1.
Uppsala Cathedral
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Uppsala Cathedral is a cathedral located between Uppsala University and the River Fyris in the centre of Uppsala, southeastern Sweden. Controlled by the Lutheran Church of Sweden, Uppsala Cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of Uppsala, the archbishop is Antje Jackelén and the current bishop is Ragnar Persenius. The cathedral dates to the late 13th century and at a height of 118.7 metres, originally built under Roman Catholicism, it was used for coronations of Swedish monarchs for a lengthy period following the Protestant Reformation. Several of its chapels were converted to house the tombs of Swedish monarchs, including Gustav Vasa, Carl Linnaeus, Olaus Rudbeck, Emanuel Swedenborg, and several archbishops are also buried here. The church was designed in the French Gothic style by French architects including Étienne de Bonneuil and it is in the form of a cross formed by the nave and transept. Most of the structure was built between 1272 and 1420 but the end was completed only in the middle of the 15th century. Twin towers were built shortly afterwards on the west end of the church, High spires were added later, but after a fire in 1702, they were adorned with low helms by Carl Hårleman in 1735. They were completely redesigned by Helgo Zetterwall who undertook substantial changes to the building in the 1880s, the cathedrals principal construction material is brick but the pillars and many details are of Gotland limestone. The vaults were all built according to the original 13th-century plan although some of them were erected as late as around 1440, in addition to the artwork in the funeral chapels, several of the churchs older furnishings can be seen in the Treasury Museum. In 1702, many features were destroyed in a major fire, during the renovation work carried out in the 1970s, many of the medieval frescoes which had been whitewashed over after the Reformation were uncovered and restored. At the end of the Viking Era, the temple at Gamla Uppsala. Although the exact date of its construction is not known, in 1123 Siward was ordained Bishop of Uppsala by the Archbishop of Bremen-Hamburg and it is however uncertain if Siward ever assumed office, as he had been expelled and was in Germany in the early 1130s. The catalogue of bishops mentions Severeinus as the first bishop, henrik, ‘Finlands Apostle’, was the fourth bishop. In 1164, Sweden became an archbishopric under the control of Lund, the first archbishop was the Cistercian monk Stefan of Alvastra. After the cathedral in Gamla Uppsala was damaged by fire in 1204, Pope Alexander IV granted this request in 1258 on condition that the name of Uppsala be maintained. At a meeting in Söderköping in September 1270, Archbishop Fulco Angelus, formal authorization of the move was issued in 1271 by Bishop Carolus of Västerås whom the Pope had appointed to oversee the case. About 1272, work began on building a new cathedral in Östra Aros near the Fyris River to the south and it was constructed on the site of the earlier stone church dedicated to the Holy Trinity, located almost exactly where the cathedrals chancel now stands. It was here that Swedens patron saint Eric Jedvardsson had attended mass before he was murdered in 1160, the name of Uppsala was kept, and the surrounding town Östra Aros soon changed its name accordingly
2.
Uppsala
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Uppsala is the capital of Uppsala County and the fourth largest city of Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. It had 149,245 inhabitants in 2015, located 71 km north of the capital Stockholm, it is also the seat of Uppsala Municipality. Since 1164, Uppsala has been the centre of Sweden. Uppsala is home to Scandinavias largest cathedral – Uppsala Cathedral, founded in 1477, Uppsala University is the oldest centre of higher education in Scandinavia. Among many achievements, the Celsius scale for temperature was invented there, Uppsala was originally located a few kilometres north of its current location at a place now known as Gamla Uppsala. Todays Uppsala was then called Östra Aros, Uppsala was, according to medieval writer Adam of Bremen, the main pagan centre of Sweden, and the Temple at Uppsala contained magnificent idols of the Norse gods. The Fyrisvellir plains along the south of Old Uppsala, in the area where the modern city is situated today, was the site of the Battle of Fyrisvellir in the 980s. The present-day Uppsala was at that time known as Östra Aros and was a town of Gamla Uppsala. In 1160, King Eric Jedvardsson was attacked and killed outside the church of Östra Aros, the cathedral is built in the Gothic style and is one of the largest in northern Europe, with towers reaching 118.70 metres. Uppsala is also the site of the 16th century Uppsala Castle, the city was severely damaged by a fire in 1702. The arms bearing the lion can be traced to 1737 and have been modernised several times, the meaning of the lion is uncertain but is likely connected to the royal lion, also depicted on the Coat of Arms of Sweden. Situated on the fertile Uppsala flatlands of muddy soil, the city features the small Fyris River flowing through the landscape surrounded by lush vegetation. Parallel to the runs the glacial ridge of Uppsalaåsen at an elevation of circa 30 metres. The central park Stadsskogen stretches from the south far into town, only some 70 kilometres or 40 minutes by train from the capital, many Uppsala residents work in Stockholm. The train to Stockholm-Arlanda Airport takes only 17 minutes, rendering the city accessible by air. The commercial centre of Uppsala is quite compact, during recent decades, a significant part of retail commercial activity has shifted to shopping malls and stores situated in the outskirts of the city. Meanwhile, the areas have expanded greatly, and some suburbanization has taken place. Uppsala lies on the 59th parallel north and has a continental climate, with cold winters
3.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
4.
