A Newspaperman After God's Heart

This year we celebrate the 140th anniversary of the 1884 conference, generally viewed as the informal founding of the Swedish Evangelical Free Church (a precursor to the EFCA). Among the early leaders, John Martenson was perhaps the most influential person in the Swedish Free Church. 

Martenson learned typesetting in Sweden before immigrating to the United States. There, he worked in Chicago at various newspapers.

In 1876, he heard Erik August Skogsberg, known as the “Swedish Moody,” who preached to large crowds of Swedes in a parallel ministry with D.L. Moody. Martenson gave his life to Christ, and later became an influential writer and evangelist. With encouragement from Skogsberg, Martenson started the Chicago-Bladet as a Swedish-language newspaper for the immigrant population. From the first issue on February 16, 1877, his aim was “to present to our readers what God has made plain in His inspired Word. We shall rather encourage all of God's children to work together, hand in hand, in promoting His kingdom.”  

The Bladet included some reflections on current events and more on prophetic teaching. An emphasis was on local church independence, avoiding denominational governance as had existed before in Sweden. 

It served for years as the unofficial publication of the Swedish Free Church until the SEFC formally purchased it in 1926. The Evangelical Beacon replaced it in 1931. Martenson was one of the three who brought local churches together for the EFC founding conference in 1884 in Boone, Iowa. He was also among the founders of the Swedish Bible Institute (now Trinity International University). A persuasive speaker, he served in many roles, both his local Oak Street Free Church and in denominational leadership.  

John Martenson and the Chicago-Bladet served an important role in influencing and bringing together the Swedish Free churches across the country.