Baptists in Finland
[1][2][3] Möllersvärd was the first to preach Baptist teachings in Finland and sparked a revival, though he did not stay long due to fierce opposition.
In 1855, a resident of Åland returned from Stockholm with material about Baptist beliefs written by former Lutheran priest Anders Wiberg.
Farmer Johan Erik Östling was inspired to travel to Stockholm the next year and be baptized, making him the first Finnish Baptist.
The Conventicle Act, which outlawed religious meetings other than those of the state church as a means of stopping the growing Pietist movement, was enacted in 1726.
[3][5] The movement happened to unexpectedly capture the interest of Lutheran priest Henrik Heikel, who spoke with the Baptists to learn more about their beliefs.
[3] Of the event, Wiberg wrote, "As the poor Ålanders were leaving the consistory, Prof. [Henrik] Heikel asked them in a friendly manner, to call at his house.
The family received a visit from a Baptist pastor, Adolf Herman Valén, who had been at the hearing with Heikel ten years earlier; they held meetings together and his preaching led to more conversions to the movement.
[3][7] The movement continued to grow in the following years and a Swedish-speaking congregation was founded in Jakobstad (Finnish: Pietarsaari), near Pedersöre, in 1870, by thirteen people including four members of the Heikel family.
In 1870, a solely Finnish-speaking sailor named Henriksson evangelized in the southwestern Finnish countryside of Satakunta after being converted in England.
[3] In 1871, John Hymander, also a Finnish speaker, who had been a priest in the Lutheran church for 40 years, left his position in Parikkala in South Karelia and was baptized by the Baptists in Stockholm.
[1] In 1892, the Swedish-language journal Finska Månadsposten ('the Finnish Monthly Post', now known as Missionsstandaret, 'The Mission Standard', or MST for Människa, Samtid, Tro, 'Human, Contemporary, Faith'),[13] founded by I. S. Osterman, was first published.
In 1896 the Finnish-language counterpart Totuuden Kaiku ('Echo of Truth', now Kodin Ystävä), edited by writer Veikko Palomaa [fi], was founded.
While the Finnish Baptistikirkko holds more conservative evangelical positions on many issues, the Swedish-speaking Baptistsamfund leans more toward liberal views and practices women's ordination and open communion.
[citation needed] In international mission work, the Finnish Baptistikirkko cooperates with Danish as well as Swedish Baptists and supports missionaries in Africa, Asia and South America.
They are associated with Thomas McElwain, an American who taught in the Department of Comparative Religion and Social Policy at the University of Turku.
[18] Both congregations are nationally involved in the Baltic Convention association, which they founded with Estonian Seventh Day Baptists.
