how life has evolved within the LWF – moving from a German-centric focus to other places.
I, of course, had to get a picture of the LWF banner depicting 1963 in Helsinki, Finland. It was a great reminder for me of my time in Finland. And to walk in the same footsteps of Lutherans in the past is a special memory for me.
22 Wednesday Jul 2015
Tags
As I left a meeting in Helsinki in June, I came across this gem:
I couldn’t resist, so I made my way inside to see if the inside looked as beautiful as the outside.
The result:
Beautiful. St. John’s Church in Helsinki was gorgeous. It has a nice older feel without looking old and worn out.
I enjoyed the visit and at the same time wondered – how many people actually worship here to enjoy the beauty. It’s a question without an answer since I wasn’t there when the building was in use.
Or maybe it was – besides myself, there was one other person there. She was doing what I was – taking some pictures and marveling at the beauty. In a way, this was the church in full use, but two strangers brought together into the same space in search of beauty and wanting to hear God.
I was grateful for the moment away from the hustle of the day.
29 Friday May 2015
As I trekked through Joensuu, I ended up walking along the Pielisjoki River. This was February, so it was frozen over and snow-covered, yet still beautiful.
There are some interesting things along the river too. Like this:
I think the biggest surprise was how much snow there really was.
In case you don’t that’s a good bit of snow, look a little closer at the park bench.
Joensuu is 400 some odd kilometers north-east of Helsinki. And the weather is far different as a result. Helsinki has had light winters the past two years now. In fact, the Northeast of the US has had much harder winters for these last two years. Having said all of that – I was thrilled to be in Joensuu and see some real snow piled up.
08 Friday May 2015
In February, the church sent me up to Joensuu, in eastern Finland, to continue my conversations about the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. I took the train – which happens to be one of the best ways to travel, as you’ll see from the pictures I post here.
As I left Helsinki, I first thing I noticed was how the landscape changed the further east and north I went.
And also the amount of snow.
The vast openness that surrounded us was amazing to see.
And when the sun finally came up, it made for an amazing show of beauty.
29 Wednesday Apr 2015
Posted in Church, Finland, Theology, University
Tags
baptism, Cardinal Kurt Koch, Catholic, church, Ecumenism, eucharist, Finland, Helsinki, Jesus, Lutheran, theology, University of Helsinki, Vatican
Yesterday I got to experience something unique. Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity at the Vatican, came for a visit to the Faculty of Theology at the University of Helsinki. The topic of Cardinal Koch’s presentation was “The Ecumenical Recognition of Baptism”. Prof. Anneli Aejmelaeus and Prof. Risto Saarinen gave responses.
Let me set the stage a little, tiny bit. Finland is not a Catholic country – it is very Lutheran – of the approximate 5 million citizens of the country, about 9,000 people are Catholic. Let that sink in for a minute. In comparison, there are about 4 million people who claim membership to the Lutheran church.
There’s a long history here that I don’t have time to go into on how this came to be. Let’s just say that what you link church and state, you end up with large majorities of people in one church.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand, the Cardinal gave a nice presentation on the ecumenical efforts to recognize baptism between denominations. I didn’t hear much disagreement from anyone, which isn’t surprising.
The Cardinal turned his attention to the Eucharist and the differences between the churches and why there cannot be Eucharistic hospitality. There were several questions about this and I thought the best answer that the Cardinal gave that highlights the differences went something like this – He would be happy to give Eucharist to a non-Catholic if they could, in their heart and with a clear conscious, accept the words at the end of the Catholic Eucharistic Prayer that claims loyalty to the local (Catholic) bishop and to the supremacy of the Pope in Rome.
This highlights the difference in views about Eucharist perfectly actually. I was left with a few questions – When did that part of the Eucharistic prayer start? What about the time before this prayer started or before the idea of the supremacy of the pope came about? Jesus doesn’t mention anything about ecclesiastical concerns during the last supper narrative – when was this added to the Eucharistic prayer and why?
Overall, it was a great to sit and listen and think about where things are in the church – where there is unity and where there is still division.
