Explore the various and surprising work opportunities of the church

Did you know that the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and its parishes employ a large number of specialists from different fields around the country? New employees are continuously recruited, especially in the largest parish associations and the administrative bodies of the church.

Many people might think that the church and its parishes only employ priests, diaconal workers, and organists. There are, of course, a large number of people working in these professions, but there are also various administrative, child and youth work, and property services tasks available. The parishes and parish associations also employ communications specialists, property managers, catering service workers, family counsellors, mission work coordinators, caretakers, and volunteer coordinators.

Dioceses are responsible for recruiting priests to parishes. Even the positions for priests often have varying emphases. Recent open jobs include school priests and even airport priests in Southern Finland. The Church Council offers work for different kinds of specialists. The Church Council is the church’s general authority that manages the church’s joint administration, finances and activities. They have recruited, for example, youth work and education specialists, payroll accountants, and system specialists.

The Church and its parishes offer many kinds of practical work

The parishes employ many summer workers every year, and there are plenty of open jobs available for people under the age of 18. Summer jobs are available, for example, as guides in churches, in summer cafés, and in cemetery maintenance. Parishes, parish associations, and the Church Council offer traineeships for students in spiritual fields, such as diaconal work, church music, and theology. In addition, students in other fields can apply for traineeships for various tasks in administration and property maintenance.

Contrary to what people may think, church membership is not required for all jobs in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The main prerequisite for working in spiritual positions is membership. There is also no requirement that the employee must live and conduct themselves in a religious manner, but all kinds of people are welcomed to parishes. The tight-knit work communities allow you to get to know different kinds of people who do many kinds of work.

In general, the church and its parishes are considered stable and responsible employers who offer versatile and practical tasks to trainees, summer workers, and permanent staff. Personnel competence development is supported and employees’ well-being is ensured in a multitude of ways. The pay is based on the KirVESTES collective agreement of the church sector.

You can find open jobs in the church and parishes as well as a lot of useful information to support your job search in the KirkkoRekry online service. You can find more information on the church and its available positions on the website of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

More information

• KirkkoRekry (kirkkorekry.fi)
• Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (evl.fi)

Author

Emma Kolehmainen works as Communications Manager at Grade Solutions Oy, which produces the KirkkoRekry service. She is responsible for KirkkoRekry’s communications and marketing to job seekers.