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En uppsats av två kantorstudenter 2012 samt egna upplevelser tas till utgångspunkt för attstudera förnyelse i Svenska kyrkans musikutbud på 2000-talet. Ett tiotal kyrkliga företrädare,huvudsakligen kyrkomusiker har våren 2022 djupintervjuats för besvarande av frågor omförnyelse av kyrkomusik, mest på 2000-talet när Svenska kyrkan skilts från staten.Frågeställning 1 är hur förnyelsen tas emot. Förnyelsen med ökat inslag av icke sakral musikoch populärmusik uppskattas av kyrkomusiker och andra kyrkliga aktörer.Frågeställning 2 är vad som driver kyrkomusiker att göra merarbetet som krävs.Kyrkomusiker gör gärna det merarbete som krävs om de kan leverera en värdig upplevelse. Detror att diversifieringen av kyrkomusik kommer fortsätta.Slutsatserna bygger huvudsakligen på intervjumaterialet där deras individuella svar redovisasanonymiserat, ett mångfasetterat material. Efter redovisningens olika avsnitt följer en analys avhur forskningsfrågorna besvaras och sedan en diskussion om den kyrkomusikaliska förnyelsensutbredning i tid och rum samt geografiskt. Vidare ett resonemang om möjligheter med ochgränser för förnyelsen av kyrkomusiken.Förnyelsen drivs av publikens ökade musikkunskap och önskemål till kyrkomusikern.Kyrkomusikerns respons är att göra sitt bästa för att ge en fin musikupplevelse och om möjligtöka antalet betalande medlemmar.

Projektet utforskar rådande maktbalans mellan staden och landsbygden, och riktar kritik åt den dominerande urbana normen. Ur en sarkastisk vinkel implementeras kasinot som medel för landsbygden att hävda sig mot staden i en värld styrd av kapital. Kasinot används som en symbol för den kapitaldrivna och ofta moraliskt ifrågasättbara världsutvecklingen, och genom denna allusion söker projektet ifrågasätta i vilken utsträckning målet om tillväxt kan tillåtas helga de allt mer extrema medel som används för att nå dit. Projektets tematik utvecklades som ett svar på det av skolan ställda kravet att rita en hybridbyggnad innehållandes ett folkets hus och ett egenvalt plusprogram omfattande totalt 2000 kvadratmeter på landsbygden i Nynäshamns kommun. Då den största delen av produktraffineringen som tidigare skedde i Sorunda, där projektet tar plats, har tvingats lägga ner på grund av centralisering uppstod en svårighet att finna ett trovärdigt plusprogram som kunde ge skäl för ett folkets hus. Då orten dessutom drabbas kraftigt av av den ökade lastbilstrafiken som Stockholm stads omläggning av Frihamnen till Nynäshamn har gett upphov till kom frågan om urban norm att hamna i fokus, och projektet att kretsa kring landsbygdens möjligheter att parasitera på samma maktförhållanden som den förtrycks av. This project explores the current power dynamic between urban and rural, and aims to critique the domineering urban norm. From a sarcastic point of view the casino is implemented as a means for the countryside to assert power over the city in a world ruled by capital. The casino is used as a symbol for the capital-driven and often morally questionable world development. Through this allusion the project seeks to question to what extent the goal of growth should be allowed to justify the ever more extreme means used to achieve this end. The thematic of the project was developed as an answer to the schools requirement to design a hybrid building containing a peoples house and a self chosen plus-programme to an extent of 2000 metres squared in Nynäshamn municipality. As most of the product refinement that used to exist in Sorunda, where the project takes place, har been forced to shut down due to centralisation there was an issue with finding a feasible plus-programme that could support the peoples house-function. Further, as the region has been heavily affected by the increasing heavy traffic caused by Stockholm Stads relocation of Frihamnen to Nynäshamn, the question of urban norm came into focus, and the project was oriented towards the possibility for the countryside to parasitize on the same power structures that oppress it.

This study explores how churches as a place for religion and worship, a cultural heritage and a public place, also can function as spaces for art by analysing three different church interiors and works of art from the late 20th century. Theories include Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital and David Dean’s theory about different forms of display and Carol Duncan’s writings about museums and churches as ritual spaces. Simon Unwin’s modifying elements of architecture have been used to analyse the interiors, and the three works of art, created by Herman Reijers, Anna-Lisa Odelqvist-Cruse and Kjellaug Nordsjö, have been analysed using a semiotic analysis. The result of the study suggests that churches as a place for art is unique, and that the use of art has both an aesthetic and educational purpose by mediating the Christian beliefs. The study also suggests that when churches act as a place for contemporary art it might help preserve the churches cultural heritage and keep the church room active.

This study describes and analyses the Swedish ecclesiastical heritage as well as the structures and systems that provide conditions and frameworks for how it is perceived and managed. One purpose is to explain today’s situation concerning the 3,000 historic church buildings and sites protected by national heritage legislation and owned by the Church of Sweden. Furthermore, the study analyses how the approaches, paradigms or discourses, which define that ecclesiastical heritage, have changed over the past two centuries. The study aims to bridge the gaps between antiquarian, art history and conservation discourses, where churches are mainly seen as material historic objects and other discourses that regard churches as living heritage, intangible heritage, or as resources for human rights and sustainable development. The analyses are based on theories such as the concepts of Authorized Heritage Discourse, heritagisation, secularisation, and research methods as discourse analysis and self-reflexivity. The study defines and discusses the Church Antiquarian System, which includes the State-Church agreement, the Historic Environment Act and the State financial compensation. The analyses show that the system is based on a partly outdated conservation approach, with origins in an even older nineteenth-century antiquarian discourse, that is not consistent with the national heritage policy adopted by the Swedish parliament. Thus, it blocks a necessary development where many redundant churches could be revitalised as resources for society. The current approach, as well as the Church’s use of its heritage and history, contribute to a deliberately created positive image, avoiding dark or controversial heritage that illustrates abuse of groups of people such as “witches” in the seventeenth century. To achieve the desired development towards a holistic and inclusive approach to ecclesiastical heritage, several recommendations are given. These include identification of heritage discourses in heritage practices and policies, tolerance of many existing heritage approaches, a review and update of the Church Antiquarian System, and finally the need for developing the competence of heritage officers in the adapted reuse of heritage as a resource for sustainable societal development.

