The founder of a 3,300-member megachurch in one of Sweden's largest cities announced yesterday [Sunday, March 9] his decision to leave his charismatic congregation and join the Roman Catholic Church. Ulf Ekman, who introduced Sweden to the prosperity-emphasizing Word of Faith movement when he founded Word of Life Ministries and Word of Life Church, had stepped down from the pastorate at the Uppsala church last spring.
"I have come to realize that the movement I for the last 30 years have represented, despite successes and much good that has occurred on various mission fields, is part of the ongoing Protestant fragmentation of Christendom," Ekman wrote in an op-ed for Swedish newspaper Daegens Nyheter. In joining the Catholic church, Ekman, founder of Scandinavia's largest Bible school, said he plans to pursue unity among Christian movements and denominations. Meanwhile, Word of Life Church announced that it would hold a special meeting for parishioners on Monday.
Ekman was ordained a minister in the Swedish Lutheran Church in 1979 before leaving the denomination to found Word of Faith Church in Uppsala in 1983, according to his website. More than 9,500 students have graduated from the ministry's affiliated Bible school.
In an note on his ministry website, Ekman explains that he and his wife, Birgitta Ekman, have undergone a slow transformation over the past decade as they have come to know practicing Roman Catholics, including many charismatic Catholics. "It really challenged our protestant prejudices, and we realized that we in many cases did not have any basis for our criticism of them," Ekman said in the note. "We needed to know the Catholic faith better."
Below is the announcement of Ekman's switch:
We have seen a great love for Jesus and a sound theology, founded on the Bible and classic dogma. We have experienced the richness of sacramental life. We have seen the logic in having a solid structure for priesthood, that keeps the faith of the church and passes it on from one generation to the next. We have met an ethical and moral strength and consistency that dare to face up to the general opinion, and a kindness towards the poor and the weak. And, last but not least, we have come in contact with representatives for millions of charismatic Catholics and we have seen their living faith, Ulf Ekman explains.
In his speech to the church this Sunday, Ulf Ekman stressed that this step was not going from something, but more importantly going towards something else.
