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97-552: The EFS is a movement within the Church of Sweden and is therefore not a denomination in its own right. The intra-church nature means that the EFS considers itself to be part of the Church of Sweden and the Church of Sweden considers the EFS to be part of it. This is done on the basis of common confession. As of 2022, EFS has approximately 22,400 members. it is a democratic organization in

194-415: A pastorat with a head minister or vicar called a kyrkoherde (literally 'church shepherd') and sometimes other assistant priests called komminister ( minister ). At a cathedral an assistant minister is called a domkyrkosyssloman . In addition to the 13 dioceses, the Church of Sweden Abroad ( Swedish : Svenska kyrkan i utlandet – SKUT) maintains more than 40 overseas parishes. Originally

291-570: A historic premillennial , non- dispensationalist view on the Second Coming of Jesus , which he preached on. His work Bibliska framtidsvinkar also addresses these topics, discussing the signs of the times and the date of the return of Christ as well as the Antichrist and the apostasy of the Jews. In 1856–1861 he wrote a Bible version with commentaries between the original verses. It

388-535: A collection of overseas churches under the direction of a committee of the General Synod , SKUT was reorganised on 1 January 2012 with a quasi-diocesan structure. Under this reorganisation it gained a governing council, constituent seats on the General Synod of the Church of Sweden (like the 13 mainland dioceses), and for the first time, full-time deacons to provide a programme of social welfare alongside

485-753: A common national organization based in Uppsala , Sweden. Most of the local associations function as autonomous entities, not entirely unlike free church congregations, but there are also a number of cooperative and collaborative churches where a missionary association or EFS group runs a local church in cooperation with a congregation within the Church of Sweden. In some cases, church activities are carried out in cooperation with other Christian denominations. EFS's children's and youth activities are organized in Salt  [ sv ] , which has about 6,500 members. Scouting activities are also conducted there, from 2014 under

582-642: A deacon. All deacons of the Church of Sweden are, therefore, permanent deacons . The order of bishop is not entered through direct ordination, however, and a Church of Sweden bishop is required to be a validly ordained priest prior to their consecration; if a deacon or lay person were to be selected for the position, they would first be ordained as a priest. After the Reformation, the Swedish Church seems to have practiced variously both direct ordination and sequential ordination. Although direct ordination

679-670: A local cult following, including Saint Botvid and Saint Eskil in Södermanland , Saint Helena of Skövde , and Saint Sigfrid in Småland . In their names, miracles were performed and churches were named. Shortly after seizing power in 1523, Gustav Vasa addressed the Pope in Rome with a request for the confirmation of Johannes Magnus as Archbishop of Sweden , in the place of Gustav Trolle who had been formally deposed and exiled by

776-537: A parish in Swedish is socken , which was used both in the registry and in the church administration. After the municipal reforms in 1862, the latter usage officially was replaced with församling , a term somewhat meaning 'congregation', originally and still used for the Lutheran territorial and nonterritorial congregations in cities and also for other religious congregations. One or several parishes are included in

873-413: A poor family of craftsmen. His surname was originally Larsson. At a young age, he went from farm to farm to beg. In 1812 there was a severe famine in the area and the family had to mix bark and bone meal in their bread. For several winters, he contributed to the family's livelihood by teaching the children of the neighbouring village to read and write. In the summers, he had to herd the family's sheep in

970-458: A stole at the beginning of the rite. In this way the churches express a significant aspect of their understanding of ordination. The white alb, used both by the ordinands to the diaconate as well as to the priesthood, is a sign that the ordination is a new beginning, rooted in the priesthood of all the baptised." The Church of Sweden employs full-time deacons to staff its extensive outreach and social welfare diakonia programme. Whilst deacons have

1067-662: A time as a teacher at the Moravian school in Gothenburg. The school's founder had a number of writings on missions work which Fjellstedt had access to. He was ordained in May 1828 in Karlstad by Bishop Bjurbäck  [ sv ] . Fjellstedt then undertook further missionary training with Basel Mission , after which he went to London in 1829. On his way there, he made a visit to Sweden, where he met Peter Wieselgren and led to

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1164-410: A year and a half working for Lieutenant Colonel C. Kuylenstierna and Major C. J. von Mentzer as a private tutor, where he experienced a strong spiritual revival . Fjellstedt returned to Lund in 1825 to complete his studies, where he was taught by a follower of Pietistic priest Henric Schartau . He also became convinced of his calling to go out as a missionary, a conviction that was consolidated during

1261-410: Is echoed in the movement's emphasis on the universal priesthood , inherited from Pietism : the idea that every Christian lives in a direct relationship with God, without the need for mediators in the form of ordained ministers. This emphasis is evident in the strong role of lay people in all activities, including church services . The emphasis on personal commitment to Jesus Christ has also provided