Protestantism
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Protestantism is a form of Christianity which originated with the Reformation, a movement against what its followers considered to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church. It is one of the three divisions of Christendom, together with Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The term derives from the letter of protestation from German Lutheran princes in 1529 against an edict of the Diet of Speyer condemning the teachings of Martin Luther as heretical. Although there were earlier breaks from or attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church—notably by Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Protestants reject the notion of papal supremacy and deny the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, but disagree among themselves regarding the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Five solae summarize the reformers basic differences in theological beliefs, in the 16th century, Lutheranism spread from Germany into Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic states, and Iceland. Reformed churches were founded in Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland and France by such reformers as John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, the political separation of the Church of England from Rome under King Henry VIII brought England and Wales into this broad Reformation movement. Protestants developed their own culture, which made major contributions in education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy and the arts, some Protestant denominations do have a worldwide scope and distribution of membership, while others are confined to a single country. A majority of Protestants are members of a handful of families, Adventism, Anglicanism, Baptist churches, Reformed churches, Lutheranism, Methodism. Nondenominational, evangelical, charismatic, independent and other churches are on the rise, and constitute a significant part of Protestant Christianity. Six princes of the Holy Roman Empire and rulers of fourteen Imperial Free Cities, the edict reversed concessions made to the Lutherans with the approval of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V three years earlier. During the Reformation, the term was used outside of the German politics. The word evangelical, which refers to the gospel, was more widely used for those involved in the religious movement. Nowadays, this word is still preferred among some of the historical Protestant denominations in the Lutheran and Calvinist traditions in Europe, above all the term is used by Protestant bodies in the German-speaking area, such as the EKD. In continental Europe, an Evangelical is either a Lutheran or a Calvinist, the German word evangelisch means Protestant, and is different from the German evangelikal, which refers to churches shaped by Evangelicalism. The English word evangelical usually refers to Evangelical Protestant churches, and it traces its roots back to the Puritans in England, where Evangelicalism originated, and then was brought to the United States. Protestantism as a term is now used in contradistinction to the other major Christian traditions, i. e. Roman Catholicism. Initially, Protestant became a term to mean any adherent to the Reformation movement in Germany and was taken up by Lutherans. Even though Martin Luther himself insisted on Christian or Evangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals who professed Christ, French and Swiss Protestants preferred the word reformed, which became a popular, neutral and alternative name for Calvinists
5.
Lutheranism
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Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity which identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German friar, ecclesiastical reformer and theologian. Luthers efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation in the German-speaking territories of the Holy Roman Empire. Lutheranism advocates a doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone on the basis of Scripture alone and this is in contrast to the belief of the Catholic Church, defined at the Council of Trent, concerning authority coming from both the Scriptures and Tradition. In addition, Lutheranism accepts the teachings of the first seven ecumenical councils of the undivided Christian Church, unlike Calvinism, Lutherans retain many of the liturgical practices and sacramental teachings of the pre-Reformation Church, with a particular emphasis on the Eucharist, or Lords Supper. Lutheran theology differs from Reformed theology in Christology, the purpose of Gods Law, the grace, the concept of perseverance of the saints. Today, Lutheranism is one of the largest denominations of Protestantism, with approximately 80 million adherents, it constitutes the third most common Protestant denomination after historically Pentecostal denominations and Anglicanism. The Lutheran World Federation, the largest communion of Lutheran churches, Other Lutheran organizations include the International Lutheran Council and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, as well as independent churches. The name Lutheran originated as a term used against Luther by German Scholastic theologian Dr. Johann Maier von Eck during the Leipzig Debate in July 1519. Eck and other Catholics followed the practice of naming a heresy after its leader. Martin Luther always disliked the term Lutheran, preferring the term Evangelical, which was derived from euangelion, the followers of John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, and other theologians linked to the Reformed tradition also began to use that term. To distinguish the two groups, others began to refer to the two groups as Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Reformed. As time passed by, the word Evangelical was dropped, Lutherans themselves began to use the term Lutheran in the middle of the 16th century, in order to distinguish themselves from other groups such as the Philippists and Calvinists. In 1597, theologians in Wittenberg defined the title Lutheran as referring to the true church, Lutheranism has its roots in the work of Martin Luther, who sought to reform the Western Church to what he considered a more biblical foundation. Lutheranism spread through all of Scandinavia during the 16th century, as the monarch of Denmark–Norway, through Baltic-German and Swedish rule, Lutheranism also spread into Estonia and Latvia. Since 1520, regular Lutheran services have been held in Copenhagen, under the reign of Frederick I, Denmark-Norway remained officially Catholic. Although Frederick initially pledged to persecute Lutherans, he adopted a policy of protecting Lutheran preachers and reformers. During Fredericks reign, Lutheranism made significant inroads in Denmark, at an open meeting in Copenhagen attended by the king in 1536, the people shouted, We will stand by the holy Gospel, and do not want such bishops anymore. Fredericks son Christian was openly Lutheran, which prevented his election to the throne upon his fathers death, however, following his victory in the civil war that followed, in 1537 he became Christian III and advanced the Reformation in Denmark-Norway
6.
