Andrew Church (Stockholm)
The Andreaskirche ( Swedish Andreaskyrkan ) belongs to the Swedish Equmeniakyrkan (German: "Ökumenekirche"), an amalgamation of three Swedish free churches . The church building is located at Högbergsgatan 31 in the northern part of Stockholm 's Södermalm district . The parish has around 200 members (as of 2015).
history
At the site of today's St. Andrew's Church, there used to be a restaurant with an outside terrace, which was used by an independent free church for their meetings. The gatherings grew rapidly and were moved to the terrace. It happened that because of the large number of believers, the preacher climbed a tree and preached from there.
Construction of the church began in 1875. The architects of the church, which can accommodate up to 1200 people, were Axel and Hjalmar Kumlien . The building, completed in 1877, was carried out by CE Hallström. The church was consecrated on October 14, 1877. It was initially called Nya Missionshuset ( New Mission House ). Other common names were Lutherska Missionshuset ( Lutheran Mission House ), Bönehuset på Söder ( Prayer House of the South ) and Södra Missionshuset ( Southern Mission House ). In 1917 the church was given its current name. In the first year of its existence, 300 children attended Sunday school. They were taught by 26 Sunday teachers. Ten years later the number of children had already risen to 1,050. Lessons were given by up to 82 teachers.
One of the preachers at the church was Paul Petter Waldenström , the founder of the Swedish Mission Church . In 1879 the parish joined the Svenska Missionsförbundet as the first Stockholm church . In 1880 the church received an organist and a choir. In 1889 JF Grufman, the first full-time pastor, began his service. At the end of the 19th century, the churchyard was the seat of the Svenska Missionsförbundet mission school until it was moved to Lidingö in 1908 .
At the beginning of the 20th century the parish had 1,010 members, the highest level in its history. During this time, Axel Södersten also took over the office of organist and held it for a long time. The missionary and social work of the church was mainly focused on the restaurants along the Götgatan as well as on prostitutes and seafarers in the neighboring ports. Hospitals and nursing homes were also visited. A youth group founded in the parish in 1919 was active until the 1960s.
An extensive renovation took place in 1924. The painter Gunnar Torhamn worked in the church. From 1938 the municipality held summer camps in Klubbensborg in Mälarhöjden . Even today the community is responsible for some of the music programs carried out there. In 1955 the community founded the Andreashemmet retirement home . It was sold in 1990 because the municipality was unable to carry out the pending renovation work.
In 1971 the church was renovated again and the interior was modernized. Among other things, the old pews were replaced by chairs. In 1976 the facade was renewed. In 1977 the 100th anniversary of the church and in 1980 that of the choir were celebrated.
A structural change in Södermalm that became stronger at the end of the 1970s also increasingly caused problems for the parish. Many young families moved to the suburbs, and the average age of the parish rose significantly. In 1986 the church was rebuilt, which reacted to the smaller number of parishioners and enabled a more diverse use of the rooms for parish life. The architect and project manager were Bo Sahlin and Gunnar Emtén. The renovation was completed in September 1987. In the 1990s it was again possible to attract more young community members.
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Coordinates: 59 ° 18 '59.3 " N , 18 ° 4' 23.8" E