This essay examines Sami perspectives on the reconciliation process between the Sami people and the church of Sweden. This is based on a qualitative content analysis of the recitals during the Ságastallamat conference in October 2022 that brought together Sami and church representatives. Theoretically, the essay is based on a model for reconciliation in post-colonial societies developed by Verdeja (2017). Reconciliation is understood according to this model as divided into four concepts, critical reflection, symbolic recognition, material recognition, and political participation. The result shows that the concepts applied to the Sami perspectives that emerged during Ságastallamat 2. The Sami representatives expressed that all four concepts were needed for reconciliation to be reached. A point at issue that emerged as particularly important in all parts of the reconciliation model was the land issue and self-determination. This was connected to critical reflection since it was considered that the self-determination of Sami´s land had been lost through colonization. It was also connected to symbolic recognition as the church was prompted to take a stand for the Sami to regain lost land. The fact that the church of Sweden owns land was connected to material recognition as the church was urged to return the land to the Sami. Finally, the issue of land was connected to political participation since it was considered that the Sami should be given self-determination over land and that within the church one should use Sami knowledge to manage the creation.

I min och Sara Franssons artikel (kapitel 5 s.77-93) fördjupar vi förståelsen för hur två i rapporten presenterade resultat hänger samman: för det första det faktum att konfirmandernas upplevda nöjdhet med sin konfirmandtid minskar och för det andra att detta sker parallellt med att också efterfrågan på det önskade ämnesinnehållet förändras. Detta gör vi genom ett fokus på vilka metoder de unga möter i undervisningssituationen. Kapitlets syfte är att undersöka hur vi kan förstå relationen mellan konfirmandernas erfarenhet av ett innehåll, de i undervisningen tillämpade metoderna och deltagarnas upplevda nöjdhet med sin tid som konfirmander. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten tar sin utgångspunkt i Comenius argument och vad som kommit att kallas det didaktiska alfabetet. Något omformulerade lyder de didaktiska frågorna: Vem, Vilka, Vad, Varför, Hur. Utgångspunkten för den analys som vi presenterar i kapitlet är att ett pedagogiskt hållbart arbete kräver att svaren på de didaktiska frågorna samverkar. In mine and Sara Fransson's article (Chapter 5, pp. 77-93), we deepen our understanding of how two results presented in the report are connected: firstly, the fact that the confirmands' perceived satisfaction with their confirmation period is decreasing and, secondly, that this is happening in parallel with a change in the demand for the desired subject content. We do this by focusing on the methods the young people encounter in the teaching situation. The purpose of the chapter is to investigate how we can understand the relationship between the confirmands experience of content, the methods used when teaching and the participants' perceived satisfaction with their time as confirmands. The theoretical starting point is based on Comenius' arguments and what has come to be known as the didactic alphabet. Somewhat reformulated, the didactic questions are: Who, Whom, What, Why, How. The starting point for the analysis we present in the chapter is that pedagogically sustainable work requires that the answers to all the didactic questions interact.

The aim of this study, Pastoral care behind bars, is to investigate the experiences of detention and prison chaplains regarding pastoral care and its function in Swedish detention centres and prisons. Using a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six priests within the faith-community Svenska kyrkan. With variation, the analysis has shown, based on Berit Okkenhaug’s theory of trinitarian pastoral care and Ralph Linton’s role theory, that pastoral care is about a compassionate encounter between a priest and a client. During the pastoral care meeting the client is given the opportunity to reflect on existential issues and faith and to explore inner pain. All the interviewed priests emphasized that confidentiality is a crucial factor in building trust with clients. Pastoral care conversations often revolve around guilt and forgiveness, and clients may confess their deepest concerns. The clergy interviewed describe that pastoral care in detention centres and prison fulfils a religious function, regardless of whether the clients have an explicit faith or not. This study also shows that the interviewed priests, based on an implicit Christian ideal, create the role of a pastoral care provider and as they describe themselves as a religious authoritarian leader.

What happened after? A study of the careers of priests within the Church of Sweden who have been assigned a rebuke or probationary period. The purpose of this study is to examine whether a rebuke or probationary time affects the careers of priests within the Church of Sweden. It is the diocesan chapter that decides on such measures. The reason may be a breach of consecration vows or that the priest has damaged the esteem of ordained ministry to a great extent. The purpose is primarily to protect the congregations from unsuitable priests. The career of a study group of 35 priests who received a rebuke or probationary period was compared with a control group of 42 priests, who were reported to the diocesan chapter but where the case did not lead to any action. Data were collected for every three years 2004–2019. The priests have been followed through a register­­ study for up to 10 years or until retirement. The careers of priests in the study group are negatively affected. For five years they have an average lower position. The year after the decision, about 25% are without employment in the church. After five years, the careers of these priests are on a par with the careers of the control group. The results indicate that priests in the study group have a worse career than the priests in the control group. This is particularly obvious in the first five years after the decision. The purpose of the disciplinary decisions is partly fulfilled by the fact that these priests for a period do not work within the church. This study is one of the few, which examines the careers of professionals who have received some form of reprimand. It thus constitutes a new contribution to the research on professionals.

Syftet med den är studien är att svara på frågan, vad lär begravningspsalmerna ut och vilka bilder av det eviga livet/det bortom döden målar psalmerna fram? Detta görs genom analyser av de fyra vanligast förekommande begravningspsalmernas i Svenska kyrkan. Analysen avser psalmernas helhet det vill säga både dess text och musik. Resultaten av analyserna visade att det är mycket lite som dessa begravningspsalmer undervisar om det som eventuellt finns bortom döden. Det psalmerna lär är vad det innebär att leva som kristen med en kristen livsåskådning. I begravningssammanhanget skänker psalmerna, det vill säga dess texter tillsammans med dess musik den sörjande människan en tröst och tanke om att ta en dag i taget i sin sorg, och att hon aldrig är ensam i sorgen eftersom det finns en Gud som är personligt närvarande.

This essay is about the discussion concerning graduation celebrations in The Swedish Church. Since this discussion is recurrent in the media when it is getting close to the end of the term in the Swedish schools, it is interesting to see how people choose to discuss this issue. This essay will look at how this issue is discussed within the Swedish school and the Swedish church. My research questions that I will use are: How is the issue of the church as a venue for the end of school year discussed in the Swedish Church's newspaper and in the Teachers' Union's trade magazine, Läraren. This will be done through a content analysis of articles taken from these two newspapers where they discuss the church as a venue for the graduation. I will use a secularization theory developed by the sociologist of religion Thomas Luckmann in which he assumes that one can look at religion from two perspectives, church-oriented religion, and individual-centered religion. The survey in this paper shows that most people are in favor of using the church as a venue for the graduation’s celebrations and that they see it more as a tradition to be there such as something religious.

Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att avgöra hur väl Humanisternas och Svenska kyrkansbild av ett gott liv överensstämmer med varandra. Ett gott liv definieras här som ett liv som ärbra, rimligt och meningsfullt för människan. Detta är ämnat att problematisera den påståddadikotomin mellan religiösa och sekulära livsåskådningar. Tidigare forskning beskriver hurteistiska och naturalistiska livsåskådningars värderingar ofta skiljer sig åt. Både teister ochnaturalister möter utmaningar i relation till meningsskapande och makt. Uppsatsen har utgåttfrån Humanisternas och Svenska kyrkans respektive hemsidor. Sekundärmaterialet består utavverk från Christer Sturmark och Antje Jackelén. Materialet har analyserats utifrån ett antal analysfrågor. Dessa utgår från begreppenlivsåskådning och människosyn som presenteras under teoriavsnittet. Begreppen har använtsför att få fram respektive grupps bild av ett gott liv. Efter att materialet har analyserats har enjämförelse gjorts mellan gruppernas olika uppfattningar. Resultaten visar att det finns bådelikheter och skillnader mellan grupperna. De största likheterna går att finna i derasuppfattningar om människans rättigheter och hennes förnuft. Jämför vi resultaten med dentidigare forskningen kan vi se att både meningsskapande och makt är aktuella teman.Meningsskapande blir en utmaning för både teister och naturalister. Det finns också någotproblematiskt i människans makt och individualitet. Det ser vi hos både Humanisterna ochSvenska kyrkan. Uppsatsens resultat väcker frågor om hur vi ska finna en balans mellanindividers intressen och världens bästa. Dessa kan bli intressanta i framtida undersökningar.

Inom ramen för empirisk ecklesiologi är det den här studiens syfte att är undersöka vilken ecklesiologi som kommer till uttryck genom diakonin i Huddinge församling, genom att använda ”Teologins fyra röster” som arbetsmodell och tolkningsverktyg. Hur kyrkan framträder för människor undersöks genom att studera vad den gör och ställs i relation till kyrkan som social kropp. Genom en ecklesiologisk fältstudie där Teologins fyra röster får styra vilket material som samlas in avtäcks och analyseras den ecklesiologi som kyrkan bär på. Studiens slutsats är att den ecklesiologi som framträder genom Huddinge församlings diakoni är starkt relationellt betonad. Resultaten pekar också mot att människors kristna självförståelse inte formas som ett resultat av en kognitiv process utan genom att kristen tro praktiseras och förkroppsligas genom handling.

Under pandemiåren 2020 - 2021 förändrades förutsättningarna att vara kyrka i grunden. I denna uppsats analyseras kören som ett uttryck för församlingsgemenskap. Genom en intervjuundersökning bestående av fokusgrupper med körsångare och enskilda intervjuer med körledare och kyrkoherde beskrivs den församlingsgemenskap som framträder och hur den påverkades under perioden. Hur digitala verktyg användes som resurs under pandemin beskrivs också. Intervjuerna har transkriberats och analyserats utifrån Andreas Holmbergs avhandling om levd ecklesiologi i Svenska kyrkan.

Jag har i denna uppsats gjort en jämförande undersökning av kyrkohandböckerna från 1942, 1986 och 2017 kring instruktioner om förbönsmomentet. Genom en innehållsanalys av instruktioner och av de färdigformulerande bönerna har jag sökt efter likheter och skillnader under några teman jag valt: Gud, människan, kyrkan. Resultatet av analysen visar att det skett förskjutningar när man tittar på förbönerna genom de tre valda temana. Gud har gått från att vara en mäktig härskare som styr sin värld fjärran ifrån till att framställas som stark och kärleksfull och sedan i den senaste av kyrkohandböckerna har Gud flyttat in i människan. Människan har i sin tur gått från att vara någon som behöver bli helgad och förbättras av Gud, det är Gud som är aktiv och människan passiv. I de senare kyrkohandböckerna är människan en Guds medarbetare som aktivt ska ta ansvar för världen, medmänniskan och sig själv. Bilden av kyrkan skiljer sig också mellan de tre kyrkohandböckerna. Det är intressant att det i HB86 visar sig två olika bilder. I HB42 har bilden av kyrkan stark betoning på ämbete och det nationella, det är en Guds kyrka. I HB86 är den ena bilden en Guds kyrka som är stark, med tydliga drag av att vara överhet, kyrkan är världsvid i en universell betydelse. Den andra har betoning på en världsvid kyrka som omfattar alla kristna på jorden. Hon kommer underifrån och församlingen är tydlig. HB17 visar en bild av en världsvid kyrka som syns i det lokala. Hon relaterar både personligt till individer och till en kollektiv gemenskap. I tolkningen av resultatet diskuterar jag kring hur man kan förstå dessa skillnader med hjälp av främst Karin Oljelund, Avery Dulles och Ninna Edgardh. Där Oljelunds analysmotiv i paren: närhet och distans, individ och gemenskap, inklusivitet och exklusivitet fått bidra med förståelser kring mina teman. Dulles Models of The Church bidrar med hur man kan se på kyrka med hjälp av olika bilder. Ninna Edgardh bidrar med förståelser kring gudstjänst i nutiden, och hur förskjutning som synliggjorts kan förstås. Då kyrkohandböckerna har sin plats i gudstjänstlivet inom Svenska kyrkan är det i gudstjänsten som min diskussion också landar. Jag menar att man kan göra en tolkning av kyrkohandböckernas tydliga förskjutning genom det titthål som gäller förbönen. Där gudstjänsten går att förstås i HB42 som Guds kontrollbehov, i HB86 som mellanhanden mellan Gud och människan och i HB17 som frihet i Kristus.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom intervjuer undersöka svenska kyrkans roll i dagens samhälle samt vilken roll kyrkan kan tänkas fylla i framtiden. Dessutom syftar uppsatsen till att fördjupa kunskapen om kulturen i samhället och hur den påverkar synen på svenska kyrkan. Frågeställningarna är: “Vilken roll anser intervjupersonerna att den svenska kyrkan har i samhället?”, samt “Vilken roll anser intervjupersonerna att svenska kyrkan bör ha i samhället?”. För att svara på frågeställningarna har kvalitativa öppna intervjuer använts. I intervjuerna användes fyra frågeområden: partipolitik, relationen till svenska kyrkan, svenska kyrkans position i samhället och medlemskapet i svenska kyrkan. Intervjuresultatet har analyserats med hjälp av Clifford Geertz teori: “Religion as a cultural system”. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att de sociala och kulturella aspekterna av svenska kyrkan har en symbolisk betydelse för intervjupersonerna. De ansåg även att svenska kyrkan bör spela en social och kulturell roll i samhället.

