Word of Life (Sweden)

Word of Life (Livets Ord) is a megachurch in Uppsala and an international association of churches, within the Swedish Word of Faith movement. Livets Ord is the foremost example of the Neo-charismatic movement in Sweden, closely related to Word of Faith, and it may be viewed as a Swedish expression of similar Pentecostal elements in American Christianity.

History
The congregation was founded in Uppsala by Ulf Ekman on May 24, 1983. In 1987, it dedicated its new building in Uppsala. In 2012, it founded Word of Life International, an association of churches it helped establish around the world. Ekman passed on the local pastorship in Uppsala to Joakim Lundqvist in 2013. On 9 March 2014, Ekman announced his and his wife's leaving Livets Ord with the intent of joining the Catholic Church. In April 2022, Jan Blom was installed as the senior pastor. In August 2022, Jan Blom was injured in a serious motorcycle accident and is currently on sick leave. In the fall of 2023, Livets Ord implemented an interim leadership team of Simon Ahlstrand, Sebastian Asklund and Christian Åkerhielm.

Aside from church, the movement also runs academic schools for all ages and Bible Schools. It sends missionaries to Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Israel and India. In 2023, Word of Life International would have helped establish 1,000 churches.

Operation Jabotinsky
In conjunction with the Christian Zionists in the United States, the Livets Ord operate a fund to supply money to Russian Jews who want to move to Israel. The fund, named "Operation Jabotinsky", is named after Russian Ze'ev Jabotinsky.

Livets Ord Theological Seminary
The congregation had its own institution of tertiary education, Livets Ord Theological Seminary, between 1994 and 2014. It was affiliated with an American institution, Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the largest charismatic Christian university in the world, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Livets Ord Theological Seminary offered American Bachelor's and master's degrees in New Testament Studies, History, Education, and other fields under the auspices of Oral Roberts University, but it was never accredited by the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education to award Swedish academic degrees.

In February 2014, Livets Ord announced its decision to close the seminary, because it had been operating under a loss for some time.

Criticism
When it was founded, the movement met with criticism from mass media and other churches, due to what was perceived as an inhumane perspective against people who suffer from physical disabilities and financial poverty, coupled with its authoritarian leadership. Since then, the movement has consolidated, and its views have emerged as somewhat more acceptable to Swedish free churches.

Some of its critics consider it a cult because of its connection with, and usage of theology from within, the Word of Faith movement, though its teachings now are broadened with other, more classical theology.

In November 2015, the church was criticized in a television episode of Uppdrag granskning, notably by the demand of Ulf Ekman to be paid in cash during his interventions in churches, his culture of silence refusing any criticism and its insistence on multiple offerings, in addition to the tithe. Pastor Joakim Lundqvist confirmed that the weak culture of dialogue and the insistence on multiple offerings had indeed been problems, but that the church had implemented new policies over the years and that these problems were therefore no longer relevant.

Popular culture
A parody of the congregation exists in novel Berts bekymmer, where Klimpen returns to Öreskoga, now as a member of the congregation "Lennarts ord". The congregation runs a bible school in Motala, and is led by a person named Lennart.

Official sites

 * Livets Ord – Official site
 * Word of Life International – Site of Word of Life International (In English)
 * Word of Life Bible Center (In English)

Other sites

 * Dagens Nyheter: Ulf Ekman helps Jewish settlers
 * Ulf Ekmans response to the above article
 * Psychiatric Problems in Ex-Members of Word of Life
 * Livets Ord och dess ledare Ulf Ekman: Is Word of Life a cult? – Critical website by an ex-member. Last retrieved on June 15, 2007.