Anti-gay Comments Spark Mass Exodus from Finnish Lutheran Church

It's 180 degrees opposite of the situation in the USA where bigots and homophobes are leaving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ("ELCA") because of its LGBT accepting policy adopted over a year ago by the denomination's Churchwide Assembly. In Finland, people are leaving the ELCA's sister church because of anti-gay comments, not because the church is too gay friendly. Much of the blame for the sudden exodus of 24,000 members in one week falls on Päivi Räsänen (pictured at left) who made anti-gay statements during a televised debate. With 2/3rd of Americans believing that churches and religion are responsible for gay teen suicides one can only hope that a similar exodus will begin from anti-gay denominations in the USA. Here are highlights from the Helsinki Times:
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Last week’s televised debate over gay rights has prompted a record number of people to leave the Finnish Evangelical-Lutheran Church.
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The number leaving increased sharply on 12 October following the broadcast of a debate programme focused on gay rights on Network 2 of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle). By Monday 18 October, more than 24,000 people had left Finland’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church
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In addition to the growth in numbers, two other developments in the exodus from the church were noted. “The age distribution has levelled out. Previously 18-year-olds made up the largest age group, but now older age brackets have joined in en masse. The Church is losing working-age Finns,” comments Petri Karisma of eroakirkosta.fi, a website set up to facilitate departure from the Church. The other key development is the rise in the number of women leaving the Church. They now already account for around half of the exodus.
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The minister in charge of church affairs Stefan Wallin (Swedish People’s Party) said on Sunday that Päivi Räsänen, the leader of the Christian Democrats, could not escape her responsibility for the record number of people leaving the Evangelical-Lutheran Church after the televised gay rights debate.
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[I]f Räsänen’s objective is to prune the Church’s membership register and turn back the Church’s clock, she should be honest about it rather than departing the scene at a time when the consequences of her views – views that lead to inequality – begin to affect the church’s reputation as well as its finances,” Wallin said.