Pastor

The following articles have been tagged with "Pastor":

Swedish TV show probes growth of English

Analysis & Opinion: 20 Jan 10
Where did the English language come from? Why has it become the world’s most widespread means of communication? What will happen in the future? Keith Foster, host of a new Swedish TV series, travels the world in search of answers. READ »

Afghan teens left in the cold by train operator

National: 29 Dec 09
The five Afghan teens found wandering in the cold near Sävsjö in southern Sweden had not been left in the forest by smugglers, it emerged on Monday, but had instead been kicked off a Swedish passenger train. READ »

Afghan teens dumped in Swedish forest

National: 28 Dec 09
Five chilled and hungry Afghan teenagers stumbled into a southern Swedish town on Christmas Eve after being left by smugglers in a deserted stretch of forest days earlier, a priest who had taken them in said Sunday. READ »

No remand of accused Church of Sweden pastor

National: 19 Dec 09
On Friday, a court in western Sweden elected not to remand the 60-year-old Church of Sweden pastor accused sexually abusing two minor boys during an overseas trip with a group of candidates for confirmation. READ »

Church of Sweden pastor accused of rape

National: 17 Dec 09
A 60-year-old Church of Sweden pastor faces a remand hearing this Friday for the alleged sexual abuse of two children during an overseas trip with a group of candidates for confirmation. READ »

Bishop blasts pastor over anal sex outburst

Society: 9 Dec 09
Church of Sweden pastor and gay marriage opponent Dag Sandahl has drawn the ire of senior clergy after launching a foul-mouthed attack on gay sex at an October church summit. READ »

Sweden's first lesbian bishop consecrated in Uppsala

Society: 9 Nov 09
The Church of Sweden on Sunday ordained a female pastor as the country's first openly homosexual bishop, just weeks after approving gay marriages. READ »

Anglicans snub Swedish lesbian bishop

Society: 4 Nov 09
Anglican bishops from England and Northern Ireland have rebuffed invitations to attend the ordination of the openly gay Eva Brunne to be the next Bishop of Stockholm. READ »

Church of Sweden says yes to gay marriage

National: 22 Oct 09
The Synod of the Lutheran Church of Sweden has come down in favour of church weddings for homosexuals in a vote held on Thursday morning. READ »

Swedish pastor fined for fingering figs

Society: 16 Oct 09
A Church of Sweden pastor has been convicted of shoplifting and ordered to pay a 5,100 kronor ($734) for stealing, among other things, a jar of figs marinated in cognac. READ »

Little Sweden on the Prairie

Travel: 12 Oct 09
Välkommen till Lindsborg - Between barbecued ribs and meatballs, Robert La Bua finds Swedish culture alive and well in Little Sweden, USA. READ »

Outrage over drunken Swedish pastor's funeral service

Society: 2 Oct 09
A family from Skåne in southern Sweden has demanded compensation from the Church of Sweden claiming that the pastor employed to conduct a funeral had consumed a glass too many in the vestry. READ »

Sex rumours land loose-lipped Swedish pastor in hot water

Society: 23 Sep 09
A pastor in Malmö in southern Sweden has been accused of leaking intimate details of a woman's sex life to other members of the congregation. READ »

Swedes set to ignore church elections

National: 20 Sep 09
Polling booths are opening across Sweden on Sunday morning to welcome voters in the national church elections. The election is however expected to be given the cold shoulder by 90 percent of registered voters. READ »

Swedish pastor cited after family burial

Society: 12 Sep 09
A pensioned Church of Sweden pastor has landed himself in hot holy water after performing a burial service for a person who was not a member of the flock. READ »

Sweden's archbishop to perform Victoria's royal wedding

Society: 23 Aug 09
Crown Princess Victoria and her fiancé Daniel Westling are to be wed by Sweden’s archbishop Anders Wejryd. READ »

Defrocked pastor sues Christian dating site

Society: 4 Aug 09
A Church of Sweden minister has demanded compensation from a Christian dating site after he was stripped of his clerical collar for insulting a number of the site's female users. READ »

Swedish metal heads get ready to rock for Jesus

Society: 12 Jun 09
God-fearing heavy metal fans in Sweden now have a place to go to bang their heads and worship Jesus at the same time. READ »

Pastor to sue dating site over release of rude comments

Society: 22 Apr 09
A Christian dating website which released details about a Swedish pastor’s offensive comments has been accused of violated the country’s data privacy laws. READ »