I den här uppsatsen görs en postkolonial, feministteologisk och konstruktivistisk analys av det ursäktstal Svenska kyrkan framför till det samiska folket hösten 2021. Med hjälp av den postkoloniala feministteologen Kwok Pui-lan och den kontextuella teologen Marcella Althaus-Reid närmar sig uppsatsen frågan om det i ursäktstalet finns uttryck för koloniala tendenser eller möjliga befrielser från sådana. Analyses leder till ett utforskande av dynamiken mellan föreställningar om kön, sexualitet, den Andre och naturem, där dessa visar sig vara tätt sammanvävda i en dualistisk ontologi konkretiserad i heterosexuella antaganden. För att bli fri från koloniala tendenser krävs de gamla heterosexuella antagandenas undergång. Bara i den ömsesidiga enhetens harmoni skapas nytt liv.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur orgelundervisande kyrkomusiker i Svenska kyrkan motiverar, bedriver och reflekterar kring sin orgelundervisningspraktik, med särskilt avseende på den institutionella kontext de verkar inom. För att söka svar på dessa frågor har fem kyrkomusiker som undervisar i orgel intervjuats kring sin praktik. Studien har det sociokulturella perspektivet på lärande som teoretisk utgångspunkt och resultatet belyses också utifrån institutionsbegreppet. Några av studiens slutsatser är att om Svenska kyrkan ska kunna behålla sin omfattande orgelspelartradition så måste den ägna sig åt orgelundervisning, att repertoar för orgelundervisning och tillgång till övningsinstrument är av stor vikt för att undervisningen ska vara framgångsrik och att orgelundervisning kan ske som ett kontextualiserat lärande där undervisningen blir del av en större institutionell kontext.

Detta arbete är en kunskapsöversikt där fokus ligger på att redovisa hur homosexualitet har inkluderats och speglats inom det svenska samhället och inom den svenska skolan. Det som också påvisas är hur den kristna tron har påverkat undervisningen i skolorna samt hur religionsundervisningen förhåller sig till ämnet idag. Under arbetet har vi fokuserat på frågor såsom: Hur berörs homosexuella i samhälle och i skola? Hur kan undervisning påverka elevernas medvetenhet? Hur påverkar den kristna protestantismen synen på homosexualitet hos människan och i samhället? Med hjälp av datasökningar på Swepub har vi hittat avhandlingar och annan forskning som hjälpt oss att nå fram till det resultat vi eftersökt. Med denna forskning har vi kunnat komma fram till att kyrkans roll i samhället har varit en stor del i hur synen på homosexualitet har varit. Detta har i sin tur även påverkat den svenska skolan och religionsundervisningen. Forskningen har kunnat ge oss en inblick i hur det är för både barn och vuxna att leva som homosexuell i det svenska samhället samt hur det har utvecklats med tiden. Rättigheten att leva fritt har inte alltid varit en självklarhet som homosexuell och med hjälp av litteraturen och de källor vi hittat har vi kunnat följa förändringen till ett mer rättvist samhälle. Förr hade kyrkan och kristendomens trosuppfattning en stor inverkan i människans tankesätt vilket resulterade i att samma tankesätt framkom i den svenska undervisningen. Forskningen har hjälp oss att förstå innebörden av ett samhälle och en skola som inkluderar varje individ och uppmärksammar deras rättigheter oavsett sexuell läggning. Detta utan att mötas av hot eller missgynnande av omgivning. Den forskning vi tagit del av visar hur värdegrundsarbetet i skolan är ett givande koncept för att motverka utanförskap och diskriminering i samhället.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether young people with neuropsychiatric disabilities feel that they have a spiritual longing. The research questions are also about what young people experience that which their spiritual longing is expressed and what conditions and obstacles exist to meet their longing and needs. With the help of role theory, language theory, and the theory of the illusionist world, new knowledge about young people's spiritual longing is gained. The essay uses a qualitative method and collects empirical data by having two (2) group interviews, the first was with key people who are active in the business. And the second interview was with some young people who are active in the same business. With the help of the key people, broader knowledge has been achieved. By interviewing young people, their spiritual longing has been identified. The essay shows that young people have a spiritual longing and that it must be allowed to take place and be taken seriously. The young people and the key people show signs that a language and an expression of spiritual longing is something that needs to be explored and developed. The essay concludes that young people have a spiritual longing and there are good conditions for further development, but more knowledge is needed when dealing with young people and their spiritual longing. The Church of Sweden has come a long way on its journey to a community, but there are still unexplored paths to follow.

The Church of Sweden often states that children have a special position in the church, and this statement is the basis of this essay. This essay evaluates the special position that children is said to have in the church and what role children’s religious and cognitive understanding have in this special position. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the Church of Sweden’s knowledge of children's cognition and how they apply this knowledge in their work with children. To analyze this special position I use material created by the Church of Sweden, such as propositions for the church meeting, episcopal letter, statements and other publications made by the Church of Sweden. This essay looks at how the church is run on a national level, and on the level of the diocesans and the parishes. The data collected on how the Church of Sweden runs its operation regarding their education of children are then analyzed based on theories from the Psychology of Religion. These theories are from Jean Piaget, Ronald Goldman, David Elkind, James W. Fowler and Justin L. Barrett. This essay also examines the ages of children that the different parishes in Umeå uses to select when children should receive their first children’s bible, and how different theories on cognitive development relate to these ages. There is an awareness, within the Church of Sweden, of how theories and methods from the psychology of religion can help with the teaching of Christian faith. To date, there has been a lot of talk and wishes from the Church of Sweden to make the change needed to provide better education to children in regards to their cognitive understanding, but the implementation of this change has so far been moving slowly.

