The Demise of the Church of Sweden
An eyewitness account from an ordained pastor of 35 years:
Sweden was a Christian country, we lived in a Christian society. Or did we? A society which in my case meant a town governed by the Social Democrats and the Trade Unions, in a country in decades ruled jointly by Trade Unions and Social Democrats, who originally wanted a separation between Church and State, but later changed their mind and became the staunchest upholders of the State Church system in order to democratize" it from within by taking over the theological education, ruling the church from the inside by politically chosen local church boards, by politically nominated, chosen delegates to the Church Synod and electors for the election of bishops. And when the Church had been sucessfully domesticated, modernized and socialized, then the bonds between Church and State could be severed. This is also what eventually happened in 2000. It was more or less at shock to me when I learned that the parish, in which I was baptised, confirmed, in which I regularly attended the services and went to communion, was run by politcally chosen people, whom I seldom or never had seen worshipping in the congregation. There seemed to be not only the State Church and the Free Churches. Also, there seemed to be at least two, or perhaps even three, "churches" within the Church of Sweden: that of the politicians, that of the belongers and that of the believers.
One Sunday in the Spring of 1960 some churchgoers after the service told me that this was a black day, a day of grievance for the Church of Sweden. I did not know why, and when they told me that three ladies were being ordained priests that Sunday, I simply did not understand the point. So what! I knew that some of my High Church friends were against the ordination of women and told me that is would a disaster for the Church. The reform was presented as one of church order and not one of doctrine, and its aim was, as it was said by its advocates, to reach out to people alienated from the church. Only later did I realize what had really happened at the Sunday. Gradually, I also realized that those who took their Christian faith most seriously were those who opposed the novelty. The flavour and scent which I had learnt to recognize was simply more detectable around and among these people. As a student still in the Gymnasium, I attended Bible studies, in which ordinary parish priests occasionally stated their reasons for being against the reform. If I remember correctly, they predicted that in the long run there would not only be ordained women, but this reform would lead to a different view of the Word of God and hence God´s revelation. Now, they said, man was in command of the Bible, free to interpret it the way he, she or the spirit of the times wanted, and as a consequence of this, there would be a new understanding of the priesthood to begin with. They predicted that insolubility of marriage would wane with a new understanding of marriage and what it meant to be a man and a women, there would be a new way of looking at the Creation and the order given in it, a new way of understanding human sexuality, that same-sex relationships in the end would be accepted, and there would even be blessings of same-sex relationships, marriages, and as the crowning event: the understanding of God the Father would be replaced by God the Mother. It sounded like some dystopic theological science fiction. The priests, the names of whom I do not even remember, expressing these opinions were, of course, criticized by their more moderate colleagues: "You are surely painting the Devil on the wall!" In a retrospect of forty years, I cannot but admire the clearsightedness of these "pike-jawed faithpolicemen" - a common derogatory characterisation of these High Church or Traditionalist priests, routinely used by the man who was later to become the bishop, or as he rather preferred to call himself, Diocese director, of Stockholm. Ingemar Ström, who died recently. These priests, at that time there was quite a few of them, were with a saddening regularity chased through the columns of the local newspapers and tabloids, otherwise filled with tear-jerking accounts of how poor ordained women were being harassed by those reactionary, women hating, loveless dogmatic black-coats.
Sweden was a Christian country, we lived in a Christian society. Or did we? A society which in my case meant a town governed by the Social Democrats and the Trade Unions, in a country in decades ruled jointly by Trade Unions and Social Democrats, who originally wanted a separation between Church and State, but later changed their mind and became the staunchest upholders of the State Church system in order to democratize" it from within by taking over the theological education, ruling the church from the inside by politically chosen local church boards, by politically nominated, chosen delegates to the Church Synod and electors for the election of bishops. And when the Church had been sucessfully domesticated, modernized and socialized, then the bonds between Church and State could be severed. This is also what eventually happened in 2000. It was more or less at shock to me when I learned that the parish, in which I was baptised, confirmed, in which I regularly attended the services and went to communion, was run by politcally chosen people, whom I seldom or never had seen worshipping in the congregation. There seemed to be not only the State Church and the Free Churches. Also, there seemed to be at least two, or perhaps even three, "churches" within the Church of Sweden: that of the politicians, that of the belongers and that of the believers.
One Sunday in the Spring of 1960 some churchgoers after the service told me that this was a black day, a day of grievance for the Church of Sweden. I did not know why, and when they told me that three ladies were being ordained priests that Sunday, I simply did not understand the point. So what! I knew that some of my High Church friends were against the ordination of women and told me that is would a disaster for the Church. The reform was presented as one of church order and not one of doctrine, and its aim was, as it was said by its advocates, to reach out to people alienated from the church. Only later did I realize what had really happened at the Sunday. Gradually, I also realized that those who took their Christian faith most seriously were those who opposed the novelty. The flavour and scent which I had learnt to recognize was simply more detectable around and among these people. As a student still in the Gymnasium, I attended Bible studies, in which ordinary parish priests occasionally stated their reasons for being against the reform. If I remember correctly, they predicted that in the long run there would not only be ordained women, but this reform would lead to a different view of the Word of God and hence God´s revelation. Now, they said, man was in command of the Bible, free to interpret it the way he, she or the spirit of the times wanted, and as a consequence of this, there would be a new understanding of the priesthood to begin with. They predicted that insolubility of marriage would wane with a new understanding of marriage and what it meant to be a man and a women, there would be a new way of looking at the Creation and the order given in it, a new way of understanding human sexuality, that same-sex relationships in the end would be accepted, and there would even be blessings of same-sex relationships, marriages, and as the crowning event: the understanding of God the Father would be replaced by God the Mother. It sounded like some dystopic theological science fiction. The priests, the names of whom I do not even remember, expressing these opinions were, of course, criticized by their more moderate colleagues: "You are surely painting the Devil on the wall!" In a retrospect of forty years, I cannot but admire the clearsightedness of these "pike-jawed faithpolicemen" - a common derogatory characterisation of these High Church or Traditionalist priests, routinely used by the man who was later to become the bishop, or as he rather preferred to call himself, Diocese director, of Stockholm. Ingemar Ström, who died recently. These priests, at that time there was quite a few of them, were with a saddening regularity chased through the columns of the local newspapers and tabloids, otherwise filled with tear-jerking accounts of how poor ordained women were being harassed by those reactionary, women hating, loveless dogmatic black-coats.
posted by Unknown at 6:04 AM
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