Laestadian Lutherans and their large families

Laestadian Lutherans and their large families

Rev. Christopher Jackson informed me that the new Prime Minister of Finland is a Laestadian Lutheran, a pietist strain best known today for rejecting birth control and having very large families.

From Rev. Christopher Jackson:

 The newly elected PM of Finland, Juha Sipilä, is a Laestadian Lutheran. There are different Laestadian groups out there, but Laestadianism is a strongly pietist movement that tends to oppose the consumption of alcohol and the use of birth control. (Sipilä has five children.) Laestadianism got a mention in the book Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth? as an example of one of the religious groups that promote large families.

For more on this movement, go here.

There are a number of small Laestaedian church bodies in America.

Now most Lutherans that I know wouldn’t go along with the pietist part or the opposition to alcohol.  But large families seem to be coming back into vogue.  It’s interesting that there is a distinct Lutheran tradition that makes a point of this.

Any Laestadian Lutherans out there?  I’d like to hear from you on your theology and practice.  Any semi-Laestadians?

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