The Story God is Writing in Sweden

29 minutes ago
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For generations, Sweden sent missionaries around the world. Today, missionaries are returning to Sweden.

How did one of Europe's great missionary-sending nations become a nation in great need of the Gospel? The answer is a story almost a thousand years in the making.

A Christian Nation

Between the ninth and twelfth centuries, Christianity first arrived in Sweden, a predominantly pagan-viking nation, through missionaries like Saint Ansgar from France. Over time, the Gospel spread throughout the country until Christianity became deeply woven into Swedish society. During the Middle Ages, Sweden was predominantly Catholic. Then, during the Reformation, the powerful notions of salvation through faith alone and as a gift from God spread to Sweden, and the nation broke away from Rome. Within a short time Sweden formally adopted the Evangelical Lutheran confession, making Lutheranism the official religion of the country¹.

Over time, Swedish culture adopted Christianity as a mandatory way of life and cultural norm, but there was always a remnant of people with a personal faith in Jesus and.

One example of this was Kyrkogångsplikt, or "church attendance duty²," a legal requirement that remained in place from 1527 until 1809. Church attendance was expected of every citizen, and local priests regularly visited homes to examine families on their knowledge of Luther's Small Catechism³. Children and adults alike were expected to know the foundations of the Christian faith. Biblical truth was repeated in homes, discussed around dinner tables, and passed from one generation to the next. This, however, did not always bridge to a genuine heart faith. The knowledge of God was prevalent, but only the person of God can change hearts.

However, Sweden's Christian story was not done.

There always remained a remnant of people with a personal faith in Jesus. Then, during the nineteenth century, a wave of spiritual renewal swept through the country, creating a powerful historical mark in the nation where a bridge was made between intellectual theological knowledge and heartfelt faith. While many believers longed for a faith that was more than religious obligation, evangelical movements began calling people toward a vibrant, personal relationship with Christ. Organizations like the Swedish Missionary Society and the Swedish Evangelical Mission⁴ emerged from that renewed passion, sending men and women across the globe with the Gospel.

Many of these outbound missionary movements were born from dissatisfaction with a faith that had become merely cultural. People longed for something deeper than outward religion. They wanted hearts transformed by the Gospel.

From roughly 1850 to 1970, Sweden became one of Europe's strongest missionary-sending nations⁵. Swedish believers served in places like Ethiopia, Eritrea, Tanzania, Malawi, India, Japan, Brazil, Russia, and throughout Central and East Africa. Churches prayed, families gave sacrificially, and generations of Christians left home believing that every nation deserved to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

For generations, Sweden faithfully sent missionaries to strengthen churches around the world. Few imagined that one day the nation itself would become one of Europe's greatest mission fields.

The transformation did not happen overnight. It unfolded quietly over decades, until one of the world's great missionary-sending countries became known as one of the world's most secular societies.

The question is no longer whether Sweden had a Christian heritage. The question is what happened to it?

The Great Decline

The transformation of Sweden did not happen all at once.

There was no single moment when churches emptied or families abandoned the faith. Instead, over generations, Christianity slowly shifted from the center of Swedish life to its edges. As industrialization drew people from small villages into growing cities, traditional community life changed. The welfare state expanded, prosperity increased, and religion became increasingly viewed as a private matter⁶ rather than a shared foundation of society. Some churches chose to allow culture to steer their message and vision instead of the Bible.

Ironically, many of these changes grew out of good intentions. The evangelical movements of the nineteenth century had emphasized that genuine faith could not be compelled by law. Christianity had to become a matter of personal conviction rather than government obligation. So, restrictions on religious gatherings gradually disappeared, and freedom of religion became firmly established.

What had once been required was now left to individual choice.

Over time, however, another shift quietly took place.

Christianity remained part of Sweden's identity, but less and less a part of everyday life.

For decades, nearly every Swede officially belonged to the Church of Sweden simply because they were born into it. Up until the 1990s, children were automatically enrolled as members of the church⁷ if one parent was already a member. On paper, Sweden looked remarkably Christian. In reality, many people belonged to the church without ever believing the Gospel.

