Nearly 600 quit parish of transgender vicar

[Butterfly]

Nearly 600 quit parish of transgender vicar
Helsinki Time
By Juhani Saarinen
12 January, 2010


http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Nearly+600+quit+parish+of+transgender+vicar/1135252089098


The Lutheran parish which has been rocked by the vicar's decision to change genders has been hit by something of an exodus of members.

      Last year 581 people left the parish where Marja-Sisko Aalto returned to work after undergoing gender reassignment surgery.

      Previously, about 150 people a year would quit the parish. Losing nearly 600 members in a single year is quite a blow to a parish which had 23,600 members at the beginning of the year.

[tekla]

Wow, a whole 2.5%.

[Shana A]

Vicar's Sex Change Prompts Parish Exodus
By Martin Laine.

Jan 13, 2010

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/285599

Members of a Lutheran parish in eastern Finland are leaving in droves after their vicar returned following gender re-assignment surgery.
A year ago, Olli Aalto, then 54, who had served as the Lutheran Vicar of Imatra for 22 years, announced he would take a leave of absence for the procedure. The vicar returned in November as Marja-Sisko Aalto. Since returning she has not been asked to perform any baptisms or weddings, and only one funeral, according to a story in the Helsingin Sanomat.
On average, about 150 people leave the parish per year, out of a membership of about 23,000. In 2009, that number shot up to 580, and the main reason is believed to be the controversy surrounding the vicar's gender identity.