1358-427: Is elected by priests, deacons , and some laity in the diocese and is the chairman of the cathedral chapter. Priest and deacon members of a cathedral chapter are elected by priests and deacons in the diocese, while its lay members are selected by the stiftsfullmäktige , a body elected by church members. A diocese is divided into "contracts" kontrakt ( deaneries ), each with a kontraktsprost ( provost ), as

1455-458: Is known to have had Calvinist leanings. The New Testament was translated into Swedish in 1526 and the entire Bible in 1541. Revised translations were published in 1618 and 1703. New official translations were adopted in 1917 and 2000. Many hymns were written by Swedish church reformers and several by Martin Luther were translated. A semi-official hymnal appeared in the 1640s. Official hymnals of

1552-592: Is now Sweden later than that; for instance the important religious center known as the Temple at Uppsala at Gamla Uppsala was evidently still in use in the late 11th century, while there was little effort to introduce the Sámi of Lapland to Christianity until considerably after that. The Christian church in Scandinavia was originally governed by the archdiocese of Bremen . In 1104, an archbishop for all Scandinavia

1649-490: Is the same as used in the Swedish parliamentary or municipal elections (see Elections in Sweden ). To vote in the Church general elections, one must be member of the Church of Sweden, at minimum 16 years of age, and nationally registered as living in Sweden . The groups that take part in the elections are called nominating groups ( Swedish : nomineringsgrupper ). In some cases the nationwide political parties take part in

1746-919: The Anglican churches of the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula , together with the other Lutheran churches of the Nordic nations and the Baltic states. In 1995, full communion was achieved with the Philippine Independent Church . Since 2015, the Church of Sweden has also been in full communion with the Episcopal Church of the United States. In 2016, the Church of Sweden reached full communion with

1843-588: The Archdiocese of Uppsala 1536, separation from Rome through the abolition of Canon Law The Church of Sweden ( Swedish : Svenska kyrkan ) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden . A former state church , headquartered in Uppsala , with around 5.4 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest Lutheran denomination in Europe and

1940-581: The Baptist Union of Sweden in 1857. Fjellstedt would later influence the organization to begin mission work among the Oromo people in the Horn of Africa . Fjellstedt supported lay preacher Amelie von Braun 's pioneering Sunday school work, which she began sometime between 1848 and 1856. He also visited philanthropist Emilie Petersen , known as the 'Herrestad Grandmother' ( Mormor på Herrestad ). She

2037-619: The Church of Sweden Abroad in 1974. The EFS has on a number of occasions split over doctrinal issues, leading to breakaways. Around 1878 there was disagreement over the meaning of the Atonement of Jesus, the Augsburg Confession and Communion ; "[p]astors concerned with the growing radicalism and rationalism regarded the Swedish Evangelical Mission as an important bulwark." Paul Petter Waldenström

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2134-594: The Dalsland forests around the cottage. Fjellstedt writes in his autobiography: "Often I went up on some big rock and preached, as best I could, to my cows, sheep and lambs". At one of these places where he preached there was a large stone which later came to be known as the Fjellstedt Stone and where every year since 1965 a service is held in his memory. After Fjellstedt was confirmed , he managed to get into Karlstad's school of learning, thanks to gifts from

2231-636: The Old Catholic churches within the Union of Utrecht . Peter Fjellstedt Peter Fjellstedt (17 September 1802 – 4 January 1881) was a Swedish Nyevangelist missionary and preacher who founded the Fjellstedt School and Evangeliska Fosterlands-Stiftelsen . Fjellstedt was born to carpenter Lars Larsson and Catharina Carlsdotter in Värmland , Sweden in 1802, the first child in

2328-560: The Riksdag of the Estates . Gustav promised to be an obedient son of the Church, if the pope would confirm the elections of his bishops. But the pope requested Trolle to be re-instated. King Gustav protested by promoting the Swedish reformers, the brothers Olaus and Laurentius Petri , and Laurentius Andreae . The king supported the printing of reformation texts, with the Petri brothers as

2425-575: The University of Halle in Germany in 1853. His wife and children primarily stayed in Germany as she did not like life in Sweden. He and others, including Carl Axel Torén  [ sv ] and Hans Jacob Lundborg  [ sv ] , had been influenced by the Free Church of Scotland and its pastors such as James Lumsden and saw the need to form a mission society to bring revival to

2522-537: The high-church view of ministry and church was made as a justification for not accepting female clergy, emphasizing that the decisive factor is not who preaches but what is preached. In 1987, the EFS began scouting activities. Budbäraren  [ sv ] had its first female editor-in-chief in 1990 in Inga Belani. Through decisions in 1989 and 1990, ties to the Church of Sweden were strengthened and since then EFS preachers/pastors have been ordained by

