Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2024: 60, Monday 8 July 2024

‘The Preaching of the Kingdom of God’ … a new icon with a mission theme in the Lady Chapel in Lichfield Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and the week began with the Sixth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VI, 7 July 2024). Later today, I hope to visit Cambridge before heading on to the High Leigh Conference Centre at Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire, where the annual conference of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is taking place this week.

Before today this day’s journeys begin, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection in connection with this week’s USPG conference;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

The High Leigh Conference Centre in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire … the venue for the USPG Conference this week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 9: 18-26 (NRSVUE):

18 While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20 Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21 for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that moment. 23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26 And the report of this spread through all of that district.

‘United Beyond Borders’ is the theme for this week’s USPG conference in High Leigh

This morning’s reflection:

The annual conference of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) takes place this week at the High Leigh Conference Centre near Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire.

The conference theme this year is ‘United Beyond Borders’, and I hope to reflect on the conference in this prayer diary on mornings for rest of this week.

The conference programme includes this quotation: ‘For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3: 26-28).

I met the Revd Tuomas Mäkipää, the former Chaplain of Saint Nicholas, Helsinki, last year when Charlotte and I were visiting Church-linked programmes in Helsinki working with Ukrainian refugees and supported by USPG. He has written a prayer for the conference programme:

Father,
Give wisdom to the leaders of the nations,
that they may be a force for good on the earth.
Sustain the anxious and fearful
and renew them with courage from on high,
Comfort all worried families whose loved ones are in danger,
surround them with your love protect them from all harm.
Be with the sick and wounded,
Stand by all prisoners and captives,
let your mercy be shown to all and your power to heal and save.
In Christ Jesus your son, our Lord, Amen.

The USPG conference in High Leigh opens tomorrow and continues until Thursday

Today’s Prayers (Monday 8 July 2024):

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘United Beyond Borders.’ This theme was introduced yesterday with reflections on this week’s USPG conference by Rachael Anderson, Senior Communications and Engagement Manager, USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Monday 8 July 2024) invites us to pray:

Heavenly Father – we pray for unity and peace in all countries where there is fighting over land boundaries.

The Collect:

Merciful God,
you have prepared for those who love you
such good things as pass our understanding:
pour into our hearts such love toward you
that we, loving you in all things and above all things,
may obtain your promises,
which exceed all that we can desire;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion Prayer:

God of our pilgrimage,
you have led us to the living water:
refresh and sustain us
as we go forward on our journey,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Creator God,
you made us all in your image:
may we discern you in all that we see,
and serve you in all that we do;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge … I am hoping to visit Cambridge later today on my way to High Leigh in Hoddesdon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition copyright © 2021, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Daily prayers in Ordinary Time with USPG: (147) 22 October 2023, Week of Prayer for World Peace (8)

‘Father Forgive’ … the Cross of Nails in Coventry Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

We are in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and today is the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XX, 22 October 2023).

Later this morning, I hope to be at the Parish Eucharist in Holy Trinity Church, Old Wolverton. But, before today begins, I am taking some time for prayer and reflection early this morning.

The Week of Prayer for World Peace began last Sunday and ends today. My reflections each morning during these eight days have been gathered around this theme in these ways:

1, A reflection on the Week of Prayer for World Peace ;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

The Week of Prayer for World Peace began with ‘A Call to Prayer for World Peace’ signed by faith leaders in 1974

A Week of Prayer for World Peace:

The International Prayer For Peace:

Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth
Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust
Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace
Let peace fill our hearts, our world, our universe

Day 8, Perceived Enemies: Praying for those we perceive as enemies:

Forgive do I creatures all, and let all creatures forgive me. Unto all have I amity, and unto none enmity.
– Jain

Where in the Qu’ran does it say you should love your enemies?

The central teaching of the Qu’ran is peace. It exhorts believers in numerous verses to make peace with one’s enemies.
– Kahif Shahzada, Muslim author

The principle of loving one’s enemies is not a call to pacifism, nor does it ask us to conjure up warm feelings of affection for those who mistreat us.

One is not required to like his enemy. The love we are to express toward our enemies consists of acts of loving kindness which accord the enemy common dignity and recognise his basic humanity.

The instruction to love an enemy applies on a personal level of individual interaction. Our Master did not mean that nations and governments should appease aggressors with acts of loving kindness.
– (First Fruits of Zion Messianic Jewish)

Everyone’s breath is the same, there is no colour, no caste, no religion … If people can come to peace with themselves and find inner harmony, then that will translate into external harmony … not promoting a particular religious doctrine or philosophy, rather looking to promote the goodness of human nature to find it in unconditional love.
– Shayalpa Tenzin Ranpoche, Tibetan Buddhist Monk

Why should we pray for our enemies? Because Jesus did. He prayed for those who opposed Him, for those who devised evil against Him, and ultimately as He hung on the Cross, Jesus prayed for His Father to forgive all those who had a part in His death, because they did not know what they were doing. Jesus modelled unconditional love and how we should pray for our enemies, then commanded us to do the same.
– (Crosswalk.com)

Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ – Christianity

Cover us with the shelter of Your peace. May we have the courage to denounce violence and destructiveness, and may we become partners in building that shelter of peace – Judaism

God of tender mercies, we admit that sometimes we don’t know what to do with ourselves. We anger at the slightest insult and imagine great vengeance upon those who have wronged us. We laze about in the good news of our faith and do not consider the deep commitment of faith. We care for ourselves but not for others. Forgive us, we pray. Forgive us, help us to repent and make us whole. Amen.
– Beth Merrill Neel, Presbyterian Minister, USA

>‘Why should we pray for our enemies? … the Reconciliation monument in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Matthew 22: 15-22 (NRSVA):

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. 17 Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ 18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. 20 Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ 21 They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ 22 When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

The Revd Tuomas Mäkipää (left), the Chaplain at Saint Nicholas, Helsinki, who introduces the USPG Prayer Diary this week, with Father Heikki Huttunen of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Today’s Prayers: USPG Prayer Diary:

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Praying for Peace.’ This theme is introduced today:

As the war continues in Ukraine USPG and the Diocese in Europe support several programmes and initiatives to support refugees who flee the country. The Chaplaincy at Saint Nicholas is one of many chaplaincies that have pooled its resources to help ease the suffering of those refugees having to flee their homes because of the conflict in Ukraine and supports the Vallila Help Centre in its work.

