The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sweden

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) (Swedish: Jesu Kristi Kyrka av Sista Dagars Heliga), headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, has been in Sweden since 1850.[1][2]

Swedish translation of the Book of Mormon

History

Membership
YearMembers±%
2011 9,206    
2012 9,404+2.2%
2013 9,463+0.6%
2014 9,538+0.8%
2015 9,541+0.0%
2016 9,630+0.9%
2017 9,701+0.7%
2018 9,716+0.2%
2019 9,649−0.7%
Source: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/sweden

The Book of Mormon was translated into Swedish in 1878.[3] As with many other Scandinavian converts, Swedish LDS were encouraged to emigrated to the US and build up "Zion" there; these included the ancestors of recent church president Thomas S. Monson, whose grandfather Nels Monson (born Torhamn) emigrated at the age of 16.[4] This depleted local numbers for a number of decades, until in the late twentieth century, this policy was discontinued, and a temple built within the country itself.

As of 2019 the LDS Church counts its number of members in Sweden to be just above 9,716, divided into 4 regional units with a total of 40 congregations.[5] This is an increase in membership from 2014, which was 9,463.[6] The Church also maintains one temple in the country, the Stockholm Sweden Temple, in Västerhaninge.

The Swedish Rescue

Around 2010, a number of Swedish members of the LDS Church, including former Area Authority Hans Mattsson, began to doubt the veracity of the church.[7] General Authority Marlin K. Jensen and historian Richard E. Turley Jr. soon after conducted a fireside, an informal church meeting, at the Västerhaninge Chapel in Stockholm, Sweden, on November 28, 2010.[8][9] The audio was surreptitiously recorded and sparked much discussion and interest in the blogosphere.[10][11][12]

Sunday School in Olso ca 1902

Missions

  • Sweden Stockholm Mission: On June 15, 1905. the Swedish Mission was organized from the Scandinavian Mission, which was renamed the Danish-Norwegian Mission.[13][14] When established, the mission covered Sweden, Finland, Russia and northern Germany, with Petter Matson as mission president.[15]

Temples

34. Stockholm Sweden Temple

Location:
Announced:
Dedicated:
 Size:
Style:

Västerhaninge, Sweden
1 April 1981
2 July 1985 by Gordon B. Hinckley
14,508 sq ft (1,348 m2) and 112 ft (34 m) high on a 4.47 acre (1.8 ha) site
Modern adaptation of six-spire design - designed by John Sjostrom and Church A&E Services

See also

References

  1. "Historia" (in Swedish). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sweden. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  2. Inger Höglund. "Kyrkan i Sverige: Tillväxt, emigration och styrka" (in Swedish). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sweden. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  3. Anderson, Kai A. (June 1997), "In His Own Language", Liahona: 29
  4. "Nels Monson". Find A Grave.
  5. "The Church's local webpage for Sweden". Jesu Kristi Kyrka av Sista Dagars Heliga. Jesu Kristi Kyrka av Sista Dagars Heliga. 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  6. Höglund, Inger (December 2014). "The Church in Sweden". churchofjesuschrist.org. Ensign. Retrieved 2018-10-07.
  7. Goodstein, Laurie. "Some Mormons Search the Web and Find Doubt", The New York Times, 20 July 2013. Retrieved on 22 March 2020.
  8. "REMEMBERING THE SWEDISH RESCUE, FROM THOSE WHO ATTENDED", Mormon Stories, 25 September 2018. Retrieved on 22 March 2020.
  9. "2010 Sweden Fireside held November 28, 2010 (Transcript)", FairMormon, 2010. Retrieved on 22 March 2020.
  10. "A FairMormon Response to Questions Asked at 2010 Swedish Fireside (a.k.a. the "Swedish Rescue")", FairMormon, 2010. Retrieved on 22 March 2020.
  11. http://www.mormondialogue.org/topic/58443-apologetics-of-the-swedish-rescue/
  12. http://www.mormonthink.com/glossary/swedish-rescue2.htm
  13. "Swedish Mission", Church History: Missionary Database, 2020. Retrieved on 22 March 2020.
  14. Johansson, Carl-Erik. "History of the Swedish Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", BYU Scholars Archive, August 1973. Retrieved on 22 March 2020.
  15. Potter , Damion. "Swedish Mission centennial celebrated", Church News, 15 July 2005. Retrieved on 23 March 2020.
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