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] 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.[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.[11] 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.[12]
1878 development of the
Catechism
the Uppsala Creed of 1909, preparing for communion with the Church of England
Eucharistic
the constitutions of (WCC)
World Council of Churches
the constitutions of (LWF)
Lutheran World Federation
Church of Sweden's official response to the
"Lima document"
a Council of the Bishops Letter in Important Theological Questions
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 the 19th and 20th centuries, a variety of teachings were officially approved, mostly directed towards ecumenism:
In practice, however, the Lutheran creed texts play a minor role, and instead the parishes rely on Lutheran tradition in coexistence 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 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 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.[13] 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.[14] A proposal to perform same-sex weddings was approved on 22 October 2009 by 176 of 249 voting members of the Church of Sweden Synod.[15]
In 2000 the Church of Sweden ceased to be a state church, but there remains a strong tradition of community connection with churches, particularly in relation to rites of passage, with many infants baptized and teenagers confirmed (currently 40% of all 14 year olds[16]) for families without formal church membership.
The Sisters of the Holy Paraclete (Helgeandssystrarna), who live in .[34]
Alsike Convent
The Brothers of the Holy Cross (Heliga korsets brödraskap), Benedictine monks who live at the in Sala, Västmanland.[35]
Östanbäck Monastery
The Sisters of St. Francis (Helige Franciskus systraskap), Franciscan nuns who live in in Sjövik.
Klaradals kloster
The Sisters of the Risen Saviour (Uppståndne frälsarens systraskap) who live in .
Överselö klostergård
The Daughters of Mary (Mariadöttrarna av Den Evangeliska Mariavägen) in .
Vallby
in Linköping, approved by the Bishop of Linköping in 2006, and inaugurated in 2014, a small contemplative and vegetarian convent, focused on climate issues;[36] it has links with the Anglican Society of Saint Margaret.[36]
The procession waiting to go inside for the Sunday mass and funeral of Sister Marianne, the first nun in the Church of Sweden since the reformation. At the end are nuns from Alsike Monastery.
Linköpings kloster
The Church of Sweden has several monastic communities.
Since 1994, the Church of Sweden has been part of the Porvoo Communion, bringing it into full Communion with 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.[38]
In 2021, the Church of Sweden apologized for its abuse of Sámi people over several centuries, including forcible Christianization, the mistreatment of children in Sámi schools, and collecting the remains of Sámi people for research on scientific racism and eugenics. The Church of Sweden described their "dark actions" against the Sámi as "colonial" and "legitimized repression".[40] Prior to apologizing, the Church of Sweden had produced a 1,100 page long document in 2019 compiling the church's history of oppressing Sámi people and erasing Sámi culture.[41]
