Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
| Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Lutheranism |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Primate | Archbishop of Turku |
| Associations |
Conference of European Churches Lutheran World Federation Porvoo Communion World Council of Churches |
| Region | Finland |
| Founder | Alexander I of Russia |
| Origin | 29 March 1809 (Diet of Porvoo) |
| Separated from | Church of Sweden |
| Members | 3,956,277 resident members |
| Official website | evl |
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (Finnish: Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko; Swedish: Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland) is a national church of Finland. It is part of the Lutheran branch of Christianity.
The church is a member of the World Council of Churches and the Conference of European Churches. It is also a member of the Porvoo Communion and is actively involved in ecumenical relations.
With slightly under four million members permanently resident in Finland, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world. It is Finland's largest religious body; at the end of 2016, 71.9% of Finns were members of the church. The current head of the Church is the Archbishop of Turku Kari Mäkinen, who succeeded Jukka Paarma on 1 June 2010.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland traces its lineage to the medieval Diocese of Turku, which coincides geographically with present-day Finland. Christianity was introduced to Finland slowly: the first signs of the Christian faith being found in burial sites dated to the 11th century.
Based on etymological evidence, it seems that its very first influences came to present-day Finland from the Eastern Christian tradition. Archaeological evidence shows that by the middle 12th century, Christianity was dominant in the region around present-day Turku. One legend recounts a crusade dated around 1054, but no contemporary or archaeological evidence backs the story. Another legend is that the martyr-bishop St. Henry founded the Finnish Church, but that is also most likely fictional.
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