Church of Sweden Abroad

Swedish Church, Harcourt St., London

The Church of Sweden Abroad - in Swedish: Svenska kyrkan i utlandet (SKUT) - is accountable to a special committee under the General Synod of the Church of Sweden and is under the episcopal oversight of the Bishop of Visby. SKUT has approximately 45 congregations throughout the world, concentrated in Western Europe. Another 80 cities are served by visiting ministers.

The first parish established abroad was that of Paris, France, which dates from 1626 when the Roman Catholic king of France, Louis XIII, allowed a Swedish Protestant pastor to minister to the Swedish and German regiments fighting in his royal army. The congregation developed with the Swedish community in Paris and was at the foundation of several Swedish institutions in the city, such as a school and an hospice. It served as embassy church for several hundred years, and until 1988 the rector was also an official of the Swedish embassy in Paris. Today the Swedish Sofia Parish (Svenska Sofiaförsamlingen), named for queen Sofia of Nassau, is one of SKUT's largest. It was also the first (and so far only) expat parish of the Church of Sweden to appoint a female rector, the Reverend Karin Burstrand. (Mrs Burstrand will however leave her functions, to assume those of dean of Gothenburg Cathedral in summer 2008.)

There are two congregations in London, England - the parish church (in Harcourt Street) and the seamen's church (in Lower Road, Rotherhithe) as well as one church in Liverpool, UK. The latter is due to be closed after the church decided to remove funding and relocate the incumbent to London.[1]

Swedish churches abroad

Europe

• Antwerp, Belgium
• Athens, Greece
• Barcelona, Spain
• Ayia Napa, Cyprus
• Berlin, Germany
• Brussels, Belgium
• Copenhagen, Denmark
• Frankfurt, Germany
• Fuengirola, Spain
• Hamburg, Germany
• Helsinki, Finland
• Las Palmas, Spain
• Lausanne, Switzerland
• Liverpool, UK
• London, UK
• Los Cristianos, Spain
• Monaco
• Oslo, Norway
• Palma de Mallorca, Spain
• Paris, France
• Puerto de la Cruz, Spain
• Rhodos, Greece
• Rom, Germany
• Rotterdam, Netherlands
• Skagen, Denmark
• San Agustin, Spain
• Tallinn, Estonia
• Torrevieja, Spain

Americas

Manhattan, New York City

• Los Angeles, USA
• New York City, USA
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• San Francisco, USA
• Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Toronto, Canada

Asia and Australia and Africa

• Bangkok, Thailand
• Dubai, UAE
• Hong Kong, China
• Jerusalem, Israel
• Cairo, Egypt
• Melbourne, Australia
• Singapore, Singapore
• Sydney, Australia

See also

• Diocese of Visby
• Finnish Seamen's Mission
• Scandinavian churches in London
• Norwegian Seamen’s Church
• Danish Seamen’s Church and Church Abroad
• Sweden

External links

• Website (in Swedish only)
• Swedish Church in London (in English and Swedish)
• Svenska kyrkan i New York (in English and Swedish)
• Svenska lutherska kyrkan i Toronto (in English and Swedish)