The Revd Tuomas Mäkipää, Chaplain of Saint Nicholas, Helsinki has written the following prayer for those affected by conflict.

Father,
Give wisdom to the leaders of the nations,
that they may be a force for good on the earth.
Sustain the anxious and fearful and renew them with courage from on high,
Comfort all worried families whose loved ones are in danger,
surround them with your love protect them from all harm.
Be with the sick and wounded,
Stand by all prisoners and captives,
let your mercy be shown to all and your power to heal and save.
In Christ Jesus your son, our Lord, Amen

The USPG Prayer Diary today (22 October 2023, Trinity XX) invites us to pray in these words:

Oh, God of peace and safety
Pour your peace on us
Oh, God of peace,
Grant peace in our hearts
– (from an Arabic hymn).

The Collect:

God, the giver of life,
whose Holy Spirit wells up within your Church:
by the Spirit’s gifts equip us to live the gospel of Christ
and make us eager to do your will,
that we may share with the whole creation
the joys of eternal life;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God our Father,
whose Son, the light unfailing,
has come from heaven to deliver the world
from the darkness of ignorance:
let these holy mysteries open the eyes of our understanding
that we may know the way of life,
and walk in it without stumbling;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s Reflection

Continued Tomorrow

The Week of Prayer for World Peace ends today, Sunday 22 October 2023

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Saint Nicholas’s Chaplaincy supports the work of Vallila Centre through grants from USPG and the Diocese in Europe (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Daily prayers in Ordinary Time with USPG: (25) 22 June 2023

Father Heikki Huttunen celebrates the Liturgy in Finnish and Church Slavonic in Holy Trinity Church in Helsinki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

This week began with the Second Sunday after Trinity (18 June 2023) and Father’s Day. Today the calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship commemorates Saint Alban, first Martyr of Britain (ca 250).

Before the day begins, I am taking some time for prayer, reading and reflection.

Over these weeks after Trinity Sunday, I am reflecting each morning in these ways:

1, Looking at relevant images or stained glass window in a church, chapel or cathedral I know;

2, the Gospel reading of the day in the Church of England lectionary;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Holy Trinity Church is the oldest Orthodox church in central Helsinki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Holy Trinity Church, Helsinki:

This week I am reflecting on Orthodox churches named after the Holy Trinity. These Trinity reflections continue this morning (22 June 2023) with photographs of Holy Trinity Church in Helsinki, which I visited earlier this year when I was visiting church-based projects in the Finnish capital supported by USPG and working with Ukrainian refugees.

There is a popular story about the origins of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. It is said that when Vladimir, Prince of Kyiv, was still a pagan at the end of the tenth century, he sent envoys out to discover what the true religion was and to advise him on which religion should become the state religion.

The envoys first visited the Muslim Bulgars of the Volga, but found no joy among them ‘but mournfulness and a great smell.’ In Germany and Rome, they found the worship and liturgy was without beauty. But when the envoys from Kyiv reached Byzantium, they were so dazzled by the splendour of the liturgy in the great church of Aghia Sophia they instantly decided that Orthodoxy should be the faith of their people.

‘We knew not whether we were on heaven or on earth, for surely there is no such splendour or beauty anywhere upon earth. We cannot describe it to you: only this we know, that God dwells there among humans, and that their service surpasses the worship of all other places. For we cannot forget that beauty.’

The story may be part of the myths of building national identity. But it shows too how Orthodox identity shares many common traditions among the people of Russia and Ukraine, and in neighbouring Finland.

Inside Holy Trinity Church in central Helsinki, Father Heikki Huttunen celebrates the Liturgy with the same splendour and beauty that the emissaries from Kyiv, but a relaxed and warm simplicity that make the church a place of welcome for refugees and asylum seekers.

The languages he uses in the liturgy include Finnish, Church Slavonic and Russian, which reflect the diversity of his people and the recent conflicts that are redefining their identities.

Holy Trinity Church is the oldest Orthodox church in central Helsinki. In size, it is almost dwarfed by the large Lutheran cathedral next-door, with its majestic domes and steps looking down onto the harbour. Helsinki Cathedral is the city’s major landmark and Finland’s most recognisable building. It is in the heart of the area that includes Senate Square, the Presidential Palace and a collection of major academic and historical buildings.

Both the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the Orthodox Church of Finland have a special position in Finnish law, and their historic churches standing side-by-side each – Helsinki Cathedral and Holy Trinity Church – were designed in the 1820s by the same architect, Carl Ludvig Engel.

Although the Orthodox Church of Finland is small in numbers – with about 58,000 members – the Orthodox presence in Finland dates back to the early 12th century, and shares its roots in those stories of the emissaries sent from Kyiv to Constantinople.

As Father Heikki Huttunen celebrated the Liturgy in Finnish and Church Slavonic in Holy Trinity Church this week, I noticed how he named the Patriarch of Constantinople in his prayers, but not for the Patriarch of Moscow.

After centuries of Swedish rule, Finland became the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire in 1808, and Helsinki was declared the capital in 1812. Russian civil servants, merchants and soldiers moved to Helsinki in large numbers and the czar supported their efforts to build their own church. Alexander I decreed in 1814 that 15 per cent of the salt import tax was to be used to build two churches in the city, one Lutheran and one Orthodox.

In the early period of Russian rule, the parish consisted mainly of Russians living in the Helsinki region. Over the years, however, the parish has changed and the majority of members today speak Finnish, although 15 per cent of members speak Russian as their mother tongue.

Many families at Holy Trinity Church have roots in Russia or have Russian-speaking ancestors. But many also remember how Finland was divided in the aftermath of World II, with many parts of Karelia, with their towns and people, churches and parishes, forced to become part of the Soviet Union.

Orthodox numbers in Finland were boosted in the 1990s with the migration of many people from the former Soviet Union, and now the children and grandchildren of that generation of migrants are in their 30s and make up about half the parish.

