Road Church
Honestly, are these signs really necessary? They’re freakin’ EVERYWHERE! We could feed a African village for an entire decade with the money used to produce these signs. I just can’t imagine a scenario where somewhere is driving along and suddenly in desperate need for a random church…
“I’m in some serious need for a prayer, but I don’t know where to go!”
“Oh look honey, there’s a road church ahead, make a left here.”
“Thank fucking God for these signs!!”
For real, how many Ned Flanders’s driving down Finnish highways!?
That is not the point of these signs.
You have to remember that most Lutheran churches in Finland are not open every day, many are only open during ceremonies. The point of these signs is to indicate to travelers which churches are open during the day so that people may stop by and have a look at them. Not necessarily to pray, but just as tourists. You have to admit that many of the old stone and wooden churches in Finland and other Nordic countries are very beautiful buildings which are historically and culturally interesting.
Road churches also exist in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Denmark, and Estonia.
Those signs serve the same purpose as “Museum” or “Historical landmark” -signs that you see everywhere.
Comment by Anzi — Fri, Jul 25th, 2008 @ 11:38 am
That is not what those signs are for.
The “Tiekirkko” signs are meant to indicate which churches are open for the public during the summer. You have to remember that most Lutheran churches, in Finland at least, are only open during ceremonies. The churches that belong to the “Tiekirkko” -network are open during the day so that people can stop by simply as tourists if they wish. Many churches are interesting in and of themselves as buildings and historical and cultural landmarks.
Personally I am not a very religious person, but I enjoy the architecture and atmosphere of many churches.
There are road churches also in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Denmark, and Estonia, all much more secular countries than Finland.
Comment by Anzi — Fri, Jul 25th, 2008 @ 11:48 am
You definitely got the point, but I think those signs are made in prisons, so unless someone converts time serving criminals to christian missionaries to Africa, no one is going to get that free lunch anyway.
Comment by Timov — Fri, Jul 25th, 2008 @ 1:01 pm
The signs are not there for the Ned Flanders’s, but to indicate to people that there is a church nearby open for travelers to come in and see. Not necessarily for prayer, just as tourists. You have to remember that most Lutheran churches, in Finland at least, are only open during ceremonies. The idea of the “Tiekirkko” network is to have churches open for all who are interested.
Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, and Estonia - all much more secular countries than Finland - also have a network of “Road churches” for the same reason.
Comment by Anzi — Fri, Jul 25th, 2008 @ 1:07 pm
At #1
Prisons don’t generate the required materials out of thin air.
Comment by Anomuumi — Fri, Jul 25th, 2008 @ 1:40 pm
Let the prisoners pound rocks with sledgehammers. There’s plenty of that stuff laying around.
They can do away with the radio station signs as well. Most radios have an auto search function and the stations they list often suck, compared to other non-listed signs.
Comment by Fred Fry — Fri, Jul 25th, 2008 @ 3:01 pm
I have always wondered what a “road church” really is? Maybe it’s a drive-in church?
Comment by Jhua — Fri, Jul 25th, 2008 @ 3:31 pm
Ha..Sweden has had drive in weddings already
http://radionews.fi/index.php/2008/06/26/drive-in-weddings-come-to-sweden/
Comment by Sweden — Fri, Jul 25th, 2008 @ 3:48 pm
The “Tiekirkko” network is a network of churches open for visitors during the peak vacation season, which happens to be summertime over here. Most Lutheran churches in Finland are only open during ceremonies and the idea of the “Tiekirkko” network is to keep some churches, situated near frequently trafficked roads, open so that people can stop by and visit. Not necessarily for prayer, but just as tourists.
There are similar networks in at least Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, and Estonia, all more secular countries than Finland.
This is their website (in Finnish): http://www.kirkkopalvelut.fi/content/blogsection/8/30/
Comment by Anzi — Fri, Jul 25th, 2008 @ 5:42 pm
“We could feed a African village for an entire decade with the money used to produce these signs”
WTF, wake up, most africans are ot sitting on pile of debt, the country is mucher richer than the way your media is portraying it.
Life there is real, not as artificial and prozac oriented as it is here.
Comment by apasserby — Fri, Jul 25th, 2008 @ 6:27 pm
I wonder if those drive-thru churches have Elvis as a preacher?
Comment by Nate — Fri, Jul 25th, 2008 @ 7:20 pm
“We could feed a African village for an entire decade with the money used to produce these signs”
AN African village. Always under scrutiny, Phil, always under scrutiny.
Comment by James — Fri, Jul 25th, 2008 @ 7:39 pm
Many Finns only see inside of church two times in their life….
first time when married….next time when buried…
Comment by infinndel the jenkki dogg — Sat, Jul 26th, 2008 @ 1:14 am
“WTF, wake up, most africans are ot sitting on pile of debt, the country is mucher richer than the way your media is portraying it.”