Episcopal polity
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An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. Churches with an episcopal polity are governed by bishops, practicing their authorities in the dioceses and conferences or synods, bishops are considered to derive their authority from an unbroken, personal apostolic succession from the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Bishops with such authority are said to represent the historical episcopate or historic episcopate, Churches with this type of government usually believe that the Church requires episcopal government as described in the New Testament. In some systems, bishops may be subject to higher-ranking bishops and they also meet in councils or synods. These gatherings, subject to presidency by higher ranking bishops, usually make important decisions, for much of the written history of institutional Christianity, episcopal government was the only known form of church organization. The definition of the word episcopal has variation among Christian traditions, there are subtle differences in governmental principles among episcopal churches at the present time. To some extent the separation of episcopal churches can be traced to these differences in ecclesiology, for some, episcopal churches are churches that use a hierarchy of bishops that regard themselves as being in an unbroken, personal apostolic succession. Episcopal is also used to distinguish between the various organizational structures of denominations. For instance, the word presbyterian is used to describe a church governed by a hierarchy of assemblies of elected elders, similarly, episcopal is used to describe a church governed by bishops. Self-governed local congregations, governed neither by elders nor bishops, are referred to as Congregational. More specifically, the title Episcopal is applied to several churches historically based within Anglicanism including those still in communion with the Church of England, many Methodist churches retain the form and function of episcopal polity, although in a modified form, called connexionalism. All orthodox Christians were in churches with a government, that is, one Church under local bishops. Writing between ca.85 and 110, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Patriarch of Antioch, was the earliest of the Church fathers to define the importance of episcopal government. Assuming Ignatius view was the Apostolic teaching and practice, the line of succession was unbroken and passed through the four ancient Patriarchal sees, Rome, Jerusalem, Antioch, some organizations, though aloof from the political wranglings of imperial Christianity, nevertheless also practiced episcopal polity. The single Roman Empire was divided between two autonomous administrative centers, Roman and Constantinopolitan, West and East, Latin speaking and Greek speaking. This remained the status quo through the fourth century, a deep chasm developed between the East and West, becoming critical around 350, known as the Aryan, or Nicene controversy. The Eastern Christian Churches were thought by Constantine to believe against the Trinity, Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, France, believed that the Eastern Church should be given the opportunity to, at least, be educated on the subject. Constantine, in his wisdom, and upset by disagreement, banished Hilary to the East and this truth became known in the West, though some differences lingered
7.
Primate (bishop)
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Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some archbishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or ceremonial precedence. The office is found only in older Catholic countries, and is now purely honorific. The Holy See has also granted Polish primates the privilege of wearing cardinals crimson attire, except for the skullcap and biretta, the city may no longer have the prominence it had when the title was granted. Other former functions of primates, such as hearing appeals from metropolitan tribunals, were reserved to the Holy See by the early 20th century, the closest equivalent position in the Eastern Churches in 1911 was an exarch. The Holy See has continued in modern times to grant the title of primate, with the decree Sollicitae Romanis Pontificibus of 24 January 1956 it granted the title of Primate of Canada to the Archbishop of Quebec. As stated above, this is merely an honorary title involving no additional power, a right of precedence over other bishops and similar privileges can be granted even to a bishop who is not a primate. Thus, in 1858, the Holy See granted the Archbishop of Baltimore precedence in meetings of the United States bishops. The title of primate is sometimes applied loosely to the archbishop of a capital, as in the case of the archbishops of Seoul in South Korea. The pre-reformation archbishop of Nidaros was sometimes referred to as Primate of Norway, the loose structure of the Benedictine Confederation is claimed to have made Pope Leo XIII exclaim that the Benedictines were ordo sine ordine. The powers of the Abbot Primate are specified, and his position defined, in a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops, the primacy is attached to the global Benedictine Confederation whose Primate resides at SantAnselmo in Rome. The Primatial powers are vested in the Abbot Primate to act by virtue of the proper law of its autonomous Benedictine congregation. However, certain branches of the Benedictine Order seem to have lost their autonomy to some extent. In a similar way the Confederation of Canons Regular of St. Augustine, elects an Abbot Primate as figurehead of the Confederation and indeed the whole Canonical Order. The Abbots and Superiors General of the nine congregations of confederated congregations of Canons Regular elect a new Abbot Primate for a term of office lasting six years, the Current Abbot General is Rt. Rev. Fr Maurice Bitz, Abbot of St. Pierre, Anglican usage styles the bishop who heads an independent church as its primate, though commonly they hold some other title. In both the Church of England and the Church of Ireland, two bishops have the title of primate, the archbishops of Canterbury and York in England and of Armagh, only the bishop of the senior primatial see of each of these two churches participates in the meetings. The Archbishop of Canterbury, who is considered primus inter pares of all the participants, convokes the meetings, primates and archbishops are styled The Most Reverend
8.
Archbishop of Uppsala
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The archbishop of Uppsala has been the primate in Sweden in an unbroken succession since 1164, first during the Catholic era, and from the 1530s and onward under the Lutheran church. There have been bishops in Uppsala from the time of Swedish King Ingold the Elder in the 11th century and they were governed by the archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen until Uppsala was made an archbishopric in 1164. The archbishop in Lund was declared primate of Sweden, meaning it was his right to select, to gain independence, Folke Johansson Ängel in 1274 went to Rome and was ordained directly by the pope. This practice was increasing, so that no Uppsala archbishop was in Lund after Olov Björnsson, in 1457, the archbishop Jöns Bengtsson was allowed by the pope to declare himself primate of Sweden. Uppsala was originally located a couple of miles to the north of the present city, in 1273, the archbishopric, together with the relics of King Eric the Saint, was moved to the market town of Östra Aros, which from then on is named Uppsala. In 1531, Laurentius Petri was chosen by King Gustav I of Sweden to be archbishop, taking that privilege from the pope, the archbishop was then declared primus inter pares i. e. first among equals. The archbishop is both bishop of his diocese and Primate of Sweden, he has no more authority than other bishops. In 2000, the Archbishop of Uppsala was aided in the diocese by a bishop of Uppsala, the labours of the archbishops extended in all directions. The archbishops and secular clergy found active co-workers among the regular clergy, among the orders represented in Sweden were the Benedictines, Cistercians, Dominicans, Franciscans, Brigittines and Carthusians. Swedish sources never mention him either in Sigtuna or Uppsala and he is apparently the same Bishop Henry who died at the Battle of Fotevik in 1134, fighting along with the Danes after being banished from Sweden. Known from the Chronicon Roskildense written soon after his death and from Saxo Grammaticus Gesta Danorum from the early 13th century, also he is omitted from, or at least redated in, the first list of bishops made in the 15th century. In this list, the first bishop at Uppsala was Sverinius, succeeded by Nicolaus, Sveno, with the exception of Henricus, the list only mentions their names. Johannes was ordained by the Archbishop of Lund, Absalon by November 1185, in 1187, a ship from the pagan Estonia entered Mälaren, a lake close to Uppsala, on a plundering expedition. It sailed to Sigtuna, a city at that time. On its way back, barricades were set up at the exit point at Almarestäket to prevent the ship from escaping. As the ship struggled to pass through, Johannes were among those killed, Sweden got a new king, Sverker II of Sweden in 1196, who was related to the Danish Royal Court, whereby Absalon extended his authority over Sweden. When Petrus in 1196 elected three bishops, Absalon requested that the pope decide since the bishops were the sons of priests. He also mentioned that several Swedish bishops refused to travel to his synods, Absalon was an authoritative person whom the pope trusted and gave him rights, but by the time the message reached Uppsala Petrus had already died
9.
