Uniting Church in Sweden

Uniting Church in Sweden (Swedish: Equmeniakyrkan) is a united Protestant denomination in Sweden.

Uniting Church in Sweden
Equmeniakyrkan
Logotype Equmeniakyrkan (Sweden)
ClassificationUnited church
OrientationProtestantism
TheologyPietist, Reformed
AssociationsWorld Communion of Reformed Churches, Baptist World Alliance, International Federation of Free Evangelical Churches, United Methodist Church, European Baptist Federation, World Methodist Council, World Council of Churches, Conference of European Churches[1]
Region Sweden
HeadquartersSweden Bromma, Sweden
Origin4 June 2011
Merger ofBaptist Union of Sweden, Mission Covenant Church of Sweden, United Methodist Church of Sweden
Membersca. 59,000 (2022)
Official websitewww.equmeniakyrkan.se

History

It was established on 4 June 2011 by the merger of the United Methodist Church, Baptist Union of Sweden, and Mission Covenant Church of Sweden.[2]

Initially the name of the unified denomination was the Joint Future Church (Swedish: Gemensam framtid), before the name was changed during a conference in Karlstad on 11 May 2013 to the present Uniting Church in Sweden or Equmeniakyrkan in Swedish.[3]

Organization

The Uniting Church in Sweden consists of about 640 local congregations in Sweden, which collectively have about 59,000 members. The church serves around 130,000 people as of 2021.[4]

Since 2007, the merging denominations also had a common youth organization called Equmenia. The intention to form the new denomination was made in the respective conferences in 2008, 2009 and 2010 before the final decision was made in 2011.

Since the inaugural meeting in 2011, the denomination's president was Ann-Sofie Lasell, who was succeeded in 2014 by Tomas Bjöersdorff and in 2017 by Susanne Rodmar. The current president, Kerstin Torkelsson Enlund, was elected in 2020. The church conference in Linköping in 2012 elected Lasse Svensson as church leader and Olle Alkholm and Sofia Camnerin as deputy church leaders.[5] All three were re-elected at the 2016 church conference in Stockholm. At the 2020 church conference, Lasse Svensson was re-elected as church leader, and Karin Wiborn and Joakim Hagerius were newly elected as deputy church leaders.[6]

The Uniting Church in Sweden runs University College Stockholm (formerly Stockholm School of Theology)[7] and along with Equmenia runs Härnösand Folk High School, Sjövik Folk High School,[8] Karlskoga Folk High School,[9] Bromma Folk High School and Södra Vätterbygdens folkhögskola.[10] Together with the Swedish Alliance Mission, it runs the aid organization Diakonia.[11] The Uniting Church in Sweden is a member organization of the study association Bilda.[12] Along with a number of other Christian denominations and organizations, it runs the nonprofit social work organization Hela människan.[13]

Ecumenism

The ecumenical agreements that previously existed between the Church of Sweden, the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden and the United Methodist Church of Sweden have since 2016 been adapted to a similar agreement between the Church of Sweden and the Uniting Church in Sweden.[14]

References
  1. "Samarbeten och ekumenik | Equmeniakyrkan". Gemensamframtid.se. Archived from the original on 10 January 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
  2. Geoffrey Wainwright, Paul McPartlan, The Oxford Handbook of Ecumenical Studies, Oxford University Press, UK, 2021, p. 102
  3. "Uniting Church in Sweden". World Council of Churches. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  4. "Statistik om trossamfund". Swedish Agency for Support to Faith Communities (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  5. Manfredh, Thomas (16 January 2012). "Lasse Svensson vann kampen om kyrkoledarposten i GF". Dagen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 16 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  6. Österberg, Thomas (21 September 2020). "Här är de nya kyrkoledarna i Equmeniakyrkan". Dagen (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  7. "Organisation". Teologiska högskolan Stockholm (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  8. "Huvudman, styrelse". Sjöviks folkhögskola (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  9. "Om skolan – Gemensam information". Karlskoga Folkhögskola (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  10. "Om oss – Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola". Södra Vätterbygdens Folkhögskola (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  11. "Diakonia 2022-2025". Openaid (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  12. "Medlemsorganisationer". Bilda (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 26 February 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  13. "Huvudmän". Hela Människan Sverige (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 17 April 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  14. "Ekumenisk överenskommelse mellan Svenska kyrkan och Equmeniakyrkan med kommentarer" (PDF). Equmeniakyrkan (in Swedish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 January 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
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