The main discussion in this essay concern what the Emerging Church is, its sociological and theological context, their main critique of modernism and the consequences in theology and praxis. EC is not a new church but wants to be a new way of being church. In England much of the discussion concerning EC has found a context within the report Mission-Shaped Church (MSC). EC differs from Emergent Village which is a continuing discussion from a postmodern philosophical view.EC is born in an evangelical context with the tensions in the postmodern context, the liminal situation with among other items the disussion about a liquid culture and liquid church. Other backgroundfactors are the ChurchGrowth-movement, Willow Creek and the Gospel and Our Culture.EC critisizes its evangelical background and moves the center from justification to incarnation, from propostionalism, individualism, mission and activism to a theology of incarnational community life.Four different proponents are considered; Brian Mclaren, Dan Kimball, Karen Ward and Ben Edson.

This is an analysis of the ethics of the Deutsche Christen, a pro-Nazi christian movement in the Third Reich. The movement was a part of the German protestant church and attracted as much as one third of the church members. They incorporated Nazi symbols in the church activities and aimed to ?cleanse? the church from what they called jewish influenses. It is debated if a group that supports Nazi ideals can be considered ethical, or even christian, but this analysis examines their etchics and raises the question if the ethics of the Deutsche Christen can be compared to other christian ethical models.

Is it possible to convey spirituality through art and material culture? Is it possible to renew art within the traditional church so that it appeals and is understandable for the modern man? These are the fundamental questions of my master´s work, which has it´s starting point in a public commission for an artistic contribution to the new Pentecostal church in Kalmar. The work also addresses the question whether there is a need for symbolism, art and sacred objects also within the Pentecostal movement, a traditionally strong image hosting environment. If so, how is it possible to bring this in to the church without completely breaking with the tradition and ideology of the movement? I want to communicate the Christian message in a renewed way, and in this particular project also highlight the importance of using images also within the Pentecostal movement.

EKHO - The Ecumenical Association for Christian LGBTQ people has existed in Swedensince the 1970's second half. The movement had its ups and downs throughout the years. Inthis essay, I will examine what happened when the movement was formed and how thefirst period developed. By examining EKHO Stockholm´s magazine EKHO-bladet my task isto describe the story from when the first EKHO association was formed until the EKHO organizations of Sweden joined together and formed the National Association, Riks EKHO. My second issue is to look into which role EKHO has played for the development in LGBTQ-issues for the Church of Sweden by analyzing documents from within the church concerning these matters.

This thesis aims to investigate and discuss the possibility for women in the early Christian church to make music, which in the ancient Roman society was something complicated. Afemale musician was looked upon as decadent and dissolute. This idea, in combination with the music ideals of the church influenced by the Neoplatonic movement, and the Pauline statement (1 Cor. 14:34-36), cast women to be completely prohibited in participating even in the psalmody during the service. My purpose is to discuss how this was looked upon in different Christian regions, using the church fathers as the main material source, since this has not previously been well documented or studied..

The early 20th century saw the Church of Sweden (Svenska kyrkan) come under threat from the modernization of the Swedish society. As a reaction to this and a way to secure the survival of the church a number theologians came up with a theological framework for the folk church (folkkyrkotanken).The parish of Masthugget was one of the poorest in the entire diocese of Gothenburg in the beginning of the 20th century. This is where Gottfrid Klingner came to serve first as a pastor and later as the vicar for more than 30 years. In which way did his view on the church affect life for the inhabitants in his parish and how were his actions affected by the framework for the folk church? This paper shows that the practice of Klingner in Masthugget can be linked to many of the ideas associated to the folk church concept..

In 2010 the Church of Sweden initiated a project to elaborate a new handbook for church services and church documents. This handbook draft was ready to be tested in 2012. The first Sunday of Advent 2012 the church launched an extensive trial for the draft for the new handbook; this handbook draft will now be tested in a selected variety of Swedish parishes until Judgment Sunday 2013. Upon which the Church of Sweden will evaluate and respond to the comments and reactions from the Swedish congregations in terms of the handbooks proposal. My main goal with this paper is that I?m hoping to be able to examine where the need for a new handbook for church services originates.

