There is a high demand for international and multilingual songs in church. In order to support and facilitate the development of multicultural worship in the local church, Hymnet.fi offers an ever-growing collection of multicultural songs in various languages. Come and join us in building the church of the future and develop the church’s international work.

 

The songs on this website can be downloaded for use in worship services. You will find lyrics, sheet music and recordings to help you learn to sing the songs and get the feel for their intended style. In the beginning there will be approximately fifty songs, but we work on constantly expanding the selection. The collected song material is selected with worship services in mind and its use is free

 for local parishes.

 

The Hymnet.fi website has been set up

by a team representing a wide expertise in church music and multiculturalism: Jan Hellberg, Vesa Häkkinen, Hans Krause, Hannu Lätti, Pekka Nyman Sakari Löytty, Hanna Remes, Teija Tuukkanen, and Antti Vuori. Risto Ranta-aho has been responsible for the copyright issues. The team has operated under the auspices of the Helsinki Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland.

 

Background

The immigrant community in Finland is rapidly growing. One out of three immigrants come from a Christian background and seeks to connect to Finnish congregations and worship communities.

Many churches have recognized this need and have started to organize multicultural worship. The concept of “Worlds Within Worship” has provided a way in which local churches have been able to show hospitality to immigrants. Immigrants are given an opportunity to  participate in the planning and realization of the service. At the same time, the worship life of the local parish is greatly enriched by different cultures.

One central way of connecting with other cultures is through music, songs and hymns. The sense of community in the service is largely brought about by singing together. Therefore the need for international and multilingual songs has grown quickly. Churches have looked for them through the internet or simply by learning them from local immigrants. This is obviously a tedious process.

Hymnet.fi seeks to provide an easy and increasingly diverse solution to this need. It collects suitable songs in one place and offers them to the parishes free of charge without the need to sort out copyright issues one by one.