2619-503: The historical episcopate and claims apostolic succession . Some Lutheran churches have congregational polity or modified episcopal polity without apostolic succession, but the historic episcopate was maintained in Sweden and some of the other Lutheran churches of the Porvoo Communion . The canons of the Church of Sweden states that the faith, confession and teachings of the Church of Sweden are understood as an expression of

2716-415: The social movement tradition ( Swedish : folkrörelsen ) and is made up of about 350 affiliated local associations (missionary associations and EFS groups, with at least former names such as Evangelical Lutheran Missionary Society, Swedish Lutheran Missionary Society  [ sv ] , Missionary Society, Chapel Society and Evangelical Lutheran Missionary Society) organized in seven districts and with

2813-407: The 1800s–1900s, the Church of Sweden supported the Swedish government by opposing both emigration and preachers' efforts recommending sobriety ( alcoholic beverages are sold in Sweden by a government monopoly). This escalated to a point where its ministers were even persecuted by the church for preaching sobriety, and the reactions of many congregation members to that contributed to the desire to leave

2910-501: The 19th and 20th centuries, a variety of teachings were officially approved, mostly directed towards ecumenism : In practice, however, Lutheran creed texts play a minor role, and parishes instead rely on Lutheran tradition in conjunction with influences from other Christian denominations and diverse ecclesial movements, such as Low Church , High Church , Pietism ("Old Church"), and Laestadianism , which locally might be strongly established, but have little nationwide influence. During

3007-411: The 20th century, the Church of Sweden oriented itself strongly towards liberal Christianity and human rights . In 1957, the General Synod rejected a proposal for the ordination of women , but a revised Church Ordinance bill proposal from the Riksdag in the spring of 1958, along with the fact that, at the time, clergy of the Church of Sweden were legally considered government employees, put pressure on

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3104-535: The Church of Sweden Synod . In 2000, the Church of Sweden ceased to be the state church , but it maintains strong ties with communities, particularly in relation to rites of passage . There are many infants baptized and teenagers confirmed (currently 40% of all 14 year olds ) for families even without formal church membership. While some Swedish areas had Christian minorities in the 9th century, Sweden was, because of its geographical location in northernmost Europe , not Christianized until around AD 1000, around

3201-513: The Church of Sweden ( Swedish : Den svenska psalmboken ) were adopted in 1695, 1819 , 1937 and 1986 . The last of these is ecumenical , and combines traditional hymns with songs from other Christian denominations, including Seventh-day Adventist , Baptist, Catholic, Mission Covenant , Methodist, Pentecostal, and the Salvation Army . In October 2013, the Church of Sweden elected Antje Jackelén as Sweden's first female archbishop. In

3298-690: The Church of Sweden in 1536 during his reign as King of Sweden . This act separated the church from the Roman Catholic Church and its canon law . In 1571, the Swedish Church Ordinance became the first Swedish church order following the Reformation . The Church of Sweden became Lutheran at the Uppsala Synod in 1593 when it adopted the Augsburg Confession to which most Lutherans adhere. At this synod, it

3395-525: The Church of Sweden, ministerial function is indicated by the usual vestments of western tradition, including the stole , worn straight by bishops, crossed by priests (wearing the stole straight by priests is only permitted when in choir dress, i.e., a surplice rather than an alb, as no cincture is then used that would permit crossing the stole), and diagonally across the left shoulder by deacons. However, whereas in Roman Catholic or Anglican ordinations

3492-403: The Church of Sweden. It is now called Evangelisk Luthersk Mission – Bibeltrogna Vänner . In 1943, the first female board member, Isabella Stolpe, was elected. During the 1950s, when the Church of Sweden was rocked by struggles over the issue of female clergy , EFS members were divided on the theological right of women to the ministry. However, at the 1963 annual conference, a firm rejection of

3589-609: The EFS has been actively working as a movement to plant new mission societies and EFS groups. New communities have been started in Uppsala, Hisingen , Timrå and Stockholm. Lina Sandell was employed by the EFS from 1861 to 1864 to translate the works of others and write her own songs. She wrote over 1,700 poems and hymns , including some of the most famous Swedish hymn lyrics: " Tryggare kan ingen vara ", " Blott en dag ", " Jesus för världen givit sitt liv " and " Jag kan icke räkna dem alla  [ sv ] ". From 1889 she