The aim of this paper is to compare the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the belief, confession and faith of the Swedish church in order to see similarity. The research questions that have been used are:1: What is the main feature of Dietrich Bonhoeffers theology?2. What are the main feature the belief, confession and faith of the Swedish church?3: Which are the similarities between the main feature of Dietrich Bonhoeffers theology and the main feature of Swedish church belief, confession and faith?The research method that has been used is comparative where the Dietrich Bonhoeffers theology is compared whit the Swedish church belief, confession and faith.

The overall purpose of the essay is to initiate a survey and highlight, on the basis of sufficiently material, the dealings between Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a member of the resistance and the Swedish Church and/or its representatives. The purpose of the survey is to structure Dietrich Bonhoeffers activities in Sweden and highlight its implications.The following research questions have been used:1: What was Dietrich Bonhoeffer doing in Sweden and what persons did he meet?2: What was the role of the Swedish Church during the Second World War? 3: What was the impact of Dietrich Bonhoeffers visits to Sweden?In conclusion, this study of the contacts between Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Swedish Church has shown: Dietrich Bonhoeffer was in Sweden on two occasions. He met representatives of the Swedish Church, which was engaged in issues related to ecumenism, resistance and peacework. Although the persons he met were representatives of the Swedish Church they sometimes acted as individuals with a Christian philosophy.

This is a chronological comparative study about opinions expressed in the Church of Sweden when the parishes want to change the inside of a church building. Certain concepts in the study are church, holy and holiness.Architecture plays an important role in the design of a church building. Some traditionaltheological terms that should be considered essential are Via sacra, Domus Dei, DomusEcclesiae. My focus is churches from the 19th century. Today the buildings change in a lotof ways; theologically, practically, economically etc.During the 20th century the churches have got a lot of new objects to use in the services andin the church building.

This thesis examines the regional part of the Church of Sweden. Existing as a Lutheran evangelical church since the declaration in Uppsala in 1593, the Church of Sweden became completely separate from the state in the year 2000. Apart from a small piece of legislation by the Swedish parliament, the now former state controlled church were to act on their own. This development can be seen as a result of several decades of discussions. The author is raising the question about the roll and function of bishops and dioceses in the Church of Sweden.

Henric Schartau was the prominent figure in a Christian revivalist movement thatspread mainly in south west Sweden during the 19th century. Priesthood followers in thetradition, commonly named Schartauans, often preached from his drafts, and were generallyvery loyal to the state church. Schartau and his followers placed a strong emphasis onministry and correct biblical teaching. The movement had a great impact on the diocese ofGothenburg for a protracted time period..

For almost a century the debate about women as ordained servants in the Church of Sweden has raged on and on. The decision to open up the priesthood for both genders in 1958 was a milestone in the women?s liberation movement as well as it marks an important time in the church history. The debate has mainly been about how to interpret scripture, who has the right to do so, and so on. Feminist theology has become one way in recent decades to paint a wider and more nuanced picture of history and how to interpret the texts often used to repress women.This essay surveys some of the steps towards that decision, as well as it paints a rough picture of what leadership among women in the church could involve before ordination became an option.

The tradition of a strong church ruling in the Swedish society ages back to the very first start of Christianity reaching the country.  Due to the separation between the church and state in 2000 in Sweden, there have been a lot of changes. No longer would the church be able to influence the politics as it had been able to do before. Since Sweden is a democratic country, the decision had to be made in a voting amongst the parties. The purpose with this paper is to understand the argumentation made by the Swedish parties Socialdemokraterna, Kristdemokraterna and Centerpartiet. This has been made using a text analysis, which studies the argumentations made by the parties in their motions.

There is a legend about a church on the island of Orust in the small village of Tegneby. The legend tells a story about a hidden church bell in the mysterious hole in the creek.?During a war long time ago, people were afraid that the King Gustav Vasa would take their church bell to use as material for cannons. So the people in Tegneby hid their beloved church bell in a hole in the creek below the church and there it remained for seven years?  (main legend)The aim of this paper was to find out if this legend still is alive in the area of Tegneby.