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Led by the Spirit and the Church: Finland's Licensed Lutheran Lay Preachers, c.1870–1923

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2021

Matleena Sopanen
Matleena Sopanen*
Affiliation:
Tampere University
*
*Pinni B3028, PO Box 300, Kanslerinrinne 1, 33014 Tampere University, Finland. E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

This article examines the interplay between religious agency and institutional control. The Church Law of 1869 gave members of the Lutheran Church of Finland the right to apply to chapters for permission to preach. Men who passed the examinations became licensed lay preachers, who could take part in teaching Christianity and give sermons in church buildings. Applicants had varying backgrounds, skills and motivations. In order to avoid any disruption in church life, they had to be screened carefully and kept under clerical supervision. However, licensed lay preachers could also be of great help to the church. In a rapidly changing modern society with a growing population and a recurring lack of pastors, the church could not afford to disregard lay aid. The article shows how the Lutheran Church both encouraged and constrained the agency of the licensed lay preachers.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Church History , Volume 57: INSPIRATION AND INSTITUTION IN CHRISTIAN HISTORY , June 2021 , pp. 277 - 299
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Ecclesiastical History Society

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References

1 Officially known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland; ‘Evangelical’ does not imply that the church was revivalist in its spirit.

2 Lauri Koskenniemi, Suomen Evankelinen liike 1870–1895 [The Finnish Evangelical Movement 1870–1895] (Helsinki, 1967); idem, Suomen Evankelinen liike 1896–1916 [The Finnish Evangelical Movement 1896–1916] (Helsinki, 1984); idem, Maallikkosaarna: Evankelisen liikkeen voima [The Lay Sermon: The Power of the Evangelical Movement] (Helsinki, 2008).

3 Erkki Kansanaho, Sisälähetys ja diakonia Suomen kirkossa 1800-luvulla [Home Mission and Diaconia in the Church of Finland in the Nineteenth Century] (Helsinki, 1960); idem, Suomen kirkon sisälähetysseuran historia: Sortavalan aika 1905–1944 [History of the Finnish Home Mission Society: The Sortavala Era 1905–1944] (Helsinki, 1964).

4 For example, Laasonen, Pentti, Kristuksen asevelvollinen, K. J. Rahikainen (Helsinki, 1953)Google Scholar; Wrede, K. A., Minnen från mitt arbete för Herren (Helsinki, 1940)Google Scholar; Saarisalo, Aapeli and Talasniemi, Erkki, Aku Räty – körttisaarnaaja (Porvoo, 1975)Google Scholar.

5 See Matleena Sopanen, ‘Kirkon hajottaja vai rakentaja? Suomen evankelisluterilaisen kirkon saarnaluvan anojat ja maallikkosaarnaajan kriteerit 1870–1923’ [‘Builders or Destroyers of the Church? Applicants for Permission to Preach in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and Criteria for Lay Preachers 1870–1923’], Lähde: Historiatieteellinen aikakauskirja 15 (2018), 39–59; eadem, ‘Maallikkosaarnaajan paikka: Suomen evankelisluterilaisen kirkon saarnaluvan saaneiden maallikoiden työala 1870–1923’ [‘The Lay Preacher's Place: The Work of Licensed Lay Preachers in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland 1870–1923’], Suomen kirkkohistoriallisen seuran vuosikirja 108 (2018), 116–40. Hannu Mustakallio has studied the applicants of the diocese of Kuopio: Hannu Mustakallio, ‘Saarnalupatutkinnon suorittaminen Kuopion hiippakunnassa 1878–1910’ [‘Obtaining Permission to Preach in the Diocese of Kuopio 1878–1910’], in Timo Kapanen and Nico Lamminparras, eds, Aatteiden ja herätysten virrassa: Jouko Talosen juhlakirja (Helsinki, 2019), 25–37.

6 See Seppo, Juha, ‘The Freedom of Religion and Conscience in Finland’, Journal of Church and State 40 (1998), 847–72CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at 855.

7 In 1923 the diocese of Kuopio became the diocese of Oulu, and in 1925 the diocese of Savonlinna became the diocese of Viipuri.

8 Both the Church of Sweden and the Lutheran Church of Finland accept the Book of Concord as their doctrinal standard: Kauko Pirinen, ‘Luterilaisen kirkon tunnustuskirjat’, in Luterilaisen kirkon tunnustuskirjat (Helsinki, 2003), 15–27.

