Jyväskylä Baptist church bars women from sermons and stresses male authority

A small Reformed Baptist congregation in Jyväskylä stresses men’s authority in the family and does not allow women to preach at services, Yle reports.

In a sermon published on the congregation’s public YouTube channel, pastor Eelis Halmemies said a wife should not try to control family and household matters without seeking agreement with her husband. He compared doing so to riding a bicycle blindfolded, hands-free and with one’s feet on the handlebars.

Yle visited the congregation’s service and interviewed its leaders as an example of a broader change in Finland’s religious landscape, which has become more diverse over the past two decades. The article says young men’s interest in Christianity has also grown, while their values are generally more traditional than young women’s.

The Jyväskylä Evangelical Lutheran parish says Reformed Baptist members harassed people at two rainbow services held in its churches. Seta, an LGBTQ rights organisation, said the conduct caused fear, and some people left a service at the main church. Pastor Juhana Lalli, who was present at one of the incidents, said the group had attended an open public event and that the conduct was not harassment.

Members of the Reformed Baptist congregation also founded an association called Jyväskylä Pride and shared material on its website stating that homosexuality is a sin. The pastors say none of the activities cited were organised by the congregation. After representatives of the two congregations discussed the incidents, the conduct considered disruptive stopped.

Halmemies and Lalli are two of the congregation’s leading figures. Both trained as pastors at the Agricola Theological Institute, which trains Reformed pastors, and have helped produce its publications. The article notes that concentrating influence in a few people can increase the risk of spiritual abuse, according to experts.

Finland had 56 officially registered Reformed Baptists last year, according to Statistics Finland. Halmemies estimates that the number of active members is higher, at a few hundred.