Lars Levi Læstadius was born in 1800 in Jäkkvik in central Lapland into a poor settler family. After secondary school in Härnösand, he studied botany and theology at Uppsala University. Læstadius was ordained as a priest in Härnösand in 1825. After a short time as vice pastor and Sami missionary in his home parish Arjeplog, he was appointed in May 1825 as vicar in Karesuando, Sweden's northernmost parish. He assumed the position on May 1, 1826.
At that time, the spiritual life in Karesuando and throughout Lapland was very poor. Following widespread alcohol abuse among both Sami and settlers came many sorrows, such as broken marriages, fathers who did not acknowledge their paternity, fights, poverty, reindeer theft, idolatry, and other misery. Læstadius preached severely against this sinful life, but with poor results. Instead of changing their lifestyle, the people turned against him.
Læstadius, himself, at that time, did not have peace with God. He had good knowledge of God's word and Luther's teaching but had not received a personal and living faith in his own heart. For many years he walked with unrest in his conscience. He understood from God's word that he would be eternally condemned if he died without the assurance that he was a child of God. He needed to experience true repentance and new birth.
In 1844, a life-changing event took place for Læstadius when he held a visitation service in Åsele in southern Lapland. After the service, a young Sami woman, called Maria, had a conversation with Laestadius. This Maria belonged to the so-called "readers". She had listened to Læstadius's sermon and understood that he had an awakened conscience. Læstadius's conscience had been awakened by God's law which requires that humans be sinless. In that state, he felt his sin and unbelief.
Maria related of her own experiences, about how she struggled and walked long distances to find light in the darkness. Finally, she came to pastor Pehr Brandell in Nora in Ångermanland. Brandell helped Maria with her doubts. Through Brandell's preaching, God gave a living faith to the penitent Maria. Maria's story showed the way of life in Christ Jesus for Læstadius, which he had not learned in the seminaries, and living faith was kindled in his heart. He has related that during the evening together with Maria, he was able to experience a foretaste of heavenly joy.
After Læstadius received a personal and living faith, this also colored his sermons, which now began to affect the people who were troubled in their consciences. Shortly thereafter, a great awakening started among the people. Through faith in Jesus Christ and in his suffering, death and resurrection, people experienced joy and peace. Those who had previously been in spiritual distress now made a happy exchange as they exchanged sin for grace. People experienced true Christianity in their hearts and the awakening spread like wildfire across northern Sweden and throughout the entire Nordic region.
After a few years, great transformations had taken place in homes and huts, on farms and in Sami camps, in villages and communities. Tavern keepers smashed their liquor barrels, quarreling married couples reconciled, fathers acknowledged their paternity and thieves returned their stolen goods. Instead of profanity, lamentations over sin were heard but also joy over God's incomprehensible grace. Instead of drinking songs, praise songs to the God of heaven were heard, who in his great love has come with grace and forgiveness to all great sinners.
In 1849, Læstadius received the position as vicar in Pajala and there he was later also appointed as dean. He continued to work in Pajala until his death in 1861.
Læstadius received early help in his work from men who had come into faith but who were not ordained. Among them, Johan Raattamaa became of great significance. He and many other fellow believers, both women and men, continued the work even after Læstadius's death. The awakening spread quickly to Finland, Norway and America as well as to Russia. By the end of the 1800s, the movement, which outsiders began calling Laestadianism, had become widespread to all regions across the entire Nordic region and to North America, all the way to the Pacific coast.
At the turn of the century 1800–1900, a regrettable split occurred within the Laestadianism. The movement was divided into different directions. One of these directions is the , so called, West Laestadian direction to which we belong.
Today, West Laestadianism has its main presence in the USA, Finland, Norway and Sweden. In Sweden, the largest local congregations are in Kiruna, Gällivare, Luleå and in Knivsta. Local congregations and friends of faith are also found elsewhere in our country, in other European countries, in Canada and east of the Ural Mountains.
During Christmas time each year, Christians from Sweden and other countries gather for the so-called Christmas Meetings in Gällivare. During several days of services, preachers from different countries have the opportunity to visit about important and fellow questions in the Christianity. One of these questions may be requests from other countries to receive visits from preachers from the mother congregation in Swedish Lapland. Through an apostolic missionary labor in the congregation, the bonds between different countries have been preserved, so that we feel we are one and the same church, but with different languages and nationalities.
If one would describe our faith in a few words, we find the best description in our confession of faith called The Apostles' Creed, formulated by Christians in the 4th Century:
We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth.
We believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, descended into hell, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
We believe in the Holy Ghost, the one Holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen
Laestadianism is not a new Christian doctrine. Læstadius did not establish his own church. We have no new proclamation or different teaching than the original Christianity's doctrine. The word of God sproken among us today is the same word of God that Christians, with a living faith, have taught and desired to follow in all times.
We believe that the Bible is the word of God. A correct Christian preaching has its full support in Christ's doctrine, as it according to the Bible was first preached by Jesus and his disciples, evangelists and apostles. A Christian must in the same way as Jesus's disciples, Martin Luther and Lars Levi Læstadius, experience that true Christianity is about what the Savior, Jesus Christ, has done for him and thus receive this through faith. A faith that God gives us by his great grace.
In accordance with the Bible's clear words, man must realize and experience that he cannot do anything good before God. In his unconverted and unbelieving state, man is unhappy and a lost being. In his great love, God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to us. Christ fulfilled God's law that we could not fulfill. He took upon himself our debt of sin and instead of us he suffered the punishment for our sins. On the third day he rose from the dead to our righteousness. Through a living faith upon Christ and his work of reconcilliation, we receive forgiveness for all our sins. A true Christian has a battle against the evil one and against sin but experiences joy and peace in God. Through Christ, God sees no sin in his children.
In the living Christianity, we preach repentance and conversion to those who live in unbelief and sin, but we preach about God's great grace and complete forgiveness in Jesus's name and blood to those who regret their sin and believe. The power to forgive sins Christ has left to his congregation here on earth. On the evening of Easter Day , Christ greeted his grieving disciples with the words: "Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive the Holy Ghost. Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained." (Gospel of John 20:21-23). God uses human beings in his service and the keys of the kingdom of heaven are still in use among us.
The living word of God that was once preached by Christ and his apostles, was later also preached by Jan Hus, Martin Luther, Lars Levi Læstadius and many others, to find a place in hearts of men even in our time.
We hold our church services in a simple way, in the same simple way as the Christian services were also held in the time of the apostles. The services are of course open to everyone and we gladly welcome new visitors to our churches.
The service begins with hymn singing and then a sermon by Læstadius is read. The chosen sermon is usually a sermon on the current Sunday's Bible text. Even though Læstadius's sermons are from the period 1845–1860 and were preached for the conditions of that time, they are still as relevant. We wish to preserve Læstadius's sermons and his teaching and we feel a need to test our faith against the word of God that has been preached since the beginning of the awakening. One of the congregation's preachers is also asked to speak. The sermon is held with support from some Bible text. The service ends with hymn singing and with the prayers Our Father and the Lord's blessing being read. We sing without musical accompaniment in the same way that Jesus and his disciples did. The sacraments are in use in the congregation which means that our preachers perform baptism and communion. Weddings and funerals are also performed in the congregation.
A few times a year, each local congregation has a service weekend. For these days, the local congregation wishes to receive visits from missionary preachers. Then we usually have two services per day during a few days. Fellow believers from other places often come to the service weekend, but we especially wish that those who have not yet experienced living Christianity would come to listen to God's word.
When we Christians meet, we greet each other with the words "God's peace". It is a greeting that Christians have used already in the time of the apostles. Jesus greeted his disciples with a wish for peace, and Martin Luther says that this greeting is a sermon of the forgiveness of sins, because without forgiveness there is no real peace.
Even though living Christianity is about the faith of the heart and not about what we do, we Christians still want to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ, and live a life that is simple and appropriate for a Christian. We want to follow Christ and the apostles' teaching also in our outward life. This concerns our clothing, our homes and our way of living and acting. Even though our desire is to live with a Christian example, our daily life and our professional activities are for the most part like for people in general. The biggest difference is the faith that we carry within us.
Faith is the treasure that God has given us in our hearts and that we want to tell the people we meet, or who come to our services, about. We want to tell you about how God has taken hold of us and revealed our great debt of sin to us, but also about how he, in his great love, has given us his grace and forgiveness and made us his children. We want to tell you about the joy and peace we experience in the midst of our daily work and troubles. We want to tell you about true happiness and about our great heavenly goal.
The chuch offers Confirmation School and teaching for children and youth in the Bible, Luther's Small Catechism and the Christian faith. Like our services, our Confirmation and Children's School are also open to everyone.
Welcome to our services to hear what God wants to say to you. You are also welcome to contact any of us to talk about the most important thing in life – faith and Christianity.
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you."
© Den Ursprungliga Apostolisk Lutherska Förstföddas Församling i Sverige
2026.
Last updated 2026-05-25 03:06:16.