9 See Eino Murtorinne, Suomen kirkon historia, 3: Autonomian kausi 1809–1899 [History of the Church of Finland, 3: The Era of Autonomy 1809–1899] (Porvoo, 1992), 288–90, 297–311, 336–51, 354–6; Eino Murtorinne, Suomen kirkon historia, 4: Sortovuosista nykypäiviin 1900–1990 [History of the Church of Finland, 4: From the Years of Oppression to the Modern Era 1900–1990] (Porvoo, 1995), 32–46, 56–9, 88–90; Mikko Juva, Valtiokirkosta kansankirkoksi: Suomen kirkon vastaus kahdeksankymmentäluvun haasteeseen (Helsinki, 1960).

10 McLeod, Hugh, Secularisation in Western Europe, 1848–1914 (New York, 2000), 50Google Scholar.

11 Jyrki Knuutila, ‘Lutheran Culture as an Ideological Revolution in Finland from the 16th Century up to the 21st Century: A Perspective on Ecclesiological Perspective’, in Kaius Sinnemäki et al., eds, The Legacy of Lutheranism in Finland: Societal Perspectives (Helsinki, 2019), 175–92.

12 Pirinen, Kauko, Schaumanin kirkkolain synty (Helsinki, 1985), 104–9Google Scholar, 111–12, 124, 127–8, 132–40, 157–9; Eino Murtorinne, The History of Finnish Theology 1828–1918 (Helsinki, 1988), 79–93; Mikko Juva, Kirkon parlamentti: Suomen kirkolliskokousten historia 1876–1976 (Helsinki, 1976), 13–17.

13 The Finnish evangelicals are not to be confused with the evangelicals of the Anglo-Saxon world. The Finnish evangelical movement was born in the 1840s when minister F. G. Hedberg experienced a powerful awakening after reading Luther's postils: Lauri Koskenniemi, ‘Fredrik Gabriel Hedberg’, Matti Klinge et al., eds, Suomen kansallisbiografia, 3: Forsblom-Hirn [National Biography of Finland] (Helsinki, 2004), 626–7.

14 Murtorinne, Suomen kirkon historia 3: 110–17, 127–35, 154–63, 178–86, 199–200; Kansanaho, Sisälähetys ja diakonia, 66–7, 228–9.

15 Cnattingius, Hans, Diakonat och venia concionandi i Sverige intill 1800-talets mitt (Stockholm, 1952)Google Scholar.

16 The decision to form a fourth diocese was made in 1895: Murtorinne, Suomen kirkon historia 3: 319.

17 Some aspiring preachers applied more than once before either succeeding or giving up; many sent several applications to the same chapter, and nine men approached two different dioceses. One man obtained permission to preach from the dioceses of Turku, Porvoo and Kuopio. The figures given here represent the number of applicants, not applications.

18 Church Law of 1869, §106, in Markus Lång, ed., Kirkkolaki evankelis-luterilaiselle seurakunnalle Suomen suuriruhtinaanmaassa 1869–1908: Alkuperäiset säädökset Suomen asetuskokoelmasta (Helsinki, 2015), 39.

19 The earliest female applicants I have found so far were in the 1970s.

20 From the nineteenth century onwards, women also became active in Christian charitable and social care. According to Pirjo Markkola, women both upheld and redefined the idea of gender difference, which formed the base for the Christian conception of the world: Pirjo Markkola, ‘The Calling of Women. Gender, Religion and Social Reform in Finland’, in eadem, ed., Gender and Vocation: Women, Religion and Social Change in the Nordic Countries, 1830–1940 (Helsinki, 2000), 113–45.

21 The first female theologian graduated from the university in 1913, but it was not until 1988 that the first women pastors were ordained: Lehtiö, Pirkko, Nainen ja kutsumus: Naisteologien tie kirkon virkaan 1800-luvun lopulta vuoteen 1963 (Helsinki, 2004), 32–4Google Scholar, 218, 260; Lehtiö, Pirkko, ‘Naisten pitkä tie kirkon virkoihin’, in Ahola, Minna, Antikainen, Marjo-Riitta and Salmesvuori, Päivi, eds, Eevan tie alttarille: Nainen kirkon historiassa (Helsinki, 2002), 196–209Google Scholar.

22 This is a common phenomenon globally: see, for example, Irma Sulkunen, Liisa Eerikintytär ja hurmosliikkeet 1700–1800-luvulla (Helsinki, 1999); Sanders, Hanne, Bondeväkkelse og sekularisering. En protestantisk folkelig kultur i Danmark og Sverige 1820–1850 (Stockholm, 1995)Google Scholar; Janice Holmes, ‘Women Preachers and the New Orders – A: Women Preachers in the Protestant Churches’, in Sheridan Gilley and Brian Stanley, eds, The Cambridge History of Christianity, 8: World Christianities c.1815–1914 (Cambridge, 2006), 84–93.

