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The History of Sweden Yearly Meeting Wilhelm Dahllöf and Ingmar Hollsing Early Swedish Quakers We do not know the names of the first Swedish Quakers. Maybe they lived in William Penn's colony in the 17th century? In the area which was to become Pennsylvania, there was a Swedish colony only a few years previously. The line that we come from - the first Quaker group which lived in Sweden for some time - does not go back further than to the 1920s. Small episodes from history reveal that there have been Swedish Friends - or at least sympathisers - before that time. In the history of other religious societies we hear the story of a shipmaster in the 19th century who came to faith through Friends. Furthermore a few letters from Swedes to the Norwegian Friend Asbjørn Kloster have been kept. In one such letter we read the following, obviously written by a man with very little formal education: My dear Friend, A. Kloster Long ago I should have replied to your so dearly welcome letter, but have not been able before - partly because I feel very inadequate and even unworthy of the name which through great patience and steadfastness was earned by Friends when they through the power that dwelled in them endured all persecutions, yes all the instruments of cruelty and gladly gave their lives for Truth's sake. May our God grant that we - the 7 of us who are here in Sweden - might not through foolishness and impropriety diminish or darken that day or that Light which Friends hold and bear witness to, even among enemies. Whatever you do please do not forget us, as regardless of the fact that the Spirit of the Lord is our Counsellor we still need the advice of more experienced and by the Light more enlightened Friends and pioneers (leaders) about what may lead to life and Godliness. Do not delay long before sending me or us a line. Sundsvall P[er] 28/3 E. Nordlöf A cordial greeting from my wife The letter is probably from 1862. In addition to Erik Nordlöf we know the names of Carl Schöllström and Erik Nordberg. We know that Carl Schöllström emigrated and went to America, »for the sake of the children». There is no connection between 19th century Swedish Friends and those Friends who eventually were to establish Sweden Yearly Meeting. Our present Meeting is established The first Quakers of our line became members of London Yearly Meeting during the 1920s and 30s. In 1935 (according to notes in the membership protocol) Swedish Friends established their own Yearly Meeting, independent of England and Norway, and the first Yearly Meeting was held at the Viggbyholm School. This Yearly Meeting was then acknowledged by the Swedish government as an independent Christian society, whose members might leave the State Church. It may be noted that this independence was supported by the Church of Sweden through the Archbishop Erling Eidem - in clear contrast to the persecutions which the state church had previously been guilty of. There is a description of how Eidem came to visit the group to hear why people would want to leave the state church: »And the Archbishop remained listening for several hours until everything was fully said. Then he gave us his blessing.» This has been one reason why several members have belonged, and still belong, to this broadminded church: In Sweden double membership is possible. Those Friends who established Swedish Yearly Meeting, believed in peace, democracy, and gender equality. We may get an impression of the feelings which moved the young group to enthusiasm through the following small quote from their application to be recognised as a society in its own right: During times in which a deep chasm has developed between Christianity and democracy, the Society of Friends represents a sincere union between them. We therefore believe that we have a special message for spiritually homeless persons who, due to their own historical experiences from some of the major popular movements, e.g. the labour movement, feel alienated as members of a patriarchal social system. Emilia Fogelklou and Other Women In the initial small group (25 adults) a large proportion were women. Among those, Emilia Fogelklou, who was an inspiration to many, deserves special mention. Her life story and contribution are in many ways typical of female Swedish Friends at the time. She was born into a wealth y home with a broadminded father willing to spend money on giving his daughters a good education. Emilia first trained as a teacher and later went on to academic studies. She was the first Swedish woman to take a degree in theology. Over the years her theological publications became rather extensive and for this reason only she may be counted amongst the Swedish cultural elite of her time. The word theology generally has a crackling dry ring, but Emilia's theology rested upon a basis of experience. As a mystic she was unique in the Swedish Yearly Meeting. Her description of meeting with God is one of our most dearly loved texts: Without visions or the sound of speech or human mediation, and in a state of exceptionally clear and alert awareness, she experienced the great, releasing, inward wonder. All heaviness and anguish, all the feeling of unreality faded away. She perceived living goodness, joy, and light as a transparently clear, uplifting, enveloping, unmistakeable reality from deep within. The first term that came to her - although it took a good while to come - was: This is the great Compassion; this is God. It is typical of a person who would be »the most ordinary of persons» that she speaks of herself in the third person. Emilia also made herself noticed in the public debate and was concerned about social questions such as class differences and the status of women. There are strong ties between the young Yearly Meeting and the so-called Fogelstad group - a group of women who worked for the emancipation of women. Emilia was very close to this group. Friend Elin Wägner belonged to the group, and the