The Church in society

The starting point of the Kirkko yhteiskunnassa (the Church in society) research project is the observation made in the Church's latest four-year report (2016–2019) that cultural Christianity is at a breaking point and perceiving Lutheranism as the “religion of the people” is becoming problematic in the Finnish context. The position of the church in Finnish society is turning out to be different from the mainstream culture, and in some respects even counter cultural. On the other hand, religion has shaped the society in ways of which the religious starting points cannot even be recognised.

The key themes of the research project are global changes in Lutheran theology, political theology, the social agency of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the social status and freedom of religion of religious communities in international comparisons. The projects set the 2023 anniversary year of the Act on the Freedom of Religion as its goal. In that year, a collection of articles focusing on research on the topic will be published.