Swedish Pentecostal Churches’ Use of the Concept of Mission

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the Swedish pentecostal movement has undergone a major transformation in its way of organizing and collaborating around mission work. In this explorative study, the purpose is to investigate how these and other changes have influenced how contemporary Swedish pentecostal churches understand and make use of the concept of mission. The data for the study consists of texts from the churches’ websites and draws on conceptual history in its theoretical and methodological approach. The findings of the study indicate a theological shift within the Swedish pentecostal movement. Among other things, it highlights a disconnect between the concept of mission and eschatological urgency and notes that priority is no longer given to mission as evangelism, over social work. The study also points to a linguistic instability associated with the concept of mission wherein the term “international work” is being used interchangeably with it and has, on some churches’ websites, even replaced the “mission” altogether, a finding that suggests an ongoing dispute over the definition of mission.