Swedish pastor accused in sex chat scandal

Society: 21 Apr 09
A Swedish pastor has been reported to church authorities for harassing a young man on a internet chat and dating site. The pastor is alleged to have sent graphic pictures of his sexual organ. READ »

Swedish church unveils Lego Jesus for Easter

Society: 13 Apr 09
While most Christians mark Easter with prayers and song, one Swedish church opened its mass on Sunday by unveiling a life-size Lego statue of Jesus Christ. READ »

Mystery donor leaves 100,000 kronor church collection gift

Society: 7 Apr 09
An anonymous older woman answered all her local church's prayers on Sunday by handing over an envelope with bills amounting to 100,000 kronor ($12,200). READ »

Drunk Swedish pastor in net dating outrage

Society: 4 Apr 09
A pensioned Church of Sweden pastor has been reported for offensive comments to women while chatting on a Christian online dating website. READ »

The Local at Five: 'It's not cool and it's not funny'

Analysis & Opinion: 3 Apr 09
The Local's founder and CEO Paul Rapacioli talks about the birth of Sweden's News in English, conversational silences and his inherent lack of coolness. READ »

Married pastor on probation after sex with grieving mother

Society: 3 Apr 09
A married Church of Sweden pastor in Skurup in southern Sweden has been put on probation after having sex with a woman in his congregation who was grieving her deceased son. READ »

Sweden passes new gay marriage law

Society: 2 Apr 09
Sweden's parliament passed new legislation by a wide majority on Wednesday that will allow homosexuals to marry in church and civil weddings. READ »

Church delays decision on pastor's teen love affair

Society: 1 Apr 09
The future of a female Church of Sweden pastor is in the balance following revelations that she had a love affair with a 15-year-old confirmation candidate. READ »

Enjoying bourgeois buns in the home of functionalist architecture

Analysis & Opinion: 26 Mar 09
There's no better place in Stockholm to savour croissants and cappucino than Petite France, an award-winning cafe and bakery located on the ground floor of Sweden's most Utopian apartment block, writes Jeanne Rudbeck. READ »

Most Swedish pastors willing to wed gay couples

Society: 23 Jan 09
Nearly seven in ten pastors in the Church of Sweden are open to performing marriage ceremonies for gay couples in churches. READ »

Threesome assault pastor defrocked

Society: 22 Jan 09
A pastor convicted of assaulting his ex-wife following sex games involving another man has been relieved of his duties by his employer, the Church of Sweden. READ »

Sweden to allow gay marriage in May

Society: 21 Jan 09
Three of the parties in the four-party governing coalition have tabled a motion that is expected to pave the way for gay marriage in Sweden from May 1st this year. READ »

Knutby pastor: 'We have moved on'

National: 11 Jan 09
Five years have now passed since the Pentecostal church pastor Helge Fossmo persuaded his nanny to murder his wife and his lover's husband. Knutby pastor Peter Gembäck claims the village has moved on. READ »

Church body allows senile man's marriage to stand

Society: 10 Dec 08
The marriage between an 85-year-old Swedish man suffering from dementia and his 77-year-old wife will not be annulled, according to a decision by the cathedral chapter in Lund. READ »

Man with axe stuns Stockholm congregation

National: 24 Nov 08
Worshippers at the All Saints Church in Stockholm panicked on Sunday when a man wielding an axe and a can full of gasoline interrupted the pastor during services. READ »

Left Party: 'force pastors to perform gay weddings'

Politics: 11 Nov 08
As Sweden moves closer to a same-sex marriage law, Left Party leader Lars Ohly wants to include a provision to force pastors to wed gay couples. READ »

Threesome pastor convicted over sex game assault

National: 7 Nov 08
A Stockholm-area pastor charged with beating his wife during a threesome has been sentenced to probation and counseling. READ »

Sweden sets date for gay church weddings

Dating: 6 Nov 08
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has said Sweden may allow homosexuals to marry in the Church of Sweden from May 2009 pending the adoption of a new law. READ »

Porn-surfing clergyman downs church network

Society: 20 Oct 08
A church minister from Strängnäs in central Sweden has resigned from his post after his porn-surfing habits led to the spread of a virus that knocked out the local church network. READ »

Pentecostalist murdered in Helsingborg

National: 28 Sep 08
Police have confirmed that the 35-year-old man stabbed to death in Helsingborg on Friday evening was a member of the Pentecostalist church. READ »

A marriage made in Sweden and America

Dating: 15 Sep 08
How do a couple that met in London, live in Sweden and speak both English and Swedish plan their happy day? Ben Kersley (Englishman and ‘sambo’) attends a Swedish/American wedding. READ »

