Finnish church permits baptism without godparents in exceptional cases

Finland’s Evangelical Lutheran Church will allow baptisms without godparents in exceptional circumstances, after the General Synod approved a change on Tuesday, Yle reports. The change is intended to ensure that nobody misses out on baptism because they cannot find a suitable godparent.

At present, anyone being baptized into the church must have at least one godparent who belongs to it. The new arrangement would allow a baptism without godparents with permission from the local vicar. The proposal will now be prepared by the Church Council, and Archbishop Tapio Luoma said the changes could take effect as early as next summer.

Marja Lindén, from Parainen, has served as godparent to three people she did not previously know. One was an adult who wanted to be baptized while attending adult confirmation classes; another was connected to a confirmation camp. This year, she became godparent to a young person at a group baptism in Turku after the teenager’s close circle could not provide a suitable godparent.

Lindén, who works for the Turku and Kaarina parish union, says she sees the role as a service to people making an important choice in their lives. She has eight godchildren in total, including five from her own circle and one grandchild. She says the relationship is different with each of them, and that she sometimes remembers the three people she met through the church in her thoughts and prayers.

A Church Research Centre study conducted between 2018 and 2020 found that only one per cent of respondents said a child had not been baptized because the family could not find a godparent who belonged to the church. Saara Palmunen, acting vicar of Martin Parish in Turku, said she has encountered the issue occasionally, but it has never prevented a baptism in her experience. Often, a suitable person is found by talking with the family and considering people in their circle; a parish can also help find someone willing to take on the role.

Palmunen noted that parents may not realise a child’s grandparent can be a godparent. Luoma said his own godparents were his father’s parents. He added that the traditional expectation that godparents might take on responsibility for a child if the parents could not care for them has faded over time. Today, the role often centres more on building a relationship than on religious duties, while the church hopes families will choose people able to commit to that relationship.

Lindén said she was glad to be present at the most recent baptism, where the family invited her to stand beside the young person at the font, even though they had not met before. She said it mattered that she was more than just a name on a form.