Ok, so you know that you are in Finland when someone lyrically describes a church as being “like a sauna” – AND everyone listening gives out a happy sigh of recognition.
But I get the point. It’s not only that the church in Viikki is built entirely out of wood that gives it this atmosphere. For a Finn the sauna is so much more. It is a place of contemplation, a place where you discuss important things; men to men or father to son. It was a place where you gave birth to your children and where you washed the dead before the burial. A whole life can be seen in the walls of a sauna – and it’s the same with a church, you can even glimpse eternity.
(Well, this only applies to Finns, I as a Finn-swede do not keep the sauna in such high regard…)
Viikki church is truly the most beautiful building I’ve ever seen! It might not look that way on the outside – especially on a rainy November’s day, but when you get inside you totally forget the weather.
They describe it as being like a forest glade where you are surrounded by tall trees. It is made completely out of untreated wood and you can smell the pine as you walk into the main hall. The only thing they do is to wash the floors with soap, no chemicals, it should be all natural. And as such it will grow old with time and finally get a silver patina that I think will look even more amazing.
The church hall is 12 meters high and they have a piece of art at the altar that is called “the vine tree”. This is from when Jesus refers to himself as the vine tree and us as the branches. In John 15:5 it says “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
