Nordic Countries

Church and State

Soon after the Reformation, the Evangelical Lutheran churches were established as state churches in all five countries. During the 1800s, growing revival movements developed into free churches in Sweden and into movements and organizations inside the frames of the majority churches in the other countries.

Today, the relations between church and state vary. The most stable church-state relations are found in Denmark (5.4 million) and Iceland (290,000), where few changes have taken place. According to the Danish Constitution of 1849, “the Evangelical Lutheran Church is the Danish popular church and supported as such by the state.” Denmark achieved freedom of religion and also instituted a folk church that received “support” from the state and that the state could use for its own support. An important feature in the Danish case is the lack of democratic institutions inside the Danish Folk Church, a development that has taken place in the other countries. The Danish Folk Church is a relatively liberal church that integrates different groups into its fold. The large majority of Danes seem to accept that the state rules the church and has the final responsibility in determining the framework for its activities. The relations between church and state in Iceland are not controversial either. However, the Church of Iceland has since the late 1950s formed democratic institutions such as the Church Assembly, which represents a development of autonomy from the state in internal matters.

In Norway, church-state relations are under pressure. The constitution of 1814 states that “the Evangelical Lutheran religion is the public religion of the state.” In contrast to the other Nordic countries, Norway (4.7 million) continues to have a defined state religion. Norway was the first of these countries to debate autonomy from the state within a state church system. Partly due to the struggle during World War II to maintain an independent church away from the Nazi occupational forces, the Church of Norway took the initiative during the postwar years to form a representative church council with certain governing functions. Once these and other democratic institutions (the annual Church Assembly) were formed, they implied a growing autonomy from the state in internal matters. Today, the state church system is debated, and there are calls for reforms.

The most profound changes have taken place in Sweden (9 million), where church and state separated in 2000. Historically, a law from 1809 stated that “the King should always be of the pure Evangelical teaching.” Consequently, it was argued that “the religion which the Swedish King must confess … thereby is state religion.” During the 1950s to 1980s, several state-appointed commissions dealt with church-state relations. In 1982, the “Church of Sweden Law” was introduced, which gave more autonomy to the church. In 2000, a new law defined the Church of Sweden as an open, democratic Evangelical Lutheran church with autonomy from the state.

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