23 Turku, National Archives [hereafter: NAT], Turku Archdiocesan Chapter [hereafter: TAC], Applications for Permission to Preach, F I j: 1, 1882.

24 Mikkeli, National Archives [hereafter: NAM], Viipuri [formerly Savonlinna] Diocesan Chapter [hereafter: VDC], Letters Received, Ea: 23, no: 169/1910.

25 Ketola, Kimmo and Virtanen, Jouni, ‘Protestanttiset kirkot ja yhteisöt’, in Ketola, Kimmo, ed., Uskonnot Suomessa 2008 (Tampere, 2008), 95–126Google Scholar; Murtorinne, Suomen kirkon historia 3, 307–11.

26 NAM, VDC, Chapter meeting minutes, Ca: 16, 15 May 1912, §20; 23 May 1912, §36. For more about Smorodin and the Russian Pentecostals, see David A. Reed, ‘Then and Now: The Many Faces of Global Oneness Pentecostalism’, in Cecil M. Robeck and Amos Yong, eds, The Cambridge Companion to Pentecostalism (Cambridge, 2014), 52–70.

27 Murtorinne, Suomen kirkon historia 3, 99–117, 127–35, 142–50, 154–63, 186–8; Gustaf Johansson, Laestadiolaisuus (Kuopio, 1892); Kuopion pappeinkokouksen pöytäkirjat [Kuopio Synod Meeting Minutes; hereafter: KSM] 1896 (Kuopio, 1896), 21–2, 238–9.

28 Applications for permission to preach do not always offer clear information about applicants’ religious affiliation, so identifying them as members of a particular revival movement can be quite difficult. One known Laestadian preacher is Aatu Heiskanen, who obtained permission to preach in 1910 in the diocese of Porvoo: Hämeenlinna, National Archives [hereafter: NAH], Porvoo Diocesan Chapter [hereafter: PDC], Ca: 217, 10 March 1910, §72.

29 Koskenniemi, Suomen Evankelinen liike 1870–1895, 36–47, 50–4, 118–29, 182–7.

30 In the Porvoo Diocesan Chapter archives, only applications submitted before 1902 have survived, but the minutes of chapter meetings also offer information about applicants. In Savonlinna and Kuopio dioceses, applications are scattered among other documents. For applications, see NAT, TAC, Applications for Permission to Preach, F I j; NAH, PDC, Applications for Permission to Preach, Ej 1:1; Oulu, National Archives [hereafter: NAO], Oulu [formerly Kuopio] Diocesan Chapter [hereafter: ODC]; NAM, VDC, Ea.

31 E. Haahtela, ed., Piispainkokousten pöytäkirjat ajalta 17.5.1891–5.2.1909 (Sortavala, 1936), 16.

32 Suomen kirkon julkisia sanomia no. 1 (1912), 18–19.

33 Maallikoiden saarnakoulutus ja-tutkinto: Suomen evankelis-luterilaisen kirkon piispainkokouksen 14.9.1999 asettaman työryhmän mietintö (Helsinki, 2001), 4.

34 Kirkolliskokouksen pöytäkirjat [General Synod Meeting Minutes; hereafter: GSM] 1893 (Turku, 1893), 940–54, Annex 19, Church Law Commission report.

35 There were exceptions to this rule. For example, the Vyborg Bible Society's preacher Antti Ahvonen was granted a permission that was valid in all the congregations where the society operated: NAM, VDC, Ca: 14, 20 December 1910, §50.

36 Suomen kirkon julkisia sanomia no. 1 (1912), 18–19.

37 Church Law of 1869, §33, in Lång, ed., Kirkkolaki evankelis-luterilaiselle seurakunnalle, 19.

38 Turun pappeinkokouksen pöytäkirjat [Turku Synod Meeting Minutes; hereafter: TSM] 1875 (Turku, 1876), 76; Porvoon pappeinkokouksen pöytäkirjat [Porvoo Synod Meeting Minutes; hereafter: PSM] 1892 (Porvoo, 1893), 82; GSM 1886 (Turku, 1886), 602, 606.

39 For example, TSM 1875, 74–88, 198–201, Annex 1; TSM 1880 (Turku, 1881), 74–84, 203, 205–17; PSM 1880 (Porvoo, 1881), 43–52; PSM 1890 (Helsinki, 1891), 196–208; PSM 1892, 80–93; GSM 1876 (Turku, 1876), 290–306; GSM 1886, 212–24, 581–607; GSM 1893, 940–54. For a summary of General Synod discussions about lay preachers, see Kansanaho, Sisälähetys ja diakonia, 242–57.

