A small Equmeniakyrkan congregation in rural southern Sweden has found an unexpected path to renewal through spaghetti dinners, crafts, and devotions. Örserums missionsförsamling, which once ran active scout and youth programmes, had dwindled to just nine active members — most of them pensioners — when the local church district decided two years ago to try something new. The result was “Spagettikyrkan” (Spaghetti Church), a holiday activity that invites families for a meal, creative play, and a short time of reflection.
Helene Thörn, a congregational assistant employed by Equmeniakyrkan Gränna but partially funded by the Örserum mission church, said the first gathering drew seven children. The second brought only three. But the team refused to give up. “We couldn’t abandon it so quickly,” Thörn told Sändaren. “Word takes time to spread in a small place.” At the most recent gathering, 12 to 15 children attended — a significant number for a small village, especially given that most had no prior connection to the church. Thörn noted that when she played music at a local school end-of-term service, several families recognised her: “They told me they knew me from Spagettikyrkan.”
The two-hour gatherings are simple: 84-year-old Stina Fröberg runs the kitchen, serving spaghetti with meat sauce, while Thörn leads crafts and an age-appropriate devotional. The format is deliberately flexible — when a group of fathers on parental leave turned up one session, the atmosphere became a community hub for isolated parents; when mostly 10-to-12-year-olds arrived the next time, the devotional level was adjusted on the spot. Beyond the dinners, the congregation reaches local children through ecumenical Easter and Christmas walks and an annual May Day tradition with a bouncy castle, games, and a Bible-themed wheel of fortune where, as Thörn puts it, “Jesus is our jackpot!” The deepest encouragement, she said, came when a child walking past the mission house pointed and called it “my Spaghetti Church.”
(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
