The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland wants to inspire young people to get more exercise, and is starting clubs to help get them moving.
The project, which starts at the end of October, aims to get 1,000 young people who currently undertake little physical activity to work out regularly in their daily lives. The target group is adolescents aged 15 to 18 years old.
"The idea is to increase physical activity as part of the parish’s other activities," project coordinator Markku Autio said.
The project led by the Young Church Association was initiated following recent studies that reveal that youth in Finland are not exercising enough.
According to Autio, the goal is to allow anyone to participate in outdoor or indoor sports that don’t need special equipment. He said that he hopes the young people themselves will come up with ideas on the kind of activities that can be taken up.
The parishes of Kuopio, Varkaus and Kajaani will launch the project simultaneously at the Partaharju Camp Center in Pieksämäki on 26-27 October. The pilot phase will also be adopted by a few parishes in Helsinki. There are plans to launch similar sports clubs in several other parishes early next year.