Persecutions

7 August 2014: CoF Defrocks Dean of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland

The Rev. Juhana Pohjola, Dean of the recently formed Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland, has been defrocked by the nominally Lutheran Church of Finland. His offence was participating as a founder and leader of the Mission Diocese, which the CoF considers to be "violating his ordination vows." Dean Pohjola earned a STM at Concordia Theological Seminary in 1999 and (successfully) defended his doctoral dissertation at the University of Helsinki on August 15, 2014.

For a report written by The Rev. Samuli Siikavirta, a doctoral candidate in New Testament at Cambridge University who was ordained in the Mission Diocese earlier this summer, click here.

16 May 2013: Church of Norway Defrocks Confessional Bishop

The Church of Norway (CoN) has removed from its clergy roster the bishop of a small, recently organized Confessional Lutheran synod in northern Norway. The Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of Norway holds to the historic doctrine and practice of the CoN, but objects to CoN’s abandonment of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions, most recently reflected in CoN's decision to authorize same-sex weddings. See more ...

16 May 2013: Church of Finland Threatens Confessional Lutherans

Church of Finland (CoF) Bishops have threatened to defrock any pastors who participate in the newly formed
Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland. The new non-territorial Confessional Lutheran
diocese considers itself an “independent ecclesial structure under episcopal supervision” outside the administrative structure of CoF. It contends CoF leadership has adopted unbiblical doctrines and practices and abandoned the Lutheran Confessions. See more ...

Reverend Jan-Eric Appell and Bishop Roland Gustafsson

April 9, 2012: Defrocked Confessional Pastor Renews Ordination Vows on Easter Day

One month after the Church of Sweden’s Lund Diocese revoked his authorization as a pastor due to his involvement in the Mission Province, The Reverend Jan-Eric Appell has renewed his ordination vows. The ceremony, at Easter services in Kristianstad, was led by Bishop Roland Gustafsson. Pastor Appell will continue his ministry in Kristiantad’s Saint John’s Koinonia and also at several Mission Province koinonias in the southeastern Swedish provinces of Småland, Blekinge and Skåne (Scania). See more ...

14 March 2012: Leading Swedish Confessional Pastor Defrocked for Support of Mission Province

The decision found that Pastor Jan-Erik Appell, by assisting the Mission Province, violated his ordination vow to obey the “law and ordinances” of the Church of Sweden. Two consistory members dissented, noting that Pastor Appell’s actions were not based on contempt for the “faith, confession and doctrine” of the Swedish Church, but rather on concern for these. Pastor Appell is chairman of the board of the Church Federation (Kyrkliga Förbundet), the umbrella organization sponsoring the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Educational Foundation, the Lutheran School of Theology in Gothenburg, the Lutheran High School in Gothenburg, the Gothenburg Bible School, and the confessional weekly Church and People (Kyrka och Folk). See more ...

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