Unorthodox, Resilient, and Creative: John Matteson, Pioneer Missionary to Scandinavia
by Yvonne Johansson Öster | 16 July 2024 |
Kristiania, Norway, July 1879
”The night we were waiting, my wife and I could not go to bed. Around 12 we went down to the harbor to look if they had arrived.”[1]
The couple paced forth and back for six hours along the quay—
“… and then we had the joyful reunion. It moved our hearts to see our small ones who had been separated from their parents for two years.” [2]
Sadly, their oldest, teenage daughter Mathilde, was missing. She had died from meningitis in Battle Creek after her parents left. Who were these people who left their children on the other side of the Atlantic for so long?[3]
Danish John and Norwegian Anna Matteson left Wisconsin, in the United States, to answer a call to go back to Scandinavia. They had never thought they would return when they emigrated in their youth.
However, something important happened in the interval: they learned the Adventist message. [4]
Wisconsin, 1860s
In the forests of the far west, John had met Jesus.
A neighbor had invited him to a prayer meeting, John had no clue what a prayer meeting was, but he went. Reading the Bible caused a revolution in his life. He began to preach to the Scandinavian settlers in Wisconsin. He was an inspiring preacher and a good musician too, playing his violin to songs he composed himself. [5]
There were further steps on the road to becoming the pioneer Adventist apostle to Scandinavia:
- Baptist Seminary in Chicago;
- Ordained 1862;
- Back to Wisconsin as a pastor;
- A neighbor in Poy Sippi, Wisconsin, showed him the Sabbath truth. Convinced after serious Bible study, most of his congregation followed him—but his wife was worried: how would they now survive?[6]
- To Battle Creek for further study;
- Convinced of the need for a magazine for Danish-Norwegian immigrants, John started Advent Tidende 1872.[7] He had to make the printing types himself. [8]
Denmark, 1877
It was John’s own fault he was sent back to Scandinavia. Advent Tidende had gone before him and created interests in the old countries. They pleaded for a pastor to come and teach.
Thus, on June 6, 1877, Anna and John arrived in Vejle, Denmark. A songbook in Danish provided an opening to what some found a strange message. Denmark was a solid Lutheran country, and resistance grew quite fierce—even some threats to Matteson’s life. However, Matteson grew groups of Sabbath-keepers. In 1878, he organized the very first church in Northern Europe, at Alstrup (Jerslev) in Jutland.[9]
Kristiania, Norway, 1878
Matteson used modern approaches: ads in the newspapers, articles, a press release when the Adventist church was established in Kristiania (Oslo) on January 15, 1879.[10] This announced central Adventist beliefs. The order he used in expressing Adventist beliefs was similar to the confession of faith used in the Lutheran church, familiar to Norwegians. Adventist views on Christ’s service as high priest and the second coming of Christ were highlighted. It concluded that “it is our Christian duty to submit to authorities as long as there is nothing that is contrary to the word of God.”
There was a great need for that last statement. When he first stepped into the pulpit, disappointment went through the hall: his appearance was unassuming. Yet, very soon all were enthralled. John Matteson was an eloquent speaker. Never before had such a message been heard in the Norwegian capital.[11] People thronged to hear him; many had to remain outside.
The religious establishment warned, “This is a dangerous man!”[12]
All kinds of people came: poor people, rich people.[13] After one meeting, a well-to-do woman came to the door, tears streaming down her face. She paused before the usher with the collection plate. She stripped off her beautiful and expensive jewelry and dropped them in the collection bag. She was a member of the royal household. Yes, she became an Adventist. [14]
As the clerical opposition blocked his renting big venues, Matteson saw the necessity for the new believers to have a headquarters of their own. Akersgata 74, to be called Bethel, was purchased. It also housed a printing press. Bethel is today the oldest continuously used Adventist house of worship in Europe.[15]
This purchase caused problems with headquarters in Battle Creek, foremost with the ailing James White. John Matteson, the unpretentious missionary, was considered disobedient, as he did not wait for General Conference decisions.[16] The promised financial assistance for the press did not arrive from America—or any regular salary. There were no sugarcoated words in their correspondence back and forth.
