Rikssvenska metodistpredikanters betydelse för ... - Doria

Norwegian Inger Furseth (sociologist of religion) and Swede Hanna Hodacs
(historian) provide the theoretical background for this dissertation. The
theoretical models that Furseth and Hodacs use in their research have been
useful in the study of Methodism’s growth in Finland. Furseth uses a political
process theory as a sociological explanation for the start of religious and
social movements. This theory emphasizes that religious and social
movements do not work in isolation, but are instead created in environments
that either facilitate or hinder a movement’s growth. Furthermore, according
to Furseth, movements co-exist with other movements; a new movement is
created from within the structure of an older movement, a movement which
opposes the older movement.
In her research of British evangelical missionaries’ activities in Sweden
during the beginning of the 19 th century, Hanna Hodac addressed such
questions as: How do the members of a religious movement perceive
individuals outside the movement? What methods do people use, seen from
a global perspective, when trying to convert new members? Hodacs found
that while members of the Swedish population were considered to be objects
of mission, they were simultaneously considered to be allies in a panprotestant
missionary movement against the non-European world. Hodacs’
concepts of object and ally allow analysis of the complex relationships seen
in various types of missionary work.
The analysis of the Swedish Methodist preachers’ importance to the growth
and development of the Methodist church in Finland reveled four items of
note. Firstly, this was a splintered Methodist missionary movement. The
Swedish preachers working in Finland had one agenda, the American
missionary leaders funding them another. Secondly, it is evident that the
Methodists followed in the footsteps of older revival movements. Thirdly, it
can be concluded that Methodist missionary work in Finland met with only
moderate success despite considerable work. Fourthly, the transition from a
foreign to a domestic movement was problematic.
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