The Firstborn are known for their traditionalism and their conservative pietistic ideals, and they seek to avoid "worldly pleasures".
In the US and Canada, the Firstborn organized as the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church around the turn of the twentieth century.
The Christmas meeting in Gällivare, Sweden, is the most important annual event for Firstborn Laestadians.
In 2016 Firstborn Laestadianism in Finland divided into two factions based on views concerning administering Holy Communion and Baptism by lay preachers in their own prayer houses.
The preachers' message was that division of the revival movement does not mean change in the theology of Firstborn Laestadianism, even in the new Association.