April 2021 statistics from the Finnish Patent and Registration office shows that a total number of 497 religious communities are registered in Finland which includes those of different faiths and beliefs. Neither the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland nor the Orthodox Church of Finland with their congregations are included in the Register of Religious Communities. The two mentioned Churches enjoys a special status from the authority.
According to Statistics Finland, most Finns are Christians. The largest religious community in Finland is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko), to which about 70% of the population belongs. The Orthodox Church of Finland is the second largest religious community.
Between December 31st, 2018 and April 30th, 2021, fifteen religious communities were registered in Finland, churches were among them. African churches in Finland have increased within the past ten years and won the hearts of people of African decent living in Finland. Despite the increase in the number of churches run by Africans, many are still under the grip of stunted spiritual growth. It is good to note that the pastors and church leaders are the identities of the church they represent, they are Christ Ambassadors on earth who are expected to live godly in Christ Jesus but some of them are going against the tenets of Christianity.
Recently, an African pastor from Congo living in Finland was allegedly involved in a shady deal. He provided a bank account which was used in receiving payment from a fraud victim. Diaspora Glitz Magazine got wind of the matter through an immigrant who didn’t want his name to be mentioned. According to reports, some group of online scammers who are based in Italy contacted the African pastor and asked him if he could provide a bank account, that their client wants to pay some money. He obliged because he was promised 30 percent of the total sum. It was a huge sum of money.
As soon as the money entered the account he provided, the pastor told the guys in Italy that he is having issues with the Police regarding where the money came from and for what purpose. The development didn’t go down well with the guys in Italy and they threatened to expose the pastor and make sure he is arrested since he is trying to swindle them by coming up with some flimsy excuses.
Furthermore, another pastor from Cameroon was involved in a dishonest act after he failed to return the money which an immigrant kept in his account. The immigrant, who was waiting for his resident permit from the Finnish Immigration was using the pastor’s bank account to receive his salary because he was yet to have his own personal bank account. According to information that was revealed to us, he had about €11,000 in the pastor’s account. When he finally got his resident permit, he asked for his money, unfortunately, the pastor couldn’t provide it.
Same pastor was also allegedly enmeshed in an act that tarnishes the image of the body of Christ. Someone who was living with him ran into trouble with the authority and he was taken to the deportation center. While he was there, he told the pastor to go to his room and help him keep the €1700 that he left in the room. The pastor went to his room, found the money and took it. The young man was lucky to be left off the hook and he returned to this apartment. He asked the pastor for the money and the pastor couldn’t provide it. The case has lingered for a while, an African community was involved in the case where the pastor was summoned and he promised to pay back.