Finland shares a 1,300 km border with Russia. The crisis in Ukraine has put an effective end to Russian tourism in Finland, but has also brought a large number of Russian and Ukrainian refugees to Helsinki. Many of the people fleeing Russia have been forced to leave because of the changes in Russian society or for fear of being conscripted.

But, as Father Heikki reminded me when me met earlier this year, Finland has always been a country of refugees and of the children of immigrants.

He has worked with the World Council of Church in Geneva and the European Conference of Churches in Brussels, and is a former Secretary General of the Ecumenical Council of Finland. He speaks fluent Finnish, Swedish, English, Russian, French, Spanish and Estonian, reflecting the diversity of his parish and parishioners.

On a Sunday morning, more than half the congregation comes from a refugee background, and 25% or a quarter of them can be Ukrainians. ‘We are the closest church to these Ukrainians, and we should be the first to open our arms to welcome them.’

The Russians and Ukrainians in the church show compassion and understanding for each other, Father Heikki says. The Russians are shocked that they cannot return to visit their grandparents. They cannot pay their rents, and they cannot even communicate by main since all postal links were cut off. These Russian speakers include people from Russian-speaking parts of Ukraine that were occupied by Russian troops in the first weeks of the conflict.

He estimates that about 30% of the Russians in his church have relatives in Ukraine, while 40% of the Ukrainians have close family relatives in Russia. Many of the Ukrainians are hoping they can go back to western or central Ukrainians when Spring comes. But the future is uncertain for those who have fled east or south Ukraine, where whole towns and cities have been destroyed.

He thinks one-third of the refugees may remain in Finland. But he also expects more newcomers when the war enters new phases in the coming months.

Soon after the conflict broke out, Archbishop Leo Makkonen of Helsinki and All Finland accused the Russian Orthodox Church of standing by the state leadership to bless the war and to present it as a legitimate ‘holy war’.

‘Now is the high time for the Church in Russia to realise that it has gone astray,’ Archbishop Leo said. ‘I appeal directly to the Patriarch of Moscow, Kirill: Remember the promises you have made before God as a bishop and patriarch. They must be accounted for before the Almighty.’

‘For Christ’s sake, wake up and condemn this evil,’ he implored. ‘Use your influence to promote peace. Do your best to end this war. I pray that humility and wisdom from God will guide you.’

A short walk from Holy Trinity Church and Helsinki’s Lutheran Cathedral, Uspenski Cathedral is the main cathedral of the Orthodox Church of Finland. It is dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos or the Virgin Mary. Uspenski Cathedral was built above the harbour in 1862-1868 by the architects Aleksey Gornostayev and Ivan Varnek.

The consecration of Holy Trinity Church on 26 August 1827 marks the formal beginning of the Finnish Orthodox Church. But the Church became autonomous and self-governing in 1923 when it gained its independence from the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Finnish Orthodox Church is preparing to celebrate the centenary of its separate identity next year. The majority of parishes are not big enough to meet some of the basic and simple needs of the new arrivals. But Father Heikki hopes the church can find a priest to work full-time with the refugees.

Father Heikki Huttunen in Holy Trinity Church … his church in Helsinki includes many Russian and Ukrainian refugee families (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

John 12: 24-26 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.’

‘For Christ’s sake, wake up and condemn this evil’ (Archbishop Leo Makkonen of Helsinki and All Finland) … inside Holy Trinity Church, Helsinki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Today’s Prayer:

The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church,’ the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘The snowdrop that never bloomed.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday.

The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (22 June 2023, Saint Alban, Windrush Day) invites us to pray:

Let us give thanks for the life of Saint Alban, and for the rich and varied contributions of immigrants to our society. May we recognise their works and offer hospitality to all who migrate to the UK today without prejudice and fear.

Collect:

Eternal Father,
when the gospel of Christ first came to our land
you gloriously confirmed the faith of Alban
by making him the first to win a martyr’s crown:
grant that, following his example,
in the fellowship of the saints
we may worship you, the living God,
and give true witness to Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

God our redeemer,
whose Church was strengthened by the blood of your martyr Alban:
so bind us, in life and death, to Christ’s sacrifice
that our lives, broken and offered with his,
may carry his death and proclaim his resurrection in the world;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

The Revd Tuomas Mäkipää (left), the Anglican Chaplain in Helsinki, with Father Heikki Huttunen in Holy Trinity Orthodox Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Uspenski Cathedral is the main cathedral of the Orthodox Church of Finland (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Invasion of Ukraine has both united and divided churches

A Ukrainian refugee among choirs singing in a square in central Budapest (Photograph Charlotte Hunter)

Orthodox churches
in Russia and Ukraine
are divided while
churches in countries
bordering the war
share a common mission

Rite & Reason
Patrick Comerford

The first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine looms on Friday. The war has deepened the rift separating the Orthodox churches in Russia and Ukraine, and has caused further divisions within the Orthodox churches inside Ukraine.

However, the response of churches to the refugee crisis in countries bordering Ukraine and Russia has strengthened ecumenical partnerships, giving many of those churches a new understanding of sharing a common witness and mission.

For six years I was a trustee of USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), one of the oldest Anglican mission agencies. In recent weeks, USPG invited me to visit the Anglican churches in Hungary and Finland to see how they are responding to the crisis and to the needs of refugees.

Hungary has a long border with Ukraine, and people have long memories of the cold war era, including the Soviet role in suppressing the Hungarian revolution in 1956. Fr Frank Hegedűs, the Anglican priest in Budapest, is a former board member of Next Step Hungary, where volunteers help 500-600 people at weekends, providing food, meals and clothing.

With support and funding from USPG and the Anglican Diocese in Europe, Fr Frank and his parishioners at St Margaret’s Church are working with support groups like Ukrainian Space and with other churches, including the Jesuit Refugee Service and St Columba’s, the small (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland in Budapest.

This ecumenical co-operation has helped the Jesuits to provide accommodation, furnish a chapel and develop community space in Uzhhorod inside Ukraine. Ukrainian Space is providing a day-care and after-school programme in Budapest for Ukrainian children.

Finland was occupied by Russia throughout the 19th century, was invaded by the Soviet Union in the 20th century, and now shares a 1,300 km border with Russia. The Anglican Church in Finland was formed by refugees who fled St Petersburg during the Russian Revolution, and who were forced to flee further west again during the Winter War.

