Finnish Seamen's Mission

The Finnish Seamen's Mission (Finnish: Suomen Merimieskirkko ry, Swedish: Finlands Sjömanskyrka rf) was established in 1875. It was established to help Finns travelling abroad, particularly seafarers and migrant workers. It is a Christian organisation which, as well as providing church services and pastoral care, also aims to provide cultural and social services to the Finnish community. The Secretary General (Pääsihteeri) as of 2015 is Hannu Suihkonen.

The Finnish Seamen's Mission works in close co-operation with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, although it is a separate organisation. Finnish Lutheran clergy are based in the missions.

There are also other Finnish Lutheran congregations and clergy outside of Finland, but the Finnish Seamen's Mission and the Finnish Church Abroad work together to prevent duplication of work.

Within Finland, the Mission has branches at Hamina, Helsinki, Kemi, Kokkola, Kotka, Oulu, Pori, Raahe, Rauma and Turku. The headquarters is at Albertinkatu in Helsinki. A new international seamen's church is being planned for the new Port of Vuosaari in Vuosaari, East Helsinki; this will open at the same time as the new port.

Outside Finland, there are branches at Brussels, Gdańsk, Hamburg, London, Lübeck, Piraeus, Rotterdam and Warsaw. As well as seafarers, the facilities are increasingly used by Finnish truck drivers, students and other expatriate workers.

...
Wikipedia