Laestadianism

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Lars Levi Laestadius (1800-1861)

Laestadianism is a conservative Lutheran revival movement started in the middle of the 19th century. It is the biggest revivalist movement in the Nordic countries.^[1] It has members mainly in Finland, North America, Norway, Russia and Sweden. There are also smaller congregations in Africa, South America and Central Europe. In addition Laestadians have missionaries in 23 countries. The number of Laestadians worldwide is estimated to be between 144,000 and 219,000.

Because of doctrinal opinion differences the movement has been split into 19 branches, of which about 15 are active today. The three big main branches are: Conservative Laestadianism, The Firstborns (= "Old Apostolic Lutheran Church") and Apostolic Lutheran Church of America. These comprise about 90 percent of Laestadians. Other branches are small and some of them inactive. Elämänsanalaisuus ("Live's word") have been notable in Finland's church: three of them have elected bishops. Laestadians in Finland have wanted to be part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, but in America they had to found their own churches.

All branches have some common teaching: emphasizing Lutheran doctrines (forgiveness and grace), a difference between believers and others, and that every believer has the authority to forgive others' sins. They usually proclaim the forgiveness of sins "in Jesus name and blood". When greeting each other, Laestadians say "God's Peace" in English, or in Finnish, "Jumalan terve" ("God's Greetings"). To take their leave of each other, they say "God's Peace" in English (in Finnish: "Jumalan rauhaan"). Their central activities are revival meetings, the biggest of them being the annual Summer Services of Conservative Laestadians. Different branches publish their newspapers and magazines.

1 History
2 See also
3 External links
4 Notes

[edit] History

The name of the movement comes from Lars Levi Laestadius, a Swedish botanist and preacher. Laestadius started the movement when working as a pastor in the Church of Sweden in northern Sweden in the 1840s. Laestadius met a Lappish woman named Milla Clementsdotter of Föllinge, during an 1844 inspection tour of Åsele. She narrated various biblical teachings to Laestadius, and after the meeting Laestadius felt he had come to understand the secret of living faith. He believed that he received his sins forgiven and he saw the path of life. He began to preach a new type of sermon and the movement began to spread from Sweden to Finland and Norway. He preferred his followers to be known simply as "Christians," but others started to call them "Laestadians."