The Anglican priest in Helsinki, Fr Tuomas Mäkipää, brought us to visit the Vallila Help Centre, where Eeva (she prefers that her surname not be used) and a team of volunteers respond to the urgent, daily needs of Ukrainian refugees. A grant from USPG and the Anglican Diocese in Europe funds her work as the Humanitarian Aid Co-ordinator.

The centre was up and running a week after the invasion of Ukraine and has become a shared space for several relief organisations and an information and assistance point for Ukrainian and Russian refugees. It began providing food for 140 families, but this number has reached more than 3,360 families.

Four of us – Rebecca Boardman, Charlotte Hunter and myself from USPG, and Amber Jackson from the Diocese in Europe – spent a morning working with Eeva’s volunteers, packing bags and essential food for distribution among 100 Ukrainian families.

One Ukrainian refugee, Natalia (42), who also asked that her surname not be used, told us how she fled to Finland, leaving her husband behind to look after elderly people in their apartment block. He was not involved in the fighting, but was killed by Russian troops after they took over the empty apartments in their block. Natalia has been back for his funeral, but now does not know whether she can ever return home again.

Fr Tuomas works closely with the Lutheran Church and the Finnish Orthodox Church. In Holy Trinity Church, the oldest Orthodox church in Helsinki, Fr Heikki Huttunen celebrates the liturgy in Finnish, Church Slavonic and Russian, reflecting the diversity of his people and the conflicts that are redefining their identities.

“We are the closest church to these Ukrainians,” he says, “and we should be the first to open our arms to welcome them.” Vassili Goutsoul of the Ukrainian Association in Finland admits that in the first few months of the crisis everyone expected the situation to have stabilised by now. In a similar vein, Ákos Surányi of Menedékház, a refugee facility in Budapest, says: “No one expected the war to go on for this long.”

I asked Fr Frank how many families hoped to return from Budapest when the war ends. “They have nothing to go back for,” he says with sadness in his eyes. “They have lost not just their homes, but their entire towns and cities.”

Fr Tuomas says the response to the crisis has transformed the mission and outlook of his churches in Helsinki, and they are starting to learn the impact of what they are doing.

Sarah Tahvanainen, a Cambridge theology graduate, is administrator of St Nicholas’s Anglican Church in Helsinki. She sees the present crisis as “a gifted time” and “an opportunity to put faith into practice, an opportunity to show love and compassion. It’s faith in action.”

Rev Canon Prof Patrick Comerford is a Church of Ireland priest and a former Irish Times journalist now living in retirement in the Diocese of Oxford

This ‘Rite & Reason’column was published in The Irish Times on Monday 20 February 2023

How Helsinki’s Jewish community survived through wars and the Holocaust

Helsinki Synagogue in the Kamppi district was designed by the architect Jac Ahrenberg and built in 1906 (Photograph: Sofia Ek/Wkipedia)

Patrick Comerford

Our visit to Helsinki last week was short and focussed with a packed and demanding programme. This, combined with the shortened daylight hours in mid-January and streets piled high with snow, left virtually no time to see any of places tourists expect to see in the Finnish capital.

I suppose we shall have to visit Helsinki again if I am going to visit Helsinki’s synagogue. But while I was there I learned a little more about the Jewish community in Finland and its history.

Finland is home to 1,300 to 1,900 Jews, the third largest Jewish community in Scandinavia, following Sweden and Denmark. Finland’s Jewish community is largely integrated into Finnish society, and the World Jewish Congress says Jews in Finland enjoy a sense of stability and there has been relatively little antisemitism in Finland.

Most Jews in Finland live in the Greater Helsinki area, with a smaller community in Turku. The synagogue in Helsinki was built in 1906 and the synagogue in Turku was built in 1912. A synagogue in Wiborg built in 1910-1911 was destroyed by air bombings in 1939. The Jewish community in Tampere ceased functioning in 1981.

Jews first came to Finland as Russian soldiers who stayed in Finland in the 19th century after their military conscription came to an end.

Jacob Weikam, later Veikkanen, is said to be the first Jew to have settled on Finnish soil. He moved in 1782 to the town of Hamina, then under Russian rule, although at the time most of Finland was part of the Kingdom of Sweden. Swedish law allowed Jews to live in a only three towns – all of them outside what is now Finland.

Finland became part of the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809. But Swedish laws remained in force, preventing Jews from settling in Finnish territory.

However, Russian Jews began arriving in Finland as tradesmen and craftsmen. Most were retired soldiers from the Imperial Russian army. They had been forced into the Russian army as children, and after their 25-year terms expired they had the right to remain in Finland regardless of legacy Swedish legislation.

However, it was only after Finland declared independence in 1917 that Jews were granted full rights as Finnish citizens.

Finland’s involvement in World War II began during the Winter War, from 30 November 1939 to 13 March 1940, when the Soviet Union invaded Finland. Many Finnish Jews became refugees and the synagogue in Wiborg was destroyed by air bombings.

When Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, Finland resumed hostilities and was at war with the Soviet Union in 1941-1944. It is recorded 327 Finnish Jews fought for Finland during the war; 21 Jewish women served in the women’s auxiliary; and 15 Finnish Jews were killed in the Winter War and eight in the Continuation War.

The Finnish front had a field synagogue operating in the presence of Nazi troops, and Jewish soldiers were given leave on Saturdays and Jewish holidays.

Eight Jewish Austrian refugees and 19 other people were deported to Nazi Germany in November 1942 at the behest of the head of the Finnish police. Seven of the Jews were murdered immediately. Their deportation caused a national scandal, ministers resigned in protest, and the Archbishop, many Lutheran ministers, and the Social Democratic Party protested.

About 500 Jewish refugees arrived in Finland during World War II, although about 350 moved on to other countries, including about 160 who were moved to Sweden on the orders of Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, commander of the Finnish Army and later President.

Although Himmler twice visited Finland trying to persuade the authorities to hand over the Jewish population, he was unsuccessful. Jews with Finnish citizenship were protected throughout that period, and Finland was the only Axis country where synagogues remained open throughout World War II. Three Finnish Jews were offered the Iron Cross for their wartime service, but all three refused the award.

