History
Johan Oscar Smith (1871–1943), the church's founder, was originally a member of the Methodist church. After a religious conversion in 1898 Smith began preaching to small gatherings. In 1905, his brother Aksel Smith (1880–1919) joined him. Smith had early contact with the Pentecostal movement in Norway and Aksel Smith cooperated with Thomas Ball Barratt during the first few years after Barratt introduced Pentecostalism to Norway in 1906–1907. As both the Pentecostal movement and Smith's group developed, they became increasingly wary of each other, with Barrat accusing Smith of creating schism within his group, as some of his followers joined Smith. During the following years both groups wrote and published articles against the other.
In 1908, Johan Oscar Smith met Elias Aslaksen (1888–1976) while serving in the Norwegian Navy. Under the leadership of Johan Oscar Smith, Aksel Smith, and Elias Aslaksen the group began to grow quickly. During World War I, Smith, as a Naval officer, partook in patrols of the Norwegian coast. During this time, he had contact with believers and churches were established in several Norwegian coastal towns. During the 1930s churches were established in inland Norway, most notably in Hallingdal and Valdres. During this period, congregations were also established in Denmark.
From the 1950s, the church began to spread throughout Western Europe, most notably in Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, after several church leaders were invited to participate in the Pentecostal conferences held at Leonberg during the 1950s. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Brunstad Christian Church spread further to Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom, North America, Australia, Africa and Asia. Churches were first established in South America in the 1970s.
Today, there are more than 220 congregations in more than 65 countries. The church has annual international conferences at Brunstad Conference Center and regional conferences throughout the world. It has its own publishing house, Skjulte Skatters Forlag, publishing books and distributing audio-visual media intended for spiritual edification. The monthly journal Skjulte Skatter, ("Hidden Treasures") has been published every month since 1912.
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