Fréttatilkynning/Press Release

Heikki Kotila presents paper on New Ways of reaching post-modern society

Revd Professor Heikki Kotila , Professor of Pastoral Theology, Helsinki, presenting a paper to delegates attending the second Theological conference of the Communion of Porvoo Churches at the Skàlholt conference centre, Iceland, tackles the question of how the churches reach post-modern society?

As he acknowledges, The difficulty in reaching people in our post-modern world lies in the fact that there are today so many worlds of experiences. For this reason there is no single tool to solve the problems of the contemporary church.However, he does reach the conclusion that " an essential part of our answer is that we both defend the unity of the fundamental ideas of our faith and accept the pluriformity of life-styles and spiritualities."

These are explored in the paper with some of the features of post-modern life identified as including:

.change, development, growth, individuality and transition. We are surrounded by ideas of inner growth, individuality and transition. We are surrounded by ideas of inner growth finding one's own identity, the project of the inner self, increasing choice, particularity and uniqueness. Working communities change when people often work on short-term projects. Social networks are based more on spontaneous ties and less and kinship and cultural norms.

When we list the changes in our time, it is important to distinguish between two kinds of changes in the contemporary world. First there are changes which are chiefly practical, and the reaction of the church should be to keep in touch with different forms of modern development e.g. in the contemporary world a parish simply needs its own home page s in order to inform local people about parish activities. Second, some of the changes can have a deep theological or spiritual dimension e.g. it is possible to use e-mail for private confession. However from the viewpoint of the tradition of the church we must ask: is it in line with the nature of private confession and the corporative character of the church to adopt such a virtual way of counselling.

Using the Church of Finland as an example, Prof. Kotila offers suggestions for some tools. The first suggestion offered by him is the provision of alternative forms of worship, using the St Thomas mass as a particular example - an eucharist service which attracts a congregation of mainly young adults and people of working age:

The power and vulnerability of the St Thomas mass lies in the fact that different spiritual traditions are present in one service. Because of the variety of traditions the mass can answer to the questions and needs of different people. However, this diversity can be reached only in urban communities where the congregation is large enough to produce this kind of service and to give room to a variety of styles and spiritualities.

Prof. Kotila also refers to new forms of Christian community, and in particular the Cell Network Group - "a community of about 30 home cells, which come together for Sunday service every other Sunday. They function within the Lutheran Church of Finland." Giving further details, Prof. Kotila says:

The tone of the Cell Group Network is evangelical, even charismatic, it has a strong mission statement and a Low Church approach to worship and church order. In the cells people feel closeness and safety. One cannot characterise the Cell Group Network as dogmatic, it is rather a movement of people who share a similar spirituality.

Thirdly, Prof. Kotila refers to the growth in spirituality in Finland, saying "the search for spirituality has become a phenomenon of our post-modern society" and sees this made manifest in a renewed interest in retreats. However, he also notes:

The main reason for attending retreats, in public discussion, is not the connection to the body of Christ, but the finding of one's inner self and inner energies.Spirituality, in which the dimension of personal experience has a major role, is an area of personal interest.

Fourth, extramural worship is cited - services in places other than church buildings; places where people gather for other reasons; quiet places for rest in a busy mall:

Traditionally, church architecture has stressed the transcendence of God.The building of chapels e.g. in shopping centres gives a new message. They emphasise the presence of God in everyday life, in the ordinary.whether the sense of mystery and sacred awe is lost through the modest chapels and temporary places of worship. In spite of this, one of the big challenges of our time is to meet people in the places where they work and spend their leisure time.

Finally, Prof. Kotila raises the issue of customer-orientated thinking, raising in particular the place of occasional services such as baptisms, weddings, and funerals:

These services which were once expressions of Christian life have become the central part of the missionary activity of the church.

In summing up, Prof Kotila concludes that despite these possibilities,

.nothing can replace personal encounters.The difficulty in reaching people in our post-modern world lies in the fact that there are today so many worlds of experiences. For this reason there is no single tool to solve the problems of the contemporary church. An essential part of our answer is that we both defend the unity of the fundamental ideas of our faith and accept the pluriformity of life-styles and spiritualities.