The outbreak of the war in 1939 saw 865 publishers in Finland. At the end of the second world war, in 1945, the number of publishers had almost doubled, with a total of 1,632 publishers reporting in over 200 congregations.

The number of congregations in 1945 was about the same as it is now, more than 40 years later. Why did the number of congregations not grow? Most of the congregations in the 1940’s were small in size and widely scattered. On the average, there were only 5 publishers per congregation then; now the average number is over 60.

Postwar Growth

The year 1947 found Brothers Knorr and Henschel back in Finland. Although only a year and a half had passed since their previous visit, they noticed the remarkable progress that had been made in the meantime. Within two years the peak of publishers had climbed from 1,632 to 2,696. Finland was certainly experiencing a time of good growth. A convention was held in the Exhibition Hall in Helsinki on June 13-15, 1947, with 5,300 in attendance and 184 baptized.

True, the number of congregations did not increase, but the growth in publishers after the war was astonishing. By 1950 the number of publishers exceeded 4,000.