Riitta Rönnqvist (born in 1979) is a long-time church musician with an ecumenical background. Since the early 2000s, she has composed several spiritual songs together with her husband Anssi Rönnqvist, which have spread to Finnish churches beyond congregational boundaries. Riitta has served in music positions at Helsinki Home Group Network, Christian Center, Espoo Lighthouse Church, and Vihti Parish, leading various music ensembles or supplementing the church’s liturgical music as a musician. Improvised, spontaneously created music has been a spiritual and emotional resource for Riitta since childhood, helping her overcome emotional traumas and connect with supportive resources as a young person from a foster home background. Her main instruments are piano, voice, and violin.
Riitta Rönnqvist graduated with a Master of Theology from the University of Helsinki in 2009. Her day job has been in organizational and workplace development at Nokia Corporation. She is currently completing her doctoral thesis in change management at the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at Aalto University, where she completed transition studies from the Faculty of Theology at the University of Helsinki in 2012. Riitta is a deputy member of the Vihti Church Council. You can learn more about Riitta’s story at riittaronnqvist.com.
Anssi Rönnqvist (born in 1982) is a media technology engineer, singer, and reader and voice of the Finnish Audio Bible and Hymn Book. Anssi’s passion is to develop, support, and educate the communal implementation of worship and prayer music using digital tools in the digital age. Anssi is responsible for, among other things, a technical musical concept that has enabled the creation of a regular remote community around prayer and music on the Zoom video conferencing platform. Morning worship on Zoom brings together worship and prayer music enthusiasts every weekday morning around the Bible, prayer, hymns, praise songs, and improvisation. Currently, Anssi works as a digital customer experience developer and leader for the international child sponsorship organization World Vision International.
Riitta and Anssi Rönnqvist have three daughters who are involved in the family’s common service work with their own instruments. The Rönnqvists live in Ojakkala, Vihti.