Felm, the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission, an official mission organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland that undertakes development cooperation, peacebuilding, and missionary work with partners in numerous countries worldwide, held its annual meeting on 30 August in Helsinki.
Our faith in Jesus is not bound only to our own culture or community – we have connections all around the world. Therefore, we can never turn inward only to our own nation or our own needs. For this reason, there can be no 'us' and 'them,' but all people are equally created by God and dear to Him," said Felm executive director Rev. Pauliina Parhiala at the annual meeting.
Rev. Nathan Day Wilson, WCC liaison with specialized ministries, offered an opening sermon during the gathering.
Parhiala reported that the Felm's work reached nearly 3 million people. Of these, 430,000 benefited directly. A total of 972 people in Finland and abroad participated in the work.
New board members were elected. For the first time in years, no voting was required – the nomination committee's proposal was accepted unchanged. According to long-serving board members, this last happened in 2013.
At the annual meeting, a statute amendment was adopted adding humanitarian projects to Felm's tasks. With this addition, the statutes now state that Felm "conducts proclamation, education, diaconal, and advocacy work, and implements development, aid, and humanitarian projects."
The reason for the addition is to update the statutes so that they correspond to the global situation and better describe the society's current work. Felm has, in fact, carried out humanitarian work throughout its existence.
The meeting in Helsinki was attended by 266 delegates, of whom 232 were from parishes, 11 from member organizations, and 23 were individual members.
Originally from the World Council of Churches
CCD reprinted with permission