author Jeanna Oterdahl who later became a Quaker, had much to do with them. Djursholms kapell Another dynamic centre with Quaker contacts was the Stockholm suburb of Djursholm. In 1898 a chapel was consecrated there, partly funded by British Friends. The preacher there was not a State Church priest, but an artist and theologian by the name of Natanael Beskow, whose liberal theology has many Quakerly traits. His wife was the well known author of children's books, Elsa Beskow. The chapel's cantor was Alice Tegnér. Jeanna Oterdahl had many contacts here, just as did Emilia Fogelklou. The Society Grows For a long time all the Friends in Finland belonged to Swedish Yearly Meeting. Their history is described in another article. With time Swedish Yearly Meeting grew, and around 1960 there were three Monthly Meetings: Gothenburg, Helsinki and Stockholm. The Society counted almost 140 members at this time. Svartbäcken and Kväkargården The decision of Sven and Eivor Ryberg to move to the farm Svartbäcken outside Rimbo in Uppland, became of great importance to Swedish Friends. Sven turned from advertising to farming. Together with Eivor he developed a new Quaker Centre, a place for retreats and youth work. In 1964 the Society supported the conveyance of a workmen's hut to Svartbäcken, and it has later been enlarged several times, until it is now the natural location for our yearly meetings. Sven is not with us any more, but the retreats and the youth work lives on. Svartbäcken has become a complement to Kväkargården in Stockholm, a beautiful 18th century wing of Kristinehov's Malmgård, which Quakers rent from the Municipality of Stockholm. We may perhaps see a parallel here to the Finnish-Swedish Rancken family, who moved out to the village of Westervik outside Ekenäs (not to be confused with Västervik in Småland, Sweden), and established a community which collected clothes and other second hand goods to send abroad or sell in a flea market within the framework of the two organisations Emmaus and Swallows. Many are those who have come there and learnt to appreciate a simple Quaker life in practise. In Westervik there is a Meeting house built by Friends. Peace Work Swedish Friends were very active in peace work during the cold war. With Herman Backman as the motivating power an exchange programme with the Soviet Union was started during the 1950s, during a period when Russians were regarded with great suspicion, as people with whom it was not possible to communicate. Quakers were also founding members of the Swedish Peace Council, an umbrella organisation for Swedish peace organisations. The Peace Council gradually took over the exchange programme, which was still active as late as 1987. Maybe another climax for Swedish Quaker peace efforts was an East-West conference arranged at Kväkargården in 1981, with Quaker representatives from the West and Quakers and other religious groups from the east discussing peace issues. A basic aim in these initiatives was to demonstrate that »the others» were people just like us. Quaker Service The Swedish Kväkarhjälpen has supported projects in i.a. Algeria, Palestine, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, St. Petersburg, and Burundi - some of the earth's veritable 'powder kegs'. The »Kabylia» project in Algeria was conducted in cooperation with others, among them the Norwegian Kvekerhjelp. The origin of the project in Burundi appears to me (Ingmar Hollsing) to be remarkable, as we felt a strong leading. The »we» consisted of Eva Wilks and myself, Swedish representatives at the New Mexico Triennial in 1994. We had instructions from home to do something about ethnic cleansing the way it was practised in the fragmented Yugoslavia. But all roads seemed closed to us - except one, the one which led to Burundi. »We need your assistance, we, who are Quakers and seek peace,» said David Nyonzima from Burundi, a country marked by ethnic cleansing, and where, in contrast to the previous Yugoslavia, there were Quakers who were prepared to act if they could have some support. This gradually led to the building of a school in Burundi, and to the training of pre-school teachers through a major effort by our Friend Sanjoa James. Refugee work and the concealment of refugees played a major part for a long time. Not least many Friends were outraged when they considered the fate of Assyrians/Syrians as they fled from old Mesopotamia and the religious and physical oppression there. The Inner Life of Swedish Quaker Society The last few decades have seen a decline in the number of members, and during the last few years the life of our society has been marked by an inward movement, struggling with questions about our own identity, our fellowship, and the structure of the Yearly Meeting. In practical terms this has found expression in a number of separate booklets as part of a Swedish Faith and Practice, a discussion whether we merge the various Monthly Meetings into one, and the establishment of so called »Friendship Groups» within Stockholm Monthly Meeting. The latter means that smaller groups of Friends meet regularly to share experiences. Kerstin Backman has been a prime mover in this. Our internal process of recharging is beginning to pay off in terms of an increasing number of applications for membership. The membership list of Swedish Yearly Meeting will soon see several new names. *** Ingmar Hollsing is a member of Swedish Yearly Meeting. He has previously served among other things as editor of Kväkartidskrift, and has translated the Journal of John Woolman into Swedish. Wilhelm Dahllöf has been working on The Quaker Book (the Swedish Faith and Practice) and is one in the group of clerks for Sweden YM. hem |
Kväkarna, Vännernas samfund Kväkarna tror att det finns något av Gud i varje människa. Därför vänder vi oss mot alla former av våld, och tolerans är mycket viktigt för oss. Den stilla andakten står i centrum av kväkarnas andliga liv. Den firas utan predikan eller fastställt program. info@kvakare.se | |||