3686-551: The EFS. With Livets Ord, prosperity theology spread, which also influenced the EFS in different parts of the country. In response, the EFS publishing house published a number of books against prosperity theology during the 1980s and events with links to prosperity theology were banned from advertising in Budbäraren . However, the tensions that arose in the early days have eased in the more than 20 years since, and reconciliation processes have also begun in some places. Since 2003,

3783-515: The General Synod and the College of Bishops to accept the proposal, which passed by a synod vote of 69 to 29 and a collegiate vote of 6 to 5 respectively in the autumn of 1958. Since 1960, women have been ordained as priests , and in 1982, lawmakers removed a "conscience clause" allowing clergy members to refuse to cooperate with female colleagues. A proposal to perform same-sex weddings was approved on 22 October 2009 by 176 of 249 voting members of

3880-551: The Lord, proclaiming the revelations he had received from Him." In 1845, money was gathered to support Fjellstedt and his family through enabling him to preach, establishing the Lund Missionary Society , where he became director in 1846. Bishops Henrik Reuterdahl , Ebbe Gustaf Bring and priests Johan Henrik Thomander , Peter Wieselgren, and Paul Gabriel Ahnfelt  [ sv ] were some of those involved in

3977-592: The Swedish church. In 1855, he proposed the foundation of a new free church mission, the Evangeliska Fosterlands-Stiftelsen , which was founded the following year. The organization remained part of the Lutheran church but was influenced by, and had much in common with, the Baptists and other free churches. A number of free-church colporteurs , itinerant sellers of Christian literature, were involved early on; however, many left to form

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4074-557: The Swedish reformation in the 16th century. The Diocese of Lund was founded in 1060, became an archdiocese in 1104, and lay in Denmark. The Province of Lund consisted of Denmark, Sweden, and Finland throughout the Middle Ages (originally also Norway and Iceland), although Uppsala had their own subordinate ecclesiastical province and archbishop from 1164. When Eva Brunne was consecrated as Bishop of Stockholm in 2009, she became

4171-640: The United States, the EFS cooperated with the Augustana Synod , a Swedish Lutheran synod which shared some connections. The EFS would later start an official American mission in 1873. Influenced by the Norwegian priest who started the Norwegian Seaman's Mission , Johan Storjohann , the EFS officially started its mission work to Swedish sailors in 1869, although it had been working in this capacity for several years by this time. It merged with

4268-527: The candidates for priesthood will already be wearing the diagonal deacon's stole, in the Church of Sweden candidates for both diaconate and priesthood are unordained at the start of the service. Tiit Pädam of Uppsala University and a Swedish-based priest of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church writes: "At the beginning of the [Evangelical Lutheran] ordination service, the candidates are dressed in white albs and no one wears

4365-510: The catholic Christian faith. It further states that this does not serve to create a new, confessionally peculiar interpretation, but concerns the apostolic faith as carried down through the traditions of the church, a concept similar to the doctrine of "reformed and catholic" found within the Anglican Communion . Its membership of 5,484,319 people accounts for 52.1% (per the end of 2023) of the Swedish population. Until 2000 it held

4462-482: The changes were not as drastic as in Germany ; as in Germany, Swedish churches kept not only crosses and crucifixes , but also icons and the traditional liturgical vestments which in Germany were usually discarded in favor of the black preaching gown and stole used until recent times. Many holy days, based on saints' days , were not removed from the calendar until the late 18th century due to strong resistance from

4559-545: The church. They are usually trained at Johannelunds Teologiska Högskola, founded in Stockholm in 1862 as EFS Missionsinstitut and located in Uppsala since 1970, next to Heidenstams torg in the Löten area. Since the early 1980s, priests for service in the Church of Sweden have also been trained here. In 1995, Birgitta Eriksson was appointed the first female president of the EFS. In 2005, the children's and youth association Salt

4656-637: The co-founders of the Biblicum Foundation  [ sv ] , which would work to preserve a more traditional view of the Bible. A small group of preachers from Västerbotten, including Tore Nilsson  [ sv ] , left the EFS and founded the Lutheran Bible Study Foundation. In the 1980s, Livets Ord , a Word of Faith megachurch, established itself in Uppsala and began to recruit members, some of them from

4753-432: The country (which, however, was against the law until 1840). The 19th century coat of arms is based on that of the Archdiocese of Uppsala . It is blazoned Or on a cross Gules an open crown of the field and thus features a gold/yellow field with a red cross on which there is a gold/yellow crown. The crown is called the victory crown of Christ , based on the royal crowns used in medieval times and corresponds in form to

