Amerikansk metodistmission i Sverige
Den svenska Metodistkyrkans etablering åren 1865?1876
This is a study of American Methodist Mission in Sweden and how this mission eventually formed the Methodist Church in Sweden 1876. The mission began as a consequence of returning Swedish emigrants and sailors who had encountered Methodism in America, mainly through the works of Swedish-American missionary Olof Gustaf Hedström on the Bethel ship in New York. During the 1850?s Methodist missionaries were sent to Scandinavia by the American Missions Society. The first to come to Sweden was Johan Peter Larsson, who spent two years in Sweden in 1854 before he was transferred to Norway. He returned in 1865 and was followed by a number of missionaries during the next years. Most important of these were Victor Witting who arrived in Gothenburg at the end of 1867. During 1868 the first congregations and a national association for missionaries were formed. The bylaws of the association for missionaries relates to the section in Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church about The Annual Conference. Methodist mission expanded fast in Sweden, at first along the coasts, and during the 1870?s equally fast on land. Up to the forming of a church in 1876 the mission never expanded further north than Orsa. The establishment of the Methodist Church in Sweden shares a lot of similarities with the development in Denmark, Finland and Norway. The expansion in Sweden was faster compared to the other countries. One reason for this was the large amount of missionaries that were sent to Sweden. All four churches formed according to new religious legislation and were the first to do so in all four countries.