Manfred Björkquist

Manfred Björkquist (right) together with senior pastor Olle Nystedt during a visit to St. James' Church in Stockholm , 1947

Manfred Björkquist (born June 22, 1884 in Norrgissjö , Gideå , Örnsköldsvik parish ; † November 23, 1985 in Sigtuna ) was a Swedish Lutheran bishop and leader of the Swedish revival and renewal movement.

Manfred Björkquist, the son of a pastor, studied philosophy, pedagogy and languages ​​at Uppsala University from 1902 after graduating from high school in Härnösand and obtained his licentiate in 1909 with a study on Rudolf Eucken . Even as a student he was involved in the Swedish young church movement and emerged from 1909 as one of its leaders, as editor of the magazine Vårlös (until 1969) and as a lecturer all over Sweden. As early as 1908, in the publication Kyrklig folkhögskola , he had outlined the program of a church- related adult education center . However, in 1910 he was first head of the traditionally oriented Norra Ångermanlands folkhögskola . In 1915 he founded the Sigtuna Foundation , which was supposed to implement his Christian adult education program and which developed into the educational center for the Church of Sweden . From its foundation until 1942 he was its head. He was also a member of the Synod ( kyrkomot ) of the Church of Sweden and a member of numerous associations and committees, including the head of the Church of Sweden's diakonistyrelsen .

Although Björkquist had not studied theology and was not ordained , he had been on the nomination list for the episcopate in Västerås as early as 1939 . In August 1942 he was appointed bishop of the newly established diocese of Stockholm by the government and was introduced to his office on November 29, 1942. In 1943 he was also appointed extraordinary court preacher. In 1954 he resigned from the office of bishop for reasons of age.

Björkquist was married to Ruth Kjellén since 1915, a teacher and daughter of the political scientist and conservative politician Rudolf Kjellén.

Awards

• 1912: Honorary member of the Kungliga Örlogsmannasällskapet
• 1913: Knight of the North Star Order
• 1923: Honorary theological doctorate from Lund University
• 1932: Honorary theological doctorate from the University of Berlin

literature

• B. Åkesson: Manfred Björkquist . In: Svenskt biografiskt lexikon , Volume 4, 1924, pp. 603 ff. ( Riksarkivet.se ).
• Vem är det. Svensk biografisk handbok 1977. PA Norstedt & Söners förlag, Stockholm 1977, p. 115 .
• Torbjörn Aronson: The young Manfred Björkquist. Hur en vision av kristendomens möte med culture och samhälle växer fram (= Studia historico-ecclesiastica Upsaliensia 44). Uppsala 2008.
• VA Grönquist (red.): Manfred Björkquist - visionary och kyrkoledare. Skellefteå 2008.
• Simon O Pettersson: The Kristna Kulturkampens Manfred Björkquist . In: Samtiden , June 27, 2016.

Web links

Commons : Manfred Björkquist  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Manfred Björkquist in the catalog of the German National Library