Welcome to the Swedish-speaking Baptist church, Betelkyrkan,
in Helsinki, Finland!

History and building

The Swedish-speaking Baptist church in Helsinki/Helsingfors, Betelkyrkan (Bethel church), is a relatively small church with about 80 members.

The church was founded in 1885, about the same time as two other free-churches; the Methodist church and the Mission convenant church. In the beginning the congregation rented rooms for their meetings, but eventually they built a church appropriate for their needs. It was located on Iso Roobertinkatu/Stora Robertsgatan and is now owned by the Finnish Pentecostal church, Lähetysseurakunta.

Since 1960 Betelkyrkan resides at the address Skillnadsgatan 1-3, on the first floor. At present there are actually two congregations meeting here; Betel (the Swedish-speaking church) and the Finnish-speaking Baptist church, Baptistiseurakunta.

This year we have had a new addition to the church interior, a beautiful stained-glass window in the small prayer room behind the actual church hall. It is made by glass-artist Jari Hangassalo from Pietarsaari/ Jakobstad.

Services and other activities

The Sunday service is where we all come together, young and old. It is held at 11:00. The various groups for the children take part in the beginning of the service before they go to their own rooms.

The service follows the Baptist pattern and includes singing, Bible readings, prayer, a sermon and music. In the service there is room for people to share prayer needs and greetings. The Lord's supper is normally held the first Sunday of every month.

After the service we have church coffee and fellowship for everyone. We have found this to be an increasingly important part of our service.

For the children we have Sunday school (2-6 year-olds), scouts (6-8 year-olds) and a Bible group for teenagers, during the service.

During the week smaller groups gather for Bible study and prayer.

At the moment we also have a series of lectures called Andliga vägledare (Spiritual Guides) with different guest speakers, who draw their presentation from their own spiritual traditions. They offer teaching and guidance through discussion and dialog.

The Alpha-course is a basic course in Christian faith and has been much appreciated by the ones taking part. A relaxed fellowship with good food, teaching and above all discussion.

Skillnaden is the name of the church bulletin. There you can find the program for the immediate future, as well as short texts written by different people sharing something from their lives, book reviews and thoughts about life with God etc. The name Skillnaden (best translated as The Difference) refers partly to the address of the church, Skillnadsgatan, and partly to the difference Christ makes in the life of an individual.

Organization

The Swedish-speaking Baptist church is part of FSB (The Swedish-speaking Baptist Union of Finland) and through FSB we are represented in Frikyrklig Samverkan (the Federation of Swedish-speaking Free- churches in Finland) and the Ecumenical Council in Finland. FSB is member of the European Baptist Federation, who are in their turn members of The Baptist World Alliance.

Director: Jan Edstrom
Chairman of the board: Dan Frande