Christian singles seek Mr. and Miss Right at special Tampere event
By Leena Sandström
Lively chatter and brief bursts of laughter echo in the Kaleva Lutheran Parish centre in Tampere on Sunday afternoon. Men and women closely examine each other. There is a slight feeling of flirtation in the air, and even some tension.
It is the first Christian dating event, and the atmosphere is not even dampened by the fact that close to half of the nearly 200 people who registered did not show up.
Especially many of the males over the age of 50 got cold feet at the last moment.
In other age groups the number of men and women is roughly equal. The youngest are in their early 20s, the oldest in their 60s. Participants have come from all over Finland.
At 15-minute intervals everyone changes partners. Each individual gets a chance to talk to 10 - 20 members of his or her own age group.
Expressions on people’s faces give some indication of when there is interest or when there is not, but the atmosphere remains positive. However, the presence of a photographer and a journalist is not welcomed by everyone, and hardly anyone will consent to their attendance being made known to the public.
"Some have even experienced derisive attitudes, and they are afraid that they might be labelled somehow desperate", says the local "Dr. Date", John Mittler from Lapua.
Some of the participants say that they are under pressure from relatives and friends to find a partner, for which reason they prefer to keep to themselves the fact that they are taking part in a singles event.
Minna Venäläinen and Vesa Mäensivu, both from Turku, as well as Ruut from the Pirkanmaa area, all met several people whom they would like to get to know better.
"There are many lonely singles, but they are perhaps far away from each other and do not come into contact. This is one way", Mäensivu says.
"The setup is quite clear here. Everyone has the same need, and there is no need to hide it", Venäläinen laughs.
Those looking for a religious spouse find their range of choices to be more limited than with others, and the dating event is seen as a welcome new idea.
"In a small congregation, attempts and failures can become common knowledge throughout the community", Venäläinen says.
None of the three believe that they would have taken part in a similar event if it had not had a Christian theme, because they feel that a common set of values is an important starting point.
The participants were brought together by a Christian dating service on the Internet. The website gets about 1,000 hits a day from people looking for a life partner.
Mittler, the webmaster and support person, maintains the web site as his hobby, and he staged the event, which required about 100 hours of work, without pay.
"There seems to be a demand for these kinds of events, and we will certainly arrange such gatherings in the future as well", Mittler promises.
Jouni Sederholm, a 37-year-old man from Tampere, is also satisfied.
"It is also possible to find answers to prayers here. Each one of us is looking for a compatible partner, which is not only the will of me and her, but also that of God", Sederholm says.
After the discussions are over, the participants place potential interesting partners in numerical order, and the computers of the organisers whirr into action.
Tension builds as the couples that have been found are announced, accompanied by applause.
The first round yields nine couples, who go off chatting cheerfully, getting to know each other better.
Those who are not so lucky might do better later. In many homes there can be a sleepless night, because couples that are found in the second round get each other’s contact information by e-mail the following night.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 31.1.2005
LEENA SANDSTRÖM / Helsingin Sanomat
leena.sandström@sanoma.fi
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| 8.2.2005 - THIS WEEK |
 Christian singles seek Mr. and Miss Right at special Tampere event |
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