Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
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 has a legal position as a national church in the country, along with the Orthodox Church of Finland.
| Coat of arms of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland | |
|---|---|
| Adopted | 1990 |
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland | |
|---|---|
| Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko (Finnish) Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland (Swedish) | |
Turku Cathedral, the primatial and mother church of Finland | |
| Type | National church |
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Lutheran |
| Scripture | Bible |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Primate | Tapio Luoma |
| 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 | 3,625,007 (2022) |
| Official website | evl |
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 3.6 million members as of 2022, 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 2022, 65.2% of Finns were members of the church. The current head of the Church is Tapio Luoma, Archbishop of Turku, who succeeded Kari Mäkinen on 3 June 2018.