4850-647: The crowns in the Swedish coat of arms and to that resting on the head of Saint Eric in the coat of arms of Stockholm . The Church adopted, at the time that it was still a state church, an administrative structure largely modelled after the state. Direct elections are held to the General Synod ( Swedish : Kyrkomötet , The Church Assembly), and the diocesan and parish ( Swedish : Församling ) assemblies (and in some cases, confederation of parishes ( Swedish : kyrklig samfällighet , 'church association') assemblies and directly elected parish councils). The electoral system

4947-578: The elections, such as the Social Democrats and the Centre Party . After the formal separation of Church of Sweden from the State of Sweden , the growing tendency in the elections is towards independent parties forming for candidature, either based on a political conviction, for example Folkpartister i Svenska kyrkan founded by Liberal People's Party members, or a pure church party such as

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5044-699: The first openly lesbian bishop in the world. The Church of Sweden has several monastic communities. The Church of Sweden is a founding member of the Lutheran World Federation , formed in Lund , Sweden in 1947. Anders Nygren , later the Bishop of Lund , served as the first President of the Lutheran World Federation. Since 1994, the Church of Sweden has been part of the Porvoo Communion , bringing it into full Communion with

5141-504: The following year to form the Baptist Union of Sweden . The early gathering places were called shelters ( hyddor ) or mission shelters. Examples are the shelter in Ede, Krokom Municipality , and the mission shelter on Kungsholmen in Stockholm. There was also a mission shelter on Styrmansgatan in Helsinki, Finland. A similar term is chapel ( bönhus ), such as Ragvaldsträsk Chapel in

5238-570: The foundation of a mission. The EFS, originally Fosterländska Stiftelsen för Evangelii befrämjande , was founded on 7 May 1856 on the initiative of Lundborg, active in Lindesberg , and with the support of Rosenius. The aim was to lead the new evangelical revival movement on an Evangelical Lutheran path, faithful to the Church of Sweden, and to counter the free-church movement. A number of free-church colporteurs , itinerant sellers of Christian literature, were involved early on; however, many left

5335-626: The founding of Svenska missionssällskapet i Göteborg ('the Swedish Mission Society in Gothenburg'). He met some Swedish church leaders, including Frans Michael Franzén and Johan Jacob Hedrén  [ sv ] . In London, Fjellstedt studied medicine and had planned to study Arabic , Amharic , and Tigrinya to go to Ethiopia, but he was unable to go there so instead he studied Persian and Coptic . He married Christina Beata Schweizerbarth in London in 1831. The next year, he

5432-722: The individual's reading of religious works, including the Bible, and interpretations of it. It is therefore natural that popular education has and has had a strong position within the movement. Today it runs a college, Johannelunds Teologiska Högskola, and eight folk high schools : Glimåkra  [ sv ] , Hagaberg  [ sv ] , Hjälmared  [ sv ] , Åredalen  [ sv ] , Mellansel  [ sv ] , Solvik  [ sv ] , Strömbäck  [ sv ] and Sundsgården Folk High School  [ sv ] . [REDACTED] Media related to Swedish Evangelical Mission at Wikimedia Commons Church of Sweden 1164, establishment of

5529-443: The influence of Scottish pastor James Lumsden, whose impact on Lutherans such as Carl Axel Torén  [ sv ] , Peter Fjellstedt , and Hans Jacob Lundborg  [ sv ] led them to see the need to form a mission society to bring revival to the Church of Sweden. At the same time, the rise in free church members in Swedish society began to put pressure on the state church's sense of unity. In 1855, Fjellstedt proposed

5626-580: The last few years of his life after his wife's death in 1876. Towards the end of his life he was engaged in writing; his Biblia, det är all den Heliga skrift, med förklaringar was one of Baptist publisher Per Palmqvist 's most significant publications. Upon his friend Wieselgren's death in 1877, he buried him at Stampens Cemetery in Gothenburg. He was the first president of the organization Lapska missionens vänner  [ sv ] , founded in 1880, which supported missions work in Lappmarken and

5723-434: The leader. Deaneries with a diocesan cathedral are called domprosteri . Titular provosts can also sometimes be appointed, in Swedish called prost or titulärprost . The dean and head minister of a cathedral is called domprost , "cathedral dean" or "cathedral provost", and is a member of the cathedral chapter as its vice chairman. At the parish level, a parish is called a församling . A more archaic term for

5820-404: The major instructors on the texts. In 1526, all Catholic printing presses were suppressed, and two-thirds of the Church's tithes were appropriated for the payment of the national debt. A final breach was made with the traditions of the old religion at the Riksdag called by the king at Västerås in 1544. Other changes of the Reformation included the abolition of some Catholic rituals. However,

