A Twenty-first Century Uniting Church: the ongoing work of union in the Uniting Church in Sweden

Abstract

Founded in 2012, the Uniting Church in Sweden is the second youngest member of the global United and Uniting church family and represents a somewhat unlikely fusion of the United Methodist Church, the Baptist Union of Sweden, the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden and the Swedish Salvation Army. This article surveys key historical and theological factors that made union possible, gives insights into the state of ecumenism in Sweden and reflects on the theological and ecclesial self-understanding of the new movement, sometimes by comparison and reference to the Uniting Church in Australia. It finds that the dream of greater unity and future unions is an energising and ongoing work, charged with possibility.