Confessional Provinces: Church or Not?

Resumé

In this paper, the Mission Province in Sweden is analyzed from a number of perspectives. Initially, the Constantinian problem, which belonged to the context when the Lutheran Reformation appeared, is described. A related (military) element is also discussed, here called “Carolingian” (labelled after the emperor Charles the Great), which often is neglected, but present in the Reformation period. Another section deals with a number of historical perspectives related to Christian Churches in general / the Lutheran Churches / the Church of Sweden (CoS). It is shown that the Mission Province in Sweden came into existence as a result of major changes which have taken place within the CoS in the latest centuries and decades. That a conflict came between the liberal majority and a Confessional minority is not surprising, but rather the actions of the minority. A number of pastors and laymen chose neither to leave CoS nor to adjust themselves to the Church´s new, theological positions. Instead, the Mission Province was organized as a free and non-territorial diocese within the “Church of Sweden tradition.” Referring back to the Reformers and Lutheran Confessions, especially to Melanchthon, the minority started to ordain bishops and pastors, gathering Christians in independent congregations, organized within a free and non-territorial diocese.