5917-686: The mission field again in 1840. He then returned to Basel, where he served as a teacher at the Mission Institute. After working for a time as a traveling preacher in Switzerland, Germany and France, Fjellstedt returned to Sweden in 1843, where he was involved in teaching, writing and training. This involved a preaching tour in which he preached for 100,000 people in most of the counties of southern and central Sweden, speaking engagingly about his mission work. One priest, P. Wagenius, after hearing Fjellstedt's preaching likely in 1857, described

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6014-630: The more prosperous farms in the area. He walked the 100-kilometre (62 mi) distance there. He then studied in Karlstad for three and a half years, renting living space from a tavernkeeper and having to sleep on the lid of a wooden chest with his coat for a blanket. In the school's name register he was for the first time given the surname Fjellstedt, after his home village of Fjällane. In 1823, Fjellstedt began studies at Lund University in Christian ministry. There he met Esaias Tegnér , who encouraged him, even stating: "I have seen, tested and approved Peter Fjellstedt." He later stayed in Småland for over

6111-427: The most important tasks of the EFS was the distribution of Christian literature and tracts , which was largely carried out by colporteurs. Much of the literature was produced by the EFS publishing house, which was founded in the same year as the movement and since 1992 has been part of Verbum Förlag  [ sv ] . The first book published by the EFS publishing house was Luther's Church Postil , in 1860, which

6208-420: The municipality of Skellefteå . In 1857, the EFS bought Scottish Methodist missionary George Scott 's former church building, consecrated in 1840 as the first free church in Sweden, after he was forced to leave the country due to his preaching. Under the EFS, the church became Bethlehem Church . In 1857 the newspaper Budbäraren  [ sv ] was founded with Bernhard Wadström as editor. One of

6305-430: The name Salt Scout  [ sv ] (formerly EFS Scout), with about 2,000 members. EFS is involved in mission work in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Tanzania, Malawi and India and has a couple of sailors' stations. The EFS mission director has been Kerstin Oderhem  [ sv ] since 2017. She is the 20th mission director of EFS and the first woman. She succeeded Stefan Holmström  [ sv ] , who took up

6402-626: The organization to begin mission work among the Oromo people in the Horn of Africa . In 1865 the EFS' first missionaries, C. J. Carlsson, L. J. Lange, and P. E. Kjellberg were sent to East Africa in what is now Eritrea . This was the first foreign mission project undertaken by the Church of Sweden or Swedish church organisations. In the early 1880s, four young missionary students from Eritrea were sent to Sweden for training at Johannelund: Onesimus Nesib , Marqos Girmai, Tewolde-Medhin Gebre-Medhin (1860–1930), Haile-Mikael Kidanu (1856–1926) and Hagena Natanael (Jigo). The latter died in Sweden in 1888, but

6499-486: The organization's mission director, though not without controversy: although he "had obtained his chair in bitter competition with a person advocating the new trend of critical scholarship in Bible exegesis , he was himself considered too 'modern'." Missionssällskapet Bibeltrogna Vänner broke off from the EFS in 1911 under the leadership of Axel B. Svensson  [ sv ] , a believer in verbal inspiration who, among other things, objected to Kolmodin's closer ties to

6596-407: The organization. Its first two students in the 1840s were some of the first Swedish missionaries to China, Carl Joseph Fast and Anders Elgqvist  [ sv ] . The institute moved first to Stockholm in 1856 and later to Uppsala in 1859, where it was renamed in 1862 and became a school for future priests: the Fjellstedt School . Fjellstedt was awarded an honorary doctorate of theology by

6693-459: The others returned to their homeland as graduates and continued their missionary work among their compatriots as pastors. In Estonia, the organization also undertook mission work among the Estonian Swedes until 1887 and again after 1918, when the Republic of Estonia was founded. The EFS has later also carried out missionary work in other parts of East Africa ( Ethiopia , Somalia , Tanzania ) as well as in India, Israel and other countries. In

6790-450: The perspective of salvation). The majority of the EFS national board supported Nilsson's view, but a number of members were very critical. This led to a lengthy debate in the newspaper Budbäraren and the EFS of Västerbotten 's newspaper Vårt budskap . The critics made accusations against Nilsson and Johannelund teachers Birger Olsson  [ sv ] and Agne Nordlander  [ sv ] . The harshest criticism, however,

6887-411: The political independents' Partipolitiskt obundna i Svenska kyrkan (POSK) and Frimodig kyrka . The Church of Sweden maintains the historic threefold ministry of bishops , priests , and deacons , and has approximately 5,000 ordained clergy in total. It practices direct ordination, also called ordination per saltum (literally, ordination by a leap), in which candidates are directly ordained to

