Speaking at the Vision26 church conference in Örebro, Sweden, three free church leaders offered a vision of a future church built not on institutional strength but on home-based communities, radical diaconal care, and relationships that extend well beyond Sunday services. The conversation, part of Sändaren's podcast series "In Search of the Church of the Future," brought together deacons Maria Öhrvall and Jovita Häggmyr alongside church historian Micael Grenholm for a wide-ranging discussion on what the church must become to remain faithful and relevant.
Grenholm, drawing on the model of the early church in Jerusalem described in the Book of Acts, argued for a return to home-based gatherings where proximity makes it harder to ignore one another's needs. He warned that reliance on state structures is not guaranteed long-term and called for churches to cultivate a "diaconal culture" where care for the vulnerable is carried by the whole congregation rather than delegated to paid staff. Churches, he said, should also teach sustainable living and mutual aid as concrete expressions of Christian discipleship. Maria Öhrvall emphasised the importance of "the simple conversations" — around kitchen tables and park benches — arguing that what happens between Sunday services ultimately matters more than how many people fill the pews.
Jovita Häggmyr, raised in Ecuador where churches functioned as social networks long before state welfare existed, urged Swedish Christians to "make flesh of what we say" — not merely speak about love but live it concretely. She identified loneliness as perhaps Sweden's greatest social challenge, citing cases of people dying without anyone noticing they were missing, and proposed that the church's starting point be simply "our neighbours" — daring to knock on doors and ask how someone is doing. All three grounded their hope not in institutional resilience but in God's faithfulness to the church. "It is when the darkness is darkest that the light shines brightest," Grenholm concluded.
(Originally published in Swedish. Summary translated by CC / Connexion.)
For free church formation resources including this topic, visit Worldwide Evangelical Seminary.
Source: Equmeniakyrkan / Sändaren — sandaren.se
