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38-822: The Swedish Mission Society was founded in 1835 by George Scott , Samuel Owen , Johan Olof Wallin , Mathias Rosenblad , and Carl Fredrik af Wingård , with the aim of promoting mission work among the Sámi in Lappmarken through direct missionary work and by promoting public interest. The task included organizing missionary church services , publishing missionary tracts , supporting young men who wanted to be trained as missionaries and catechists in Lappmarken. In 1839, SMS established three mission schools for Sámi children in Knaften, Mårdsele and Bastuträsk . A few years later,

76-524: A Chartist) and spent eighteen months in jail for his presence at an unlawful assembly and his use there of seditious language. Born in Edinburgh in 1805, he moved to Manchester when his minister father was posted there in 1819. During his religious career, he worked in a variety of places (including Stockholm and Newcastle-upon-Tyne ) before arriving in Ashton-under-Lyne in 1832. He was

114-540: A meeting need only be one such that taking all the circumstances into consideration cannot but endanger the public peace, and raise fears and jealousies among the king's subjects . Stephens was convicted and sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment. He served his sentence in Chester Castle, under far from onerous conditions, and was released eight days early, to allow him to attend his father's funeral. Heavy sureties had to be given for his good behaviour for

152-855: A preacher until his death in Glasgow on 28 January 1874. Rayner Stephens Joseph Rayner Stephens (8 March 1805 – 18 February 1879) was a Methodist minister who offended the Wesleyan Conference by his support for separating the Church of England from the State. Resigning from the Wesleyan Connection, he became free to campaign for factory reform, and against the New Poor Law. He became associated with 'physical force' Chartism (although he later denied he had ever been

190-515: A school for Sámi girls was started in Tannsele. Further mission schools were established in the 1850s, including in Gafsele , Bäsksele and Glommersträsk . About fifty catechists and teachers, male and female, were sent out. The Swedish Mission Society also supported several foreign missionary societies and sent Theodore Hamberg as a missionary to China in 1846. The organization was a forerunner of

228-587: A true bill both for the Leigh meeting and for sermons preached in Ashton-under-Lyne: however Stephens was eventually tried at Chester in connection with a meeting at Hyde (then in Cheshire) on 14 November 1838. Stephens was charged with attending "an unlawful meeting , seditiously and tumultuously met together by torch-light, and with fire-arms disturbing the public peace" and two counts of speaking at

266-530: A view on Church Establishment contrary to that of Wesleyans and of John Wesley . Stephens was willing to accept a temporary suspension on most points, but not on deviation from the views of Wesley, in whose writings he found views matching his own. The national conference nonetheless asserted that true Wesleyans were in favour of the existence of an Established Church and lengthened his suspension: Stephens resigned and set up his own "Stephenite" churches in Ashton-under-Lyne and Stalybridge . He became active in

304-574: The Svenska nykterhetssällskapet (the Swedish Temperance Society). The organization would reach over 100,000 members in the 1840s. In 1833, Scott married Janet Kelley. Their son James Scott (1835–1911) was a missionary to South Africa. Scott's missionary work grew and he founded several periodicals around this time, including Budbäraren  [ sv ] , Missionstidningen , and Fosterlandsvännen . Scott initially had

342-676: The Swedish Church Mission  [ sv ] , founded in 1874, after which it focused exclusively on activities in Sápmi . Sámi activist Torkel Tomasson attended a Swedish Mission Society school for a time. The Swedish Mission Society took over the activities of the Friends of the Lapland Mission  [ sv ] in 1934, when the latter was closed down. The preacher August Lundberg  [ sv ] and

380-598: The British workers in his factory. His goal, while perhaps initially to spread Methodist teachings, was to inspire spiritual renewal among the people in a manner that deemphasized religious sectarianism . He learned Swedish quickly, and in 1831 also began to preach and hold meetings in Swedish, in violation of the Conventicle Act banning all religious meetings other than those of the Church of Sweden . Thus, due to

418-650: The Friends of the Lapland Mission had also taken the initiative to build Lannavaara Church  [ sv ] , which was consecrated in 1934. The Swedish Mission Society was responsible for running the church until 1954. The Swedish Mission Society, with Bishop Bengt Jonzon  [ sv ] of Luleå as the driving force, founded the Sámi Folk High School  [ sv ] in Jokkmokk in 1942 and financed its activities until 1972. In 1961

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456-681: The battle out, he should live misrepresentation and prejudice down. And so it had proved He campaigned on the inadequacy and mal-distribution of relief during the Cotton Famine ; attention was drawn to this and to Stephens' past history when there were riots on the relief issue in Stalybridge . In 1868 he lectured against disestablishment of the Irish Church . Stephens is buried in St John's Church, Dukinfield and commemorated by