6984-417: The population. After the death of Gustav Vasa, Sweden was ruled by John III , who had Catholicizing tendencies, and then by his more openly Catholic son, Sigismund , who was also ruler of Catholic Poland . The latter was eventually deposed from the Swedish throne by his uncle, who acceded to the throne as Charles IX , and used the Lutheran church as an instrument in his power struggle against his nephew. He

7081-425: The position of state church . The high membership numbers arise because, until 1996, all newborn children were made members, unless their parents had actively cancelled their membership. Approximately 2% of the church's members are regular attenders. According to a Gallup poll conducted in 2009, 17% of the Swedish population considered religion as an important part of their daily life. King Gustav Vasa instigated

7178-471: The post of mission director on 1 June 2009. Since the annual meeting in 2019, Lars Olov Eriksson  [ sv ] is the chairman of the board. The EFS shares the Evangelical Lutheran confession of the Church of Sweden, but on this basis emphasizes in particular the need for an individual position on faith and that this should have consequences for daily life. The individualistic trait

7275-458: The prophetic promises about the time when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, just as the waters cover the bottom of the sea. I remember how vividly and joyfully for the Christian hope he described the stream of living water which, according to Ezek. 47 and other passages, proceeds from the house of the Lord, and spreads in greater and greater abundance over the wasteland into

7372-610: The same time as the other Nordic countries , when the Swedish King Olof was baptized. This left only a modest gap between the Christianization of Scandinavia and the Great Schism , however there are some Scandinavian/Swedish saints who are venerated eagerly by many Orthodox Christians , such as St. Olaf . However, Norse paganism and other pre-Christian religious systems survived in the territory of what

7469-436: The scene: "When I go back even further in my memory and search for such heavenly impressions, which are sweet to the spirit, I remember a beautiful summer evening in the Östersund church, when the western sun shone through the windows and shone around the man of God, who then stood on the pulpit and testified about the divine, glorious world mission. With the most joyful assurance and rapture he recited and applied many, many of

7566-545: The sea, and makes all things healthy and fruitful by its life-giving power. Hearing his discourse from the Old and New Testaments, one understood that the divine revelation and the history of the development of the kingdom of God lay before him like an open book. His appearance, his cheerful assurance of faith, his clear, glorious presentation, made me think I saw and heard one of the Old Testament prophets standing there before

7663-460: The specific order of ministry for which they have trained. This is an alternative approach to the sequential ordination of other historic churches (including the Anglican, Orthodox, and Catholic churches) in which candidates must be ordained in the strict sequence of deacon, then priest, then bishop. A Church of Sweden priest can be ordained directly to that office, without any previous ordination as

7760-497: The theological basis for the movement's extensive missionary work. In the mid-1800s, the growing free-church movement as well as foreign churches such as the Free Church of Scotland and the Methodist Church began to influence Swedish Lutherans, such as revivalist preacher and writer Carl Olof Rosenius , in a Pietist direction centered on conversion , revival , and missions work (see Mission Friends ). This included

7857-638: The third-largest in the world, after the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania . A member of the Porvoo Communion , the church professes Lutheranism . It is composed of thirteen dioceses , divided into parishes. It is an open national church which, working with a democratic organisation together with the ministry of the church, covers

7954-438: The traditional liturgical role (and vesture) in the Swedish Church, their principal focus of work is outside the parish community, working in welfare roles. Nonetheless, deacons are attached to local parishes to be connected with church communities, and with a parish priest. The Church of Sweden is divided into thirteen dioceses ( Swedish : stift ), each with a bishop and cathedral chapter (Swedish: domkapitel ). A bishop

8051-646: The whole nation. The Primate of the Church of Sweden, as well as the Metropolitan of all Sweden, is the Archbishop of Uppsala . It is liturgically and theologically " high church ", having retained priests, vestments , and the Mass during the Swedish Reformation . In common with other Evangelical Lutheran churches (particularly in the Nordic and Baltic states), the Church of Sweden maintains

8148-477: The work of priests and lay workers. However, SKUT does not have its own bishop, and is placed under the episcopal oversight of the Bishop of Visby . [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Diocese of Kalmar existed as a superintendentia from 1603 to 1678 and as a diocese between 1678 and 1915, at which time it

8245-765: Was decided that the church would retain the three original Christian creeds : the Apostolic , the Athanasian , and the Nicene . In 1686, the Riksdag of the Estates adopted the Book of Concord , although only certain parts, labelled Confessio fidei , were considered binding, and the other texts merely explanatory. Confessio fidei included the three aforementioned Creeds, the Augsburg Confession and two Uppsala Synod decisions from 1572 and 1593. During

8342-406: Was directed at Nilsson. He chose to resign from the EFS in 1969 because he no longer felt that he had the unanimous support of the board. Twelve members expressed their support for Nilsson in Budbäraren , while four members expressed reservations. The effects of the debate were also that doctor of theology David Hedegård  [ sv ] resigned his membership in the EFS and became one of

