Church of Sweden

The Church of Sweden (Swedish: Svenska kyrkan), is a Lutheran-Protestant Christian denomination in Sweden. The denomination was established in the 16th century, when Sweden converted from Catholicism to Protestantism, and became the Swedish state church. As the 19th and 20th centuries progressed, it moved towards a more liberal theology and ecumenism.

Church of Sweden
Svenska kyrkan vapen.svg
ClassificationLutheran
OrientationHigh Church/Evangelical Catholic Lutheran
PolityEpiscopal
AssociationsLutheran World Federation,
World Council of Churches,
Conference of European Churches,
Porvoo Communion
RegionSweden
FounderGustav I of Sweden
Origin1527/1593
Separated fromRoman Catholic Church
SeparationsEvangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
Congregations1,467
Members6,357,508 members (66 %) (in 2013)[1]
Official websitehttp://www.svenskakyrkan.se/

In late August 1995, the Swedish government and the Church of Sweden decided to go separate ways from 1 January 2000. The denomination mostly practices infant baptism.

Female priests were allowed in 1958, and in 1997, Christina Odenberg was appointed the denomination's first female bishop (diocese of Lund). In June 2014, Antje Jackelén became the denomination's first female archbishop (diocese of Uppsala).

References

Other websites

  Media related to Church of Sweden at Wikimedia Commons