Seurakunnille

Seurakunnille is the allative plural form of the Finnish noun seurakunta, meaning congregations or parishes. In Finnish grammar, the allative case marks direction toward a destination or recipient, so seurakunnille translates roughly as “to congregations” or “for congregations.” The form is commonly used in written and spoken Finnish to indicate who benefits from an action or who is the target of a program.

In usage, seurakunnille appears in contexts such as funding, services, training, and cooperation. Examples include phrases like avustusta seurakunnille (assistance to congregations), koulutusta seurakunnille (training for congregations), or yhteistyötä seurakunnille (cooperation with congregations). The construction emphasizes the recipients rather than the agents of action, and it can combine with various verbs and adjectives to describe targeted activities or policies.

Seurakunta refers to a church community or parish within the Finnish church system, most prominently in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and also in the Finnish Orthodox Church. Seurakunnat are organizational units responsible for local church life, worship, administration, and social outreach. When speaking about national or regional programs, authorities may use seurakunnille to denote the intended beneficiaries among these parish communities.

Etymologically, seurakunta is formed from seur- (gathering, company) and -kunta (a suffix referring to a group or community). The allative ending -ille attaches to the plural in seurakunnille, signaling direction toward multiple congregations.