Inspired by Valerie DeMarinis quantitative study Pastoral care, existential health, and existential epidemiology: a Swedish postmodern case study (2003), and Peter Strang and Susann Strang’s research Questions posed to hospital chaplains by palliative care patients (2002) the aim of this quantitative research was to continue to investigate the field of Existential health and pastoral care. With the background of previous research within the field of Psychology of Religion and Existential health, this study also wants to direct attention to a group especially affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic: the group of old adults, living at retirement homes in Sweden. A group who, bound by the restriction orders, got isolated from their social surroundings outside their homes. By investigating priests and deacons in the Church of Sweden's perception of their relations and conversations with older adults before, during, and after the implemented Covid-19 restrictions, this study tries to answer the following research questions: (1) How has the expression of existential health, according to priests and deacons who work with old adults living at elderly centers, has been affected during the pandemic? (2) In what way has the relationship between the Church of Sweden and retirement homes gotten affected during the pandemic? By using DeMarinis theory on levels of health and existential information, (DeMarinis 2003:2008) a suggestion of categorisation of themes in pastoral care was created. The original themes in this study were based on DeMarinis survey posed to church chaplains (DeMarinis, 2003) and got categorized into seven head categories: (a) Loneliness, (b) Psychological themes, (c,) Identity-themes, (d) Social themes, (e) Existential themes, (f) Religious- and Spiritual themes, and (g) Fysical themes. The head categories were later used in the analysis. The material was collected through a survey, posed to priests and deacons within the Church of Sweden. The survey was sent by email to 644 parishes all across the country, and answered anonymously by 355 priests and deacons. By dividing the survey into four parts: (1) demographic information about the respondents, followed by repeated questions to (2) the time before the restraining orders (3) the time during the restraining orders, and (3) the time after the release of the restraining orders, the results came out as following: through all the time-periods loneliness was the most common theme, followed by Psychological themes. Identity-themes, such as life story, work, ageing, decreased during the times of restriction orders. In the same period of time, existential and religious themes got more common, especially themes that can be seen as negatory, such as depression, fear of death, God’s absence, suicidal thoughts. Regarding the relational question between the Church of Sweden and retirement homes, the respondents indicated a change in frequencies of contact, and places of contact. Before the pandemic, the majority of the respondents often had contact with older adults living at the retirement homes, usually in relation to the parish activities at the centers. With the restrictions 80% (N=350) had contact less than once a month, compared to before, 57,8% (N=351) had contact more than 2-3 times a month. Contact by phone got more common, and the contact depended on either staff at the elderly-center, relatives to the elderly, or the respondent during the restraining orders.

The purpose of this study is to investigate high churchmanship in the Church of Sweden during the first half of the 20th century from the perspective of movement and identity. Published and unpublished sources have been studied in order to reconstruct the network, organization, practices, strategies and self-understanding of the movement in relation to its national and international context. Several theoretical tools have been discussed and adapted to focus on how an ‘ecclesiastical movement’ can be studied from the perspectives of movement and identity. These tools also seek to analyse how notions of the church, as well as of the past, the present and visions of the future generated narrative and identity. The study is divided into three parts. Part l covers the background and the period 1909–1918 and investigates the national and international context of the Swedish High Church Movement. Part 2 covers the period 1919–1935 and studies how associations were formed within a network with international influences, how they organized themselves and what conditions and obstacles affected the growth of the movement. Part 3 discusses the period 1935–1946 and how the movement established itself within the Church of Sweden as well as the way in which it became marked by the impacts of a changing society. The Swedish High Church Movement was a minor movement that consisted of several associations linked to each other in an informal network. The movement encountered opposition because of the anti-catholic discourse that characterised Protestantism in Europe at that time. It stressed the notion of the Church of Sweden as part of a worldwide catholic church. It was not a common theological interpretation of this notion that unified the agents of the movement, but rather the desire to allow it to encompass the practical renewal of the spiritual and liturgical life of the church. Therefore, it aimed to influence parish life through individuals and parish clergy. The movement was ‘glocal’ in the sense that it was part of an international movement but manifested itself in the local parish. Through its self-understanding and practices it expressed an imagined community of a catholic church as a super-national meta-narrative set against the hegemonical national meta-narrative of the Swedish Folk Church. By studying the movement and relating it to its surroundings, I have shown that it contributed to a process within the Church of Sweden that reflected the individualisation and pluralisation that marked contemporary society.

The present study investigates which theological and ecclesial consequences adjustments of the holy communion, that have been recognized in the empirical material, motivated by societal circumstances (in this case the covid-19 pandemic), may result in regarding the Church of Sweden. The empirical material has been obtained from interviews with the vicar responsible for the communion for the parish in question. The material has been analyzed against the background of the vital communion motifs described in the theoretical framework presented in chapter 2 of the essay. In two out of three cases, different forms of individual communal-cups have been practiced in a way that does not correspond with the Evangelical-Lutheran tradition regarding this matter. The theological consequences of the various practices that have been noticed in these three cases have the ultimate consequence that Christ’s real presence in the holy communion may be weakened and unclear. The communio motif in the holy communion is not clearly visible in the fact that the congregation does not partake in the consecrated bread and wine, which tends to diminish the communion and goes to waste. The consecrated bread and wine only partake as a symbol during the words of institution. When the communal gifts are only being used as a way to symbolize the congregation’s normal communal service it suffers consequences in all the communion motifs described in the essay. The corelines in the anamnesis-, communio- and atonement motifs, which is making Christ’s atonement now present and effective for every believer in the celebration of the eucharist, is being threatened. The Lord’s Supper is instead given the character of a symbolic act that celebrates the commemoration of Jesus’ death, a memorial service, that does not re-actualize Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross as a real event here and now. When bread and wine is used as symbols and only shown to the congregation and never broken during the breaking of the bread, it is similar to a medieval practice. The medieval communion practice meant that people believed that the sacramental bread had a special authority that made it sufficient only to observe the gifts in the eucharist. The risk is that this medieval notion re-updates the belief that the elevation is the highlight of the Lord’s Supper and that the watching of the hostia is more important than communication itself. This also relates to an emphasis on performance piety. One of the cases that has been mentioned in the current essay also chose to celebrate the holy communion virtually. This was conducted by a live broadcast via a social medium in a way that can be defined as a partial online-communion. During the broadcast there were no congregation present in the church, as they joined the sermon virtually. The consecrated communion gifts were distributed in the church during a break in the broadcast. The parish members who chose to come to the church during the break received bread and wine in solitude. Celebrating communion virtually limits the individual’s participation in the whole event of the Lord’s Supper and endangers the congregation of losing vital components of the celebration. This has consequences for the ecclesiological motif of the Church as the body of Christ, as it is by participating in the sacrament of the Eucharist, with its complete liturgy in the context of the church, that humanity can access authentic contact with Christ. Liturgy and ecclesiology are interrelated which means that adjustments of the liturgy has direct consequences for how the church is perceived, whether there is an aware process or not. Ecclesiology on the other hand is also affecting how the service and the liturgy is executed. That means that adaptations of the liturgy, which are not based on a profound theological endeavor, may result in a church that has been altered.

Syftet med denna studie är att ge kunskap om hur diakoner i Svenska kyrkan upplever att deras yrkesidentitet påverkas av spänningen mellan att vara yrkesutbildad socionom och att vara kallad till diakon av Gud och kyrkan. Studien baserades på åtta kvalitativa, semistrukturerade intervjuer med diakoner från åtta olika församlingar i Stockholms stift. Empirin har bearbetats genom tematisk analys och hermeneutisk meningstolkning och analyserats utifrån begrepp från två rollteorier. Studien visar att diakonerna kan förhålla sig till det sakrala och profana i sina yrkesidentiteter på tre olika sätt. För vissa diakoner är det sakrala och profana i yrkesidentiteten välintegrerat, dessa diakoner upplever inte några motstridigheter mellan det sekulära i att vara socionom och det religiösa i att vara kallad av Gud. För andra diakoner tar antingen det sakrala eller det profana över, exempelvis om de upplever att de inte har tillräckligt med kunskap i teologi och därför främst arbetar med socialt arbete och det profana. Det tredje förhållningssättet är att det kontinuerligt sker en förhandling mellan det sakrala och profana, detta tar sig till exempel uttryck i att diakonerna ibland får stöd och vägledning genom sitt kall, men ibland genom sin kunskap från socionomutbildningen. Gemensamt för diakonerna är att relationen mellan det sakrala och profana i diakonernas yrkesidentitet påverkas av kontextuella faktorer, som organisationen och det sekulära samhället. The purpose of this study is to provide knowledge about how deacons in the Church of Sweden experience that their professional identity is affected by the tension between being a professional social worker and being called to be a deacon by God and the church. The study is based on eight qualitative, semi-structured interviews with deacons from eight different parishes in the diocese of Stockholm. The material was processed through thematic analysis and hermeneutic interpretation of meaning. It was later analyzed based on concepts from two role theories. The study shows that deacons can relate to the sacred and profane in their professional identities in three different ways. For some deacons, the sacred and profane in their professional identity is well integrated, these deacons do not experience any contradictions between the secular in being a social worker and the religious in being called by God. For other deacons, either the sacred or the profane take over, for example if they feel that they do not have enough knowledge in theology and therefore mainly work with social work and the profane. The third approach is that there is continuous negotiation between the sacred and the profane. An example of this is that deacons sometimes find support and guidance through their calling, and sometimes through their education in social work. The deacons have in common that the relationship between the sacred and the profane in their professional identity is influenced by contextual factors, such as the organization and the secular society.

The aim of this essay was to study how the religious congregation in the Swedish town Västervik, as a part of the Swedish state church, was publishing posts on their Facebook. By using the method qualitative text analysis and sorting all published posts on Svenska kyrkan i Västerviks Facebook page in 2020 into categories, it became possible to get a general picture of the material.The goal was also to understand the material that was posted on their Facebook page through socio-religious theories that argues that the Swedish state church has become a resource and a producer of services in the Swedish society. The ambition was also to see if the material published on Facebook could connect to what earlier studies had identified about churches and organizations on social media, and to what rapports say about the reducing members and the relationship between the youth and the church.The study of the essay shows that the congregation in Västervik is publishing material which indicates that they, as a part of the Swedish state church, is a resource and a producer of services. Not least because they have a lot of posts with non-theological content.The study also shows that the congregation uses their Facebook to create dialogue with their followers and members, and that they especially have a lot of posts with videos of their worship service online. This makes them available to members, and they do not seem to make a separation between the physical church and the church online. Furthermore, the study does not show that the congregation tries to attract nor keep members, but some posts are directly reaching out to youths, also from channels outside Facebook. This makes it possible to think that they want to improve their relationship between the church and the youths. Something that in the long run could benefit the amount of members in the congregation.

In 2015, a large number of refugees sought asylum in Sweden. The following year, the churches saw an influx of refugees who wanted to convert from Islam to Christianity. Some congregations baptized many, others baptized few. Some converts were denied baptism. To contribute to a clearer picture of the church’s acting, this essay seeks to examine the possibilities and obstacles which met refugees that wanted to be baptized in a Swedish church tradition between 2016 and 2020. To do so, converts, priests from The Church of Sweden and a pastor from Pingstkyrkan are interviewed. People in an organization like the church have different social positions that creates superiority and subordination between individuals. Therefore, this study is based on both a power ethical and ecclesiological perspectives. The power perspective is analyzed on the basis of the theoretical approach formulated by the authors of the anthology Church in an Age of Global Migration, about whether the church appears as a cross-border and relational body where current order of power is constantly challenged, or not. When it comes to the factors that influence church leaders and converts decisions about baptism, the analysis is based on Sune Fahlgren's Theory of Preachership as an ecclesiological practice that becomes the church DNA, and on Jeff Astelys Theory of Ordinary theology, where people's personal experiences shape perceptions of salvation and a good life. The converts in the study seek fellowship and a God that is distinctly forgiving. They also see baptism as the entrance to a new life. This proves the thesis that people interpret salvation based on what they need. Other factors that affect their relation to baptism are a residence permit, home address, citizen number, age, acceptance of conversion from guardians of minor converts, language and the duration of the baptismal process. Converts genuine will to be baptized is also important. These factors can be obstacles or opportunities, depending on if the converts situation is in line with the church ́s wishes. These wishes seem to be based on certain norms. In the context of the Church of Sweden, there are a number of rules and dogmas. However, it is unclear which should be followed, and where in the organization the power lies. Therefore, the interpretation of the baptismal factors rests on the individual priest. The Pentecostal church lacks written dogmas, but in line with Fahlgren's Preachership theory there are informal norms that are interpreted individually by the pastor. This shows that the converts have the power to propose baptism but lack the power to ensure that they are actually baptized. Based on this, the Church shown in this study is not the mobile, cross-border and power-challenging body as described in the anthology Church in an Age of Global Migration.

