The church sprang from the spiritual revival in the 19th century. The first local church was founded in 1855, and the denomination in 1878, as a protest against the Luth state church system. Emphasizingthe free association of committed believers in local fellowship, the MCCS adopted a congregational character. It sent representatives to the first meeting of the International Congregational Council in 1891. It regards the Holy Scripture as the sole source of faith and has no creeds. Infant and adult baptism are practiced. Holy Communion is generally led by a pastor, and the elements are distributed by a pastor or a layman. Since 1908 pastors have been trained at the church’s own seminary at Lidingö, which, in 1994, in response to a petition from the church, was transformed by the government into a theological faculty, the Stockholm School of Theology, run by the MCCS in cooperation with the Bapt Union of Sweden. The church also runs five “Folkhögskolor” (folk high schools) at Härnösand, Kalix, Karlskoga, Lidingö, and Jönköping. The General Assembly (GA) is the highest decisionmaking body. The executive board is elected by the GA. The local churches cooperate with the board through seven districts and their superintendents. The MCCS is very involved in political, social, and international issues. A biweekly paper, “Sändaren,” is published in cooperation with the Bapt Union of Sweden. The Mission Covenant Youth (SMU/Svenska Missionsförbundets Ungdom) is an independent youth organization, one of the signal youth movements in Sweden, with 58,000 members from toddlers to young adults. It has done extensive international work, in cooperation with youth organizations in sister churches. Mission work overseas began in 1879. Today the MCCS cooperates in mission and development work with churches in the Republic of Congo, Ecuador, India, Japan, Nicaragua, Pakistan, and the Democratic Republic of Zaire. Emphasis is laid on mission work in Sweden itself, which is one of the main issues confronting the MCCS today in the wake of declining membership.
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