The Church of Sweden formally separated from the state on January 1, 2000, ending nearly five centuries as the nation's official church⁸. Yet the deeper change had already been happening for decades. A country once shaped by biblical truth had slowly become a culture where faith was increasingly absent from public life.

Today, around half of Sweden's population still “belongs” to the Church of Sweden, but membership tells only part of the story. Surveys suggest that roughly half of Swedish adults identify as religiously unaffiliated⁹, and among those who identify as Christian, fewer than 15% attend church regularly or consider religion central to their lives. In many evangelical churches, weekly attendance represents only one or two percent of the surrounding population¹⁰.

Hannah Norén believes something replaced the old catechism.

Now, "Everyone has their own truth," she told us. "Tolerance is king. There is a new catechism in Sweden."

Swedes are known for kindness, humility, and respect for others. Those qualities remain admirable. Yet when tolerance becomes the highest value, it can become difficult to speak confidently about truth itself.

"We're living in a time where many simply want to hear what sounds good," Hannah explained. "People tell us they never hear about sin anymore, even in churches. They never hear about judgment or the holiness of God. You can only understand grace and glory if you understand both sides of the Gospel."

Without an understanding of sin, grace becomes little more than encouragement. Without knowing who God is, it becomes difficult to understand who we are. Sweden did not lose its need for truth. It simply forgot where truth is found.

For years, those statistics painted a discouraging picture, and churches have been closing, at a rate of one church every week¹¹ for the past 25 years. Christian belief continued declining, and it could be easy to assume the story was over.

But beneath the surface, God was already planting seeds that few people could yet see.

The Quiet Rebuilding

Joel and DeAnn Vermillion served the Lord as missionaries in Sweden from 2000-2015.

After years of connection with Torchbearers International, Joel and DeAnn moved from the United States to Sweden in 2000 to serve at an international Bible school. Joel became a program director, teaching courses throughout the year, while DeAnn faithfully served in the local church, teaching Sunday school and investing in children and families. They were expected to teach, disciple, and encourage believers. What they discovered was a country wrestling with what it meant to be post-Christian.

The Vermillion Family in 2010

Sweden had not completely forgotten its Christian heritage. Churches still stood in city centers. Christian holidays remained part of the culture. Values like honesty, humility, and care for others still reflected centuries of biblical influence. Yet for many people, Christianity had become a memory rather than a living faith.

Joel told us he soon recognized that one of the country's oldest cultural values is a deep appreciation for the outdoors. Rather than asking young people to step away from their culture, he found ways to meet them in it. Kayaking, skiing, ropes courses, hiking, and a longstanding cultural church coming-of-age ritual called “confirmation camps” where places Swedes were already participating. For many teenagers, confirmation camps remained one of the few remaining points of contact with Christianity. Historically connected to the Lutheran church, and they had become a rite of passage even for families with little involvement in church life. Those weeks created opportunities to ask deeper questions about life, faith, and the Gospel. They became places where meaningful conversations about Christ could naturally take place.

At the same time, Joel and Deanne noticed another growing need. Many churches loved children deeply, but parents often felt unequipped to disciple them at home. Children's ministry could easily become focused on reminding children that God loved them—a beautiful truth—but one that often stood alone without the larger story of redemption.

Parents and churches began asking for help. Joel believes this is one reason ministries like Songs for Saplings working in Sweden are so valuable in reaching the next generation.

"Children remember songs in a different way than they remember lessons. Stories and music are such an important part of shaping the next generation," he said.

Truth that is sung becomes truth that is remembered. Long after a lesson is forgotten, a child may still remember the words of a song. Long after a sermon ends, families can continue singing together in their homes.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Hannah Norén were beginning their own chapter of ministry. After meeting while serving as missionaries in the Middle East, God led them back to Daniel's homeland of Sweden in 2011. Together with a small group of believers in Gothenburg, they helped begin a Bible study that would eventually grow into a church.

The rebuilding was quiet. Week after week, conversations took place around kitchen tables. Small groups opened God's Word together. Parents asked how to teach their children. Pastors faithfully preached Scripture. Churches partnered instead of competing. No headlines announced what God was doing. But roots were deepening beneath the surface and eventually, those groups and churches would begin to grow.

