Nokia Revival

The Nokia referred to in this article is the town Nokia in Finland, also the birthplace of the Nokia corporation.

Nokia Revival (also known as Nokia Missio) is a charismatic Christian movement originated in Finland in the town of Nokia. The starting point of the movement is the strong charismatic renewal experienced by Markku Koivisto, the vicar of Nokia Lutheran Church in 1991. Koivisto started to arrange so called Thursday-nights which were characterised by strong emotional worship, loud prayer and various manifestations of the Holy Spirit e.g. healings of the sick, spiritual gifts and falling down during prayer.

Later on friction and problems started to occur between the supporters of the revival and the rest of the Nokia Lutheran Church. As a result of this the bishop of Tampere Diocese, Juha Pihkala, forced Markku Koivisto to quit the vicar's job.

The Nokia Revival now has meetings in Tampere at Metro Auto Arena. The activity has spread in 2005 also to Helsinki and Kokkola. The Nokia revival was made a denomination in June 2008, bearing the name "Nokia Mission Church".^[1] Its meetings are mainly attended by members of Lutheran, Pentecostal and Free Evangelical churches.

Nokia revival's organisation is called Nokia Missio. It has mission work e.g. in Albania, India, Israel and Russia. Nokia Missio trains voluntary workers for churches. Other courses include the seeker-friendly Alpha Course, Nokia Missio Bible Institute's seminars and a cell group leading course.

Markku Koivisto

The leader of a Christian, charismatic sect known as the Nokia Revival. Markku Koivisto was previously the vicar of Nokia Evangelical Lutheran Church and having recovered from cancer of the lymph gland in 1990 he experienced a strong charismatic renewal. In the Nokia Church he started so-called Thursday Evenings, which were characterised by strong worship singing and prayer and various gifts of the Holy Spirit, e.g., praying for the sick and falling down during prayer.

The nature and doctrines of the movement led to various disagreements with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (EL Church), and finally an alleged case of praying for a young boy's resurrection heated up the situation between Koivisto and the EL Church. An official complaint was filed in the spring of 2006 and on 25 April 2007 Koivisto was ordered to leave priesthood for half a year.

The Nokia Revival holds meetings in Tampere Metro-Auto Arena and also in the cities of Helsinki, Kokkola and Jyväskylä. It has not organised itself into a denomination and its meetings are mostly attended by people who belong to EL Church, Pentecostal Church etc.

In 2004 Markku Koivisto's cancer recurred but he recovered again in 2005.

Markku Koivisto earned a Doctor of Theology degree at University of Helsinki in 1997.

Markku Koivisto was reported to have been dismissed from his position as the leader of the church after a sex scandal became public in 2011. ^{[2] [3]}

Publications:

• Markku Koivisto: Miten kirkko ymmärtää sanomansa? Toimituskeskustelu ja kastetoimitus pastoraalipsykologisen ja liturgisen tutkimuksen näkökulmasta [How the Church Understands Its Gospel? Pre Sacrament Discussion and Baptism from the Viewpoint of Pastoral Psychology and Lithurgy Studies], University of Helsinki Publications, Käytännöllisen teologian julkaisuja 87, 1997, in Finnish, ISBN 951-45-7721-3

References

1. ^ "Omstridd väckelseledare lämnar finska lutherska kyrkan". Dagen. March 23 2008. http://www.dagen.se/dagen/Article.aspx?ID=151445.  (Swedish)
2. ^ http://www.hs.fi/kotimaa/artikkeli/Nokia+Mission+johtaja+Markku+Koivisto+on+erotettu/1135268953608
3. ^ http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Nokia+Mission+former+leader+admits+adultery+with+man/1135269283508

External links

• Nokia Missio