This article examines an emerging "community movement" in the national Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Finland. Emerging from the local level, with links to wider renewal networks across Protestant Churches, the movement consists of a variation of 30-40 worship communities that are based on strong roles for laymen, challenging the traditional models of church life. Many communities are expanding and drawing young adults, in contrast to general developments in the Church. This article asks: What kinds of patterns of participation exist among the members and how are they related to experiences of membership? The results of a quantitative survey (N=529), conducted 2017, revealed three types of participation: "traditional," "community-oriented" and "experiential." The main finding is the distinct community process typical to these communities, which is connected to a strong sense of membership, commitment, and contentment, and which is actualized through lay participation. The article sheds light on the developments in a specific Nordic majority church in response to a changing cultural environment.

Contrary to earlier assumptions, not (only) is religion declining in modern societies, it is taking new roles in the complex development of (late) modern societies. In empirical studies on values, religiosity has been connected primarily to traditionalist value patterns that highlight stability, traditionality and security. This article, focusing on data collected from members of a renewal movement in the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Finland (N=529), addresses how the 10 universal values in Schwartz's Value Theory relate to their religiosity and theological orientations. The results of the study imply that there are several religious value patterns, and not just one. Differences in theological orientation as well as other aspects of religious belief and participation proved to have an effect on the patterns. These findings open up new directions for the study of religion, spirituality and values.

An expanding body of research connects religiosity/spirituality (later R/S) with human well-being and health. While psychological and medical research lacks a common theoretical or theological framework, these dimensions are measured by instruments with a wide variation in quality. As the religious landscapes in Western societies are becoming increasingly plural and complex, the need for developing our understanding and assessment of the role of R/S in human health and well-being is as important as ever. This study, based on quantitative data (N = 529) from members of a church renewal oriented network in the Lutheran majority Church in Finland, measures the role of R/S in the subjective well-being of the participants through a multi-dimensional framework. While exploring Ellison’s Spiritual Well-being Scale (1983), the study expands its scope to a more multi-dimensional approach to religion, spirituality and well-being. The results reveal that religious beliefs and practices do not contribute to the level of subjective well-being in the lives of the participants as much as the way in which these beliefs and practices are lived out and actualized in social contexts. The study identified several sources of both well-being and ill-being in the participants’ lives. The article contributes to the terms of measuring the various ways in which R/S are connected to human well-being.