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北歐華人基督教會斯德哥爾摩福音堂歷史
NCCC Stockholm Church history

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In 1977, Sister Chang Xiulan began to lead a bible study for several Chinese Christian sisters at Golden horse Chinese Restaurant (金马饭店) in Stock- holm. Two years later, Pastor Albert Seung, who majored in restaurant management at university, came from England for an internship at the restaurant. he passionately organized young co-workers to begin evangelical outreach activities among local Chinese. This laid the foundation for a fellowship.

In 1981, the Stockholm Chinese Christian Fellowship was established. By chance, Brother Seung met the senior pastor of Filadelfiakyrkan. The pastor agreed to rent out the vacant third floor of the church at St. Eriksplan for the fellowship to meet. The first meetings had over 20 participants made up of immigrants from Hong Kong and Taiwan. important co-workers included Brother Albert Seung, Brother Philip Wong, Sister Lee Bik Kit, Sister chang Xiulan, and Nancy Jiang. in the first few years of the fellowship, God called Pastor Selfrid Ershammar and another Swedish missionary, who worked in china before, to take turns ministering to the fellowship by preaching sermons in English that were translated in Chinese. The fellowship also had a Sunday school and an administrative organization. God later called Brother Wang Jiaoen and his family to our fellowship. As a result, more people came to the fellowship and the number of activities increased. he would also frequently preach and disciple believers.

Thanks to the initiative of Brother Seung and Philip Wong, and with the help of Pastor Adolf Nilsson, the fellowship organized the first Scandinavia Chinese Christian summer camp in Tollarp in southern Sweden in the summer of 1981. A total of 20 people from fellowships from Norway and Sweden participated, including believer and non-believing seekers. At around the same time, COCM began to send a youth missionary team to conduct evangelical activities in Stockholm.

COCM secretary-general Mary Wang participated in the first few editions of the summer camp. She familiarized herself with the situation of Chinese Christians in Scandinavia. Brother Seung would inform COCM of the situation of the Stockholm Chinese Christian Fellowship so that Sister Wang could better focus on certain areas. As a result, COCM sent Chia Li-Chun and Yang Weirong to lead the Stockholm fellowship. The youth group would frequently go to Sister Yang’s home in Duvbo for meetings. At the same time, she also opened up her home for co-worker meetings and would let out-of-town guests stay with her. Sister yang would also frequently visit by car and establish contact with Chinese believers who lived in nearby cities and in the southern parts of Sweden. COCM also helped to establish contact between the Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Oslo Chinese Christian Fellowships

In 1985, SCCC was officially established. The former Stockholm fellowship became the Stockholm church. God called Pastor Selfrid Ershammar and Sister yang Weirong to lead the church and found the congregation a meeting space at the Maria Magdalena Församlingshus near Slussen. There, it could hold Sunday services and Sunday school and it continues to meet here today.Although the church found itself without a pastor for a period of time, God allowed Pastors Simon Chow and Rinson Lin to help the church on a voluntary basis. 

Starting in the 1990s, many students from mainland China came to Stockholm to study. Brother Howard Xu (许宏伟) began a bible study group in the city’s northeast and would frequently invite students for meals and share his faith. Later, Sister Anna Zhao continued Brother Xu’s work and led the bible study group, which later became the Mandarin fellowship as there are more and more believers from the mainland. Young believers who initially came as students and later decided to stay in Sweden now lead the fellowship. Members of the fellowship actively share the Gospel with Chinese students and new immigrants from China.

Pastor Tommy Lo became the Stockholm church’s first official pastor in 1996. To address the needs of the church’s elderly members, Mrs. Lo established the Moses group. Through bible studies and health seminars, the group ministered to the members’ spiritual and daily needs. in the last few years, a number of middle-aged and elderly Christian sisters have participated in Moses group. A number of them work in the restaurant industry and come from Hong Kong. They actively share the Gospel with their Chinese colleagues.

 In 2002, Pastor Anthony Shum became the church’s senior pastor. The church’s numbers continued to increase and along with its needs. in particular, there was an increasing number of immigrants from mainland China and the children born in Sweden were growing up. Both of these groups presented new opportunities and challenges for the church. initially, children’s Sunday school was nothing more than a nursery. After Pastor and Mrs. Lo left, Sister Elisabet Chen and other co-workers helped to develop and improve the children’s Sunday school. They began to teach biblical messages in an organized way and classes were divided by language and age. In 2008, a toddler Sunday school began. in addition to taking care of the children, it also evangelizes their non-believing parents. The church’s youth fellowship initially began with young people from Hong Kong. Many of these members are now responsible for the church. The current youth at the church born in Sweden also have different needs. In 2005, the church appointed Pastor Billy Lo to minister to the church’s youth in Swedish.

In 2014 pastor Billy Lo was ordained to the reverend. It was the first time Stockholm church ordained a pastor to the reverend. From 2014 year Stockholm church had two reverends. Rev Anthony Shum was responsible for the Cantonese and mandarin ministry and Rev Billy Lo was responsible for next-generation ministry and children ministry. 

Over the last 25 years of the church’s history, one can witness God’s grace. Every time the church had a need, God responded, moving pastors and co-workers to devote and share their love and strength to face these challenges together. God has also led local Chinese to witness his goodness and honesty through our caring and evangelical activities. Glory be to God!