Brahenkatu street 15, Free Church
The area around Pekkatori Square will be decorated with many Advent calendar windows throughout December. Today it is the turn of the Free Church, which has been operating on Brahenkatu Street since 1937.
Employees and preachers from the Finnish Free Mission visited Raahe at the end of the 19th century. Raahe was part of the Oulu parish in the 1920s. The Oulu parish began regular work in Raahe in 1932.
In the early days, the activities of the Free Church in Raahe were marked by prejudice. Over time, the atmosphere changed and the meetings attracted large numbers of participants.
The Raahe Free Church was founded in April 1934. The first worker in the parish was Väinö Välkiö. The longest-serving employee of the Raahe Free Church was evangelist Aino Korhonen, who was considered the mother figure of the congregation. She had been in Raahe since the 1930s and was hired as a permanent employee in 1947.
Korhonen worked as a preacher and Sunday school teacher until 1962. She was musical and taught young people to play instruments and sing. (Raahen Seutu newspaper, April 16, 2004)
The Wangel family's house for the Free Church
Master Gustaf Adolf Wangel (1854–1924) moved to Raahe in 1887 with his wife Sigrid and daughters Ester and Dagmar. He initially worked as a teacher at Raahe Elementary School (now Keskuskoulu). In 1895, he bought a house at Brahenkatu 15 and plot No. 29 in Raahe's fourth district.
Wangel had a significant impact on Raahe Elementary School. He worked tirelessly for the school for 37 years, starting in 1887. He was a demanding and good teacher. He never used corporal punishment. He guided generation after generation of students onto the right path.
Wangel died unexpectedly on February 9, 1924. Despite being 70 years old, he was in full physical and mental health, energetically performing his teaching duties until the very end. He suffered a severe heart attack, which cut short his life.
After Wangel's death in 1924, the house remained in the name of his widow, Sigrid Wangel (née Nordin), but Tor Mikael and Dagmar Julia (née Wangel) Sovio and their family also moved in. (Sovio-Sovelius family)
The estate inventory showed that guests had been entertained at the house, as there were, for example, 41 pairs of coffee cups and saucers, 18 wine glasses, wine carafes, jam bowls, three coffee pots, coffee pot covers, 24 red wine glasses, 14 tablecloths, 24 napkins and 24 small napkins, vases, trays and bowls, linen towels and bed linen, and other items.
Examples of parish activities
Sunday services and Thursday evening classes. Quiet Masses, which are evening gatherings where you can relax and listen to psalms, prayers, poems, and music in an atmosphere of God's love. Mission evenings are held to raise funds for missionary work through lotteries.
More information
Back to the front page of the Old Town Raahe Advent Calendar