One Volk, One Church? A Critique of the “Folk Church” Ideology in Finland

Abstract

Is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) a state church or not?1 The answer depends on whom you ask. Looking at international surveys and comparisons, the answer is a clear “yes.” On Chaves and Cann’s six-point scale, Finland scored the highest of all 18 countries compared in terms of the state privileging one or more denominations.2 Christensen’s analysis of historical and current debates on the issue of Finnish church and state relations—in many ways a precursor to my own aims here—says clearly, “The Church exists within a special relationship with the state, and maintains many of the same designations it held when its ties to the state were more official.”3 Robbers lists Finland among the countries with “a State Church or predominant religion.”4 Finally, Fox’s global comparison of religion and state relations files Finland under countries with “active state religions,” i.e., countries where “the state has one or more official religions and the state actively promotes the state religion through various measures.”5