Swedish Church Leaders Visit Norwegian Church

A delegation from the leaders of the Swedish Church will visit Norway from February 7 to 9. The group includes among others the Swedish Archbishop Anders Wejryd discussing topics such as the relationship between the state and the church.

In November, the Norwegian Church made a historical step to end its close ties with the Norwegian state, following the example set by the Swedish church. It is hoping that by doing so it will learn from the Swedish experiences after a similar relationship in the Swedish state.

The visiting delegation is made up of 35 top delegates in the Swedish church that will visit Norway from February 7 to 9 and the delegation will be led by the Swedish Archbishop Anders Wejryd and the general secretary Lars Friedner.

A press release the Norwegian church stated that the delegation consists of "the whole Swedish Church central church council in addition to the administrative leaders from the church headquarters in Uppsala".

The Swedish Church has stated that one purpose of the visit is to become more informed of the Norwegian declaration of faith, which will be led by the project leader Paul Erik Wirgenes.

The other issues that may be discussed will be service reform and an exchange of experiences between the two "sister churches".