Espoo is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in Finland. Espoo is situated on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland and borders Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi. The city also includes the enclave of Kauniainen. The city of Espoo covers an area of 528.03 square kilometres (203.9 sq mi) with a population of 311,888, placing it as Finland's second most populous city. Espoo is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, where more than 1.5 million people reside.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is a national church of Finland. It is part of the Lutheran branch of Christianity. The church has a legal position as a national church in the country, along with the Orthodox Church of Finland.
The Orthodox Church of Finland or Finnish Orthodox Church is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The church has a legal position as a national church in the country, along with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.
Länsimetro is an extension to the Helsinki Metro system in Finland, which opened on 18 November 2017. Länsimetro extends the system's two lines, M1 and M2, from Central Helsinki to the neighbouring city of Espoo. The new stretch continues the lines from the existing Ruoholahti station via the island of Lauttasaari, the Aalto University Otaniemi campus and Tapiola, the terminus of line M2. Line M1 continues further west to Matinkylä. Unlike previous extensions to the Helsinki Metro system, Länsimetro runs entirely underground. The second phase opened on 3 December 2022 and continues the line further west to Kivenlahti, near the municipal border of Kirkkonummi.
Nokia Revival is a charismatic Christian movement originating in Finland in the town of Nokia. The starting point of the movement was in 1991, when Markku Koivisto, the vicar of Nokia Lutheran Church, experienced a strong charismatic renewal, having recovered from cancer of the lymph gland in 1990. Koivisto started to arrange so called Thursday Nights which were characterised by strong emotional worship, loud prayer and various manifestations of the Holy Spirit e.g. healings of the sick, spiritual gifts and falling down during prayer.
The Catholic Church in Finland is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
The Diocese of Espoo is the newest of the nine dioceses of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The diocese came into existence in 2004 after the Diocese of Helsinki was split in two.
Niittykumpu (Finnish) or Ängskulla (Swedish) is a district of Espoo, a city in Finland. The districts belongs to the major district of Suur-Tapiola. The district, partly located on the eastern lands of the former Gräsa manor, started developing along with the rest of southern Espoo in the 1930s when the street Jorvaksentie was completed. The first significant construction phase of Niittykumpu happened during the 1960s and 1970s, when a large number of terraced houses were built in the area because of rapid growth of the city of Espoo. Construction slowed down during the early 1990s depression in Finland. Construction picked up pace again in the 2000s and increased even further during the construction of the Länsimetro transport line.
Finland is a predominantly Christian nation where 65.2% of the Finnish population of 5.6 million are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (Protestant), 32.0% are unaffiliated, 1.1% are Orthodox Christians, 0.9% are other Christians and 0.8% follow other religions like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, folk religion etc. These statistics do not include, for example, asylum seekers who have not been granted a permanent residence permit.
Espoo Cathedral is a medieval stone church in Espoo, Finland, and the seat of the Diocese of Espoo of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The cathedral is located in the district of Espoon keskus, near the Espoonjoki river. The oldest parts of the church were completed in the 1480s and it is thus the oldest preserved building in the city. The church became a cathedral in 2004 after the Diocese of Espoo was split off from the Diocese of Helsinki. The cathedral grounds include a graveyard, a vicarage and a parish hall completed in 1995. In addition to being the seat of the Diocese of Espoo, it serves as the church for the Espoo Cathedral Parish and hosts various concerts and other events including the "Organ Night and Aria" concert series.
Päivi Maria Räsänen, née Kuvaja, is a Finnish politician. The chairwoman of the Christian Democrats from 2004 to 2015, she was the Minister of the Interior of Finland between 2011 and 2015.
The Diocese of Helsinki is a diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and the seat of the Bishop of Helsinki. Its cathedral is Helsinki Cathedral.
Irja Kaarina Askola is the former Bishop of Helsinki. She was the first female Finnish bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.
The Mission Diocese, officially the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland, is an independent confessional Lutheran "ecclesial structure" in Finland. The Mission Diocese considers itself to be "part of ‘the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church’" to be "truly a church" and to act "fully independently as a church", although it has not applied for state-recognition as a registered religious community. The Mission Diocese has its origins in the conservative movements of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) and it self-identifies as existing in the same continuum of Lutheran faith and congregational life of the ELCF whose spiritual heritage it cherishes, yet not being part of its administrative structures.
Ambrosius is the retired Metropolitan of Helsinki. He matriculated from the Joensuu Lyceum in 1964. He completed the degree of Master of Theology at Helsinki University in 1968. He also completed the degree of Master of Political Science in 1972.
Tapio Juhani Luoma is a Finnish prelate, who has been the Archbishop of Turku and Primate of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland since 1 June 2018.
Samuel Salmi is a Finnish prelate who was bishop of the Diocese of Oulu from 2001 to 2018.
Mari Inka-Elina Leppänen is a Finnish theologian and the Bishop to the Archdiocese of Turku, together with the Archbishop Tapio Luoma, in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.
The Order of the Holy Lamb is a semi-official ecclesiastical order of Finland awarded by the Orthodox Church of Finland. Under the patronage of the Finnish state, its Grand Master is the Archbishop of the Orthodox Church of Finland. The order can be awarded to anyone regardless of religion or nationality who have made services to the Church.
