Rovaniemi Parish Magazine December 2020 English Summary

Church will be open

Rovaniemi church

The Rovaniemi Church will be open from December 14, 2020 to January 3, 2021 from 12 PM to 6PM. During this time there will be a guide at the church. An on-call priest will be at the church on these days from 10 AM to 1 PM. At the front of the church is a nativity scene to bring some Christmas spirit. There are also four different prayer altars along the side isles of the church which have the Christmas Gospel in different languages. At the prayer altars, you may leave prayer requests which will be read at the St. Thomas Mass on December 26 at 6 PM. Masses and other events will be organised according to safety regulations.

Election year 2020 comes to a close

Ilari Kinnunen

Ilari Kinnunen received the most votes in the parish vicar election – congratulations! 

In the election, almost one in five parish members voted. The number of votes was 6,307 and the turnout was 17.37%. (There were 41 rejected votes.) The number of accepted votes was 6,266. 

Candidate number 1, Hanna Kuusela received 1,562 votes, candidate number 2 Tuomo Törmänen, received 1,596 votes and candidate number 3, Ilari Kinnunen, received 3,108 votes. In the previous parish vicar election in 2016, the number of votes was 3,971. In 2016, there were 2,159 early voters and 1,812 people voted on the election day. Only one tenth (10.7%) of eligible voters used their right to vote. There were 3,959 accepted votes. In the parish vicar election of 2012, there were 6,881 votes and the turnout was 18%.

The renovation of the parish center will provide jobs for 30 people for a year.

The Rovaniemi parish will invest almost eight million euros into building projects during this year and the next. The investments have a big impact on the area’s economy, employment and businesses.

“Especially during these exceptional times, the effect on employment is significant,” says Rovaniemi parish’s property manager Kalle Kenttälä.

The main subcontractor for the parish center renovation is MY-Insinöörit Oy from Rovaniemi.

“The renovation will provide jobs to about 30 people, including all subcontractors, suppliers and supply chains,” explains foreman Ville Kokko from MY-Insinöörit Oy.

The new missionaries 

The new missionaries for Rovaniemi parish are Anna Holmström in Tanzania and Mikko and Maria Vuorma in Papua New Guinea.

Anna Holmström

Anna is a Master of Political Sciences in Development Studies. She moved to Tanzania in 2009 to work for the United Nations Population Fund. For eight years she mostly worked to stop genital mutilation and to strengthen the wellbeing of women and children. Now Anna works in Tanzania in regional development cooperation through Felm. The work is done in cooperation with different organisations. Her focuses are disability work, updating education for teachers and developing the education sector, community development and environmental work. Anna is especially moved by themes in student care, such as physical punishments, which are still common in Tanzanian schools.

Mikko and

Mikko ja Maria

Maria work in Papua New Guinea and work to support translating the Bible. Mikko is an electrical technician and has studied computer sciences, Maria is an engineer and child care provider. Both are from Lapland – Mikko from Simo and Maria from Enontekiö. Mikko and Maria help the Bible translators with their own expertise, by helping with computers and repairs and through education. Mikko helps with technical issues and Maria has taught primary students in an international school information technology, but she is soon changing work tasks.

 Event tips: 

International Greatest Christmas Carols on Wednesday December 16, 8 PM in the Rovaniemi Church and as a live stream or to be watched later: www.virtuaalikirkko.fi

• Christmas Carols outdoors in Rovaniemi at Lordi Square, near the nativity scene:
• Sun 29.11., 20:00 Hosanna hymn, lighting the first advent candle
• Sat 5.12., 18:30 Christmas carols
• Sun 6.12., 18:30 lighting the second advent candle 
• Sat 12.12., 18:30 Christmas carols
• Sun 13.12., 18:00 lighting the third advent candle, songs for Lucia Day
• Sat 19.12., 18:30 Christmas carols
• Sun 20.12, 18:30 lighting the fourth advent candle
• Wed 23.12., 18:30 Christmas carols
• Other Christmas carols events in the city:
• Thu 10.12, 18:00 at the Pro Patria statue next to the Rovaniemi church 
• Fri 11.12., 19:00 outside the Tavivaara chapel
• Thu 17.12., 13:00 Outside Lähteentien pirtti 
• Sat 26.12., 18:00 St. Thomas Mass with Christmas carols in the Rovaniemi Church, Aki Hätinen and Rainer Väänänen (Finnish and English) (Joona Saraste and Maie Kuusik)