494-409: The blessings He has endowed you withal, will, in his own good time, if that time should come - God will teach your hands to war, and your fingers to fight" In December 1838, Stephens was arrested, charged with having participated in a tumultuous assembly at Leigh on 13 November 1838 and having incited the meeting to violence against inhabitants of the neighbourhood. A Lancashire grand jury returned

532-523: The brother of the philologist George Stephens .; three of his other brothers ( John , Edward and Samuel ) emigrated to Southern Australia and played their parts in the early years of that colony. Stephens gave a number of talks in favour of disestablishment and became secretary of the Ashton branch of a society arguing for disestablishment. His district conference attempted to discipline him for engaging in controversial political activity, and for taking

570-557: The controversy, "one of his important and successful strategies was to attract influential friends and fellow workers", including Count Mathias Rosenblad and Lord Bloomfield . In 1832, Owen and Scott initiated one of the first Swedish temperance societies , Kungsholmens Nykterhetsförening ; the following year it expanded into the rest of the city of Stockholm. In 1837, the two, along with Bengt Franc-Sparre  [ sv ] , August von Hartmansdorff  [ sv ] , Jöns Jacob Berzelius , Anders Retzius , and others, founded

608-464: The growing revivalist movements , including Pietism , Radical Pietism , and the Reader ( läsare ) movement. With his low-church Pietist views, he inspired and supported several people who would become leaders in the many Swedish revival movements that would flourish in the latter half of the 19th century. Among these were Swedish Baptist pioneers F. O. Nilsson and Anders Wiberg , and co-founder of

646-470: The meeting. Witnesses said attendance at the meeting had been about 5,000 mostly from outside Hyde, firearms had been discharged, banners with slogans such as "Tyrants, believe, and tremble" and "BLOOD" had been displayed and the meeting had not broken up until midnight. It had been successfully argued (to secure the conviction of Orator Hunt in the aftermath of the Peterloo massacre ) that to be unlawful

684-472: The memory of the benevolent and heroic men who had first devoted themselves to this great work ( factory reform ). Nothing gave him so much satisfaction in the retrospect, as the humble part he had been permitted to take in this good cause. That he, with them, had been misunderstood, misrepresented, and maligned, was only what was to be expected in the nature of things. It was a hard battle, and he had fought it; hard things had to be said and he had said them. It

722-485: The movement for factory reform and in the anti-Poor Law movement. In both sermons and speeches he denounced the practices of millowners and the intentions of the new Poor Law as un-Christian and hence doomed to end in social upheaval and bloodshed. Like Richard Oastler he held Tory views on most issues; like Oastler he advised his followers that it was legal to arm themselves and that government would pay more attention to their views if they did. He and Oastler (who saw

760-534: The next five years, and he did not resume public speaking until participating in a campaign for better enforcement of the Ten Hours' Act, the Factory Act 1833 ( 3 & 4 Will. 4 . c. 103) (i.e. against the relay system) in 1849, explicitly holding non-compliance and non-enforcement to be responsible for social unrest and the more extreme forms that manifested itself in: "It is the practice of injustice towards

798-555: The organization Evangeliska fosterlandsstiftelsen (EFS, later the Swedish Evangelical Mission ) Carl Olof Rosenius . Rosenius initially came to Scott for guidance in a crisis of faith. Scott's inspiration led Rosenius to move to Stockholm to become his assistant; the two maintained a lifelong friendship and worked together for several years. In 1842 Scott and Rosenius would also found the journal Pietisten , for Mission Friends , together. Scott's influence

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836-442: The overthrow of the existing order by violence or by general strike: "My friends, never put your trust in, and never follow after, men who pretend to be able to manufacture a revolution. A revolution, a rolling away of the whole from evil to good, from wrong to right, from injustice and oppression to righteousness and equal rule, never yet was manufactured, and never will be manufactured. God, who teaches you what your rights are, what

874-567: The poor which estranges them from the institutions of their country, and leads them into many wild and unreasoning projects to obtain deliverance from the intolerable yoke that has been fastened upon them" He supported opposition to the 'Compromise Act', the Factories Act 1850 ( 13 & 14 Vict. c. 54), and took part in abortive campaigns for legislation for a true ten-hour day enforced by stoppage of machinery. In 1857, he looked back on his agitational heyday History would do justice to

912-568: The situation in Sweden in disparaging terms. Upon Scott's return, the press called for his exile and he was told he was no longer safe. After a riot in the church on Palm Sunday in which Scott's life was threatened, the Governor of Stockholm Mauritz Axel Lewenhaupt  [ sv ] banned him from preaching in Swedish. On 30 April, Scott was forced to leave Sweden. His work in Stockholm

950-695: The society changed its name to Svenska Missionssällskapet Kyrkan och Samerna ('the Swedish Missionary Society Church and the Sami'). It was dissolved in 2001. It has to some extent lived on in the Foundation Missionssällskapet Kyrkan och Samerna, based in Luleå and linked to the dioceses of Luleå and Härnösand . George Scott (missionary) George Scott (18 June 1804 – 28 January 1874)

