Björkstakyrkan ( the Birch Church) is our home church in Umea, Sweden. They rent the space from a community college located in a shopping plaza so they need to set it up every Sunday morning. We go each Sunday with our son and help him, along with greeting everyone as they come in. The service starts with welcoming everyone, prayer and announcements then praise music followed by the pastor preaching the word of God. The service is in Swedish and translated in English every Sunday and is available online(please see the link to the church’s page in the menu).
The church is small and made up of several different nationalities but all have in common the love for God and to learn His word and share His love with others. They have several teams to get each Sunday service accomplished: Pastor, praise team, greeters, technical team, set up team, refreshment (fika) team. The word “fika” is a Swedish word for a snack and is observed by everyone, everyday, and everywhere in the country. It is not only to take a break during the workday, but a time to fellowship.
We are blessed to have the opportunity to serve here in any way we can and hope to visit as many members of the church as possible. The need for God is great here as the majority of Sweden is secular.
After fika and fellowship and everyone has gone home, we put away everything because the facility is a community college during the week.