Baptist Union of Denmark

The Danish Baptist Union ( Baptist 's Church i Danmark ) is a national Confederation of Danish Baptist churches, which serves mainly the cooperation in the areas of mission, diakonia and education.

History

The first Baptist work in Denmark began in 1839, when Julius Koebner, a Danish Jew converted to Christianity, from Hamburg visited his home and there met people with Anabaptists settings. Koebner was a close collaborator of Johann Gerhard Oncken (1800-1884), often called the father of the continental European Baptists. Oncken baptized believers and founded in the same year a Baptist church in Copenhagen. Until the year 1849, when a constitution guarantees religious freedom, Baptists were fined, arrested, and forcibly baptized their children. With his debut Om Baptister above Barnedaab [ About Baptists and infant baptism ] (1844 ), the theologian Magnús Eiriksson set (1806 - 1881) for the persecuted church free. The importance of the young Baptist movement for granting of religious freedom in Denmark must not be underestimated.

The Baptist Union was founded in 1849 and was until 1888 a branch of the German Baptist Union. This year, a reorganization took place, due to the emigration of Baptist Danes in the U.S., making the Danish Baptist was more influenced by America. The Creed of New Hampshire was adopted. Some Danish pastors studied at Morgan Park Seminary in Chicago, until 1918, a private theological seminary was founded.

The Danish Baptists evolved from a closed Calvinist tradition to a more open society. An open communion is practiced since the 1930s, and nowadays members with infant baptism are accepted. Also, changed the social structure. The communities that were originally coined by workers and peasants, today recruit their members from the upper middle class.

Organization and Ecumenism

The Baptist Union is a member of the European- Baptischen Federation and the Baptist World Alliance. According to our own sources, there were in 2008 5260 members in 50 congregations. The headquarters is located in Copenhagen, the theological seminary in Tølløse.