Migration to Israel depleted Finland’s Jewish community after World War II, but numbers were boosted with the arrival of some Soviet Jews after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Most Finnish Jews speak Finnish or Swedish as their first language. Yiddish, German, Russian, and Hebrew are also spoken in the community.

Helsinki Synagogue in the Kamppi (Kampen) district, nestled between the two big wings of the Radisson Hotel on Runeberginkatu Main Street was designed by the architect Jac Ahrenberg (1847-1914). The city of Helsinki gave the site on Malminkatu Street in Kamppi to the Jewish community in 1900. Construction began in the spring of 1905 and the building was finished in August 1906.

The synagogue is in an international, eclectic style common for 19th century synagogues in Central Europe and England. Its Byzantine-style cupola is a landmark in Helsinki. The façades are defined through the use of round arches. Its religious function is revealed only by Star of David motifs on three small round windows, the cupola and an inscription on the front wall: ‘For I give you good instruction; do not forsake my teaching’ (Proverbs 4: 2).

A memorial on Tähtitorninmäki (Observatory Hill) honours the eight Jewish refugees who were turned over to the Gestapo by Finnish authorities in 1942 and murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau.The memorial is made from a thick slab of granite. It was unveiled in November 2000 and includes a plaque with a relief depicting hands begging for mercy. It is inscribed in Hebrew, Finnish, and English:'‘Even unto them will I give in my house and within my walls a monument and a memorial’ (Isaiah 56: 5). At its unveiling, the Finnish Prime Minister, Paavo Lipponen, issued an official apology for the extradition of the eight Jewish Austrian refugees to Nazi Germany.

Shabat Shalom

Helsinki City Hall designed by Carl Ludvig Engel … the city of Helsinki gave the site for the synagogue to the Jewish community in 1900 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

The Ukrainian refugees in Helsinki cannot walk away from problems caused by war

Eeva has perfected a well-organised operation at the Vallila Help Centre (Photograph: Charlotte Hunter, 2023)

Amber Jackson from the diocese communications team in the Diocese in Europe and Patrick Comerford from USPG have been visiting Anglican chaplaincies in Hungary and Finland to see how they are supporting Ukrainian refugees with funding from the joint Ukraine appeal.

In Helsinki, Patrick Comerford visited the Vallila Help Centre, to see its work with Ukrainian refugees supported by Anglicans in the Finnish capital

Patrick Comerford

Saint Nicholas’s Anglican Church in Helsinki is responding to the conflict in Ukraine in a practical way through its active support for the Vallila Help Centre in a busy commercial and industrial area 4 km from the city centre.

The Revd Tuomas Mäkipää, the Chaplain at Saint Nicholas’s, brought us to visit the Vallila Help Centre and introduced us to Eeva and the volunteers and workers she co-ordinates as they respond to the urgent and daily needs of Ukrainian refugees.

Eeva has perfected a well-organised and co-ordinated operation at the Vallila Help Centre. One morning last week, she invited four of us – myself, Charlotte Hunter and Rebecca Boardman of USPG and Amber Jackson from the Diocese in Europe – to join her team of highly-motivated volunteers in a three-hour operation, packing bags of essential food items for distribution later in the day to 100 Ukrainian families.

The Vallila Help Centre is a unique service that has grown out of the work of the Ukrainian Association in Finland. The centre was up and running a week after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has become a shared space for several relief organisations and an information and assistance point for people who fled the war in Ukraine.

Vassili Goutsoul of the Ukrainian Association in Finland admits that the expectations are greater than the resources. In the first few months of the crisis, everyone involved expected that the situation would have stabilised by now. Instead, the number of refugees continues to grow, and he believes Finland needs to prepare to receive 20,000 more refugees.

The centre is working from the Sturenportti building in Vallila, provided by YIT Oyj, the largest construction company in Finland, with headquarters in Helsinki. YIT develops and builds apartments and business premises in Finland and in the neighbouring Scandinavian and Baltic states. In the past, the company has also worked in Russia.

The building has about 1,300 sq metres of space. Since the Vallila Help Centre opened, 30 or more regular people volunteer at the centre, offering three principle areas of support:

• humanitarian aid, including clothes, food and hygiene items;
• emotional, psychological and psychosocial support;
• informational support and practical guidance on accommodation, employment, education and living in Finland.

Since it opened, the centre has worked with over 20,000 visitors. It began by providing food for at least 140 families and over six months this number has reached more than 3,360 families.

Natalia has been in Finland since the war in Ukraine began almost a year ago (Photograph: Charlotte Hunter, 2023)

Natalia (42) tells us how she has been in Finland since the war in Ukraine began almost a year ago. She first came to the Vallila Centre as a visitor, but is now part of Eeva’s team of volunteers at the centre.

When she fled, her civilian husband stayed behind to look after the elderly people in the apartment block where they lived. He was not involved in the fighting, but still was killed by Russian troops after they occupied the empty apartments in the block.

Natalia has been back to Ukraine for her husband’s funeral. But now she does not know whether she can ever return home again.

Most Ukrainian refugees in Helsinki still hope to return home in the future, despite their fears. But Natalia’s husband is dead, her children have been left without a father, and their home has been destroyed. Instead, the centre has become a second home for her.
The Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) and the Diocese in Europe through the Bishop’s Lent Appeal donated £22,855 to the Vallila Help Centre last August to fund Eeva’s work as the Humanitarian Aid co-ordinator.

The Vallila Help Centre offers a safe space for Ukrainian refugees, rooms where they can receive counselling, psychological support and therapy, a welcome area where clothes and shoes are offered in an environment that reflects a pleasant shopping environment, and a play area for children who can also receive psychological assistance.

A lounge area offers space for communication and relaxation, other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) provide advice in a consultation area, and other facilities include a computer zone and employment assistance point.

The centre had up to 20-30 refugee volunteers for many months. But public transportation stopped being free for refuges in October, and today that number has dropped to about ten who can come regularly only because the centre can meet their travel costs.

