American Bible-Thumper Travels To Scandinavia, Freaks Out After Discovering How Secular They Are

[Lydia Leftcoast]

88. When I was in Stockholm in 2011, I attended a service at the Angliska Kyrkan

(the "English church&quot . It's an English-speaking congregation under the auspices of the Church of England, and it attracts liberal Christian expats.

So I attend a service and then coffee hour and get to talking with some of the Americans (some business transfers, some students, some married to Swedes). They tell me that Swedish society takes such good care of its citizens that there is little for the churches to do in the way of charitable work. Few people fall between the cracks except late-stage alcoholics and late-stage drug addicts, and the Salvation Army deals with them.

This particular church does its charitable work in Latvia, which is an overnight ferry ride from Stockholm. There the collapse of the Soviet Union led to a complete shredding of the social safety net, so there are a lot of destitute people. The Stockholm group cooperates with the English Church in Riga, Latvia, to help poor people, especially seniors.

Imagine, a church that, unlike the one I attend, doesn't sponsor meal programs because there aren't enough people who need them.