Africa is a country? Who are you, George Bush?
Comment by Anonymous — Sat, Jul 26th, 2008 @ 5:41 am
@Anomuumi: costs of materials are insignificant next to the price of labor in Finland. At least if you are not jeweller or something similar
Comment by Timov — Sat, Jul 26th, 2008 @ 1:11 pm
Gayle Wahner wins the Duluth News Tribune’s Tarja Halonen lookalike contest. Halonen, president of Finland, is in town today and Saturday for FinnFest.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/collections/index.cfm?collection=finnfest
Comment by finnfest — Sat, Jul 26th, 2008 @ 8:06 pm
Anzi, I’m not so sure that Germany is a more secular country than Finland. Of course it depends very much on the region and I’m sure there are statistics somewhere about the church attendance rates that might prove you right that Finland is more religious.
In any case, I believe Finland has become a lot less religious over the past years and drastically so. The Lutheran Church is worried that it is becoming increasingly irrelevant to its members. I seriously think the road church network could also be interpreted as a cry for help: “Look, we’re here, nobody’s attending our services, please check us out!”
The fact that other secular countries with huge inactive Lutheran populations (my hunch that Germans are more religious than majority Lutheran countries is based on the German Catholic population) have similar road church networks proves my point.
Lutheranism is experiencing a crisis and increasingly the church needs people more than the other way around. As a vast majority of Finns (myself included) is still a member and pays the church tax, it’s absolutely natural that those tax monies should be used by the church to remind us members that it still exists and would like to offer its premises to whatever purpose needed.
Comment by Helsinkian — Sun, Jul 27th, 2008 @ 4:25 pm
infinndel the jenkki dogg: If I’m not mistaken Lutheran confirmations at the age of 15 are somewhat more popular than church weddings. To get to confirmation I believe you have to prove that you’ve been to church five times (that was so in my case years ago). Just the confirmation could push up those totals, let’s say five obligatory visits before the camp (not always camps but quite often these days) and two more relating to it. So that makes like seven visits at the age of fifteen. At that age many have their grandparents alive and many people still have grandparents who think the Lutheran Church has some value as an institution.
Comment by Helsinkian — Sun, Jul 27th, 2008 @ 4:40 pm
#15…Interesting information,thank you…I have been in the Finnish
lutheran church in Senate square about 7 times during my tourist trips to Suomi..It was open to public and I did not attend any religious services there..I went to a concert by Tampere Symphony Orchestra
at the main Church in Tampere…what a beautiful church,with amazing giant mural!…The Tampere orchestra was magnificent with the fantastic church organ playing with symphony!!….AND…I am a devout ATHIEST!!>>>
Comment by infinndel the jenkki dogg — Sun, Jul 27th, 2008 @ 8:35 pm
The magnificent Russian Orthodox church in the old town
in Tallinn Estonia is a must see when visiting Viru!…The gold leaf and ornate and intricate interior is mind blowing..It is quite a contrast to Finnish Lutheran mother church!
Comment by infinndel the jenkki dogg — Sun, Jul 27th, 2008 @ 8:47 pm
That is NOT the idea behind those signs. Do some research.
As anybody who has ever been passed on a Finnish road by a tiekirkko with its “oversize load” sign (and more often than not, legions of singing, guitar-strumming colored folks), it IS a network for summertime tourists.
But when the concept started in 1962, it was very much a way to get from point A to point B.
I think the idea is neat. Why have a roadside chapel, when you could be in a chapel on the road?
What’s the point of sitting in a stationary church service, when you could be moving and praying?
Personally I’m glad they’be ditched the steeples after that spate of bridge collisons in the 1970s and I don’t mind the new double-wide trailer tiekirkot at all.
Comment by John — Mon, Jul 28th, 2008 @ 4:56 pm
Its a christian country, thats the point. I would rather see them the mosques. If you dont like those signs in a christian country more to a muslim one and bitch there.
Comment by born there — Tue, Jul 29th, 2008 @ 3:46 am
Its a christian country, thats the point. I would rather see them then mosques. If you dont like those signs in a christian country move to a muslim one and bitch there. late night spelling on the first one..
Comment by born there — Tue, Jul 29th, 2008 @ 3:47 am
Considering most Finns only go to church for baptisms, weddings, and funerals this IS a waste of tax payer money.
Comment by Wha? — Tue, Jul 29th, 2008 @ 3:42 pm
phil be gay
Comment by philgay — Mon, Aug 4th, 2008 @ 3:29 pm