8439-550: Was dismissed from his position as an EFS representative. American preacher D. L. Moody , who placed a strong emphasis on common Christian mission work despite denominational differences, was a strong influence on Waldenström – and other Swedish Christians. Thus, when a proposal to change the confessional position of the Evangelical Mission to allow others such as the Mission Friends , Baptists, and Methodists

8536-512: Was editor of the EFS's educational periodical Barnens vän . From 1906 to 1918, Axel Rappe , one of Sweden's most successful military officers of the late 19th century, was chairman of the foundation. Ruth Forsling was a prominent liberal activist and politician affiliated with the EFS. The EFS has its origins in the Läsare revival movement, to which Rosenius and other influential figures belonged, so-called because of its strong emphasis on

8633-513: Was godmother to his son Joel. From 1861 to 1863, he preached in Överum . He also led a church meeting in which it was discussed whether or not to stay in the state church. Participants included Carl Olof Rosenius , Gustav Adolph Lammers , Bernhard Wadström  [ sv ] , Per August Ahlberg , and Per Magnus Elmblad  [ sv ] . After that, he worked at the Gothenburg cathedral with Peter Wieselgren for nine years, then spent several years in Germany before returning to Uppsala in

8730-643: Was installed in Lund . Uppsala was made Sweden's archdiocese in 1164, and remains so today. The papal diplomat William of Modena attended a church meeting in Skänninge in March 1248, where the ties to the Catholic Church were strengthened. The most cherished national Catholic saints were the 12th-century King Eric the Saint and the 14th-century visionary Bridget , but other regional heroes also had

8827-508: Was merged with the Diocese of Växjö . Another diocese which no longer exists is the Diocese of Mariestad , which existed as superintendentia between 1580 and 1646 and was replaced by the Diocese of Karlstad . The dioceses of Uppsala, Strängnäs, Västerås, Skara, Linköping, Växjö, and the now-Finnish Diocese of Turku , are the original seven Swedish dioceses, dating from the Middle Ages. The rest have come into existence after that time and

8924-426: Was more widespread, and became normative, the practice of sequential ordination is attested in the seventeenth century Swedish Church. Bishop Johannes Rudbeckius (1619–1646) habitually ordained men to the diaconate in advance of ordaining them to the priesthood, and this was said by Archbishop Johannes Lenaeus of Uppsala (in 1653) to be usual Church of Sweden practice. In the Evangelical Lutheran churches, including

9021-539: Was published in eight editions and 70,000 copies. Rosenius' focus on foreign missions led the EFS, which had focused on domestic missions work, to decide as of their 1861 annual meeting to carry out foreign missionary work. The following year, the Evangeliska Fosterlands-Stiftelsens Missions-Institut, now Johannelunds Teologiska Högskola , was founded for this purpose. Fjellstedt and Bishop Samuel Gobat influenced

9118-833: Was rejected at the 1878 conference, the Swedish Mission Covenant was created that same year under Waldenström's leadership, which a number of missionary societies and members then joined. In 2003, it changed its name to the Swedish Mission Church (SMK) and in 2011, together with the Baptist Union of Sweden and the United Methodist Church in Sweden , a new denomination was formed called the Uniting Church in Sweden . In 1893, Adolf Kolmodin  [ sv ] became

9215-543: Was sent by the Church Mission Society to Palayamkottai in Tamil Nadu , India, for his first missionary assignment. After three years, he returned home due to poor health, with one of his children dying on the trip home. In Stuttgart, he met one of his old friends from Basel, German missionary Johann Ludwig Krapf . He went on a further assignment to Izmir , Turkey, in 1836, as well as Malta, but left

9312-566: Was started. At the end of the 1960s, there was another debate on biblical views within the EFS, very similar in content to that of 1911. In connection with Johannelund's move to Uppsala and the start of a collaboration with Uppsala University , rector Torsten Nilsson felt it was timely to reflect on the prevailing biblical view in the movement. Nilsson's method of interpreting the Bible can be classified as moderately historical-critical , where he himself believed that Scripture needed to be interpreted Christologically and soteriologically (from

9409-639: Was supported by the Swedish royal family and the Church of Sweden. Fjellstedt was part of the Nyevangelism movement and a key figure among the Mission Friends . He was critical of the state of Christianity in the country. Around 1850 he wrote to the missionary inspector Blumhardt in Basel, "The state of Christianity in Sweden is very deplorable, and the cause is an ignorance which surpasses all imagination, and that among all classes of people." Fjellstedt placed an emphasis on Christian eschatology , holding

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