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Helping Ukrainians strengthens cooperation between congregations

 The events in Ukraine have shocked people across the globe, including people in Finland and Rovaniemi. - If we must find something good about the terrible events in Ukraine, then helping Ukrainians has made local congregations strengthen their cooperation, says the student pastor in Rovaniemi parish, Jan Pohjonen. Jan Pohjonen says that the crisis in Ukraine has affected activities in Rovaniemi parish in many ways. - The war in Ukraine has revealed something about our humanity, which we have perhaps wanted to forget. As the war in Ukraine came on top of stress about the coronavirus, the burden has been heavy for many. In short, the situation in Ukraine has come up in my work as increased need for conversation, says Pohjonen. “Everyone is equal” - In the daily work of the parish, the crisis in Ukraine is of course also visible in the arrival of Ukrainian refugees in Rovaniemi. Those fleeing the war in Ukraine receive help from the parish in the same spirit of charity as all other resid
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  Christening day in Rovaniemi in September – we warmly welcome you! In the first issue of the parish magazine this year, we wrote about christening days held in Finland and about the christening day that will be held in Rovaniemi this year. The 2022 christening day will be held at the Church Hill on Sunday 3 September. In the Rovaniemi christening day the pastors on duty will be Miia Raninen, Karita Kaukonen and Aki Hätinen: “We invite all non-christened children to the christening celebration, including small babies and anyone under the age of 15! The child can be christened and taken as a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church if at least one of the parents is a member of the church.” The children baptised on the christening day will have a fine celebration. The Rovaniemi parish will offer the families and godparents coffee and cake. More information: Rovaniemi parish office, kirkkoherranvirasto.rovaniemi@evl.fi Easter 2022 in Rovaniemi church Friday 8 April at 7 PM,
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Rovaniemi Parish Magazine February 2022 English Summary

The Sámi National Day is celebrated annually on February 6. Celebrations are traditionally organised around Sápmi and nowadays also outside Sápmi. The day is one of the Sámi flag days, but officials in Finland, Sweden and Norway also recommend flag flying on that day. The Sámi National Day is still quite a new celebration. It was marked in the Finnish calendar in 2004, though the Sámi National Day was decided on in 1992 already. Its roots are over a hundred years old, from the year 1917. That was when the first Sámi Assembly was organised in Norway’s Trondheim. The purpose of the assembly was to consider the living opportunities of Sámi people and take a stand on Sámi issues. The most central issues related to mobility, land use, reindeer herding and schooling. On the front page and in our interview is artist Niillas Holmberg who is a Sámi poet, musician and cultural and environmental activist who lives in Utsjoki. He has a unique way of combining poetry with joik and song and he perf
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Rovaniemi Parish Magazine November 2021 English Summary

WELCOME TO THE CHURCH AND PARISH EVENTS! THE NATIVITY SCENE  Is at Lordi’s Square (Maakuntakatu 29-31) and you can also watch it on the webcam . THE ROVANIEMI CHURCH IS OPEN  Daily from November 29, 2021 to January 9, 2022 from 9:00 to 21:00. Welcome! A guide is present every day and priests are on call from Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 13:00 as well as during church services. IN ALL ROVANIEMI PARISH BUILDINGS, face masks are primarily used and safe distances are kept. THE INTERNATIONAL GREATEST CHRISTMAS CAROLS EVENT will be held on December 16 at 18:00 in the church. You can also follow along at the Rovaniemi parish YouTube channel: youtu.be/aUMm8NGgSus. GREATEST CHRISTMAS CAROLS  will also be sung at Hotel Aakenus on December 15 at 18:00 and at Hemingway’s on December 16 at 21:00. THE CHRISTMAS MIDNIGHT MASS  will be held multilingually on December 24, 2021 starting at 23:00 in the Rovaniemi church. CHRISTMAS TRAIL 2021 – A STAR SHINES IN THE DARKNESS In the garden of the Rovaniem
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Rovaniemi Church PARISH FESTIVITIES AROUND ROVANIEMI CHURCH on Sunday 24 October 2021 – Welcome! In the celebration mass at Rovaniemi church at 10 AM, acting parish vicar Ilari Kinnunen will lead the liturgy and parish vicar Kari Yliräisänen will give a leaving sermon. Kari Yliräisänen Farewell to the parish vicar Kari Yliräisänen was chosen as the parish vicar in Rovaniemi in 2016 when the parish was the third largest in Finland. The farewell festivities for Kari as well as the Rovaniemi church 70-year celebrations were postponed due to the pandemic from August 2020 to August 2021. Because the church celebrations could not be held even then, the parish vicar’s retiring party was moved to be celebrated alongside the 70-year celebrations for the Rovaniemi church fresco in October 2021. A long career in different tasks Kari Yliräisänen worked in the Rovaniemi parish for 40 years, from 1980 to 2020. He started as a youth pastor and after that worked as a regional chaplain for over 20 year
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Rovaniemi Parish Magazine August 2021 English Summary

Finnish Nature Day, 28 August 2021: Ecotheology and responsibility for God’s creation Pauliina Kainulainen Creation Sunday is celebrated on a Sunday between May and October, this year it will be 29 August 2021. God has created all that exists through His Word and He maintains it. He has given people the responsibility to take care of His creations. People are meant to cherish and keep His creations and act against powers of destruction. In ecotheology, Christian teachings, the Bible and life are viewed from the perspective of the wellbeing of the whole world. The Bible has often been interpreted from a human-centred perspective and people’s position of power in relation to their environment has been emphasised. In Western countries, a hierarchical power relation has developed between people and nature. The results of this can be seen in our environmental crisis. Panu Pihkala. Ecotheology is interested in the Biblical wisdom about ecology in a broad way. For example, in the creation sto
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Rovaniemi Parish Magazine May 2021 English Summary

Arts Committee   Arts Committee Supports Local Culture The church board founded an arts committee consisting of assistant professor Kalle Lampela, lecturer Tom Engblom and lecturer Anniina Koivurova as well as vicar Ilari Kinnunen and Rovaniemi parish administration manager Antti Jääskeläinen. Timo Kotilainen and Raija Kivilahti from the church board are also members of the arts committee. “I hope that the art and works which have been in the parish centre before will serve and bring joy to the parish members and employees. I hope that new works will support our talented artists nearby, even from Rovaniemi. We want to support local culture. First-rate work has been done here and I am especially happy with the light, space and cleanliness in the congregation hall,” Raija Kivilahti praises. The task of the arts committee is to map out the current artwork in the parish centre and congregation home and make a proposal to the church board for relocating them. “I belong to the church and the
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