27 Monday Apr 2015
Tags
Finland, Helsinki, Lutheran, peace, prayer, rock, Rock Church, silence, Temple Square, Temppeliaukio Church
Temppeliaukio Church, which means temple square, but is more commonly known as Rock Church in English, is one of my favorite locations.
The church gets it name because it was created right in the middle of a large rock formation on a hill in Helsinki – in the middle of a large residential section.
It was completed in 1969 and the Lutheran church makes good use of the church – Sunday mass and daily prayer services. Other events happen here too – Around Easter there was a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar.
The organ gets a workout too with plenty of organ recitals and other musical events throughout the year.
When the church is open to the public (most days, you can look up the daily schedule on the internet), you will always find people in the church, taking pictures or just sitting, taking in silence, the soft music that is playing, or praying. It’s one of the most peaceful places in the city.
It’s amazing that one can be sitting in a rock and feel at peace with the world. Awesome!
08 Wednesday Apr 2015
Tags
Cathedral, crucifixion, death, Finland, Helsinki, Jesus, passion, Via Crucis
The Passion continued through the streets of Helsinki as Jesus carried his cross from the site of the trial (Bank of Finland) to the final location (Lutheran Cathedral).
Along the way, we were reminded that we were being watched, or maybe watched over.
And then we arrived at the destination, the Cathedral.
Jesus meets his mother and the embrace one last time.
And then, Jesus is crucified, between two criminals. This was a powerful moment. The entire cast – the good, bad and ugly are also crucified. There’s a ton of theology here.
After Jesus final words, he dies. After his death, his work is complete and we watch him leave the scene, looking back one last time.
All is done. The Tomb is empty.
Next post: back to Tallinn and other theological posts.
07 Tuesday Apr 2015
Tags
angel, authorities, Bank of Finland, church, death, drum, Finland, Helsinki, Herod, Jesus, Pontious Pilot, trial, Via Crucis
After the Via Crucis left the park, the production, with Jesus in the lead, traveled to the next setting – the Bank of Finland, for the trial of Jesus. Considering that a price had been paid for Jesus, it seemed fitting that the next location would be in front of the National bank.
Along the way, there were drummers who gave directions via their drumming – follow the sound on your way from the park to the bank. Here’s a picture of one of the drummers.
The face looks like death – the drumbeat of death – which is the whole idea.
It seemed as though the crowd grew as we walked along. When we got to the bank, the crowd easily doubled. People had gotten there early to get a good spot. I was fortunate enough to make my way through the crowd to the other side, closer to the cathedral and closer to where the last scene would take place.
First up was the trial before the authorities.
Our friends from the religious authorities were first to return:
Then it was King Herod.
I love how they portrayed Herod. He showed up in a limo with music rocking. He was wearing a fur coat with tons of bling. The crowd was dancing. The actor really got into the role and did a great job.
Then it was Pontius Pilot:
Yes, Pilot was a female. And was more of a game show host (that’s how she came off to me anyway). She kept appealing to the crowd.
Then it was time to give Jesus the cross, which was done by two angels.
And finally, Jesus carries the cross to the final scene.
My Thoughts:
Again, I was utterly amazed at how approachable the whole production was and therefore how approachable Jesus was in this play. In the picture above, I was so close to him. There were a ton of people taking pictures and no one stopping this, which actually made the event feel more real in a weird kind of way.
Did I mention that this production was incredible? If not…incredible. You really feel like you are a part of it.
Next post: part III – the Crucifixion.
06 Monday Apr 2015
Tags
approachable, church, enjoyable, Finland, Good Friday, Helsinki, Jesus, Lutheran, passion, relevant, stations of the cross, Via Crucis
Another break from the Tallinn trip postings. Today, I want to post something timely. On Good Friday I went to the Via Crucis. It’s the modern adaption of the Stations of the Cross of Jesus that takes place in Helsinki each year. This was the 20th year of the production.
I have to say, it was incredible. It is one of the best productions of the stations of the cross I have seen, if not the best.
