More Danish teens choosing baptism to join confirmation communities

Danish teenagers who were not baptised as infants are increasingly opting for baptism ahead of their confirmation, with numbers rising by 70 percent over the past five years, national broadcaster DR reports.

The trend has been closely monitored by the Folk Church’s Education and Knowledge Centre, where analyst Karen Marie Leth-Nissen described the development as surprising. “All theories suggest religion is disappearing, but that’s simply not what we’re seeing,” she said.

Experts attribute the rise to a desire for community. Brian Arly Jakobsen, a sociologist of religion at the University of Copenhagen, noted that many teens choose baptism to participate in the social activities tied to confirmation—both the classes and the ceremonies.

Fifteen-year-old Liam Rosenvind Reick, who will be baptised on Easter Monday before his confirmation later this spring, echoed this sentiment. “Many of my friends from school and football are also getting confirmed, so I wanted to be part of that conversation,” he said.

Leth-Nissen suggested broader societal factors, including the isolation of the pandemic and global conflicts, may be driving young people toward stable institutions like the Folk Church and its traditions.

Despite the increase in teen baptisms, the church continues to lose members overall. Jakobsen cautioned against calling the trend a success, as the long-term decline in membership has not yet reversed. “We’d need to see a stabilisation or even an increase in membership percentages over several years,” he said.