40 Before 1893, the General Synod only met once a decade: Juva, Kirkon parlamentti, 18–19.

41 For example, TSM 1875, 85–7; GSM 1876, 293–4, 299, 304–6; PSM 1892, 79–80; GSM 1893, Annex 19.

42 GSM 1886, Annex 18, 53–4.

43 Church Law of 1869, §456, in Lång, ed., Kirkkolaki evankelis-luterilaiselle seurakunnalle, 161.

44 Timothy J. Wengert, Priesthood, Pastors, Bishops. Public Ministry for the Reformation & Today, (Minneapolis, MN, 2008), 4–16, 19–21, 27–30; Eduardus Van der Borght, Theology of Ministry: A Reformed Contribution to an Ecumenical Dialogue (Leiden, 2007), 7–12.

45 TSM 1875, 74, 76, 78–9; GSM 1876, 292, 295–8, 300–1; GSM 1886, 584–6, 598, 600–1; PSM 1890, 203–4; GSM 1893, 943–4.

46 GSM 1876, 295.

47 TSM 1875, 76–86; GSM 1876, 294–5, 299, 301, 303–6; GSM 1886, 212–16, 221–2, 592–9, 602–5; TSM 1890 (Turku, 1891), 15, 77–8; PSM 1892, 81–93.

48 Kansanaho, Sisälähetys ja diakonia, 21–8.

49 TSM 1890, 49.

50 Koskenniemi, Suomen Evankelinen liike 1870–1895, 64–8, 115–17, 190–205, 240–5; Murtorinne, Suomen kirkon historia 3, 167–74.

51 See, for example, Dean Rosengren's speech in the General Synod meeting of 1886; Rosengren was one of the founding members of the Lutheran Evangelical Association: GSM 1886, 588–90.

52 Koskenniemi, Suomen Evankelinen liike 1870–1895, 99–108, 248–73; Koskenniemi, Suomen evankelinen liike 1896–1916, especially 17–30, 36–40, 48–56.

53 GSM 1893, 940–54.

54 GSM 1886, 581–3, 607; Church Law of 1869, §33, in Lång, ed., Kirkkolaki evankelis-luterilaiselle seurakunnalle, 19.

55 Church Law of 1869, §106, in Lång, ed., Kirkkolaki evankelis-luterilaiselle seurakunnalle, 39.

56 NAH, PDC, Chapter meeting minutes, Ca: 182, 30 November 1875, §3; Ca: 197, 10 January 1890, §32; 27 February 1890, §40; 3 April 1890, §18; 10 April 1890, §32; 8 May 1890, §39; 5 July 1890, §18; Elsa Könönen, Hengen miekka, auttava käsi: Pelastusarmeijan vaiheet Suomessa [Spirit's Sword, Helping Hand: The Salvation Army in Finland] (Porvoo, 1964), 26, 33–5, 72.

57 NAO, ODC, Chapter meeting minutes, Ca: 62, 21 November 1912, §24; Ca: 71, 3 February 1921, §25; NAO, ODC, Ea: 259, no: 22/1921.

58 Murtorinne, Suomen kirkon historia 3, 233–4.

59 Eero Hyvärinen, ed., Kertomus Suomen evankelis-luterilaisen kirkon tilasta vuosilta 1908–1912 (Kuopio, 1913), 18.

60 Anthony Steinhoff, ‘Religion as Urban Culture: A View from Strasbourg, 1870–1914’, Journal of Urban History 30 (2004), 152–88.

61 On the diocese of Kuopio, see Hannu Mustakallio, Pohjoinen hiippakunta: Kuopion-Oulun hiippakunnan historia 1850–1939 (Helsinki, 2009), 485–91; KSM 1922 (Oulu, 1923), 62–73.

62 NAH, PDC, Applications for Permission to Preach, Ej 1:1, 1894.

63 Besides the Porvoo diocesan chapter, the reports are scattered among other incoming letters: NAH, PDC, Ed: 7:1; NAT, TAC, E VII; NAO, ODC, Ea; NAM, VDC, Ea, Eb.

64 Ambulatory schools were schools without a permanent school building. Teachers would travel between villages and teach in different locations, such as vicarages. These schools were introduced in Finland by the Lutheran Church, and had provided primary education for young children since the early eighteenth century. During the twentieth century, they were gradually replaced by folk schools.

65 The law does not specifically say that licensed lay preachers can conduct services, but according to the annual reports, this was a common interpretation. If needed, a trusted parishioner, for example the sexton or a member of the vestry, could also lead a simplified service: Church Law of 1869, §§27, 29, 106, in Lång, ed., Kirkkolaki evankelis-luterilaiselle seurakunnalle, 17, 39.