Deportation fears delayed abuse report

National: 10 Sep 08
The fears of a refugee family in hiding provide at least a partial explanation of how a 58-year-old man managed to hold a woman captive in a cabin in south central Sweden for nine years without detection. READ »

Pastor charged over threesome assault

Society: 1 Sep 08
A church minister from Stockholm has been charged with assaulting his wife after an amorous threesome spiralled out of control. READ »

Swedish pastor accused of leading violent 'cowboy sect'

Society: 21 Aug 08
A southern Swedish religious congregation based in a cowboy-themed conference centre has been accused of harbouring a violent and extreme religious sect. READ »

Temperance society in opinions registration scandal

Society: 7 Aug 08
Swedish temperance society IOGT-NTO has landed in hot water with evangelists after admitting to breaking the law when registering the religious convictions of its members. READ »

Churches vandalized for Europride involvement

Society: 30 Jul 08
Three protestant Lutheran churches in Stockholm, including Högalid church (above), have been vandalized because of their participation in the gay and lesbian Europride festival. READ »

Kenyan activists urge Lundin to delay drilling

Business & Money: 21 Jul 08
Kenyan activists on Monday called for Swedish oil firm Lundin Petroleum to hold off its plans to search for oil and natural gas in the north-west Lake Turkana basin due to health concerns. READ »

State agency 'violated freedom of religion'

National: 15 Jul 08
The head of Sweden’s Evangelical Free Church has slammed the National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) upon learning that the agency spied on Word of Life pastor Ulf Ekman (left) in the 1990s. READ »

Gothenburg club and concert tips - June 13 - 19

Lifestyle: 12 Jun 08
Where to go out in Gothenburg this weekend? Monthly Magazine has the answers (Click links for more information). READ »

Pentecostalist pastor bans transvestite

Society: 5 Mar 08
A 58-year-old transvestite from southern Sweden has been told that he is not welcome to hold a planned lecture at a local Pentecostalist church hall. READ »

Baptists commit cardinal sin of investing

National: 26 Feb 08
A rocky day on the stock market cost an association of Baptist parishes two million kronor worth of collections funds. READ »

'Gay sermon' preacher causes temperance society crisis

Society: 17 Feb 08
The expulsion of controversial pentecostalist pastor Åke Green has caused a crisis at temperance society IOGT-NTO. READ »

Teetotallers ban 'gay sermon' preacher

National: 30 Jan 08
A Swedish teetotaller group adds a twist to its sobriety by banning controversial preacher Åke Green. READ »

Women priests overtake men

National: 28 Jan 08
Elisabeth Djurle and Margit Sahlin were the first women to be ordained as priests in the Church of Sweden. Now more than one in three parish priests is female. READ »

Knutby sect killing to become movie

National: 26 Jan 08
The Knutby sect murder in 2004 is set to be made into a movie. Pentecostalists have reacted angrily to the plans. READ »

No new probe into Knutby sect murder

National: 19 Dec 07
Prosecutors have said there will be no new investigation into the Knutby sect murder, despite pleas by Pastor Helge Fossmo. READ »

Knutby pastor demands new inquiry

National: 15 Nov 07
The lawyer representing Helge Fossmo, the evangelical pastor convicted of soliciting the murder of his nanny and soliciting the attempted murder of his neighbour, has called for his client's case to be reconsidered. READ »

Church weddings for gays soon a reality in Sweden

Lifestyle: 6 Jul 07
Sweden may be on its way to becoming the first country in the world to allow gays to marry within a major church, writes Delphine Touitou. READ »

Knutby pastor ready to remarry

Society: 12 Jun 07
Helge Fossmo, who led an extreme Pentecostal sect in the village of Knutby, has been given the all-clear to remarry. He is currently serving a life sentence for encouraging his nanny to kill his wife by sending text messages purporting to be from God. READ »

Sweden kicks off Linnaeus festivities

Science & Technology: 20 May 07
This week will see the culmination of festivities celebrating the life of Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, who who born 300 years ago. Among those due to join the celebrations is Emperor Akihito of Japan. READ »

Knutby pastor becomes engaged

National: 29 Dec 06
Pastor Helge Fossmo, who encouraged his nanny to kill his second wife by sending text messages purporting to be from God, has become engaged from his prison cell. READ »

Knutby nanny allowed out of clinic

National: 18 Dec 06
Sara Svensson murdered Alexandra Fossmo in Knutby in 2004 after receiving text messages she believed to be from God telling her to do it. She is now to be allowed back into the community. READ »