The Vallila Help Centre offers a safe space for Ukrainian refugees (Photograph: Charlotte Hunter, 2023)

Eeva’s work ensures the centre can meet the basic needs of Ukrainians in Helsinki. The centre offers a safe place where people who fled the conflict can receive appropriate support. Her work includes:

• securing donations of items to the centre;
• contact with other bodies to secure donations to the centre;
• organising food and hygiene packages;
• supporting and co-ordinating volunteers;
• providing integration support for visitors.

The Ukrainian Association in Finland was founded in Helsinki in 1998, but its founders never expected to turn their focus to work like this. Now Vassili Goutsoul sees the need for team building and he identifies the need to keep 30 or more volunteers motivated.

The support from USPG and the Diocese in Europe was timely as the centre moved from being an entirely volunteer-run project to consolidating its work. The majority of people the volunteers work with are women and children. Local businesses have donated furniture and consumer goods, ordinary Finns have donated clothes, shoes and children’s toys.

Many refugees see Finland as a getaway before they move on to another, third country. It was tragic to hear how some of them were already victims of an earlier tragedy, living close to Chernobyl at the time of the nuclear disaster in 1986.

After packing bags for 100 families and helping to unload donated goods from a tightly-packed van, we came down stairs lined with children, babies and pregnant women. We could walk away knowing we had homes to go to. The immediate future looks bleak for the families who need the support of the Vallila Help Centre.

Eeva’s work ensures the centre can meet the basic needs of Ukrainian families in Helsinki (Photograph: Charlotte Hunter, 2023)

Praying through poems and with USPG: 16 January 2023

A Christmas tree in the Vallila Centre for Ukrainians in Helsinki last week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

Christmas is not a season of 12 days, despite the popular Christmas song. Christmas is a 40-day season that lasts from Christmas Day (25 December) to Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation (2 February).

Throughout the 40 days of this Christmas Season, I am reflecting in these ways:

1, Reflecting on a seasonal or appropriate poem;

2, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary, ‘Pray with the World Church.’

I am continuing to work on reports on our recent visits to Budapest and Helsinki, when Charlotte and I visited church-based projects supported by the Anglican mission agency (USPG) and the Diocese in Europe, working with Ukrainian refugees in Hungary and Finland.

The Finnish capital was covered in snow throughout our visit to Helsinkilast week. My choice of a seasonal poem this morning, is ‘Sylvia’s Christmas Song’ (Sylvian joululaulu) by the Finnish poet Zacharis Topelius (1818-1898), and translated by Anniina Jokinen.

‘Sylvia’s Christmas Song’ is regarded by many as the most beautiful Finnish Christmas song and poem. Topelius was in Italy at Christmas-time, and missed his homeland when he wrote this poem. The original is in Topelius’s mother tongue, Finland’s dialect of Swedish, but it has since been translated into Finnish.

Zachris Topelius was a 19th century Finnish author, poet, journalist, historian, and Rector of the University of Helsinki, who also wrote historical novels set in Finland.

The original name of the Topelius family was the Finnish Toppila, but this was Latinised to Toppelius by the writer’s great-great-grandfather and later changed to Topelius.

Topelius was born at Kuddnäs, near Nykarleby in Ostrobothnia, the son of a physician, Dr Zacharias Topelius, who was distinguished as the earliest collector of Finnish folksongs.

As a child he heard his mother, Katarina Sofia Calamnius, sing the songs of the Finnish-Swedish poet Franzén. At the age of 11, he was sent to school in Oulu and boarded with family relatives who had a lending library.

He moved to Helsingfors or Helsinki in 1831, and became a member of the circle of young nationalist men surrounding Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finland’s national poet and the author of the Finnish national anthem. Topelius studied history, theology and medicine at the Imperial Alexander University of Finland, and received his PhD in 1847 after completing his dissertation on ‘the custom of marriage among the ancient Finns.’

He was secretary of Societas pro Fauna et Flora Fennica (1842-1846), worked at the university library (1846-1861), and taught history, statistics and Swedish as a school teacher during those years.

Topelius was appointed a professor of the History of Finland at the university in 1854. He was made first ordinary professor of Finnish, Russian and Nordic history in 1863, and became professor of general history in 1876.

He was the Rector of the university from 1875 until 1878, when he retired as Emeritus Professor and received the title of verkligt statsråd or ‘state councillor’, a Russian honorary title.

At an early stage in his career, Topelius became known as a lyric poet, publishing three successive volumes of his Heather Blossoms (1845-1854). His earliest historical romance, The Duchess of Finland, published in 1850. He was also editor-in-chief of the Helsingfors Tidningar (1841-1860).

His Tales of a Barber-Surgeon, historical fiction from the days of Gustavus II Adolphus to those of Gustavus III, can be compared to the writings of Sir Walter Scott, and were published in five volumes (1853-1867). He also wrote a tragic drama Regina von Emmeritz (1854).

Topelius was an advocate of Finnish patriotism, and his political poem ‘Islossningen i Uleå älv’ was set to music by Jean Sibelius. With the composer Friedrich Pacius, Topelius wrote the libretto for the first Finnish opera, Kaarle-kuninkaan metsästys (Kung Karls jakt). Topelius wrote the libretto in Swedish, but its subject is emphatically Finnish.

According to tradition, the modern flag of Finland was based on a design by Topelius in about 1860. He died in 1898 in his manor house in Koivuniemi, Sipoo, where he wrote his greatest works. He is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.

Zachris Topelius was the Rector of the University of Helsinki in (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Sylvia’s Christmas Song, by the Finnish poet Zachris Topelius, translated by Anniina Jokinen

And now it is Christmas in my lovèd north,
Is it Christmas as well, in the heart?
And bright Christmas candles do spread their light forth,
To each little cabin and hearth.
But up in the rafters there hangs high above,
The cage that imprisons my soul’s turtledove;
And quiet are now all the prisoners’ groans,
But oh, who pays heed to a prisoner's moans?

Oh shine you, the brightest of stars in the sky,
On my Finland so far, far from here;
When finally your light in the darkness doth die,
Oh, bless you that land, oh so dear!
I never will find one of equal worth,
My dearest will always be my land of birth;
My country to praise, I sing Sylvia’s song;
It e’er will remain as a song pure and strong.

