# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1947_S895
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

MISSIONS 895

was rampant in the Swedish Lutheran Church. This contact was
maintained by means of an exchange of literature, and when our
representative visited Stockholm, he called on the Editor and re-
newed the contact which had been cut off during the war. Editor
Svensson called attention to the fact that the outlook in the
Swedish Lutheran Church was much more hopeful than it had been
for some decades, and asked our representative to call on, and
get acquainted with, two men in particular who head promising
movements in the Church of Sweden. The first of these men is
Hovpredikant Bo Giertz, who is pastor of a country parish near
Tranas in Sweden. A visit with Pastor Giertz revealed the fact
that there is a strong Evangelical movement among the pastors
of the Swedish Church which is seeking to revitalize the rather
lethargic conditions in Swedish parishes by a re-emphasis on evan-
gelical preaching and the sacramental life of the members. Pastor
Giertz believes in the verbal inspiration of the Bible and accepts
the Confessions of the Lutheran Church.

A movement of still greater promise is led by Prof. Dr. Hugo
Odeberg, Professor of New Testament Interpretation at the Uni-
versity of Lund. He is the founder of the society Erevna, an
association of pastors, teachers, and students of theology devoted to
the study of the New Testament. This society is based upon the
belief in the verbal inspiration of the Bible and in this sense
devotes itself to the study of the New Testament. There are ap-
proximately 800 members of the society who participate in the
courses of study, lectures, and publications of this group.

FururE PouLicy

The policy adopted by Synod after Dr. Dau’s return was one
of not insisting upon the formation of a Free Church in Sweden
but of giving support to those groups who show promise of
strengthening the confessional and doctrinal character of the
Church of Sweden. Your Board feels that this policy is still the
correct one today and will continue to observe the promising de-
velopments in the Swedish Church mentioned above and give what-
ever support seems desirable to those movements. If in the
providence of God a separation of Church and State should de-
velop in Sweden and a church organization be formed which has
the Lutheran Confessions and practice as its basis, our Synod will
then be confronted with a situation in which it might be asked
to support such a group. But this eventuality does not seem to
lie in the immediate future. Until then your Board will continue
to observe conditions in Sweden and maintain and enlarge the
contacts with those sections of the Church of Sweden that give
promise of increasing its confessional Lutheran character.

eS a OS —

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