Tekijät

• Church Research Institute

Asiasanat

beliefs, church, membership, ordination of women, protestantism, religion, religious attendance, religious doctrines, religious practice

Sisällön kuvaus

The survey contained questions about church and religion in Finland. The respondents (n=1030) were first asked whether they were members of a church or other religious community. Those who were members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland were asked the importance of certain reasons for the Church membership (e.g. the possibility to participate Church service, the Church teaches Christian love of one's neighbour) and whether they had considered quitting the Church. Those who were not members of the Church were asked whether they had considered joining it. The respondents were requested to estimate how well certain adjectives describe the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, using pairs of opposite adjectives (e.g. honest-dishonest, tolerant-intolerant).

Participation in congregational and spiritual life was charted with questions focusing on how often the respondents participated in church services, the Eucharist or other spiritual events and how often they prayed, read the Bible and watched or listened to religious programmes on TV or radio. Different factors causing non-participation in church activities, such as the respondent's lack of influence in the Church or the perceived narrow-mindedness of the Church were surveyed.

Opinions on the development of the Church were examined. The respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with statements such as "the Church should, above all, proclaim the word of God" and "the Church should be more tolerant". Views were probed on the belief in God as well as the firmness of belief in a number of religious tenets and phenomena (e.g. the virgin birth of Jesus, Heaven, the Last Judgement). Perceptions on the nature of God were investigated by requesting the respondents to choose between a pair of opposite adjectives describing God. Opinions on the origin of human beings and other species as well as on Jesus and life after death were charted.

The respondents were asked how well the Evangelical Lutheran Church has performed its tasks. Religious upbringing of the respondents was investigated by asking about, for example, the recital of bedtime prayer, observation of Sabbath and discussions about religious matters in the respondent's childhood home. The respondents were further asked whether they had received a religious upbringing from family members (e.g. mother, father, grandfather) and whether they intended to give their own children a religious upbringing.

Views were probed on the ordination of women, on the people opposing it and on attendance in events with a priestess. The respondents' willingness to pay more church tax in order to preserve the services and activities provided by the Church was investigated as well as their habits of donating money to charity during the year.

Background variables included, among others, the respondent's age, gender, occupational status, education, gross annual income of the household, occupational status of the household head, region of residence (NUTS3), municipality type, household composition, political party choice if parliamentary elections were held at that time and political party choice in the previous parliamentary elections.