The Government Palace in Senate Square, Helsinki … Zachris Topelius was an advocate of Finnish patriotism (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

USPG Prayer Diary:

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins on Wednesday (18 January), and the theme in the USPG Prayer Diary this week is the ‘Week of Prayer For Christian Unity.’ This theme was introduced yesterday with a reflection from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches.

The USPG Prayer Diary invites us to pray today in these words:

Let us pray to be good listeners. May we learn to pay attention and hear what is being said, and so seek to understand.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued Tomorrow

A Christmas tree outside the Kappeli restaurant in Esplanada Park, Helsinki … regular customers in the 19th century included the writer Zachris Topelius and the composer Jan Sibelius (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Helsinki Cathedral has become Finland’s best-known building

Helsinki Cathedral faces onto Senate Square in central Helsinki and is the best-known building in Finland (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Patrick Comerford

Helsinki Cathedral faces onto Senate Square in central Helsinki and is probably the best-known building in Finland, featuring prominently on postcards, posters and tourism promotions.

The cathedral, with its impressive domes with its high flights of steps, stands on a prominent hill above the harbour of Helsinki and stands out dramatically in the winter snow.

The cathedral towers above its next-door neighbour, Holy Trinity Church, the oldest Orthodox church in Finland, which I was visiting this week with the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) and the Diocese in Europe, to see church responses to the Ukrainian refugee crisis.

Both Helsinki Cathedral and Holy Trinity Church were designed by the same architect, and they were built at the same time with similar funding from the czarist state.

This is the cathedral of the Diocese of Helsinki in the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church, which is one of Finland’s two national churches, along with the Orthodox Church of Finland. The Church is in full communion with the Church of England, the Church of Ireland and other member churches of the Anglican Communion through the Porvoo Communion.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland was part of the Church of Sweden until 1809, when the Grand Duchy of Finland was established as a part of the Russian Empire. With about 3.7 million members, it is one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world, and is Finland’s largest religious body: 66.5% of Finns are members of the church. The present head of the Church is Archbishop Tapio Luoma of Turku, who succeeded in 2018.

A statue of Alexander II in front of Helsinki Cathedral on Senate Square (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Helsinki Cathedral is a distinctive landmark in the cityscape of the capital, with its tall, green dome surrounded by four smaller domes. Helsinki Cathedral was originally built in 1830-1852 as a tribute to the Grand Duke of Finland, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. It was also known as Saint Nicholas’s Church until the independence of Finland in 1917.

It was built in the neoclassical style and was designed by the architect Carl Ludvig Engel (1778-1840), who also designed Holy Trinity Church, the Orthodox church next door. Engel saw the cathedral as the climax of his layout of Senate Square, and it is surrounded by other, smaller buildings also designed by him.

The church plan is a Greek cross, or a square centre and four equilateral arms. It is symmetrical in each of the four cardinal directions, with each arm’s façade featuring a colonnade and pediment. Engel originally intended to place a further row of columns on the west end to mark the main entrance opposite the east-end altar, but this was never built.

After Helsinki became the capital of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812, Alexander I decreed in 1814 that 15 per cent of the salt import tax was to be collected into a fund to build two churches, one Lutheran and one Orthodox.

The cathedral was built on the site of the smaller church, Ulrika Eleonora Church, built in 1724-1727 and dedicated to its patroness, Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden.

Helsinki Old Church was built in nearby Kamppi in 1824-1826 to serve the parish while the Ulrika Eleonora Church was being demolished and until the new cathedral was completed. The bells of the old church were reused in the cathedral.

The construction of the cathedral began in 1830, although it was only officially inaugurated in 1852.

Engel died in 1840, and the building was later altered by his successor, Ernst Lohrmann, whose four small domes emphasise the architectural connection to the cathedral’s models, Saint Isaac’s Cathedral and Kazan Cathedral in St Petersburg.

A chapel next to Helsinki Cathedral was once used by Saint Nicholas’s Church, the Anglican church in Helsinki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Lohrmann also designed two extra buildings to the sides of the steps: looking from the square the left building is a bell tower and the right building a chapel, which was once used by Saint Nicholas’s Church, the Anglican church in Helsinki.

Lohrmann also erected larger-than-life sized zinc statues of the Twelve Apostles at the apexes and corners of the roofline in 1849. They were sculpted by August Wredov and Hermann Schievelbein and cast by SP Devaranne in Berlin in 1845-1847.

The altarpiece was painted by Carl Timoleon von Neff and donated to the church by Emperor Nicholas I.

The cathedral crypt was renovated in the 1980s by the architects Vilhelm Helander and Juha Leiviskä for use in exhibitions and church functions. Helander was also responsible for conservation repairs on the cathedral in the late 1990s.

Today, the cathedral is one of Helsinki's most popular tourist attractions, and in pre-Covid times it attracted half a million visitors a year. The church is in regular use for services and special events.

Carl Ludvig Engel saw the cathedral as the climax of his layout of Senate Square (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Anglicans in Helsinki find ‘an opportunity to put faith into practice, an opportunity to show love and compassion’

The Revd Tuomas Mäkipää (left), the Chaplain at Saint Nicholas, Helsinki, with Father Heikki Huttunen of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Amber Jackson from the diocese communications team in the Diocese of Europe and Patrick Comerford from USPG are visiting Anglican chaplaincies in Hungary and Finland to see how they are supporting Ukrainian refugees with funding from the joint Ukraine appeal.

In Helsinki, Patrick Comerford met the Revd Revd Tuomas Mäkipää, chaplain of Saint Nicholas’s, and heard how Anglicans in the Finnish capital are responding to the Ukrainian crisis

Patrick Comerford

During my visit to Finland last week to see the response of the churches to the crisis in Ukraine, I was introduced to members of the Anglican congregation in Helsinki by the Revd Tuomas Mäkipää, chaplain of Saint Nicholas’s congregation in the Finnish capital.

Saint Nicholas’s is a diverse and inclusive community, with people of many cultures, ages and nationalities joining together in worship and friendship. The services are in English and follow the liturgy of the Church of England, accompanied by choral music led by the music director and choir.