The production is totally in Finnish, but honestly, it really doesn’t matter. Even non-Finnish speakers can enjoy the production, especially if you know the story. You can understand what is going and appreciate the modern adaption of the story.
The production takes place at three locations in the city and the cast moves through the streets to each location. I’m going to take today and the next two days to share my thoughts about the play along with some extra thoughts in relation to the church.
The first part of the production takes place in Kaisaniemi Park just north of the train station. It sit on a hill so the crowd can see what is going on.
The play starts out with an angel walking slowly, very slowly to the stage and dancing to the opening music. It feels a bit eerie, but it works.
Then we meet the characters. I’ve heard from a friend that every year there is a twist in the story. One year Jesus was portrayed by a Chinese woman. Here is Jesus this year:
You’ll get a better look in a few pictures. The people dressed in black are the “crowd.” When ever the crowd needed to “speak” all you heard was this confusing sound and constant mumble. It fit.
Judas is portrayed as a business person. And there is no escaping the idea that Judas is a bad dude here – even if you know very little or no Finnish – you can tell from the body language. Here is Judas making a deal with the authorities to betray Jesus. He was paid with a briefcase that supposedly had money in it. When the briefcase was brought to him, it was slammed on the stage and made a huge “thud” sound – gotta love the dramatic effect of that.
One of the cooler scenes was after Judas took the money. The fireworks shot off and “Money” by Pink Floyd started playing. Here’s the scene.
Afterwards, we turn back to Jesus and see him with the disciples having the last supper.
The story proceeds along according to Scripture and comes to the betrayal, arrest and taking Jesus away. This was done so well. You can see all of this happening in one scene – so poignant.
And Jesus is taken away – right past the crowd.
If this were held in the US, you could not escape the symbolism of portraying Jesus as a black guy with a hoodie. But this is Finland – the racial tension that is occurring in the US is far different from here in Finland. Just something to think about.
Some thoughts:
1. Again – incredible, but it gets better as it goes.
2. There were several thousand people at this production. I highly doubt all of them would consider themselves religious. Yet, they came to see a production about the passion of Jesus. The story is still relevant today. The crowds would grow as we went to the other locations.
3. The three challenges that the church in Finland faces – being relevant, being approachable and being enjoyable – they were all met head on. This production is a great example of the church finding a way to meet these challenges. I already mentioned the relevant factor. This production certainly makes the church and God approachable. Here was Jesus passing through the crowd. You could literally reach out and touch him. This would continue as the play moved from the second location to the final location. And finally enjoyable – the passion isn’t one of those happy productions, but this production was enjoyable in a different way – it was well done and even those who don’t speak Finnish could enjoy it without knowing what was being said. I’ll have more thoughts on this in later posts.
Next post – Via Crucis, Part II
02 Thursday Apr 2015
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
Catholic, Christianity, Dominican, ecumenical, Finland, foot washing, God, Helsinki, Jesus, Lutheran, orthodox, service
Today I had the opportunity to go to an ecumenical foot washing service in Helsinki. Ecumenical in this context means Lutheran, Catholic and Orthodox.
An Orthodox priest led the service and the foot washing was done by the Catholic bishop who was assisted by a Lutheran pastor. It was held in a the chapel of a Dominican facility.
This is actually the first time I ever participated in a foot washing. The service was in Finnish and was very nice. I stopped trying to translate what was being said so that I could just experience the service. I’m glad I did.
It was the perfect mix of Orthodox and Western Christian practice complete with incense.
The service got me thinking about foot washing and the symbolism that it holds. In so many ways, we need foot washing.
We need to be washed of the nastiness that we set foot on each day and carry around with us – our sins. We need to be washed to learn how to receive. We need to be washed to learn how we can serve. We need to be washed to see and experience humbleness. We need to be washed to experience vulnerability. We need to be washed to come to terms with who we are, with our own weaknesses and whatever shame we might carry, especially concerning our bodies.
We need to be washed. And today we have an opportunity to be washed, ready to go forward into the rest of Holy Week.
Be washed my friends.
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