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Palmberg Contrasts Swedish, American Annual Meetings
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN (June 20, 2001) - Glenn R. Palmberg, president of the Evangelical Covenant Church, attended the annual meeting of Svenska Missionsförbundet, Sweden, and gained significant insights about the denomination during a trip June 11-18.
"It was extremely interesting," said Palmberg, who traveled with wife, Sharon, to the event. "It gives one appreciation for the difficulty of seeking to share the gospel in a culture where church attendance is extremely low and interest in the Christian faith seems quite low."
Palmberg saw "Christianity in the marketplace" in a whole new way during the final service of the Annual Meeting. The communion service was held in the center of a crowded open air shopping area in downtown Stockholm. A noted Swedish evangelist spoke as shoppers
moved from place to place while the service was going on.
The arrival of Palmberg in Sweden coincided with the arrival of United States President Bush to the country. Palmberg said the Swedes were highly interested in environmental and capital punishment issues and questioned Bush's positions in those areas of interest.
Protesters in Goteborg criticized Bush's stands on global warming, the proposed missile defense system and the death penalty. "I was questioned frequently about what seemed to be the disinterest of Americans on environmental issues," said Palmberg, who preached at the
Swedish-speaking service at a Covenant church in Stockholm during his trip. "And they seem amazed that Christians in America seem so tolerant toward the death penalty - that they're not as alarmed as they are by it."
In general, Palmberg said the Sweden meeting focused much more attention on current international issues than the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) normally does. He attributed that to the proximity of Sweden to so many other nations in Europe. He added that there were many international guests from other church denominations who led workshops at the annual meeting, another difference from the ECC tradition.
"It was very helpful being in a setting of church leaders not dominated by Americans," he said. "You begin to realize that some of the things we think about faith and culture are not shared by other cultures."
Svenska Missionsförbundet, founded in 1878, has 844 congregations and more than 67,000 members, according to recent statistics. Krister Andersson is the president.
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