66 NAT, TAC, Applications for Permission to Preach, F I j: 1, 1873.

67 Sofia Kotilainen, ‘From Religious Instruction to School Education: Elementary Education and the Significance of Ambulatory Schools in Rural Finland at the end of the 19th Century’, in Mette Buchardt, Pirjo Markkola and Heli Valtonen, eds, Education, State and Citizenship (Helsinki, 2013), 114–37.

68 For example, the application of Manasse Ojanen: NAT, TAC, Applications for Permission to Preach, F I j: 2, 1909.

69 Kaarle Wesala, Muistiinpanoja (n.pl., 1935), 94, 98, online edn 2010, at: <https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-rY7FCaK4ttc1lWVXlLVEZzdmM/edit>, accessed 5 June 2020.

70 Kansanaho, Sisälähetys ja diakonia, 253–5; Juva, Valtiokirkosta kansankirkoksi, 168–83; Murtorinne, Suomen kirkon historia 3, 347–51.

71 ‘Statistics Finland: Population Structure’, online at: <http://www.stat.fi/tup/suoluk/suoluk_vaesto_en.html>, accessed 7 June 2020.

72 There are plenty of studies that discuss the church's position in regard to the working classes, the general strike of 1905 and the Finnish Civil War in 1918: for example, Murtorinne, Suomen kirkon historia 4, 19–22, 32–4; Esko Hartikainen, ‘Kansa vai kaikkivaltias?’, in Pertti Haapala, ed., Kansa kaikkivaltias: Suurlakko Suomessa 1905 (Helsinki, 2008), 137–62; Ilkka Huhta, Papit sisällissodassa 1918 (Helsinki, 2010); Ilkka Huhta, ed., Sisällissota 1918 ja kirkko (Helsinki, 2009).

73 GSM 1908 (Helsinki, 1908), 291.

74 NAT, TAC, Applications for Permission to Preach, F I j: 2, 1913.

75 This was due partly to shifts in the balance of power between the church and secular authorities. Poor relief had come under municipal control after the Local Government Acts of 1865 and 1873, which differentiated between municipal and parochial administrations: Murtorinne, Suomen kirkon historia 3, 206–9.

76 Markku Heikkilä, Kirkollisen yhdistysaktiivisuuden leviäminen Suomessa: Virallisen jäsenorganisaation kehitys 1900-luvun alusta toiseen maailmansotaan (Helsinki, 1979), especially 93–7, 117, 153; Murtorinne, Suomen kirkon historia 4, 70, 74–9, 98–9.

77 NAT, TAC, Applications for Permission to Preach, F I j: 3, 1923.

78 Church Law of 1869, §§39, 63, in Lång, ed., Kirkkolaki evankelis-luterilaiselle seurakunnalle, 20, 28.

79 TSM 1907 (Turku, 1908), 92–113.

80 Sopanen, ‘Maallikkosaarnaajan paikka’, 131–4.

81 GSM 1908, 371, 395–6, 1137–42; GSM 1913 (Helsinki, 1913), 1406–22; GSM 1918 (Helsinki, 1918), 389–400, 563–4; GSM 1923 (Helsinki, 1923), 481–5, 531–43.

82 NAM, VDC, Chapter meeting minutes, Ca: 4, 29 August 1900, §40.

83 See, for example, TSM 1875, 77–8; TSM 1890, 44; PSM 1875 (Porvoo, 1876), 41–2; GSM 1876, 297.

84 McLeod, Religion and Society in England, 16–19, 26, 113.

85 TSM 1917 (Turku, 1917), 125–31.

86 TSM 1871 (Turku, 1876), 206–7; TSM 1890, 43–5, 48, 56; KSM 1907 (Oulu, 1908), 91; TSM 1912 (Turku, 1912), 111, 114.

87 At first, the deacons’ institute was run by the Evangelical Society of Sortavala, but the newly established Finnish Home Mission Society took it over in 1905: Kansanaho, Suomen kirkon sisälähetysseuran historia, 28.

88 Toivo Saarilahti, Lähetystyön läpimurto: Suomen lähetysseuran toiminta kotimaassa 1895–1913 (Helsinki, 1989), 153–61; Kansanaho, Suomen kirkon sisälähetysseuran historia, 27, 77–80, 82–3.

89 NAM, VDC, Ea: 29, no: 425/1910. Ristreimari's application is mistakenly archived with letters from 1913.

90 NAT, TAC, Applications for Permission to Preach, F I j: 1, 1872.