Samuel Salmi

Samuel Salmi (born 19 March 1951) is a Finnish prelate who was bishop of the Diocese of Oulu from 2001 to 2018.

The Right Reverend Samuel Salmi
Bishop of Oulu
Church	Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
Elected	2000
Installed	6 January 2001
Term ended	1 November 2018
Predecessor	Olavi Rimpiläinen
Successor	Jukka Keskitalo
Orders
Ordination	1974
Consecration	6 January 2001 by Jukka Paarma
Personal details
Born	(1951-03-19) 19 March 1951 Muonio, Finland
Nationality	Finnish
Spouse	Hannele Salmi
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Helsinki

Biography

Born in Muonio, Salmi graduated from the Faculty of Theology at the University of Helsinki in 1974. He was ordained to the priesthood in Oulu in 1974, after which he completed a pastoral diploma at Oulu Cathedral in 1976. He completed the upper pastoral examination in Oulu Cathedral in 1983. Salmi became a Licentiate of Theology at the University of Helsinki in 1983, where he continued his studies and completed his doctoral thesis in 1990 with his dissertation "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism". The synod dissertation in the diocese of Oulu was born in 1984 on "The Baptism Key to the Unity of the Churches". He has been a fellow of the World Council of Churches in Geneva in 1976 and 1986. Before becoming bishop, Salmi was parish priest of St. Catherine's Church in Turku from 1993 until 2000. In 2000, he was also the provincial councilor of the Turku Maritime Council.

Bishop

In 2001 he was elected as Bishop of Oulu and succeeded Olavi Rimpiläinen. Unlike his predecessor, Salmi welcomed the female priesthood, and the first female priests of the Oulu Diocese were ordained in his first priestly ordination as bishop. Salmi was the first bishop who was appointed by the Church council rather than the Finnish government as a result of the new constitution that came into force on 1 March 2000 that established a separation between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the state. Salmi was one of the candidates nominated for Archbishop of Turku in 2010 and received the fifth highest number of votes. He retired on 1 November 2018.

Publications

• Yksi Herra, yksi usko, yksi kaste: partisipaatio ajatuksen tulkinnat Faith and Order -liikkeen kastedialogeissa Lundista 1955 Budapestiin 1989 (Thesis) (in Finnish). Helsinki. 1990.
• Puhu, pohjoinen, puhu, Pohjan väylä (in Finnish). Pello: Pohjan väylä. 2002. ISBN 978-952-52-7109-6.
• Article in Helenius, Timo, ed. (2007). Meille Annettu Maa: Pohjoisen kirkon ympäristökirja (in Finnish). Helsinki: Edita Publishing. ISBN 978-951-37-4867-8.
• Kuule pohjoista puhetta (in Finnish). Edita Publishing. 2008. ISBN 978-951-37-5308-5.

Family

• Salmi is married to Hannele Salmi née Zeitlinger. He has a son, Mikko Salmi (a Lutheran pastor, musician, and singer), and a daughter, Johanna Salmi.