Matteson resigned in 1880. [17]
Sweden, 1885–1888
Things were resolved, if not entirely, when Ellen White visited Europe in 1885–1888. She realized conditions in these old countries were much different from America. By then, Matteson had proceeded to Sweden. He established a colporteur and evangelistic school in Stockholm, inviting both young men and women to take part—unheard of at the time. His openness to women in evangelistic work was far ahead of his time. He had seen how valuable his teenage daughter Tina had been, handling much of the publishing work. She was also a gifted writer like her father. And with the same workaholic strain: Tina worked herself into an early death. [18]
When Ellen White preached in the first meeting tent ever pitched in Stockholm, Matteson advised her to start out talking about the love of Jesus to the thousand that jammed the area. She preached about the Sabbath. [19]
But the centrality of the love of Jesus never left Matteson. Jesus was the center of all his preaching, all his hard labor. Christ was the Savior; the law revealed only our need for salvation. He expanded this in his book: The Prophecies of Jesus. To John Matteson it was gospel first, then doctrines. [20]
This was his great legacy to Scandinavian Adventism.
Bibliography
- Jalving, Preben: John G. Matteson-Skandinavisk Adventistapostel, www.adventist.dk/Historie, 2018
- Johannessen,Terje: Den Skandinaviske Adventismens Begyndelse, vol II and III; Öko-tryk,Skjern, Denmark, 2017
- Matteson, John G.: Mattesons Liv, International Publ. Ass’n, College View, Nebraska 1908
- Matteson, John.G.: Jesu Profetior, Skandinaviska Förlags-Expeditionen, Stockholm 1901
- Matteson, John G. Letter to James White, April 27, 1880, EGW Center, Newbold College
- White, Ellen G: Manuscript 26, 1888; Newbold EGW center
- Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, 1966, articles: Norway, John G. Matteson
- Johannessen, vol II, p. 359 ↑
- Ibid. ↑
- There were eight children: Mathilda, d. 1878 in Battle Creek; Tina, d. in Christiania in 1883; Samuel; Arthur; Alexander; Benjamin; Martha; John Jr. Three survived to Matteson’s death in 1896. ↑
- Mattesons Liv, p. 185 ↑
- Ibid., pp. 54f; He worked for 13 years in the Midwest, baptized 800 Scandinavians, established their Adventist churches (Jalving, 2018) ↑
- Ibid., pp. 98–106 (chapter five) ↑
- The first periodical not in English ↑
- SDA Encyclopedia 1966, pp. 896–897 ↑
- He also organized the first temperance society in the country, and issued a health magazine, Sundhedsbladet, in 1881. ↑
- Mattesons Liv, p. 298 ↑
- Kristiania = Oslo ↑
- Ibid., p. 213 ↑
- In 1882 Matteson answered their invitation to organize a conference in Sweden. ↑
- Johannessen, p. 381, quoted from Chilson, A.D., Gospel Viking, pp. 94-95 ↑
- Jalving, Preben: www.adventist.dk/Historie/ Dec 3, 2018 ↑
- Turning mail took at least two months. ↑
- Johannesen,II, pp. 418–434; Letter to James White, April 27, 1880, EGW center, Newbold College ↑
- Ibid. vol. III, pp. 45–46 (quoted from Tidernes Tegn, February 1883, p. 31). Tina died of tuberculosis. She was weakened from her stay in Battle Creek with her sister, although she survived. John died of the same disease, having overworked all his life, as well as battling poverty for many years. ↑
- MS-26, 1885, p. 5; Johanessen II, p. 370 ↑
- Matteson: Jesu profetior, 2nd edition: Battle Creek, Review & Herald, 1892; Stockholm, 1901 ↑
Yvonne Johansson Öster is a retired college teacher and pastor. Currently, she is writing a complete history of the Swedish Adventist church. She lives in Ekebyholm, Sweden.
