Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland | |
|---|---|
| Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko | |
Interior view of the primatial mother church of Finland, Turku Cathedral | |
| Abbreviation | ELCF (Finnish: EVL) |
| Type | National church |
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Lutheran |
| Scripture | Protestant Bible |
| Theology | High church Lutheran |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Governance | General Synod |
| Primate | Tapio Luoma |
| National guidance |
|
| Regional structure | Hierarchical dioceses (9) |
| Local units | Electorally democratic parishes |
| Associations | |
| Region | Finland |
| Language | Suomi |
| Headquarters | Helsinki |
| Origin | 29 March 1809 Diet of Porvoo |
| Separated from | Church of Sweden |
| Separations | |
| Parishes | 367 (2022) |
| Members | 3,508,082 (2024) |
| Official website | evl |
| Coat of arms | |
|---|---|
Gules, a Maltese cross with ends concave Or, cantoned with four roses Argent | |
| Adopted | 1990 |
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (Finnish: Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko; Swedish: Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland) is a national church of Finland and belongs to the Lutheran branch of Christianity. The church enjoys the legal position of a national church in the country, along with the Orthodox Church of Finland.
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 3.5 million members as of 2024, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world. It is Finland's largest religious community with 62.2% of the Finnish population being members of the church, as of 2024. The church is led by a primate who holds the title of Archbishop of Turku and Finland; the office's 15th and current occupant being Tapio Luoma, who succeeded Kari Mäkinen on 3 June 2018.