Lestadianism

Adherents of this dogma try to adhere to the early Christian lifestyle. They do not recognize modern technical means used for entertainment - television, modern music (classical and religious music are preferred), gambling, etc. An interesting story is the attitude towards personal computers, which, unlike home TVs, at the time of their appearance an attribute of professional or educational activities and was widely approved in the families of the Ladadians, but in modern realities they are a source of entertainment, including modern mobile devices. Lestadians oppose birth control (families with 10 or more children are common) and all are radical teetotalers. Interestingly, being categorical in the issue of drinking alcoholic beverages, the Ladadians are loyal to the issue of smoking. According to historical data, Lestadius himself was a heavy smoker. Our contemporaries from the Lestadians explain this by the fact that then people did not know about the health damage caused by smoking, so this issue was not so acute.

To date, smoking is never defined as a sin , although educational discussions on this topic are underway. Membership in trade unions and parties, as well as any opposition to the existing government, is considered a sin. In respect of violators of prohibitions, a special system of penalties is provided.

Unlike many other Rivevelist movements, Lestadianism was never separated from the official Church. A similar situation persists to this day: the ultra-conservative communities of the Lestadians are included in the liberal Lutheran church denominations of Scandinavia. At the moment, Lestadianism, like many other faiths, is fragmented, has three main directions.

Lestadianism has 8 congregations in Russia: in St. Petersburg , Petrozavodsk , Primorsk , Vyborg , Moscow , Samara and Tver . Lestadians actively cooperate in Russia with the Church of Ingria ^[1] .

Every year in the summer, a general congress of the Ladadians takes place - the Big Summer Meeting , about 70 thousand people gather at it.

In 2011, the Finnish press leaked information about numerous cases (up to 100 episodes) of pedophilia in the communities of Old-Ladadians, in which more than ten preachers of the movement were involved ^{[2] [3]} .

In 2017, the Norwegian police detected more than 150 cases of sexual violence, mainly pedophilia, in the Tusfjord village of Tusfjord in Lapland (population of 2 thousand people) ^[4] .

• Central Association of Peacefulness ( Fin. Suomen Rauhanyhdistysten Keskusyhdistys )
• The Society of First- Ladadians ( Fin. Esikoislestadiolaisuus )

• (Finland, Sweden, 2009) - a film about the life of the Ladadians in Finland at the end of the 20th century
• The Kautokeino Uprising (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, 2008) - a film about the events in the north of Norway during the preaching work of Lars Lestadius

• Unrest in Kautokeino