wfn.org | Sweden: New church order on the way

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

Archbishop says church will come closer to reality

UPPSALA, Sweden/GENEVA, 25 March 1999 (lwi) The Central Board of the
Church of Sweden will send to the 1999 Church Assembly a proposal for
a new church order in view of the anticipated change of relations
between the church and state.

According to a press release from the Church of Sweden, the new
church order should come into force on 1 January 2000, when relations
between the church and the state will be changed. It will then
replace most of the legislation on the Church of Sweden, and in
particular the Law about the Church of Sweden from 1992. The basic
organizational structure of the Church will still be expressed in a
short Law about the Church of Sweden.

"Today's decision is yet another step towards the new relation
between the Church of Sweden
and the state, which among other things means that the church will
come closer to the present reality, including the people of today,"
the head of the church, Archbishop K.G. Hammar, is quoted saying.

"I hope and believe that the Church of Sweden will remain 'the open
church' even in the future. A church that is open and active among
people everywhere, right across Sweden, which keeps its doors open
and available for the visitor, and which is also a spiritually open
church," the archbishop added.

The proposal from the Central Board is based on six reports from a
two-year process of investigation which includes extensive responses
to enquiries, given in more than 2 850 replies. The Church Assembly
will take the final decision on the Church Order later on, at the
beginning of the summer, the press release says.

The church order will contain regulations about the structures and
the work of the Church of Sweden. A wide spectrum of issues will be
featured, particularly concerning the confession of the church and
its liturgies as well as procedures for elections and regulations on
financial matters.

That the current legislation is largely being transferred to the new
Church Order is an indication that the Church of Sweden should remain
the same church even though its
established status ceases. According to the press release, it should
be an open national church, democratically organized and, through its
parochial structure, it should cover the entire
country. Those who belong to the Church of Sweden when the changing
of relations takes place will remain members even after 1 January
2000.

The process of church elections is among the issues focussed on by
the proposal for a new church order. Accordingly, the members of the
Church Assembly the highest decision-making body of the church should
be appointed through direct elections on the day set aside for church
elections the third Sunday of September in the year preceding
general elections. Therefore the first time everyone who belongs to
the church will
be able to elect the Church Assembly will, in other words, occur in
the year 2001.

Among the issues which received the greatest attention when the
proposal from the investigating committee was presented in March
1998, was the suggestion that the voting age should be lowered from
18 to 16 years. That part of the proposal has met the most opposition
during the rounds of debate. The Central Board therefore proposes
that the voting age of 18 should be retained.

The civil servant status for priests will cease and priests will be
locally employed. Priests will
however be accountable to their bishop and the domkapitel (legally
appointed diocesan body) for their ministry and way of life,
following their ordination promises. The domkapitel shall make a
statement before anyone is employed as a priest, and the parishes
will have no power to exert any disciplinary measures against the
priests on issues concerning the teaching of the church or on other
matters which fall under the remit of the domkapitel, according to
the press statement.

The Church of Sweden Central Board will take over the appointment of
bishops from the government. But the current practice of appointing
one of the three candidates that have gained most of the votes in
diocesan elections will continue.

The decision by the Church Assembly on the new Church Order will mark
the end of the period of extensive investigations which has taken
place both by civil and ecclesiastical authorities since the decision
to disestablish the church was taken in principle by
the Riksdag  (parliament) in December 1995.

In December 1998 the Riksdag took the decision to alter the
constitution of the country, and at the same time accepted a short
law about the Church of Sweden and other denominations.
It is expected that the government will take decisions later on
regarding regulations concerning the provision of funerals and the
maintenance of cemeteries, official help from the state for the
church to collect its membership fees, and on the maintenance of
culturally valuable ecclesiastical heritage sites.

When the church assembly has taken its decisions, extensive
information campaigns and training programs will be provided during
the autumn of 1999, in order that the new relations between the
church and the state, and the inauguration of the new Church Order,
will run as smoothly as possible.

With more than 7.5 million members, the Church of Sweden is the
largest of the LWF member churches worldwide. More than 90 percent of
the country's population of 8 million are members of the church.

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/