Lutheran World Federation
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The Lutheran World Federation is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran churches headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of Lund in the aftermath of the Second World War in 1947 to coordinate the activities of the many differing Lutheran churches. Since 1984, the churches are in pulpit and altar fellowship, with common doctrine as the basis of membership. The LWF now has 144 member church bodies in 79 countries representing over 72 million Lutherans, the Department for World Service is the LWFs humanitarian arm. It has programmes in 32 countries, the LWF is a member of ACT Alliance. On October 31,1999, in Augsburg, Germany, the Lutheran World Federation signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the Roman Catholic Church, the statement is an attempt to narrow the theological divide between the two faiths. The Declaration also states that the mutual condemnations between 16th-century Lutherans and the Roman Catholic Church no longer apply, a similar event took place in Lund Cathedral at the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation when Pope Francis visited Scania, Swedens southernmost province that originally was Danish. More than 80% of member churches ordain women as ministers, the federation was organized at Lund, Sweden, in 1947. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, it replaced the more informal Lutheran World Convention, a key leader was Executive Secretary Sylvester C. Michelfelder, representing the American Lutheran Church and he had been a leader in organizing $45 million in American help for the rebuilding of Protestant churches in Germany after 1945. By the time of his death in 1951, the federation represented 52 churches in 25 countries, the 20 largest member churches are, The President is the federations chief official representative and spokesperson. He or she presides at meetings of the Assembly, Council and Meeting of Officers, the Lutheran World Federation Council elects the General Secretary, who is appointed for a seven-year term. The person appointed is eligible for re-election and this map shows the global distribution of Lutheranism based on The LWF2013 membership data. Sorted by country in alphabetical order Some member denominations recognize same-gender relationships through marriage, international Lutheran Council Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference List of the largest Protestant denominations World Council of Churches Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. In Jordan J. Ballor and Stephen J. Grabill, eds, Ecumenical Babel, Confusing Economic Ideology and the Churchs Social Witness pp, 29+ Schjørring, Jens Holger, et al. eds. From federation to communion, the history of the Lutheran World Federation Wenz, Lutheran World Federation, in Julius Bodensieck, ed. The encyclopedia of the Lutheran Church
10.
Conference of European Churches
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It is an ecumenical fellowship of Christian churches in Europe, its membership consists of most of Europes mainstream Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches. In 2005, CEC had 125 member churches, a major project, completed in 2001, was the production of the Charta Oecumenica of Europes churches. CEC assemblies take place every six years. The 4th CEC assembly had to be held on a ship on the Baltic Sea owing to the difficulties of obtaining visas for delegates from eastern European countries, I.1959 Nyborg, Denmark, European Christianity in Today’s Secularised World II. 1960 Nyborg, Denmark, The Service of the Church in a Changing World III,1962 Nyborg, Denmark, The Church in Europe and the Crisis of Modern Man IV. 1964 Baltic Sea, on board the M. V,1974 Engelberg, Switzerland, Act on the Message - Unity in Christ and Peace in the World VIII. 2009 Lyon, France, Called to One Hope in Christ XIV.2013 Budapest, Hungary, “And now what are you waiting for. ”CEC and its Mission in a Changing Europe Between assemblies, the 12th Assembly of the Conference of European Churches elected the 40-member Committee. This Committee, according to the CEC Constitution, was empowered to conduct the business of the Conference when the Assembly is not meeting, at the 14th CEC Assembly the Central Committee was replaced by a 20-member Governing Board. The Governing Board meets twice annually to oversee the implementation of the decisions of the Assembly, recent meetings of the Central Committee took place in Geneva, Prague, Crete, Derry and Crete. The President of CEC was H. E and he was succeeded in 2013 by Christopher Hill, a retired Church of England bishop There are a number of organisations in partnership and national councils of churches in the CEC. It is affiliated with the World Council of Churches, the offices of the Conference of European Churches are based in Brussels, Belgium - formerly the offices used by the Church and Society Commission of CEC. Heikki Huttunen, from the Orthodox Church of Finland and he succeeded Rev. Dr Guy Liagre, formerly President of the United Protestant Church in Belgium and Rev. Prof. Dr Viorel Ionita who served as Interim General Secretary from 2010. The former General Secretary was the Venerable Colin Williams, formerly Archdeacon of Lancaster in the Church of England, by 2014 the two former Commissions of CEC were fully integrated into the core work of CEC. In 1999 the European Ecumenical Commission on Church and Society merged with CEC, becoming CECs Church, the Church and Society Commissions secretariat was located in offices in Brussels, Belgium and Strasbourg, France. The Director of the Church and Society Commission from 2002 until 2013 was the Rev. Rüdiger Noll, following the 14th CEC Assembly in Budapest in 2013 the programmes of the Church and Society Commission were integrated fully into the work of CEC, a move completed in 2014. Based in Geneva, the member in charge was until July 2012. Professor Father Viorel Ionita, of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the new General Secretary of CEC, Rev. Dr Guy Liagre succeeded him from 2012. From 2013 the work of the Churches in Dialogue Commission has been integrated in the work on ecumenical relations led by the CEC General Secretary
11.
