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PRESS INFORMATION FOR THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

“Believing in these turbulent times brings freedom and peace. When our mind is calm and we know through faith that we are in the arms of the Almighty, it is good to live our everyday life.” says Risto Honkanen from Espoo.

The largest spiritual public event in the Nordic countries will be held this year at the Räyskälä Airport in Loppi from the 1st to the 4th of July 2022. After a three-year break, the services will once again be held in field conditions, as the corona pandemic prevented large public events in the summers of 2020 and 2021.

The Summer services is the annual summer event of the Laestadian revival movement, which is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The event hosts 80 000 guests and thousands more through the internet and radio broadcasts to Finland and internationally. Guests attend the five-day services to hear the word of God, sing and meet friends. Summer services is an event open to everyone.

“Summer services is a big oasis where a Christian can rest under the Word of God and once again hear the gospel of grace in their own hearts. This is the same “manna” of heaven that the Israelites got on a wilderness trip that we get here.” Risto Honkanen concludes.

The teaching of the conservative movement is based on the Bible and Lutheran confession. The Bible is the highest authority on matters of faith and life. Faith arises from hearing and receiving instruction according to God’s word. It is entirely God’s work in man, not man’s own merit or performance. (In the movement it is believed, like Martin Luther believed, that man is worthy to God by faith alone, by grace alone, for Christ’s sake alone.)

Jesus gave His disciples the task and authority to forgive sins. According to this teaching, the core of the movement’s proclamation is the promise of forgiveness of sins in the name and blood of Jesus. Central to the sermons is Jesus’ atonement. According to Lutheran confession, the work of Christ in the world continues as the work of the Holy Spirit in his church.

The summer service radio broadcasts the services live on FM frequencies in Finland and online radio on the Internet. In previous years, services have been listened to in up to 110 different countries. Sermons and speaking turns will be translated into English, Spanish, French, Swedish, German, Hungarian, Russian and Estonian.

Printable photos and drone photos during the services are also available from Flickr.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/suviseurat, where they can be found under the Suviseurat logo. 

When using the material, please cite Suviseurat, a photo service, as the source (Logo in the header).

You can listen to online radio here https://kesaseuraradio.fi/home and learn more about the event www.suviseurat.fi/en/ 

Contact information for the international service of summer services and possible interview requests: kansainvalisyys@suviseurat.fi 

The official information channels for summer clubs are: