Authors

• Niemelä, Kati (Church Research Institute)
• Leinonen, Miia (University of Helsinki. Department of Practical Theology)

Keywords

Mass, church services, communion, liturgy, religious attendance, religious ceremonies, sermons

Abstract

The survey studied expectations on and experiences of Evangelical Lutheran worship services in Finland. The survey formed part of a worship service development project conducted by the Office of the Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Expectations on worship services and Mass were studied with a number of statements. The respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with statements relating to Bible-reading during the service, sermons, intercessory prayer, the Holy Communion, hymns, music, liturgy, minister, atmosphere at the service, relevance for certain groups etc. For example, "The sermon should focus on God's grace" or "Well-known hymns create a good atmosphere".

Next, the respondents were asked how well their expectations had been fulfilled in the particular service they had attended, how the service had in fact been conducted. The issues taken up were the same as mentioned in the statements above. For example, "The sermon focused on God's grace" or "The hymns in the service were known to me". One set of questions explored which factors might influence the respondents' willingness to attend worship services.

Background variables included the respondent's year of birth, economic activity, education, frequency of worship service attendance and membership in a parish.