News in English

The Finnish state church is increasingly under pressure due to membership loss. Membership loss in 2008 is 13% higher than in 2007.

The membership decline of the Finnish State Church has become more rapid in 2007 due to an Internet site helping citizens to resign from the church. This was made possible by a law passed in 2004 that allows a citizen to resign from the state church by sending just one email. This year, 61% of all resignees are under 30 years old, which implies a dim future for the church if the trend continues.

Freethinkers of the city of Tampere, who advocate separation of state and church in Finland, created a web site in 2003 to assist people in resigning from the church. The web site soon became a big success in Finland. 39% of all resignations in 2004 went through the web site and 69% of all resignations in 2005.