Porvoo Communion
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The Porvoo Communion is a communion of 15 mainly northern European Anglican and Lutheran churches. It was established in 1992 by an agreement entitled the Porvoo Common Statement which establishes full communion between and among the churches and this process came to a formal conclusion with the establishment of the much wider Porvoo Communion in 1992. The churches involved are the Anglican churches of the British Isles, later negotiations brought the Anglican churches of the Iberian Peninsula into the agreement. These churches all share episcopal polity, the Porvoo Communion has no central office or overseer. Each member church has a person, and these contact persons form a contact group which meets every year. Two bishops, one Lutheran and the other Anglican, are co-moderators of the contact group, there are also conferences and meetings organized to discuss issues of concern to the entire Communion. Apostolicity and Unity, Essays on the Porvoo Common Statement
12.
King
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King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, in the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the title may refer to tribal kingship. Germanic kingship is cognate with Indo-European traditions of tribal rulership In the context of classical antiquity, king may translate Latin rex or either Greek archon or basileus. In classical European feudalism, the title of king as the ruler of a kingdom is understood as the highest rank in the order, potentially subject. In a modern context, the title may refer to the ruler of one of a number of modern monarchies. The title of king is used alongside other titles for monarchs, in the West prince, emperor, archduke, duke or grand duke, in the Middle East sultan or emir, etc. Kings, like other royalty, tend to wear purple because purple was a color to wear in the past. The English term king is derived from the Anglo-Saxon cyning, which in turn is derived from the Common Germanic *kuningaz, the Common Germanic term was borrowed into Estonian and Finnish at an early time, surviving in these languages as kuningas. The English term king translates, and is considered equivalent to, Latin rēx, the Germanic term is notably different from the word for king in other Indo-European languages. It is a derivation from the term *kunjom kin by the -inga- suffix, the literal meaning is that of a scion of the kin, or perhaps son or descendant of one of noble birth. English queen translates Latin regina, it is from Old English cwen queen, noble woman, the Germanic term for wife appears to have been specialized to wife of a king, in Old Norse, the cognate kvan still mostly refers to a wife generally. Scandinavian drottning, dronning is a derivation from *druhtinaz lord. The English word is of Germanic origin, and historically refers to Germanic kingship, the Early Middle Ages begin with a fragmentation of the former Western Roman Empire into barbarian kingdoms. The core of European feudal manorialism in the High Middle Ages were the territories of the kingdom of France, the Holy Roman Empire, in southern Europe, the kingdom of Sicily was established following the Norman conquest of southern Italy. The Kingdom of Sardinia was claimed as a title held by the Crown of Aragon in 1324. In the Balkans, the Kingdom of Serbia was established in 1217, in eastern-central Europe, the Kingdom of Hungary was established in AD1000 following the Christianisation of the Magyars. The kingdoms of Poland and Bohemia were established within the Holy Roman Empire in 1025 and 1198, in Eastern Europe, the Kievan Rus consolidated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which did not technically claim the status of kingdom until the early modern Tsardom of Russia. In northern Europe, the kingdoms of the Viking Age by the 11th century expanded into the North Sea Empire under Cnut the Great, king of Denmark, England
13.
