The aim of this essay is to study how the University Church is represented in student newspapers. By conducting an inductive thematic analysis on sixteen articles chosen from newspapers distributed by the student union at three Swedish universities, the main purpose of the study is to further understand the role and function of the University Church in a contemporary Swedish context. Three themes emerging from the initial step of the thematic analysis were chosen for further analysis: (1) a secularized church?, (2) provocation and (3) reasons to seek out the University Church. The themes were then highlighted by two theoretical perspectives: Mark Chaves? theory of internal secularization and a theoretical framework developed by Anders Bäckström with the aim to explain the role of the church as a welfare agent in Sweden.The study shows that the University Church is portrayed as both an ambiguous and complex organization.

AbstractThe purpose for writing this essay is to study the culture of kindness in the Church of Sweden, as the church constitutes as an idealistic organization (non-profit or voluntary organization).The focal point is on how such a culture affects the employees, and if any new componentsthat can amplify the concept can be distinguished.To do this a case study-design has been employed. The primary sources are qualitativeinterviews with six employees in a congregation in the Church of Sweden, and participantobservations on two different occasions at the same congregation.Theories of organizational sociology has been applied to the material, more specific Edgar HSchein?s definition of organizational culture and the concept of a culture of kindness (derivingfrom a report by the Swedish Work Environment Authority) as a specific part of the church?sorganizational culture.The conclusions we can make from our study is that a culture of kindness affect employees inboth a positive and a negative way. There are many expectations that come with working inthe Church of Sweden, and these do have an effect on the work performed. There is alsoevidence pointing to the fact that leadership can counteract the fear of conflicts that otherwiseis associated with the culture of kindness.

Through the lenses of religion?s role in society, the purpose of this thesis is to examine, the role of the Church of Sweden in providing support to people at the end of life. Questions asked are:  "What types of spiritual support is offered by the Church of Sweden during terminal care provided in patients' homes and how is this support expressed in church orders, assembly instructions, plans of operations and congregation letters?" and " How can the work of the Church of Sweden be understood, based on theories of religion's role in society? The method used is a content analysis of the Church Order, assembly instructions, plans of operations and congregation letters in 17 different congregations within the diocese of Lund. I then engage in a discussion with theories on differentiation and the privatization of religion as a means to interpret my results.

This study is a reception analysis regarding the theology of Martin Luther, specifically in the areas of eschatology and anthropology, in to the funeral practices of the Church of Sweden (Svenska kyrkan).The main theme in the anthropology of Martin Luther is that of the freedom of all men and women. The price that we have to ?pay? for this freedom is that we need to act as humble servants to all other persons.The eschatological view of Martin Luther tells us that the only condition we need to fulfill in order to be admitted into God?s kingdom is faith alone.The Church of Sweden and their views on anthropology and eschatology are inspired by the writings of Martin Luther as it proclaims itself to be of evangelical Lutheran denomination, but it has incorporated other views as well over time.The conclusions of the study is that the principals guiding funeral practices, including eulogies held by priests during the funeral services, are in fact influenced by the anthropological and eschatological views of Martin Luther, and the study concludes that the theology of Martin Luther is a very good stand point for the Church of Sweden to stay relevant in today?s society..

AbstractThe church of Borrie lies about 10 km north of Ystad in the southern of Sweden. Though thechurch is one of the smallest in Scania it holds a very complicated history.In this essay all relevent material concerning the church of Borrie is presented. The materialdoes not only concist of literature, but also photographs. The purpose of this investigationwas to use this material to sort out and explain the history of the church of Borrie.The problem is presented in the following points:1. Is it possible to do a building archaeological analysis with photographs of the churchas the main material?2.

The purpose of this thesis is to illustrate how non-profit organizations map the market of potential donors and how they apply their knowledge about the motives of the potential donors. The case-study of Church of Sweden Aid shows how a Swedish non-profit organization applies this in the daily work. In its strategic marketing the organization actively use marketing surveys in different forms. By employing an analyst Church of Sweden Aid has a possibility to make another step forward in order to understand its donor market and to adjust its strategic marketing plan to it. Church of Sweden Aid says that they don?t work with the donor?s motives.

