"A pastor in Finland and two of his evangelical colleagues are suffering the consequences of obeying the Bible's injunction that forbids female pastors in an egregious violation of the separation of church and state.

A Finnish district court last week convicted and fined Ari Norro, a preacher in the Luther state church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF), with criminal discrimination for refusing to conduct a worship service with a female pastor, according to a Christianity Today report. 

Norro was fined the equivalent of 20 days of his salary, according to CT. Acting vicar Tauno Tuominen and Pirkko Ojala, chairman of the Lutheran Evangelical Association of Finland, were also found guilty of similar charges and fined. All three men will now have a criminal record.

The case first unfolded in March when Norro was scheduled to preach at a Sunday morning communion service in southern Finland. Fifteen minutes before the service, female preacher Petra Pohjanraito arrived to serve at the altar. Norro offered to leave the church, but Pohjanraito chose to leave instead. A church council requested a police investigation into the matter, leading to charges against Norro, Tuominen and Ojala.

Finland's laws prohibit any discrimination either in the workplace or in public based on race, language, age, family ties, health, religion, political orientation, work, sexual orientation, or gender."

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