Gustav I of Sweden
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Initially of low standing, Gustav rose to lead the rebel movement following the Stockholm Bloodbath, in which his father perished. As King, Gustav proved an administrator with a ruthless streak not inferior to his predecessors. He worked to raise taxes, end Feudalism and bring about a Swedish Reformation, replacing the prerogatives of local landowners, noblemen and clergy with centrally appointed governors and bishops. Due to a vibrant dynastic succession, his three sons, Erik, Johan and Karl IX, all held the kingship at different points, Gustav I has subsequently been labelled the founder of modern Sweden, and the father of the nation. Gustav liked to compare himself to Moses, whom he believed to have liberated his people. As a person, Gustav was known for ruthless methods and a bad temper and he founded one of the now oldest orchestras of the world, the Kungliga Hovkapellet. Royal housekeeping accounts from 1526 mention twelve musicians including wind players, today the Kungliga Hovkapellet is the orchestra of the Royal Swedish Opera. Gustav Eriksson, a son of Cecilia Månsdotter Eka and Erik Johansson Vasa, was born in 1496. The birth most likely place in Rydboholm Castle, northeast of Stockholm. The newborn got his name, Gustav, from Eriks grandfather Gustav Anundsson, Erik Johanssons parents were Johan Kristersson and Birgitta Gustafsdotter of the dynasties Vasa and Sture respectively, both dynasties of high nobility. Birgitta Gustafsdotter was the sister of Sten Sture the Elder, regent of Sweden, being a relative and ally of uncle Sten Sture, Erik inherited the regents estates in Uppland and Södermanland when the latter died in 1503. Although a member of a family with considerable properties since childhood, according to genealogical research, Birgitta Gustafsdotter and Sten Sture were descended from King Sverker II of Sweden, through King Sverkers granddaughter Benedikte Sunesdotter. One of King Gustavs great-grandmothers was a half-sister of King Charles VIII of Sweden, since the end of the 14th century, Sweden had been a part of the Kalmar Union with Denmark and Norway. The Danish dominance in this union led to uprisings in Sweden. During Gustavs childhood, parts of the Swedish nobility tried to make Sweden independent, Gustav and his father Erik supported the party of Sten Sture the Younger, regent of Sweden from 1512, and its struggle against the Danish King Christian II. Following the battle of Brännkyrka in 1518, where Sten Stures troops beat the Danish forces, it was decided that Sten Sture and King Christian would meet in Österhaninge for negotiations. To guarantee the safety of the king, the Swedish side sent six men as hostages to be kept by the Danes for as long as the negotiations lasted. However, Christian did not show up for the negotiations, violated the deal with the Swedish side, the six members of the kidnapped hostage were Hemming Gadh, Lars Siggesson, Jöran Siggesson, Olof Ryning, Bengt Nilsson – and Gustav Eriksson
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Schism
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A schism is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a religious body. It is also used of a split within an organization or movement or, more broadly. A schismatic is a person who creates or incites schism in an organization or who is a member of a splinter group. Schismatic as an adjective pertaining to a schism or schisms, or to those ideas, policies. In religion, the charge of schism is distinguished from that of heresy, since the offence of schism concerns not differences of belief or doctrine but promotion of, or the state of, however, schisms frequently involve mutual accusations of heresy. In Roman Catholic teaching, every heresy is a schism, while there may be some free of the added guilt of heresy. Liberal Protestantism, however, has often preferred heresy over schism, mcCord drew a distinction between them, teaching, If you must make a choice between heresy and schism, always choose heresy. As a schismatic, you have torn and divided the body of Christ, in Buddhism, the first schism was set up by Devadatta, during Buddhas life. This schism lasted only a short time, later, the early Buddhist schools came into being, but were not schismatic, only focusing on different interpretations for the same monastic community. In the old texts,18 or 20 early schools are mentioned, later, there were the Mahayana and Vajrayana movements, which can be regarded as being schismatic in origin. Each school has various subgroups, which often are schismatic in origin, for example, in Thai Theravadin Buddhism there are two groups, of which the Dhammayut has its origin partly in the Mahanikaya, and is the new and schismatic group. Both Mahanikaya and Dhammayut have many subgroups, which usually do not have schismatic origins, Tibetan Buddhism has seen schisms in the past, of which most were healed, although the Drukpa school centred in Bhutan perhaps remains in a state of schism from the other Tibetan schools. The words schism and schismatic have found their heaviest usage in the history of Christianity, to denote splits within a church and these words have been used to denote both the phenomenon of Christian group splintering in general, and certain significant historical splits in particular. A distinction is made between heresy and schism, heresy is rejection of a doctrine that a Church considered to be essential. But, when for any reason people withdraw from communion, two distinct ecclesiastical entities may result, each of which then, or at least some of its members, may accuse the other of heresy. In Roman Catholic Church canon law, an act of schism, like an act of apostasy or heresy, as stated in canon 1312 §1 1° of the Code of Canon Law, this penalty is intended to be medicinal, so as to lead to restoration of unity. This nuanced view applies especially to the Churches of Eastern Christianity, the First Council of Nicaea distinguished between schism and heresy
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Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is a national church of Finland. It is part of the Lutheran branch of Christianity, the church is a member of the World Council of Churches and the Conference of European Churches. It is also a member of the Porvoo Communion and is involved in ecumenical relations. With slightly under four million members permanently resident in Finland, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world and it is Finlands largest religious body, at the end of 2016,71. 9% of Finns were members of the church. The current head of the Church is the Archbishop of Turku Kari Mäkinen, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland traces its lineage to the medieval Diocese of Turku, which coincides geographically with present-day Finland. Christianity was introduced to Finland slowly, the first signs of the Christian faith being found in sites dated to the 11th century. Based on etymological evidence, it seems that its very first influences came to present-day Finland from the Eastern Christian tradition, archaeological evidence shows that by the middle 12th century, Christianity was dominant in the region around present-day Turku. One legend recounts a crusade dated around 1054, but no contemporary or archaeological evidence backs the story, another legend is that the martyr-bishop St. Henry founded the Finnish Church, but that is also most likely fictional. The introduction of Christianity was mostly a peaceful, slow process contemporaneous with the integration with Sweden that culminated in the Sweden-Finland union. The first bishop, whose name was Thomas, lived in the first half of the 13th century, the ecclesiastical hierarchy was completely established during the Second Swedish Crusade. During the Middle Ages, the Diocese of Turku was under the primacy of the Archbishop of Uppsala, the diocese had a school, making it capable of educating its own priests, but several Finns also studied abroad in the universities of Germany and Paris. Before the Reformation, the most important monastic orders active in the bishopric were those of the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the liturgy of the diocese followed the Dominican model. The Swedish Reformation began during the reign of King Gustav Vasa, Sweden, like other Nordic countries, adopted the Lutheran form of Protestantism. Most monastic estates in Finland, along with Kuusisto Castle, which was the residence of the Bishops of Turku, were confiscated by the Swedish crown. The first Lutheran Bishop of Turku was Martinus Johannis Skytte, former Vicar General of the Dominican Province of Dacia and he retained most of the old Catholic forms within the Diocese, which was part of the now-independent Church of Sweden. The doctrinal reformation of the Finnish Church took place during the episcopacy of Mikael Agricola, Agricola translated the whole New Testament and large portions of the Old Testament into Finnish. While images and sculptures of saints were retained in the churches, Agricola was the first Bishop of Turku who was married. By the end of the 16th century, the Swedish Reformation was finally complete, membership in the church was obligatory, as was weekly attendance at Divine Service
