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Millennium 2000 -Year of Hope Christian churches in Finland celebrate the beginning of the new millennium jointly under the theme "Millennium 2000 - Year of Hope". The jubilee season started on Advent Sunday 1999 and it will end at Easter 2001, when the churches of the Eastern and Western traditions celebrate Easter on the same day, April 15.

Theme The theme "Year of Hope" comes from Isa. 61:1-2: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour,and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn." Organization An ecumenical planning committee, chaired by the Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, serves as the highest decision-making body for the Millennium preparations. The Evangelical Lutheran Church has appointed its own team to coordinate the various projects. Main objective The main objective of the Millennium celebrations is to demonstrate the fact that what we celebrate is the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ, which marks the beginning of our era. This leads one to ask what Christianity has meant in Finland in the past, and what it will mean in the future. The Millennium season should strengthen the Christian identity of the Finnish people. Further objectives: to make the year 2000 a year of hope in Finland to raise issues of justice and values as the central theme in churches and in society to challenge the parishes to draw up budgets consistent with their identity, thus promoting justice to consolidate ecumenical co-operation to foster the Christian cultural foundations of Finnish society. Key dates in the Millennium calendar May 1999 ecumenical song book "Songs of Hope" was released Advent Sunday November 28, 1999: opening of the Millennium Year in local congregations and TV-worship service the new Swedish Bible translation "Bibel 2000" is adopted in Finland start of the media campaign New Year's Eve 1999/2000: church bells rang, "candles of hope" brought the message of joy and hope to the new Millennium January 18-25, 2000: the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Pentecost 11 June, 2000: main local ecumenical Millennium celebrations, accompanied by a pastoral letter from the bishops and spiritual leaders of all the churches and Christian communities June17-18, 2000: main national Millennium celebrations in Turku, in conjunction with the 700th anniversary of the inauguration of Turku (Lutheran) Cathedral September 17, 2000: the distribution of the new lutheran Catechism starts Christmas 2000: birth of Christ Easter 2001: the ecumenical Youth Festival in Tampere closing of the Millennium celebrations. Main projects: a newly written booklet on Lutheran doctrine, the Catechism, was published and distributed to every household with at least one member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church - altogether 2.5 million copies; ecumenical song book "Songs of Hope" was published; participation in the international campaign Jubilee 2000 -the poorest countries released from debt; advocacy and fund raising related to the 50th anniversary of the Finnish Churches annual campaign Joint Responsibility in 2000 with the theme: Children - the hope of the future; to appeal to the councils of local parishes for donations from budget funds for international development and mission work; a medallion to commemorate the Year of Hope at the threshold of the new Millennium; an exhibition "Christianity as the basis of Finnish culture" at the Finnish National Museum; an ecumenical chapel to be built in Turku pilgrims on the old Finnish pilgrimage routes, as well as pilgrims from Finland to Trondheim, Norway in July 2000. to work against fear and anxiety before the new Millennium with telephone crisis services and a seven-part TV series, based on the book of Revelation; a media campaign in TV, radio and press for the message and goals of the Year of Hope. For more information please contact Executive Director Heikki Mäkeläinen, Chairman, Millennium Committee of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland E-mail: heikki.makelainen@evl.fi Rev. Jan Edström, General Secretary of the Ecumenical Council of Finland E-mail: sen@kolumbus.fi

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Wednesday, 27-Dec-2000 14:35:27 EET