Swedish Alliance Mission
Swedish Alliance Mission | |
---|---|
Svenska Alliansmissionen | |
Classification | Protestant |
Orientation | Protestantism |
Region | international |
Language | Swedish |
Headquarters | Jönköping, Sweden |
Origin | 1919 |
Merger of | Jönköping Mission Society, Jönköpingskretsens kristliga ungdomsförbund, Skandinaviska Alliansmissionen i Sverige |
Members | 13,777 (2020) |
The Swedish Alliance Mission, SAM, (Swedish: Svenska alliansmissionen) is a Christian denomination in Sweden, mainly based in the town of Jönköping. Its roots are in the 19th-century nyevangelism revival.
As of 2020[update], the denomination had 13,777 members spread among 153 Swedish congregations and congregations outside Sweden.[1]
The denomination was established in 1919 as a merger of Jönköping Mission Society, the Jönköping District Christian Youth Association and the Scandinavian Alliance Mission in Sweden.
History
The Swedish Alliance Mission has its roots in the nyevangelism revival of the 19th century, mainly in Jönköping and neighboring counties. One of its leading figures was Per Magnus Elmblad , who in 1836 became the priest of Kristine Church in Jönköping. There he invited people to read the Bible, and an "awakened" group was formed. Elmblad was soon transferred due to protests[2] and was later active in the Swedish Evangelical Mission (Evangeliska Fosterlandsstiftelsen, EFS).[3]
The group in Jönköping continued to meet in homes, despite the
In 1860, Jönköping's first mission building was built,[7] with room for about 1000 people. It was mainly used for the association's four quarterly meetings, which were held in connection with Jönköping's market days in January, March, May and October. These gatherings attracted many visitors from an area tens of kilometers away from the city, so the mission building soon felt too small. Thus, in 1876, a larger building was constructed at Odengatan/Målargatan på Öster in Jönköping, with room for about 3000 people.[8]
The number of traveling preachers gradually increased and they traveled to an increasingly large area, including Västergötland and Östergötland in addition to Småland. In 1886, pastor Karl Palmberg became chairman of the Jönköping Mission Society.[9] Palmberg, a priest in Månsarp parish, was a recognized public speaker and gathered large audiences.[10] Gradually, more and more mission buildings were built by the local assistant associations, to be used for meetings when the traveling preacher came to visit, but also for auctions. Palmberg was a popular speaker at the inauguration of local mission buildings.
In these buildings, local missionary associations were formed, sometimes the first association in the town, with a board, treasury and minutes. Some missionary societies joined the Jönköping Mission Society as auxiliary organizations,[8] others joined the Swedish Mission Covenant; still others joined both. Initially, these associations had no employed preachers, but as finances allowed, circuit preachers or local preachers were employed in larger places, with the number of traveling preachers gradually decreasing.
In 1855, a Christian youth association was formed in Jönköping, which organized Bible studies, choirs and a variety of events.[11] Members would, for example, visit elderly people every week to distribute and read newspapers, taking the previous week's issue to be distributed at the next location. Similar associations were gradually formed in other places within the Mission Society's area of operation. In 1892, the Jönköpingskretsens Ynglingaförbund ('Jönköping District Youth Association') was formed by 18 local youth associations, whose main task was to send a missionary to China under their own auspices.[12][13] Similarly, the girls formed young women's associations, which also cooperated in a joint association. The boys' and girls' associations gradually merged and were then called youth associations. In 1907, Jönköpingskretsens Ungdomsförbund ('Jönköping District Youth Association') was formed, bringing together both boys and girls, an organization that from 1919 was called the Swedish Alliance Mission Youth Association (Svenska Alliansmissionens Ungdomsförbund, SAU).[14]
Swedish-American
In 1919, the Swedish Alliance Mission was formed through the merger of the Jönköping Mission Society, Scandinavian Alliance Mission in Sweden and the Youth Association.[15] This was a natural step, as the three organizations had their roots in the same new evangelical revival and mainly involved the same people.
The Swedish Alliance Mission subsequently evolved from an intra-church mission organization to a free church denomination. The legacy of the revival lives on through evangelism and mission. It has done extensive youth work, which has been a distinctive feature of the movement.[16]
Theology
The Swedish Alliance Mission's theology is linked to its historical heritage. In particular, the Swedish Alliance Mission has roots from the
The early roots of the Alliance Mission, like much of the rest of the revivalist movement, used a form of civil disobedience to the Conventicle Act (1726–1858), i.e. the ban on gathering as a religious group without a priest present.
A theological belief that characterized the roots of the Swedish Alliance Mission, as well as other parts of the revival movement, was the
The Swedish Alliance Mission has held to the
The Swedish Alliance Mission was influenced by other parts of the revivalist movement in Sweden, perhaps mainly after it developed from an intra-church missionary association to a free church denomination. The influence of Baptist baptismal practice (believer's baptism) is certainly present in the Swedish Alliance Mission; it follows the so-called "double baptismal practice"[18] though its roots are clearly anchored in a Lutheran theological view.[19]
The
The most obvious example of collaboration and the influence of the ecumenical movement, of which the Alliance Mission is a part, is the joint theology and leadership training program Academy for Leadership and Theology (ALT), run together with the Pentecostal Alliance of Independent Churches and the Evangelical Free Church in Sweden.[20]
See also
References
- ^ "Om oss". Swedish Alliance Mission (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ a b "Religiösa organisationer". Jönköpings läns folkrörelsearkiv (in Swedish). 2016-12-14. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon(in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ Lodin, Sven (1959). "Rosenius' fortsatte innflytelse". C. O. Rosenius: biografi (in Norwegian). Translated by Andersen, Knut. Lunde. p. 350.
- ISBN 978-91-979159-1-5.
- Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon (in Swedish). Archivedfrom the original on 2023-05-07. Retrieved 2023-05-13.
- ^ "Gamla missionshuset vid Odengatan nr 5 och 7 i Jönköping byggdes år 1860 och användes av Jönköpings Stadsmissionsförening". digitaltmuseum.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ a b c "Svenska Alliansmissionens historia" (PDF). Svenska Alliansmissionen (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ "Palmberg, Karl Johan". Svenska män och kvinnor (in Swedish). Vol. 6. 1949 – via Project Runeberg.
- ^ "Palmbergsjubileum". Church of Sweden (in Swedish). 2020-05-26. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ "KFUK-KFUM". National Archives of Sweden (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ "När Frikyrkorörelsen kom till Klefshult". Skillingaryd (in Swedish). 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ "Jönköpingskretsens Ynglingaförbund". Jönköpings läns folkrörelsearkiv (in Swedish). 2020-11-30. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ "Historia". Svenska Alliansmissionens Ungdom (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ "Svenska alliansmissionen" (PDF). Swedish Agency for Support to Faith Communities (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ "Svenska Alliansmissionens historia". alliansmissionen.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2015-03-21. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ Carlzon, Jacob (2012-05-29). Så ock på jorden (PDF) (Thesis) (in Swedish). Örebro Teologiska Högskola.
- ^ "Svenska alliansmissionen". Christian Council of Sweden (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ Alvarsson, Jan-Åke; Stävare, Nils-Eije. "Likheter och olikheter i svensk frikyrka" (PDF). Tro & liv (in Swedish). 1 (8).
- ^ "Pastors- och ledarskapsprogrammet, PLP". www.folkhogskola.nu (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-05-23.
External links
Media related to Swedish Alliance Mission at Wikimedia Commons