In this essay I have studied wedding services in the Church of Sweden, as they are actually performed. I do this from a liturgical-theological perspective, a performance- perspective and from the perspective of ritual studies. According to the performance- perspective the wedding service can be seen as consisting of different scripts, for example, the normative script of the handbook, the script of the wedding-couple and the script of the minister. The main question is: What is constructed when these three scripts meet in a wedding service? I first study each script. I give an account for the script of the handbook and analyse it by placing it in a historical, liturgical and theological context. The script of the wedding couple and the minister I uncover by participant observations of three wedding services and interviews with the couples and ministers acting in these services. Thereafter I analyse the scripts of the couples and the minsters looking at themes that appear to be important in these scripts and in the handbook. Such themes are the wedding service as a service of blessing, the legal aspect of the service, the construction of family through marriage, love, the service as a ritual, the setting of the wedding, the role of the minister, the importance of participation and the role of the music. I conclude that the three scripts are indeed three very different scripts, but when they are juxtaposed a new meaning is constructed. This can occur even if the script are not correlating or even to some extent collides. One important factor for meaning to be constructed is the ritualization, acts that make the service a ritual. This seems to be more important than the fact that the scripts correlate. Another important factor for meaning to be constructed is that the scripts actually meet, that they actually are juxtaposed together. For this to happen the minister has to clarify his/her own script and be responsive to the couple’s script. Then the minister can relate their script to blessing, prayer and scripture. Normatively, I conclude that the wedding service becomes a meaningful wedding service when the couple’s scripts are related to the greater, transcendent Script

In this study the medializing of the Church of Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic have been examined to see the impact on youths’ freedom of religion during the time of the Swedish national restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The digital adaption of the Church of Sweden was analysed through the concept of amplification, framing and co-structuring, whilst Klasson Sundins theory on the child’s freedom of religion was adapted to investigate if the rights of the child have been limited by the restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Sweden. The conclusions are that the youth have been benefiting from the increased digitalization of the church, which has been more inviting for the youth and has made volunteering more accessible for the youth as well. It is not only the digitalization that have contributed to this. The fact that the recommendations to elderly have been more severe due to the increased risk of COVID-19 with age, has created a gap in the church when people who used to volunteer was not able to do that anymore. This gap has been filled by the youth of the church. To confirm these conclusions further research must be done, preferably by asking the people who have been working with the youth of the church and by letting the youth themselves, tell us their story about being a part of the church during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Genom en komparativ metod har likheter och skillnader i det diakonala arbetet i förhållandetill varandra påvisats utifrån läsning av diakonipastoraler vilka ingår i församlingens/pastoratets styrdokument. Intresset för diakonipastoraler har sitt ursprung i en vilja att se likheter och olikheter i detdiakonala arbetet på ett övergripande plan i Svenska kyrkan eftersom det diakonala arbetetkan se olika ut beroende på miljö, medarbetare och inte minst församlingens/pastoratetskontext. I undersökningen ingår sex diakonipastoraler vilka efter noggrann läsning har systematiseratsoch delats in i olika kategorier. Resultatet från undersökningen av diakonipastoralerna harställts mot adekvat litteratur, inte minst Ett biskopsbrev om diakoni: Biskopsmötet 2015. Undersökningen visar att diakoni motiveras som en kärlekens gärning och är helaförsamlingens/ pastoratets ansvar där tro gestaltas i ord och handling.Flertalet pastoraler poängterar att människan, som ses som en Guds avbild, ska respekterasoch ha makt att vara med och påverka sin egen situation och sitt liv även om hen söker endiakonal hjälpinsats.

Svenska kyrkan har flera gånger offentligt engagerat sig i migrationsfrågan. I den här uppsatsen analyseras, utifrån en dekonstruktion av skriften ”Detta vill vi! Kyrkorna och migrationsfrågorna”, hur Svenska kyrkans nationella ledning använder kärleksbudskapet för att motivera sitt engagemang i migrationspolitiken. I dekonstruktionen identifieras tre temor som berör rörelse, inkludering respektive makt. Materialet från dekonstruktionen diskuteras även utifrån Reinhold Niebuhrs och Jacques Derridas etik. Ett resultat från dekonstruktionen är att begreppet kyrkan som något transcendent eller som en organisation har betydelse för hur kärleksbudskapet kommuniceras. Vidare föreslås utifrån arbetet i uppsatsen att även människans egenkärlek skulle behöva diskuteras i en skrift som ”Detta vill vi! Kyrkorna och migrationsfrågorna”. Ett annat resultat är att i kyrkornas budskap finns en inneboende maktkamp mellan kärleksbudskapet och de politiska lagarna, vilket skulle behöva belysas i skriften. The church of Sweden has several times engaged in migration politics. In this study the use of the love commandment by national level of the church of Sweden to motivate its engagement in migration politics. The analysis is based on deconstruction of the leaflet “Detta vill vi! Kyrkorna och migrationsfrågorna”. Within the deconstruction three themes are identified that relate to movement, inclusion and power, respectively. Further, the material from the deconstruction is discussed from the ethics of Reinhold Niebuhr and Jacques Derrida. A result of the deconstruction is that the concept church as something transcendent or as an organization has an impact on the communication of the love commandment. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that the self-love of the human being should be brought up in a leaflet as ”Detta vill vi! Kyrkorna och migrationsfrågorna”. Another result is that within the message of the church there is an inherent conflict between Jesus’ message of love and the political laws, and this conflict would need to be illustrated in the text.

This essay studies and compares three clergymen that were stationed in Sápmi during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and their writings that deal with the Saami population of the northern parts of Sweden. How they portray the Saami people and their culture is analyzed though postcolonial concepts as Edward Said’s othering and other concepts by the likes of Loomba, Lincoln and Pratt. The three priests portrayal of the Saami people and their culture are similar In that way that they all confirm some of the colonial stereotypes of the Saami during the time they were writing. But especially one of the priests stands out in his effort to give a nuanced portrayal of the Saami people.

Johann Sebastian Bachs kantater för kyrkoåret skrevs i en annan tid, de har ett annat språk, både skriftligt och textligt, än vad kanske dagens gudstjänstbesökare är vana vid. För att göra dessa mästerverk relevanta idag behövs, tror jag, en varsam redigering. I och med det här arbetet önskar jag skapa en fungerande form där Bachs musik blir en naturlig del av det liturgiska flödet. De kriterier jag velat uppfylla för kantaterna är följande: · Texten ska vara på svenska. För Luther och Bach var det en självklarhet att det skulle vara på folkspråket · Orkestern ska inte vara för stor, det ska vara görbart ekonomiskt. Stråkar plus ytterligare ett eller två instrument · Endast en solist per söndag · Kantatens satser ska spridas ut över gudstjänsten. Hos Bach delades den endast upp i två delar · Koralmelodierna som används ska finnas i vår psalmbok. För att (som jag tidigare skrev) koralerna ska fungera som mänsklighetens (eller församlingens) röst, bör det vara melodier man känner till · Det får inte bli för långt (gudstjänsten ska inte vara mycket längre än en normal gudstjänst med körmedverkan) Sammanfattningsvis är alltså min frågeställning följande ”Finns det fortfarande plats för Johann Sebastian, hans musik och hans teologiska arv i det svenskkyrkliga gudstjänstlivet”? Min förhoppning är att Bachs, enligt min åsikt, tidlösa musik i allmänhet och hans kantater i synnerhet ska rymmas i vår kyrkas stora musikaliska arv, att musiken ska beröra människor och förändra deras liv på sätt som exempelvis sångerna från kommuniteten i Taizé och lovsångsrörelsens musik gör och har gjort. Svenska kyrkan är och ska vara en folkkyrka med breda och många teologiska och musikaliska influenser och traditioner. Utifrån kriterierna ovan skapas fyra kantater, för Första advent, Fastlagssöndagen, Påskdagen och Tacksägelsedagen.

