The Swedish Baptist Union of Finland () is a registered

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

union based in

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

that was founded in 1980. It is an umbrella organization for the Baptist churches of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland. The union consists of 13 congregations and approximately 1000 members. The Swedish Baptist Union of Finland is a member of the

Finnish Ecumenical Council Finnish Ecumenical Council ( fi, Suomen Ekumeeninen Neuvosto) is an ecumenical Christian organization in Finland, established on 1917. Member denominations Following denominations were members in 2023: * Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland * Fi ...

. It is also a member of the

European Baptist Federation The European Baptist Federation (EBF) is a federation of 59 Baptist associations and is one of six regional fellowships in the Baptist World Alliance. The headquarters is in Amsterdam, Netherlands. History The EBF was founded in Ruschlikon, Swit ...

and the

Baptist World Alliance The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA account ...

. The union supports cooperation with other

free churches A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions from ...

in Finland and supports mission work abroad. It publishes a newsletter entitled .

History

The first Baptist church in Finland was founded in 1856 in primarily Swedish-speaking

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...

. Preacher Karl Möllersvärd had been sent there by the Evangelical Alliance in Stockholm, Sweden in 1854 and was the first to preach Baptist teachings in Finland; he received strong opposition from the established

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland ( fi, Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko; sv, Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland) is a national church of Finland. It is part of the Lutheran branch of Christianity. The church has a legal positio ...

. Despite persecution, the movement continued to grow. The first Baptist church to be founded on the

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

was

Jakobstad Jakobstad (; fi, Pietarsaari) is a town and municipality in Ostrobothnia, Finland. The town has a population of () and covers a land area of . The population density is . Neighboring municipalities are Larsmo, Pedersöre, and Nykarleby. The ci ...

Baptist Church in the Ostrobothnia region on 14 August 1870. The Baptist community grew and more churches were founded, including a Finnish-speaking church, Luvia, near

Pori ) , website www.pori.fi Pori (; sv, Björneborg ) is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River, west of Tampere, north of Turku and north-w ...

. Cooperation between Swedish-speaking and Finnish-speaking Baptists continued, including the formation in 1883 of the Vasa Swedish District Conference, which some Finnish-speaking congregations joined. However, in 1902, Finnish-speaking Baptists formed a separate Finnish National Conference. The

Finnish Baptist Union Baptists in Finland have existed since the middle of the 19th century. They are part of the Baptist branch of Protestant Christianity and belong to three different Finnish church associations. Swedish-speaking Finns formed the Swedish Baptist Un ...

() was registered in 1928; the Swedish Baptist Union of Finland was founded later in 1980.

References

{{Religion in Finland Baptist denominations Churches in Finland Religious organizations established in 1980 History of Christianity in Finland

History

See also

References