988-410: The state church for offering communion to its members and attacked in sermons. Newspapers Aftonbladet , Tidning för Stora Kopparbergs län , and Dagligt Allehanda  [ sv ] wrote articles critical of him, adding to the tension. "By praising the people for leaving [Scott] untouched, new, aggressive signals were given. [Scott] could no longer walk in peace in the streets." At this point,

1026-542: The support of Rosenblad, af Wingård, and Peter Wieselgren began to wane. In 1841, he traveled to the United States on a fundraising trip at the request of Robert Baird and the American Bible Society in an attempt to pay off the church's debt after construction. During that time, Rosenius took on a greater role. Scott's talks were attended by two Swedes, who wrote home about his descriptions of

1064-602: The support of some of the clergy from the Church of Sweden. Together with Owen, priest Johan Olof Wallin , bishop Carl Fredrik af Wingård , Rosenblad, and others, Scott founded the Swedish Mission Society ( Svenska Missionssällskapet ) in 1835, an organization for missions work among the Sámi people. af Wingård also prayed at the chapel's mission prayer that year. Scott's work would build on and influence

1102-468: The transformation of Sweden's religious structure." Scott raised 2000 pounds in 1837 for the construction of a Methodist church, the English Church ( Engelska kyrka ). The building, with seating for over one thousand, was designed by Scottish architect Robert Blackwood and a revised version of the plans was submitted by Fredrik Blom . In 1838 Scott received approval for its construction. It

1140-610: The younger man as his natural successor) became associated with the Chartists , who also saw the new Poor Law, the rapacity and inhumanity of employers and the poverty of workers as issues requiring urgent attention, but sought to remedy them by fundamental political change. Whereas Oastler openly opposed the constitutional aspirations of the Chartists, and did not become involved in Chartism, Stephens addressed Chartist meetings and

1178-539: Was a Scottish Methodist missionary active in Stockholm from 1830 to 1842. His preaching has been described as the start of Sweden's Great Awakening that began in the 1840s. Scott was born 18 June 1804 in Edinburgh, Scotland, to Robert Scott, a master tailor, and Margaret Lumley. He grew up in a very religious home. On 2 April 1824 he married Elizabeth Masson; however, she died just a few years later in 1828. Scott

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1216-407: Was consecrated on 24–25 October 1840 as the first free church in Sweden with Johan Henrik Thomander and Pehr Brandell co-officiating. The church's membership quickly grew and Rosenius also soon took on a preaching role in the church. However, despite the legality of the church's construction, Scott continued to face increasing pressure from both religious circles and the media. He was reported to

1254-631: Was elected a delegate to the National Conference. However, as he later told his congregation, he was never a Radical, let alone a 'five-point man' : "I would rather walk to London on my bare knees, on sharp flint stones to attend an Anti-poor Law meeting, than be carried to London in a coach and six, pillowed with down to present that petition - the "national petition" to the House of Commons" Nor did his advice to followers to arm themselves indicate any support for 'physical force' Chartism or

1292-450: Was no kid glove work they had to do, but work that required roughish handling. He had been impelled by a stern sense of duty in all he had done, and whilst doing it had never stayed to sigh over the sorrow, or quail before the opposition he had encountered. He was too busy and too proud to turn aside to enter into explanations and defence, knowing well that if he died in harness his motives would receive posthumous vindication; that if he lived

1330-507: Was present in other ways as well: the biographical dictionary Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon describes Scott's "emphasis on the individual's momentary conversion and adherence to new forms of organization, as well as his connection with the work of the temperance movement" as "decisive for the entire development of the later Free Church movement," stating that, "after the Reformation, hardly any single foreigner has had as great an impact on

1368-613: Was quite uncommon in Sweden; due to Scott's influence, Palmqvist founded the first Baptist Sunday School in the country in the church that year. The building was bought by the EFS in 1857 and renamed Bethlehem Church. Scott continued to work as a traveling preacher taking three-year assignments in cities including Aberdeen, Liverpool, and Newcastle-on-Tyne. He was elected as president of the Methodist conference in Canada in 1866. Scott worked as

1406-620: Was raised Presbyterian but eagerly joined the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1827, engaging in lay ministry work and becoming a Sunday school teacher. He became a local preacher the next year and was ordained by the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in 1830. That year, Scott was sent to Stockholm to take over Joseph Rayner Stephens ' work. He first worked as a religious teacher and preacher for industrialist Samuel Owen and

1444-522: Was then left solely to Rosenius. The church building remained abandoned until 1851 when preacher Petrus Magnus Elmblad  [ sv ] began using it; his preaching in Swedish was allowed to continue. The same year, Scott was contacted in London by Per Palmqvist , brother of pioneer Baptist missionary Gustaf Palmquist , to learn about the Methodists' Sunday schools. At that time, Sunday school

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