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Swedish language
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Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken natively by more than 9 million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, where it has equal legal standing with Finnish. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish, along with the other North Germanic languages, Swedish is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. It is currently the largest of the North Germanic languages by number of speakers, Standard Swedish, spoken by most Swedes, is the national language that evolved from the Central Swedish dialects in the 19th century and was well established by the beginning of the 20th century. While distinct regional varieties descended from the rural dialects still exist. The standard word order is, as in most Germanic languages, V2, Swedish morphology is similar to English, that is, words have comparatively few inflections. There are two genders, no cases, and a distinction between plural and singular. Older analyses posit the cases nominative and genitive and there are remains of distinct accusative and dative forms as well. Adjectives are compared as in English, and are inflected according to gender, number. The definiteness of nouns is marked primarily through suffixes, complemented with separate definite and indefinite articles, the prosody features both stress and in most dialects tonal qualities. The language has a large vowel inventory. Swedish is also notable for the voiceless velar fricative, a highly variable consonant phoneme. Swedish is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic branch of the Germanic languages, by many general criteria of mutual intelligibility, the Continental Scandinavian languages could very well be considered dialects of a common Scandinavian language. In the 8th century, the common Germanic language of Scandinavia, Proto-Norse, had some changes. This language began to undergo new changes that did not spread to all of Scandinavia, the dialects of Old East Norse that were spoken in Sweden are called Runic Swedish while the dialects of Denmark are referred to as Runic Danish. The dialects are described as runic because the body of text appears in the runic alphabet. Unlike Proto-Norse, which was written with the Elder Futhark alphabet, Old Norse was written with the Younger Futhark alphabet, from 1200 onwards, the dialects in Denmark began to diverge from those of Sweden. An early change that separated Runic Danish from the dialects of Old East Norse was the change of the diphthong æi to the monophthong é. This is reflected in runic inscriptions where the older read stain, there was also a change of au as in dauðr into a long open ø as in døðr dead
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National church
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This article discusses national churches in the ethnic sense. See state church for church organizations at a national level, for Catholic churches in Rome associated with various countries, see National churches in Rome. A national church is a Christian church associated with an ethnic group or nation state. The idea was discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism. The concept of a national church remains alive in the Protestantism of England, god and the State National god Phyletism State religion William Reed Huntington, A national church, Bedell lectures, Scribners,1897
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Christian state
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Historically, the nations of Armenia, Aksum, Georgia, as well as the Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire declared themselves as Christian states. A Christian state stands in contrast to a state, an atheist state, or another religious state. In 380 AD, the Edict of Thessalonica made the Roman Empire a Christian state, establishing Nicene Christianity, in the form of its State Church, as its official religion. After its fall, under the emperor Justinian, the Byzantine Empire became the worlds predominant Christian state, based on Roman law, Greek culture, and the Greek language. John Binns describes this era, writing that, As a Christian state, Armenia embraced Christianity as the religion of the King, the nobles, in 337 AD, following the conversion of Mirian and Nana, the country of Georgia became a Christian state. In the 4th century AD, the Kingdom of Aksum, after Ezanas conversion to the faith, the constitution of Costa Rica states that The Roman Catholic and Apostolic Religion is the religion of the State. As such, Catholic Christian holy days are recognized by the government and public schools provide religious education, although parents are able to opt-out their children if they choose to do so. As early as the 11th century AD, Denmark was considered to be a Christian state, with the Church of Denmark, a member of the Lutheran World Federation, being the state church. Wasif Shadid, a professor at Leiden University writes that,82. 1% of the population of Denmark are members of the Lutheran Church of Denmark. Barbara Yorke writes that the Carolingian Renaissance heightened appreciation within England of the role of king, greece is a Christian state, with the Greek Orthodox Church playing a dominant role in the life of the country. Around 1000 AD, Iceland became a Christian state, the Encyclopedia of Protestantism states that, All public schools have mandatory education in Christianity, although an exemption may be considered by the Minister of Education. Liechtensteins constitution designates the Catholic Church as being the state Church of that country, in public schools, per article 16 of the Constitution of Liechtenstein, religious education is given by Church authorities. Section Two of the Constitution of Malta specifies the states religion as being the Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion, article 9 of the Constitution of Monaco describes La religion catholique, apostolique et romaine as the religion of the state. The modern Constitution of Norway stipulates that The Church of Norway, as such, the Norwegian constitution decrees that Lutheranism is the official religion of the State and that the King is the supreme temporal head of the Church. The Church of Norway is responsible for the maintenance of church buildings, john T. Flint writes that Over 90 percent of the population are married by state church clergymen, have their children baptized and confirmed, and finally are buried with a church service. Tonga became a Christian state under George Tupou I in the 19th century, with the Free Wesleyan Church, under the rule of George I, there was established a rigorous constitutional clause regulating observation of the Sabbath. The Church of Tuvalu, a Reformed Church in the Congregationalist tradition, is the church of Tuvalu and was established as such in 1991. The Constitution of Tuvalu identifies Tuvalu as an independent State based on Christian principles
