Every November, the Swedish Evangelical Alliance invites people from different parts of the denominational spectrum to a conference in Stockholm called Mission: Kingdom of God. Or, as we say in Swedish: Uppdrag: Guds rike. We do this together with a number of organizations, including Christian think tanks, YWAM, Scripture Union, and Sallux. This year, the conference was held on the 14th and 15th of November, assembling about 130 participants.
The inspiration for the conference largely comes from the European Leadership Forum in Poland. As with ELF, we ask people to choose between different networks where they can dig deeper into an area of special interest, while at the same time meet with like-minded people from different parts of the country. This year’s networks included Societal Influence (hosted by the EA), Apologetics, Theology, Christian Scientists, Soulcare, Expository Preaching, and Youth workers.
One of the load-bearing beams of the conference has to do with apologetics. Many of the participants come to Mission: Kingdom of God because they long for intellectual reflection around the Bible, the workplace and contemporary cultural and ideological issues. At the network about Societal Influence, this meant three sessions with teaching and discussions about Christianity and political influence. What mandate does Jesus give us in this area? What limitations does he give us? What is a healthy way to approach what is sometimes called the Seven Mountains Mandate? And what is a truly Christian way to act, once such a Mountain is finally “conquered”?
In previous years, we have covered topics such as Religious Freedom, Identity politics, Middle East Culture and Europe’s Christian Heritage. This time, the conference also had a strong focus on theological issues, especially at the Theology network, but also in several of the plenary sessions. The Bible studies, for instance, centered around the short but substantial book of Jude. To be honest, this is the first time I have ever heard this book expounded at a Christian conference of any flavor. And it certainly proved to be both relevant and challenging for our present situation.
