The Raamattu Puhuu church in Turku is an independent local church with a mission to evangelize unbelievers and to support believers in their spiritual growth. The church is organized as a registered association with the name Suuri Armo. Membership in the association is not a requirement for functioning in the church.
As a church, we want to support a balanced growth in knowing God and his grace. Every Christian should have the privilege to be part of a church that supports their spiritual growth. God’s grace and knowing Him make this growth happen. As a church, we want to support this growth with high-quality Bible teaching by being a community in which one can share the joys and sorrows in growth with other like-minded people. We also want to support growth as God’s servants.
Values
We want our church to be a place, in which God’s love is seen in the daily life in the community and in everyone’s life. Our values explain what is important to us and what we want to be committed to together. They guide our functioning and decisions and how we interact with each other – both within the church and outside. Through these values, we want to grow, serve, and live our faith.
The values of the church
We value
1. God: We want to support balanced growth in relationship with God.
2. the Bible: We want to support balanced understanding of the Bible and help gain fervor and wisdom from it.
3. the Gospel: We want to proclaim the good news.
4. people: We want to be an appreciating, safe, and close community that supports balanced growth as humans.
5. serving: We want to serve God and people and to help grow in serving.
History
The Raamattu Puhuu chuch in Turku began in 1984 when pastor Jorma Immonen and missionaries moved from Helsinki to Turku. They evangelized on the streets and held church meetings. A Bible school began a couple of years later. About the first ten years were time of rapid growth. Later, the church has stabilzed. The church has maintained a close relationship with the Raamattu Puhuu church in Helsinki. The Turku church has held Bible studies in Finland Proper in various location, sent church members to study in Bible schools, and supported missions. Evangelism and Bible teaching have had an important place in the history of the church.
Broader relationship with churches
We are part of an international fellowship of churches. The church began as the result of missionaries sent by the Raamattu Puhuu church in Helsinki. Internationally, we are part of a group of churches connected to the Greater Grace World Outreach, which operates in Baltimore, U.S.A, and many churches throughout the world. Unofficially, this fellowship of churches is known as Greater Grace or with the abbreviation GGWO.