Lund, Sweden, 20-27 March 2007
The Church of Sweden
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The Church of Sweden is a national church, open to everyone living in Sweden regardless of nationality. It is a place for church services, meetings and dialogue. With around 6.9 million members, it is the largest member church of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), which it joined in 1947.
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The Diocese of Lund
The diocese of Lund is one of Sweden’s thirteen dioceses and encompasses the geographical regions of Skåne and Blekinge.
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The Structure of the Diocese
The basic unit within the diocese is the parish. The diocese of Lund today contains 217 parishes. One or more parishes together form a larger unit known in Swedish as a “pastorat.” These “pastorat” in turn are organized into 18 “kontrakt.”
Advice and Support
The fundamental task of the diocese is to provide training and advice to support and stimulate the diocese’s parishes, employees, elected representatives and voluntary workers in their work. The diocese also has an obligation to ensure that the parishes follow the Church Ordinance which are the regulations governing the Church of Sweden.
Decision-making Body
The highest decision-making body for a diocese is the democratically elected Diocesan Council. The Diocesan Council appoints a Diocesan Board which is the diocese’s executive body. The Diocesan Board is chaired by the bishop.
Archdiocese in 1103
The history of the diocese of Lund dates back over a thousand years. Lund became a bishopric as early as 1060 in what was then Denmark, and in 1103 became an archdiocese over all the territory of the Nordic countries at the time. After the Reformation in the sixteenth century, the bishop was dismissed and replaced by a superintendent. When Lund became Swedish it regained a bishop once more. The current bishop, Christina Odenberg, is the 67th Bishop of Lund.
Cathedral
Lund Cathedral is a diocesan cathedral and the largest Romanesque church in the Nordic countries. Construction work began as early as the 1060s. The crypt was consecrated in 1123 and the high altar in 1145.
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Photographs from the Council meeting can be ordered at LWF-Photo Service.
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