The Porvoo Communion

We are a member of the Porvoo Communion, a communion of Anglican and Evangelical Lutheran churches in Europe.

The Porvoo Communion was established in 1992 by the Porvoo Common Statement. Through the Porvoo Communion, the Scottish Episcopal Church has been in full communion with the Lutheran churches of Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia and Lithuania since 1994.

Twinning with the Diocese of Espoo
As part of the Porvoo Communion, the Diocese of Edinburgh is twinned with the Diocese of Espoo, Finland.

There have been numerous recent visits by the Diocese of Edinburgh to the Diocese of Espoo, including one in March 2024 undertaken by The Revd Canon Sarah Shaw, Synod Clerk and Rector of Christ Church, Falkirk, and The Revd Christine Downey, Rector of St Mary’s, Dalmahoy (pictured below left).

In March 2025, our former bishop, Bishop Armes, and Bishop Kaisamari Hintikka (pictured below right) shared their experience of being partner dioceses at the Summit of the Anglican-Lutheran International Commission on Unity and Mission (ALICUM), held in Jordan.

Praying for each other
The Porvoo Declaration commits its churches to ‘share a common life’ and to ‘pray for and with one another’. One way of doing this is to pray for the Porvoo churches and their Dioceses using the Porvoo Prayer Diary.

Edinburgh Diocese recently committed itself to learning the Lord’s Prayer in Finnish. Our Finnish counterparts speak wonderful English and we want to participate in their liturgy when we meet together, even if just a little. We invite everyone to join us, using the words and recording below (note that Finnish is pronounced much how it looks – so just go for it!)

Lord’s Prayer – Finnish
Isä meidän, joka olet taivaissa.
Pyhitetty olkoon sinun nimesi.
Tulkoon sinun valtakuntasi.
Tapahtukoon sinun tahtosi,
myös maan päällä niin kuin taivaassa.
Anna meille tänä päivänä
meidän jokapäiväinen leipämme.
Ja anna meille meidän syntimme anteeksi,
niin kuin mekin anteeksi annamme niille,
jotka ovat meitä vastaan rikkoneet.
Äläkä saata meitä kiusaukseen,
vaan päästä meidät pahasta.
Sillä sinun on valtakunta
ja voima ja kunnia iankaikkisesti.
Aamen.