The Green Shoots

For years, the story of Christianity in Sweden seemed to be written almost entirely in statistics of decline.

Today, there are reasons to tell another story.

The Bible study Daniel and Hannah Norén helped begin has grown into a thriving church with a little under one hundred people gathering each week. The church now trains interns for future leadership in Swedish churches, and three Bible studies in neighboring cities are growing toward becoming church plants of their own.

Their vision extends far beyond one congregation.

The Noren Family

That same heart has shaped conferences, bringing together believers from more than forty churches across the country, depending on the event. Pastors, church planters, and ministry leaders from different traditions have gathered around a shared desire—not to build individual ministries, but to see the Gospel faithfully proclaimed throughout Sweden once again.

Hannah believes the greatest need is not simply for more churches, but for deeper roots.

"Theology is needed again in Sweden," Hannah said. "It needs to be heard, repeated, and taken in again."

That conviction shapes everything from their church planting efforts to the resources they recommend for families. Hannah often hears from parents looking for practical tools to help their children understand God's Word.

They don't simply want children to know that God loves them, they want them to understand who God is. They want children to know His holiness, His justice, His mercy, His grace, and His sovereignty—to have a faith sturdy enough to withstand suffering as well as joy.

That longing is one reason Songs for Saplings has become such a meaningful partnership with the Noren’s work.

When Dana Dirksen recently traveled to Sweden to record the second Questions with Answers album in Swedish, Hannah remembers one moment especially. Dana told the Swedish team that these were no longer simply her personal songs, "they're your songs now."

It was more than a kind comment. It reflected the heart of Songs for Saplings. Scripture was being entrusted to the Swedish church in Swedish voices, equipping Swedish parents and churches to pass God's Word to the next generation in their own language.

There are other encouraging signs as well. Bible sales have risen dramatically¹² in recent years. Young adults are asking new questions about Christianity. Conversations about Jesus are becoming increasingly common in places where faith had long been dismissed. Even Swedish media surprised many by naming Jesus the country's "Influencer of the Year" in 2025¹³—a small but telling reminder that something is stirring.

After years of decline, people are beginning to search for something that wealth, comfort, and self-sufficiency could never provide. "Meaningless, meaningless," wrote the author of Ecclesiastes, and Sweden is discovering that truth again.

Jesus told a parable about a shepherd who left the ninety-nine sheep to search for the one that was lost. Sometimes it can feel as though the church in Sweden is that one sheep. Yet the Shepherd has never stopped searching.

Please join us in praying that God would continue revealing Himself across Sweden—that parents would boldly teach His Word in their homes, churches would remain faithful to the Gospel, children would grow up with a rich understanding of who God is, and many more would come to know Christ.

Please also share these songs with anyone you know who speaks Swedish, and consider making a donation to help bring Scripture-filled music to more children and families around the world.

Written by Abigail Ryerson, 2026

Notes

Church of Sweden. History of the Church of Sweden.
Nationalencyklopedin. "Kyrkogångsplikt"; Church of Sweden. The Reformation in Sweden.
Martin Luther. Small Catechism; Church of Sweden historical archives on catechetical instruction.
Swedish Evangelical Mission. History; Swedish Missionary Society historical records.
Dana L. Robert, Christian Mission: How Christianity Became a World Religion (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009); Andrew F. Walls, The Missionary Movement in Christian History (Orbis Books, 1996).
David Thurfjell, The Godless People: The Long History of a Secular Society (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2015).
Church of Sweden. Historical membership records and baptism practices.
Church of Sweden. Relations Between Church and State.
Pew Research Center, Being Christian in Western Europe; World Values Survey, Sweden Country Data; Statistics Sweden (SCB), population and religious affiliation data.
Interview with Daniel and Hannah Norén, conducted by the author.
Interview with Daniel and Hannah Norén, conducted by the author.
Swedish Booksellers Association, annual book sales reports; Swedish Bible Society, Bible distribution and sales reports.
Swedish media reports recognizing Jesus as "Influencer of the Year" (2025).