The aim of this essay is to study how the University Church is represented in student newspapers. By conducting an inductive thematic analysis on sixteen articles chosen from newspapers distributed by the student union at three Swedish universities, the main purpose of the study is to further understand the role and function of the University Church in a contemporary Swedish context. Three themes emerging from the initial step of the thematic analysis were chosen for further analysis: (1) a secularized church?, (2) provocation and (3) reasons to seek out the University Church. The themes were then highlighted by two theoretical perspectives: Mark Chaves? theory of internal secularization and a theoretical framework developed by Anders Bäckström with the aim to explain the role of the church as a welfare agent in Sweden.The study shows that the University Church is portrayed as both an ambiguous and complex organization.

The purpose of this essay is to shed light upon the ecumenical work that has been done between the Church of Sweden and the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden. The recent years of work have led to a recommendation for a certain degree of fellowship to be established between those churches. This proposal as well as other documents are analysed in the essay from an ecclesio-logical point of view, to find out how the Church of Sweden looks upon itself in meeting another church.To structure the material, the essay has been subdivided into seven parts that is related to ecclesiology. In those seven chapters the positions of the Church of Sweden and the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden are given individually as well as in common. Questions like the im-portance of dioceses, local congregations or parishes and the national level are described.

Burn out is common among people who work with other people and occurs in both ecclesiastical and non ecclesiastical context. In recent years, the phenomenon has attracted increasing attention in the Church of Sweden and among persons who hold a consecration service as priests.The purpose of this essay is to study the text material from the two authors (Lennart Belfrage 2009 and Martin Petré 2013) and to analyze and describe them. Another goal is to see how the coping theory may be helpful for this group of priests to handle the situation arising in the time of burnout.I have used the qualitative research and hermeneutics method for categorize and encode the material in order to interpret and understand the underlying causes that could explain burnout among priests in the Church of SwedenPargaments (1997) coping theory has been important for analysis and explanation of burnout among a group of priests in the Church of Sweden.In the result, I have found four components that may be useful in the understanding of the cause of burnout. The analysis shows that Pargaments (1997) coping theory is useful to manage complex situations for example burnout, among priests in the Church of Sweden..

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.

The purpose of this paper is to explore to what extent some Swedish bishops (1972-2014), mainly archbishops, were influenced by postmodernity as described by Lyotard in his report La Condition postmoderne (1979).This report had a tremendous impact on the western cultural and philosophical debate in general during the very end of the twentieth century. I am trying to find out if this impact could also be observed in the religious sphere and particularly in the Church of Sweden. My theory used, is mainly based on the ideas presented in La Condition postmoderne and my method is a hermeneutical reading of eight pastoral letters. These letters were written during the time that the Church of Sweden transformed from being an officially recognized national church to a free church among other free churches and in this respect ended to be a part of the official governmental power. The terms postmodernism or post-modernity were scarcely used at all in the pastoral letters but on the other hand the bishops seemed to share many of the ideas that Lyotard presented, such as the view on the metahistory/metanarrative and the connection of knowledge to power, the necessity of dialogue and openness and the importance and the role of creating and maintaining language games..

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.

How the Eucharist?s motive of communion in combination with Lögstrup?s ethics could motivate a non-alcoholic sacramental wine in the Church of Sweden.The purpose of this essay is to illuminate the meeting between the person who gives out bread and wine in the Eucharist and the person who receives the wine, from tree perspectives: the communion in the Eucharist, the ethical demand of K.E. Lögstrup, and today?s knowledge of alcohol and it?s negative effects on the human being. I want to study how these three perspectives can affect the interpersonal meeting in the Eucharist when it comes to giving out alcoholic wine, and to investigate if Lögstrups ethical demand could be used by the Church of Sweden when to decide about a sacramental wine with or without alcohol.I have started to study K.E Lögstrup and his theory about the ethical demand, and then researched the Eucharist in the Church of Sweden and the results of recent sociological and medical research of alcohol?s effect on the individual and on society.

What is the Church? This question has been asked in many times and places. In Sweden, it seems asif there's a general identity crisis among the churches. It seems like many churches don't know whythey exist, or at least they have a very vague understanding of the full meaning of the Church.Some 50 years ago, we had a new encounter in Sweden. Immigrants from Orthodoxcountries came to live here, and they brought their church and tradition with them.

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.