Church of Sweden sanctions burial of aborted foetuses

Society: 13 Dec 06
The Church of Sweden is to allow burial ceremonies for aborted foetuses. The procedure is to be called a 'pastoral ceremony' and will not be accompanied by a church service. READ »

Knutby nanny seeks release

National: 12 Dec 06
If a court decision on Thursday goes her way, Sara Svensson, 'the nanny' in the Knutby murder drama, will take her first steps away from institutional care. Svensson killed the wife of Knutby pastor Helge Fossmo in 2004. READ »

Swedish Pentecostalists surprise with Christmas spirit

National: 5 Dec 06
Ten thousand households in Värnamo, in southern Sweden, were treated to an unexpected Christmas gift from the local teetotal Pentecostalists: a recipe for a powerfully alcoholic mulled wine. READ »

Knutby sect member in child assault probe

National: 3 Oct 06
A member of the notorious Knutby religious sect has been arrested after allegations that he assualted children. READ »

Experts dismiss Knutby pastor's confession

National: 1 Sep 06
Background: Sex, violence and religion in Knutby
Police in Uppsala are to question Helge Fossmo after he admitted he was involved in the murder of his wife and the attempted murder of a neighbour in 2004. But the confession has been lambasted by a professor of psychology. READ »

Knutby pastor admits murder

National: 31 Aug 06
A belated twist in Sweden's most sensational murder case in years: interviewed in jail, the pastor of Knutby at last admits involvement in the murder of his wife in 2004. READ »

Say a little prayer for Sweden

Lifestyle: 11 Aug 06
Christianity in Sweden has a long history, but you won't find many Swedes in the pews on a Sunday. But that doesn't mean Swedish religious groups don't have the capacity to cause a stir, as Christine Demsteader reports. READ »

Ohly bemoans 'crowded middle ground'

Politics: 27 Jul 06
Calling religion an 'opium of the people' is 'vulgar Marxism', Left Party leader Lars Ohly told a pre-election questioning session at a church on Öland. He also said that the Greens were to the right of Göran Persson. READ »

Swedish politicians pray for victory

Politics: 21 Jul 06
The leaders of all of Sweden's major parties are heading to Öland on Friday to face questioning from a leading Swedish evangelist. The politicians are also set to sing hymns and join in prayers. READ »

Far-right group convicted for gay hate pamphlets

Society: 6 Jul 06
Four right-wing extremists have been convicted in the Supreme Court after distributing anti-gay leaflets outside a school in Söderhamn. The men had previously been cleared in a lower court. READ »

God can wait while Sweden plays Germany

Society: 23 Jun 06
The Vanneberga missionary meeting is a renowned religious ritual that celebrated its 150th anniversary last year. But Saturday's spiritual service has been delayed – so the pastors can watch the World Cup. READ »

Editorial: Should suspects keep their privacy?

Analysis & Opinion: 22 Jun 06
Read a newspaper report about a crime committed in Sweden and you will rarely find the name of a suspect. What is more important – that justice is performed in public, or that people who are not yet convicted retain their privacy? READ »

Gay hate law 'mostly hot air'

Society: 16 May 06
The law preventing incitement of hatred against homosexuals should be rewritten, since it appears to offer more protection than it really does. So says Sweden's Chancellor of Justice Göran Lambertz. READ »

Gay pride heading for Swedish pastor's town

Society: 20 Apr 06
Gay rights group RFSL has announced plans to hold a gay pride parade in the home town of anti-gay pastor Åke Green. Of course I'm not happy about this, says Green. READ »

Preachers, fascists and cartoonists

Lifestyle: 15 Feb 06
Freedom of speech or the right not to be offended? Sweden, with large immigrant groups and a liberal free-speech culture, has been wrestling with these issues long before the Muhammad cartoons burst onto the international scene. READ »

Prosecutor closes Swedish gay death list inquiry

Society: 1 Feb 06
An extreme right wing Christian web site which lists 129 famous homosexual Swedes along with apparent death threats taken from the Bible cannot be prosecuted - much to the dismay of those on the list. READ »

More Swedes than ever apply for priesthood

Society: 22 Jan 06
Record numbers of Swedes have their hearts set on being priests - despite the fact that membership of the Swedish Church is continuing to decline. Now the number of students may be limited. READ »

Knutby pastor demands European hearing

National: 11 Jan 06
The former pastor of Knutby, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of his second wife and for the attempted murder of a neighbour in January 2004, is to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights. READ »