Syftet med denna studie är att analysera om, och i vilken grad Berit Okkenhaugs själavårdsinriktingar, som hon presenterar i sin bok, Själavård – en grundbok, (Okkenhaug, 2004) kan jämföras med hur präster i Uppsala pastorat bedriver själavård. Uppsatsen har också som syfte attundersöka om och hur prästernas själavårdsarbete har förändrats under covid-19 pandemin.Forskningsmetoden som används i denna uppsats är kvalitativ, då djupintervjuer har genomförts med fyra erfarna präster i Uppsala pastorat.Av intervjuerna framkommer att konfidenten i samtliga fall står i centrum, men att ocksåGud ska finnas med på något sätt. En av de viktigaste sakerna som själavårdaren kan bidra medär att förmedla det kristna hoppet.Pandemin och dess restriktioner har satt tydliga spår hos människor. Framför allt märks enökad isolering och depression bland konfidenterna. Prästerna har fått anpassa sina rutiner ochtillvägagångssätt för själavård på olika sätt, beroende på hur de vanligtvis arbetar, då de personliga mötena har blivit färre, sammankomsterna mindre och hembesöken mer eller mindrehar upphört.Det är dock fortfarande konfidentens behov till ande, själ och kropp och hur man kan mötadem med Guds hjälp som står i fokus, och det framkommer att Svenska kyrkan ständigt arbetarför att lära sig och anpassa sig till dessa utmanande tider av pandemi.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilken roll Svenska kyrkan tillskrivs i dagens sekulära samhälle, av olika kyrkopolitiska nomineringsgrupper i deras valprogram. Min ansats är språkvetenskaplig och jag utgår från den kritiska diskursanalysen och den systemisk-funktionella grammatiken, och analyserar fyra kyrkopolitiska nomineringsgruppers valprogram inför kyrkovalet 2017. Kristdemokrater i Svenska kyrkan, Socialdemokraterna, Sverigedemokraterna och Vänstern i Svenska kyrkan. Jag använder två typer av textanalys för att analysera materialet, en innehålls- och temaanalys samt en analys av texternas ideationella metafunktion med utgångspunkt i processtyper och deltagare. Bilder förekommer i begränsad utsträckning i materialet och har analyserats som ideationella visuella processer. Resultaten visar att Svenska kyrkan presenteras utifrån fyra huvudsakliga teman i valprogrammen, som konstruerar bilden av den och dess roll i samhället. Överlag lämnas större utrymme åt teman som kansägas beröra kyrkans yttre, som vilka värderingar den ska ha, än dess inre, som hur församlingslivet ska gestaltas. Resultaten visar vidare att de olika nomineringsgrupperna skiljer sig åt i hur kyrkans roll i samhället skrivs fram, genom vilka processer den deltar i och hur dess värld materialiseras genom dem. På så sätt kan valprogrammen förstås som inlägg i förhandlingen om vilken riktning kyrkans förändring ska ta efter separationen från staten, och kan sägas utgöra representationer av olika religiösa produkter som dagens väljare vill konsumera.

Artikeln skldrar kortfattat hur Svenska kyrkans kyrkomöte kom att ha de politiska partierna som nomineringsgrupper och den partipolitiska påverkan detta innebär.

This paper examines the Church of Sweden’s changing approach to same-sex marriage from a queer theoretical and queer theological perspective. A discourse analytical method examines the previous discourse and how it has come to change over time. The analysis takes place among the statements that priests, bishops, and other theologians have expressed in the public debate, the Church’s theological committee and the church meetings that take place every year. The study also addresses the changes and explanations of the new Church Handbook based on a theological statement. The queer theoretical basis is based on Michel Foucault and Judith Butler's foundations for the theory and culminates in two explanatory models. The study's stated aim of investigating the Discourse of the Church of Sweden also lands in how the Swedish Church responds to National Socialist and value conservative forces in society such as the Sweden Democrats.The Church of Sweden’s policy to flag with the rainbow flag and meet homophobic expressions in both the society as in its own ranks.

The study consists of a survey in which church musicians answered questions about which hymns are played during the various gatherings of Easter in the Church of Sweden. Based on the Swedish Hymn Book, the answers to the questionnaire are presented and a selection of hymns is made for the study. The psalms are analyzed on the basis of a hermeneutic method and in the light of reception theory regarding the origin of the psalms through the narrative of the biblical gospels. The study compares the Bible reading that occurs during Easter gatherings in the Church of Sweden and the hymns that are sung. It describes whether these different texts are common to the psalms and the reading or whether they are independent of each other. Finally, what happens to the Gospel texts when they are converted into a psalm is discussed. What happens is that the whole of the Gospels is included and not just specific pericopes. The psalm does not reflect the feeling of what is happening in the reading of the gospel, but contributes with a completely different feeling. This means that the experience of the gospel narrative through the psalm becomes different from the gospel narrative through reading.

Since the 1980s, the usage and presence of icons in the Swedish Lutheran church has become increasingly common. The aim of this study is to examine the themes and symbols in icons displayed in selected Swedish Lutheran churches, and to explore the performative qualities of icons in their original context, as well as in Swedish church buildings. The study consists of icons found in two cathedrals and two churches. Since the traditions differ greatly both in their theology and expressions, the performative aspects of icons differ as well. In the Orthodox church, icons have an essential role in worship, and the veneration of the persons depicted are expressed through kisses, prostrations and touch. The performative qualities of icons in the Orthodox context is expressed through their significance for the liturgical rituals, the interaction between the believers and the icons and the view of their ‘embodiment’ of the depicted saints. In the Swedish church, icons are commonly found in devotion spaces and chapels, separated from the nave. Here, the visitor can engage in prayer and contemplation quietly, without being distracted by observers. The emphasis lies on the believes of the individual and on personal experience. The icon in this context first and foremost becomes a reminder of God, a beautiful artifact and an aesthetic symbolic expression. The common performative aspect in both contexts is the experience of the icon as a mediator between the visible world and a reality beyond the visible.