Back كنيسة السويد Arabic Ilesia de Suecia AST Царква Швецыі Byelorussian Església de Suècia Catalan Švédská církev Czech Svenska kyrkan Danish Schwedische Kirche German Εκκλησία της Σουηδίας Greek Eklezio de Svedio Esperanto Iglesia de Suecia Spanish

Church of Sweden

Church of Sweden
Svenska kyrkan
Arms of the Church of Sweden with its centred crown, representing both the victory of Christ over death[1] and the crown of Erik the Holy,[2] Patron Saint of Sweden.
TypeCommunion
ClassificationChristian
OrientationProtestant
ScriptureChristian Bible
TheologyHigh church Lutheranism[3]
PolityEpiscopal
GovernanceGeneral Synod
PrimateMartin Modéus
Associations
Full communion
RegionSweden
HeadquartersUppsala, Sweden
Founder
Origin1014, establishment of the first Swedish diocese, the Diocese of Skara

1164, establishment of the Archdiocese of Uppsala

1536, separation from Rome through the abolition of Canon Law

1593, adoption of the Augsburg Confession
Separated fromRoman Catholic Church (1536)
SeparationsEvangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (1809)
The Mission Province (2003)
Congregations1 288 in Sweden, 31 abroad (2023)[5]
Members5 484 319 baptized[6] members (2023)[5]
Official websitesvenskakyrkan.se
Logo

The Church of Sweden (Swedish: Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden.[7] 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 the third-largest in the world, after the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.[8]

A member of the Porvoo Communion, the church professes Lutheranism. It is composed of thirteen dioceses, divided into parishes.[9] It is an open national church which, working with a democratic organisation together with the ministry of the church, covers 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 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 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,[10] as the Lutheran Reformation aimed at conserving the faith and traditions of the Church while removing what it saw as medieval innovations.[11][12]

Its membership of 5,484,319 people accounts for 52.1% (per the end of 2023) of the Swedish population.[5] Until 2000 it held 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.[13] Approximately 2% of the church's members are regular attenders.[14]

  1. ^ "Svenska kyrkans heraldiska vapen". Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Mordet löst - efter 850 år - Upsala Nya Tidning". 16 March 1916. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  3. ^ Podmore, C. J. (1993). Together in Mission and Ministry: The Porvoo Common Statement, With, Essays on Church and Ministry in Northern Europe : Conversations Between the British and Irish Anglican Churches and the Nordic and Baltic Lutheran Churches. Church House Publishing. pp. 59–. ISBN 978-0-7151-5750-3. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  4. ^ Lasserre, Matthieu (27 March 2023). "The American Cathedral in Paris celebrates 100 years". La Croix. Paris. Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Svenska kyrkan i siffror". Svenska kyrkan (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 1 November 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Medlemskap i Svenska kyrkan - vad innebär det? - Lova Begravningsbyrå". Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  7. ^ Sidenvall, Erik (2012). "Church and State in Sweden: A contemporary Report". Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte. 25 (2): 311–319. doi:10.13109/kize.2012.25.2.311. ISSN 0932-9951. JSTOR 43751965.
  8. ^ Member churches Archived 14 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine The Lutheran World Federation
  9. ^ "SFS 1998:1591" Archived 29 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Riksdagen
  10. ^ Kyrkoordning för Svenska kyrkan: med kommentarer och angränsande lagstiftning. Verbum 2005. pp43-44
  11. ^ Brown, Christopher Boyd (30 June 2009). Singing the Gospel: Lutheran Hymns and the Success of the Reformation. Harvard University Press. p. 59-60. ISBN 978-0-674-02891-3. Luther's example and influence helped to ensure not only the place of vernacular hymns, but also the preservation of much traditional church music along with the new polyphony; wherever there were Latin schools, Luther desired that the traditional music should be maintained. Though Luther and his followers eliminated some elements of medieval liturgy for theological reasons—especially the canon of the Mass—Lutherans retained not only the structure and texts of the liturgy but also a great many of the associated hymns and music.
  12. ^ Braaten, Carl E. (1985). Principles of Lutheran Theology. Fortress Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-4514-0484-5. The Reformation of Martin Luther was not the inauguration of a new church. The chief aim of Luther and of those who joined his movement was to reform the only church they knew—the Roman Catholic church. Luther and Melanchton as well as all of the confessing fathers who built on their foundations saw themselves in accord with the consensus of the first five centuries, particularly as this was expressed in the creeds and councils of the ancient church. The abuses in the church were attacked as medieval innovations which stood condemned by the Word of God
  13. ^ Wendy Sloane (4 October 1995). "Sweden Snaps Strong Ties Between Church and State". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  14. ^ "Liturgy and Worship" Archived 22 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine

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