"laestadian, apostolic, gay, lgbtq, ex-oalc, ex-llc, llc, oalc, bunner" LEARNING TO LIVE FREE: Milla Clementsdotter and the Readers

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Milla Clementsdotter and the Readers

Matt Perkins has a new post about Mary Lapp, the Reader movement, pietism, and Laestadianism out on his blog this morning. I think it's worth checking out.

Lapin Maija, by Matt Perkins

Since I finished reading Lars Levi Laestadius and the Revival in Lapland, by Warren H. Hepokoski I've gotten more interested in the Reader movement. Many of the on-line sources place Laestadius within the Reader context. What I find fascinating about the Readers are the extremes of their belief, with Hepokoski reporting that some Readers actually thought they were Jesus Christ, and that their pronouncements superceded Scripture.

The more I read about Laestadian history, the more I can sympathize with why Laestadius would start his movement, but I also sympathize with why the established church found it so troubling. It's fun to imagine myself back in the 1850s in Finland. Would I be a Reader, a Laestadian, or would I support the state church? Would I come to the same conclusions my ancestors did?

7 comments:

  1. Tomte, I think you must mean 1850s Sweden, not Finland? As far as I know, the Reader movement never reached Finland. Finland of course had other similar religious movements, but not that particular movement.

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  2. Now there are two new films from Laestadian services in Pietarsaari/Jakobstad held last weekend on the LaestadianInfo channel:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG4wKnp-A3k

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2arhWt2DDY

    The sound quality on the later one should be "HIFI".

    (Both films are from the song evening in the old Pedersöre Church.)

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  3. LLLreader asks: Are you OK Tomte?

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  4. Heh...I'm fine...just really busy lately.

    I've been following the conversation, but haven't had time to post anything lately.

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  5. If you click on my Nick it will take you to a new film about the big LLC summer services in Turku this year.

    Or copy/paste:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4jxD8_rKOg

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