14.10.2022
Welcome and inclusion – Porvoo conference participants visit two local communities
The Primates and Presiding Bishops of the Porvoo Communion, which unites the Anglican Churches in Great Britain, Ireland, and the Iberian Peninsula and Lutheran Churches in Nordic countries, the Baltic, and Great Britain, met in Tampere, Finland, this week to mark the 25th anniversary of the communion. Archbishop Michael Jackson represented the Church of Ireland and is the co–chair of the communion and the Church of Ireland is one of the original signatories. Here he reports on day 3 of the conference.
Between Wednesday and Thursday of the Conference, those attending were invited to visit two communities where the Diocese of Tampere is offering welcome and inclusion.
One is located in Kaleva Church in the suburbs of Tampere. This we visited on Wednesday. It is called Marheban–Centre, the name meaning welcome. The church was built in the 1950s in a neighbourhood of more than forty thousand people. Today people from all faiths and cultures gather there. Youth are integral to the work, many volunteering for two sessions of five hours each per week. The young people and community volunteers are supported by seven deacons. Once again this underwrites the specific gift that the designated diaconate is for a church that dedicates itself to service of neighbour and community. The ethic of Marheban–Centre is that there is no separation by boundaries from any other human being. The conviction of Marheban–Centre is that all people who come have talents.
Early on Thursday, there was a celebration of Holy Communion in The Old Church in Tampere Town Square. This is where worship is offered in the Anglican tradition, and we were told that Porvoo is essential to the self–understanding and the witness of this community. As was explained to us: We allow everyday life to break into our churches; this creates a new situation where holiness needs the ordinary. We were also told that, through this way of understanding the presence of God in people, The Old Church which has been in Tampere for 200 years is now more open than ever it had been. The church has become the place of friendship, security, hospitality and worship of those who use the town square and its park area. The reality of inner–city life was chillingly described: It is a wasteland. We do not ring bells any longer. Again, dedicated deacons, who are members of a ministry team in the city of Tampere comprising eighty ordained and hundreds of lay workers and volunteers, show that we in the Church of Ireland have much to learn from our Lutheran associations through The Porvoo Communion.