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Christian denomination
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A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity, identified by traits such as a name, organisation, leadership and doctrine. Individual bodies, however, may use alternative terms to describe themselves, groups of denominations—often sharing broadly similar beliefs, practices, and historical ties—are sometimes known as branches of Christianity or denominational families. Individual Christian groups vary widely in the degree to which they recognize one another, several groups claim to be the direct and sole authentic successor of the church founded by Jesus Christ in the 1st century AD. Others, however, believe in denominationalism, where some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs. Because of this concept, some Christian bodies reject the term denomination to describe themselves, however, the Catholic Church does not view itself as a denomination, but as the original pre-denominational church. This view is rejected by other Christian denominations, Protestant denominations account for approximately 37 percent of Christians worldwide. Together, Catholicism and Protestantism comprise Western Christianity, Western Christian denominations prevail in Western, Northern, Central and Southern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas and Oceania. The Eastern Orthodox Church, with an estimated 225–300 million adherents, is the second-largest Christian organization in the world, unlike the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church is itself a communion of fully independent autocephalous churches that mutually recognize each other to the exclusion of others. The Eastern Orthodox Church, together with Oriental Orthodoxy and the Assyrian Church of the East, Eastern Christian denominations are represented mostly in Eastern Europe, North Asia, the Middle East and Northeast Africa. Christians have various doctrines about the Church and about how the church corresponds to Christian denominations. Both Catholics and Eastern Orthodox hold that their own organizations faithfully represent the One Holy catholic and Apostolic Church to the exclusion of the other, sixteenth-century Protestants separated from the Catholic Church because of theologies and practices that they considered to be in violation of their own interpretation. But some non-denominational Christians do not follow any particular branch, though regarded as Protestants. Each group uses different terminology to discuss their beliefs and this section will discuss the definitions of several terms used throughout the article, before discussing the beliefs themselves in detail in following sections. A denomination within Christianity can be defined as an autonomous branch of the Christian Church, major synonyms include religious group, sect, Church. Some traditional and evangelical Protestants draw a distinction between membership in the church and fellowship within the local church. Becoming a believer in Christ makes one a member of the universal church, a related concept is denominationalism, the belief that some or all Christian groups are legitimate churches of the same religion regardless of their distinguishing labels, beliefs, and practices. Protestant leaders differ greatly from the views of the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, each church makes mutually exclusive claims for itself to be the direct continuation of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, from whom other denominations later broke away. These churches, and a few others, reject denominationalism, Christianity can be taxonomically divided into five main groups, the Church of the East, Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism
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Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus
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The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is a Lutheran denomination in Ethiopia and the largest part of the Lutheran World Federation. From these joint efforts the church was instituted as a national Church on January 21,1959, taking its name from the first congregation in Addis Ababa, EECMY has a motto of Serving the Whole Person which was developed in the 1970s. This holistic ministry theme of the Church has helped her to out her ministry in evangelism. The EECMY was founded by Northern European missionaries in the late 19th and these missionaries concentrated their work in southern Ethiopia where the Orthodox Christian influence was less profound. The strategy of the missionaries and evangelists to implant a Protestant church in Ethiopia was one of development, at a time when Emperor Haile Selassie was looking to modernize and promote progress in the state, foreign and domestic missions were some of the most productive agents. In fact, Selassie wrote in his autobiography that he only “permitted missions because of their efforts in the field of education and it was through development that the evangelical church was able to first establish a presence in the 19th and 20th centuries. The EECMY church was beginning to gain legitimacy in the eyes of at least a few. This was made evident when the Mekane Yesus church became “legally registered” on February 13,1969, in assigning an official name to the Lutheran offshoot, semantics became a key point of contention. The patriarch of the EOC at the time was opposed to the word “Ethiopian” being attached to the church’s name, as he claimed it was nothing but an organization. He was also against it being registered as a church. After much debate however, the name was established as the “Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus in Ethiopia” and it was changed to its current title “Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus in 1978. The Patriarch’s perspective represents a general sentiment especially present among orthodox followers that the Mekane Yesus church was not truly a native church, one of the prominent early Ethiopian evangelists, Onesimos Nesib was crucial in this spread. This in itself was a step for the EECMY. Because of Nesib’s work, the ECMY was able to gain a large constituency outside the Orthodox centers, the Orthodox Church has always represented the greatest institutional obstacle for the growth of the EECMY, when not actively, then by its mere presence and dominance in the public sphere. However, the EECMY has seen opposition from Muslims as well, although the EECMY has been attended by suspicion. Additionally, the labels of outsider, colonist, enemy, the persecution of the church was evident before the socialist revolution, and was only augmented during the war. The Reformed section of the denomination was founded by the United Presbyterian Church in 1869, dr. Thomas Lambie a missionary of the United Presbyterian Church begun work in the western part of the country. During the Italian occupation missionaries were forced to leave, but Bethel Evangelical Church was founded with native believers, in become an independent Church in 1947
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Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania is the federation of Lutheran churches in Tanzania and one of the largest Lutheran denomination in the world with more than 6 million members. In 1938, seven Lutheran churches founded a federation known as the Federation of Lutheran Churches in Tanganyika, on June 19,1963, the churches merged to become a single church known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania. The church is led by a bishop and twenty-five diocesan bishops, representing 25 dioceses. The Head Office of the Church is in Arusha, where it has owned the New Safari Hotel since 1967, the church is affiliated with the All Africa Conference of Churches, the Christian Council of Tanzania, and the Lutheran World Federation. The ELCT is an organization which reaches out to the people of Tanzania offering worship opportunities, Christian education, and numerous social services
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