A Visit to the Habo Church

Here is the church...
...Here is the steeple.
Open the door and see --- not many people.
Sweden has been called the "least religious nation in the Western world."
Almost 8 out of 10 Swedes are either "not religious" or "convinced atheists", and
just five percent of Swedes are regular church goers.  Gunnar Sjoberg - head of communication for the Swedish Church was quoted in 2015 news article: "In Sweden compared to other countries, religious beliefs are very personal, people don't talk about religion a lot in everyday life.  But when we speak to people about whether or not they pray, they often say, 'yes'".

It's a bit difficult for us to attend church services in Sweden due to language issues.  The music and hymns are great, but when it comes time for the sermon, we are clueless.  To be honest, we have gone to various churches many times and have left right as the sermon begins.
But going to the Habo Church has changed that.
Even though we still don't understand the sermon, the paintings in the church are just so worthy of
viewing and pondering that the sermon time flies by.
Everywhere the eyes take you is a feast! (Lots of angels, too.)

A little history before we continue on with the eye feast:

The original church was built in the 12th century and has been rebuilt several times since then.

The present church was built in 1723.  Its uniqueness comes from the church being built entirely from wood. 

Between 1741 and 1743, two painters from Jonkoping, Johan Kinnerus and Johan Christian Peterson were commissioned to work on the paintings.  These paintings cover the cover both the walls and the ceilings and these topics were used as teachings for the parishoners to learn the Bible lessons of:
Moses with the Stone Tablets
Jesus's Baptism
The Last Supper
Aron with the Sprouting Stick
The Risen Christ
The Ten Commandments
The Apostle's Creed

Though the paintings have been damaged over time, they have only been cleaned and restored, but never painted over.

Check out what we saw while not listening to the sermon: 



The ceiling




More of the ceiling.  Do note that the pillars are also wood that has been painted.


This painting illustrates one of the 10 Commandments.

After the service concluded, I got a closer look at the pulpit with its 12 apostles.



 Again, look at the angels!


View of the organ and balcony. (Aunt Betty played here!)
 
 On our way out, this gold candle piece also caught my attention.
I thought the heart represented all the love that shines through the world from age to age, coast to coast and country to country...the love of our Heavenly Father. 
  

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