Porn priest picks up 800,000 kronor

National: 30 Dec 05
A priest who was forced to leave his job after being caught surfing on the internet for porn using the parish computer will receive 800,000 kronor in severance pay, a church committee has decided. READ »

Gay hate group set free

National: 14 Dec 05
Four men who distributed far-right homophobic propaganda outside a school in Sundsvall have been found not guilty of hate crimes by an appeal court, which drew parallels with the Åke Green case. READ »

Åke Green cleared over gay sermon

Society: 29 Nov 05
The pastor sentenced to jail for a controversial sermon about homosexuality has been freed by Sweden's Supreme Court. He's relieved, but one Christian liberal says he'll go to hell. READ »

Green case brings Bible talk to court

Society: 9 Nov 05
See also: Anti-gay pastor: I regret nothing
Pastor Åke Green tells Sweden's Supreme Court that gays are more likely to become paedophiles. Prosecutors are pressing for the controversial anti-gay preacher to be jailed. READ »

Anti-gay pastor: I regret nothing

Smörgåsbord: 9 Nov 05
Pastor Åke Green, who declared that homosexuality is "a cancer on the body of society", said before his Supreme Court hearing on Wednesday that he stands by his controversial sermon. He is accused of inciting hatred against gays and faces a jail term if convicted. READ »

Swedish priests reject gay church blessings

Society: 4 Nov 05
More than 400 Swedish Lutheran priests have put their names to an Internet message distancing themselves from a recent Church decision to guarantee same-sex partners the right to religious blessings of their civil unions. READ »

Put up and shut up?

Analysis & Opinion: 1 Sep 05
It's easy for foreigners' views about a country to come out half-baked, so should we just put up and shut up? Or can a fresh pair of eyes sometimes add something new to the debate? READ »

Police keep missed targets under wraps

National: 30 Aug 05
Stockholm police are in the doghouse for not mentioning in their annual report that they failed to meet more than half of their targets for 2004. But Uppsala police get the thumbs-up for their work on the Knutby case. READ »

Gay hate pastor in Supreme Court in November

Smörgåsbord: 22 Aug 05
READ »

Swedish royals call in the lawyers over preacher

National: 19 Aug 05
Sweden's royals send in the lawyers against American extremist Christian Fred Phelps, after he published a rant against them on his anti-gay website. It's defamation, says the palace. READ »

Controversial feminist to be investigated

National: 8 Jun 05
A researcher at Uppsala University who said in a documentary that there were satanist baby-killing networks in Sweden is to face an academic investigation. Eva Lundgren says her views have been misrepresented. READ »

Green's sermon to become gay hate test case

National: 9 May 05
First he was convicted and then he was acquitted. The ding-dong battle of Åke Green and his controversial homophobic sermon is still not over. Now the Supreme Court must sort out the freedom of speech versus protection of minorities argument once and for all. READ »

Knutby spa is "illegal"

National: 6 May 05
The congregation of Knutby is in trouble again. But while a year ago the village was at the centre of gripping cult-sex-murder scandal, this week it has merely fallen foul of building regulations. READ »

Gay hate pastor faces Supreme Court trial

Society: 9 Mar 05
The case of the pastor jailed for saying that homosexuality is "a cancer on the face of society" and then freed on appeal is to be heard by Sweden's Supreme Court. It's the rights of minority groups against the right to free speech in what is seen as a highly significant case. READ »

Anti-gay pastor wins appeal

Society: 11 Feb 05
Pentacostalist pastor Åke Green, who was jailed for saying that homosexuality was “a cancer on the face of society”, has had his conviction overturned, to the delight of religious groups. Gay campaigners say they are “disturbed” by the ruling, and prosecutors vow to take the case to the supreme court. READ »

Knutby pastor could lose guardianship of children

National: 3 Feb 05
Helge Fossmo still is legally responsible for his children, despite having begun a life sentence for the murder of their stepmother. But he says that the judgement against him is a "judicial catastrophe" and wants a new hearing. READ »

Bible site "spreads hate against gays"

Society: 25 Jan 05
A Christian website could be prosecuted for “agitation against minorities” due to its pages with "information and conversations on the Bible, society and so-called homosexuality". READ »

Swedish gay hate priest launches appeal

Society: 19 Jan 05
A Pentacostalist pastor appeals his jail sentence for a sermon in which he called homosexuality a "tumour on the body of society". Supporters say freedom of speech is at risk. Gay groups say the pastor's words were worthy of neo-Nazis. READ »