I arrived in a castle-like church to attend a gathering of young people from Stockholm Stift (Diocese). Upon entering the majestic Sofia Kyrka, located on a hilltop, I began to hear an unusual sound from the church’s interior. The sound was familiar and it was the type of music played in party houses back in my home country.
As I drew nearer, all the more I have proved that it was party music played in church on loud speakers. Not only that, I saw a Disc-Jockey (DJ) standing on the pulpit – where the priest usually says the sermon.
Coming from a very conservative background, I could have reacted negatively on what I have just witnessed. For conservative people, they may view it as something sacrilegious. (Sacrilegious means committing sacrilege; unholy, disrespectful or blasphemous act)
Gladly, I reminded myself to be open-minded on what I see, hear and witness here in Sweden. Then, I came to appreciate the symbolism brought about by the scene that unfolded right before my very eyes and ears. With this, I arrived to a realization that a deep meaning lies behind that scene which showed how the Church of Sweden strives to draw more young people to Christ, who seems to be unknown to many in the society.
Instead of the church bells, the party music and the DJ signified the call of the Svenska Kyrkan to invite young people to come and learn deeper about Christ not only through worship but also in caring and loving other people – as an actual response to the Gospel. (During the afternoon, the youngsters were asked to walk around Stockholm City to help collect funds for the Global Mission of the Church of Sweden.)
Talking about the DJ and the party music played inside Sofia Kyrka, I see a church doing away with the conservative norms in order to meet its goal of bringing young people back to God’s fold. The party music was a symbol depicting how the church was willing to groove with the youth in order to draw them back to Christ’s flock through their interests like: sports, music, arts and dance.
As I recall days before the event, I was able to visit Fryshuset (Frozen House) where priests from the Swedish Church are also working for the formation of young people. Fryshuset offers social projects and educational programs and serves as an activity center purposely made by Anders Carlberg in the 1980s.
Within the program are four areas of interests for the youth namely: music, skating, basketball and dance. All of these are aimed at bringing young people to the right path and to form useful citizens in the society.
During the visit, I came to know about the Dance Confirmation class, one of Fryshuset’s programs tied up with the Church of Sweden. In fact, one of its outputs was presented during the event in Sofia Kyrka and the dance connotes how the Church of Sweden gives freedom to young people by allowing them to offer modern groovy moves during the worship.
Added to this, I was told that FryshusKyrkan (a church inside Fryshuset) often hold Dance Masses. During the service, modern dances with contemporary beats are performed instead of hymns, by the dance confirmation class.
In some ways, this could appear to be a deviant yet a more meaningful action, because the goal is still to bring God’s Word to the young. (In Sociology, the term deviant means “departing from usual or accepted standards.”)
The Church, in this situation, permits young people to do freely their interests and within the worship, an encounter happens. Thus, providing the clergy assigned a chance to talk more about God and how it is to live as a Christian. So, what I see is a mutual relationship because the Mass has become an encounter between the modern dance and God’s Word. It is a meeting point between the youth’s interest and the Church in mission.
In this kind of project which appears deviant to how a church works, I see Jesus in the modern times. When Jesus walked into this world more than two thousand years ago, he was called deviant by the Jewish leaders because He did not conform to the conventional traditions of their society.
He preached anywhere, touched, healed the sick, mingled with those tagged as “unclean people” and brought the dead to life. All the more, Jesus did not stay most of the time inside the temple nor built a house of worship for people to visit but instead, he went out and walked, talked, struggled with the people and more so, he immersed into their daily life.
As I view it in a more Biblical perspective, the struggle of the Church of Sweden to bring back the young people to God abides with Christ’s mission “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
In contrary to Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep, the Church of Sweden dwells in a society where more than one sheep has wandered far from the Great Shepherd. The church as Christ, the Good Shepherd’s representative, must take a great leap of faith in order to lead the greater fold back to His flock. Though for some, they see the church’s actions as somewhat experimental but it is a fact that behind great inventions were several experiments and attempts.
Yes, Church of Sweden’s work may not lead all of the young people back to God but it deserves to be given recognition due the enormous efforts exerted in order to abide with Christ’s mission. It would sound so unreal or surreal if the Church says that it aims to bring the whole flock back to God’s fold because Jesus himself predicted that several individuals would reject His Gospel when He said, “Many are called but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14)
Lastly in this mission to the young, I see success in the eyes of several young priests pursuing the work in the Church of Sweden. They are the best and profound tools in promoting Christ to the younger generation.
“Cool priests,” as I tag them, are also what young people would like their friends to be. Cool means to understand the young and to support them with their interests.
Young priests play a vital role in transforming young people in the society as they are willing to step down from being “the priest” as someone who can be a friend, playmate and at the same time, a spiritual adviser in an unnoticed manner.
The event I witnessed was an eye-opener for me as a representative of a church coming from the other side of the world. It was a call to respond to the changing times and to think deeper about the needs of the young generation.
This suggests that it’s about time to do away with the conservatives and to think more ways of serving the young people’s interests if the church’s goal is to bring the Gospel of Christ to them.
Doing away with the conservative norms would not mean converting churches into party halls and all the more, I am not suggesting that party music should be played inside our sanctuaries. I think it’s time for other churches to answer the greater call of becoming a refuge for the young people where they can be themselves and free from prejudice. In this way, the young people would feel they are welcome in God’s kingdom and to His big house party prepared for them.
Yes, it was a call to be more open-minded and to act like the deviant Jesus who stepped into this earth two thousand years ago. In fact, Christianity was formed because he was successful in doing away with the conventional traditions with His words and act of salvation.
Now it’s also time for his followers (churches) to take the deviant path and to groove with the youth if the goal is really to pursue the mission of proclaiming Christ’s Gospel to the present generation who are often lured by the new and worldly trinity of materialism, secularization and individualism, matters which are now slowly corrupting and conquering the minds of man- who is supposed to be God’s best handiwork.
//Klein F. Emperado is one of the exchange students in the exchange programme ”Young in the World Wide Chuch” 2014. During three months he will be spending time in Sweden, sharing life, faith and every day life. Klein is a Mass Communications graduate from Silliman University, Dumaguete, Philippines and also he works as Editorial Assistant for the said university. In the exchange he represents the Philippine Independent Church/Iglesia Filipina Independiente. His line of ministry is focused mainly on Liturgy and Music for the Diocese of Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
// Klein F. Emperado är en av deltagarna i utbytesprogrammet Ung i den världsvida kyrkan 2014. Under tre månader delar han vardag, tro och liv med människor här i Sverige. Under sin första månad spenderar han tid i St Mikaels församling i Stockholms stift. Klein har tagit examen i masskommunikation vid Silliman University, Dumaguete, Filippinerna och han jobbar idag som redaktörsassistent för nämnda universitet. I utbytesprogrammet representerar han den Filippinska oberoende kyrkan (Iglesia Filipina Independiente). Hans stora intresse och inriktning innom kyrkan är främst liturgi och musik för stiftet i Negros Oriental och Siquijor.
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