With assistance from the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) and the Anglican Diocese in Europe, the small Anglican congregation in Helsinki is making a significant response to the needs of Ukrainian refugees.

The Revd Tuomas Mäkipää has been the Chaplain at Saint Nicholas since 2011. Originally from Pello in Finland, he is married to Suvi Mäkipää, and they are the parents of four children.

He was ordained deacon in 2005 and priest in 2010, and was the first Finnish Lutheran ordained in the Church of England under the Porvoo Agreement. He is a member of the Church of England General Synod and chairs the House of Clergy of the Diocesan Synod of the Diocese in Europe. He is the Area Dean for Finland in the Diocese in Europe.

Saint Nicholas’s Chaplaincy supports the work of Vallila Centre through grants from USPG and the Diocese in Europe (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2023)

Over coffee near the harbour in Helsinki, the Revd Tuomas Mäkipää spoke of how a grant from USPG and the Diocese in Europe is helping to support Ukrainian refugees.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there has been a steady flow of refugees from Ukraine to Finland. Many have seen some of the worst horrors of war. They are unable to travel by their own means and have no relatives or friends in Finland. Although the Finnish government has been active in its response, many refugees are still without money and are living in reception centres or as guests in private homes.

He recalls how Saint Nicholas’s Chaplaincy has been monitoring the situation carefully from the outset and shared information about where refugees could access help. It also supports the Vallila Centre, founded by the Ukrainian Association in Finland, with collections to provide refugees with food, clothes, basic hygiene products and advice.

The Vallila volunteers are working at full capacity, and the chaplaincy recognised the centre could do more if it had a full-time co-ordinator. He contacted USPG and a generous grant from USPG and the Diocese in Europe has enabled this. The chaplaincy is now hoping to support the centre to make the transition from being a ‘first response unit’ to a place that can offer long-term help.

He does not know when the present phase of the crisis is going to end or how it may change. But he emphasises the need to speak of hope and reconciliation. ‘Finish society needs to be more flexible and dynamic,’ he tells me.

Anja Haltia is a churchwarden as Saint Nicholas. ‘In Finland, so often we try to solve problems with money,’ she says. But the crisis has brought unexpected gifts to the fore in the congregation. ‘It is important to find God in the little things you do,’ she says.

Sarah Tahvanainen, a former RE teacher in England who studied theology at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, is the Administrator of Saint Nicholas. She sees the present crisis as ‘a gifted time’ and ‘an opportunity to put faith into practice, an opportunity to show love and compassion. It’s faith in action.’

‘People’s generosity inspires others,’ says Tuomas. He says the latest experience has transformed the mission and outlook of his church in Helsinki, and they are starting to learn the impact of what they are doing.

Saint Nicholas is based at Mikael Agricola Church in central Helsinki

The Anglican chaplaincy serves the greater Helsinki area and is an inclusive community of word and sacrament. It is part of the Diocese in Europe and under the Porvoo Agreement it works closely with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

Saint Nicholas is based at Mikael Agricola Church in central Helsinki and is the ‘mother congregation’ of the Anglican Chaplaincy in Finland, led by the chaplain, the Revd Tuomas Mäkipää. Anglican services in English are also held in three other cities: Espoo, Tampere and Turku. Together we belong to the Church of England’s Diocese in Europe.

The Ukrainian crisis is only the latest crisis created by events in neighbouring Russia to shape the Anglican presence in Finland over the past century.

‘We’ve been here before,’ says Tuomas Mäkipää. ‘We want to help.’

The first recorded Anglican service in Finland took place 100 years ago in 1923, although it is possible that services were held before then. Records show the Anglican chaplain in St Petersburg making occasional visits to Helsinki to minister to English residents in the years before the Russian Revolution in 1917.

The Anglican Church in Finland and the Chaplaincy of Saint Nicholas in Helsinki were formed by people who fled from Saint Petersburg during the Russian Revolution. They settled first in Viipuri or Vyborg, but were then forced to flee further west again during the Winter War and stayed in Helsinki.

After the Russian Revolution, the chaplain at Moscow moved to Helsinki, where he was appointed to serve the British Legation. The Legation ceased to employ the chaplain in 1921, and after that chaplains were supported by voluntary contributions. At times, the chaplains in Helsinki also had pastoral responsibility for Anglicans in Russia, Estonia, Mongolia and China.

The first chaplain in Helsinki, the Revd Frank William North (1871-1925), had been chaplain in Moscow and St Petersburg and was arrested and interrogated by the Bolsheviks during the revolutionary period. He returned to Helsinki as chaplain, but died suddenly in 1925.

His successor, the Revd Clement H Jones, was the Anglican chaplain both before (1925-1936) and after (1954-1956). Other Anglican chaplains in Helsinki included Henry Isherwood (1951-1954), who later became Assistant Bishop in Diocese of Gibraltar, John Richard Satterthwaite (1956-1957), later Bishop of the Diocese in Europe, and the Revd Rupert Robert James Moreton (1998-2011), who has also served in the Church of Ireland.

The cross and church plate used at Saint Nicholas’s, Helsinki are originally from the English Church in St Petersburg. During the Russian Revolution, the cross was shipped for safe-keeping to the British Embassy in Beijing and later to the British Embassy in Ankara, before arriving in Helsinki in the early 1980s.

In Helsinki in the past, the Eucharist was celebrated in the chaplain’s personal flat, and also in a chapel beside Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral. Today, the congregation of Saint Nicholas’s worships at Mikael Agricola Church, a Lutheran church in the Punavuori district of Helsinki. The church was designed by Lars Sonck and built in 1933-1935. It is named after Mikael Agricola (1510-1557), a 16th century Bishop of Turku. He translated the New Testament into Finnish, produced the prayer book and hymns for the Church of Finland, and is often called the ‘father of literary Finnish.’

The Sung Eucharist is celebrated on Sundays at 10 am. There is a vibrant Sunday School and youth group that meet regularly on Sunday mornings and help to lead the monthly all-age services. Other services include monthly All-Age Services and Evensongs.

Mikael Agricola Church in central Helsinki, where Saint Nicholas’s is the ‘mother congregation’ of the Anglican Chaplaincy in Finland (Photograph: Wikipedia/CCL)