The purpose of this study was to investigate what view of humans that emerges when priests/reverends talk about man in relation to baptism. The study consists of qualitative interviews with four priests/reverends. There were two representatives from the church of Sweden, and two from the Pentecostal church. The aim and questions in the study focus on what view of humans that emerges. Will there be similarities and differences in the view of humans, and is it possible to refer the result to the respective church.

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.

In this study, we looked at how balanced the various christian denominations in Sweden were raised in the news, on the basis of the requirement for balanced reporting. To measure the balance, we utilized Harcup and O'Neill?s news values and studied to what degree these values occurs in association with news articles that address the various denominations. The following denominations were selected for this study; Word of Life, the Pentecostal church, Jehovah's witnesses, the Catholic Church, the Salvation Army and the Swedish Church. These denominations were then studied on the basis of news values in four of Sweden?s largest news organisations, in terms of audience numbers.

The aim of this essay is to do a queer reading of the early Swedish pentecostal movement, with a special focus on the women within the movement. The main empirical material is Gustaf Emil Söderholms Den svenska pingstväckelsens historia part I and II, published 1927 and 1928, in addition to this a selection of articles from the Swedish pentecostal magazine Evangelii Härold has been used. The theoretical framework consists of Judith Butler's concepts of heterosexual matrix and performativity, as well as interpellation, and of Adrienne Rich's concept of a lesbian continuum. The analysis shows that the evangelist role, as well as the charismatic practices of the movement, made it possible for women to take the position as leader and teacher of congregations, and thereby take up a male subject position. The role as evangelist also made possible a life outside of the heterosexual norm, within the lesbian continuum..

A common phenomena in descriptions of Western mission initiatives to the South is theoverrepresentation of depictions of the missionaries and underrepresentation of theindigenous people. It is fair to say that there is a need for new perspectives. This thesisinvestigates the agency of the indigenous people in the Scandinavian Pentecostal mission inTanganyika 1932-1945. It highlights roles and areas of their participation which seldomoccur in western mission biographies, but were tanganyikan people played a crucial part,such as evangelisation, church planting and the forming of contextualized theology. Thepentecostal theology and mission praxis contributed to a large degree to shape that agency..

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.

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.

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.

The aim of this study is to describe ideas put forward by Sweden Democrats (Swedish: Sverigedemokraterna) about Christianity in Sweden and the Church of Sweden as a Folk Church, a church for a whole people, and how the political party uses Christianity as a part of constructing a Swedish identity. The investigation is based on official documents, newspaper articles, statements and political motions which are analysed using a form of text analysis called idea analysis. The theoretical frame of the investigation is founded on Claire Mitchell?s theory about religious content in ethnic identities and Einar Billing?s and Johan Alfred Eklund?s thoughts about what makes the Church of Sweden a Folk Church.The investigation shows, among other things, that the Sweden Democrats? view of the Church of Sweden is similar to the thoughts of Eklund but they differ in their lack of references to theology. The investigation also shows that Christianity serves as an important marker for the Sweden Democrats in creating a Swedish identity. .

In this essay, I research and discuss new spirituality (or what is commonly known as New Age) within some congregations in the Church of Sweden, Gothenburg. I question how and why this new spirituality has come to be accepted in parts of the Church. My hypothesis is that the church is a part, and a reflection, of a larger change throughout society, and I claim that this change depends much on the individualization and globalization during the last decades.The research is conducted through interviews with representatives from the Church ofSweden who are in charge of new religious activities. During these interviews we discuss their views on the change that has already taken place and is going on today.The interviews are then analyzed by applying rational choice theory on them. I discusswhether the Church can be seen as a producer of goods and services and if the churchgoers canbe seen as consumers of these goods and services.

The aim of this study is to describe and analyze the history and the current situation of the Church of Sweden. The renovation of Skalljö church in Lerum municipality has been used as an example to enlighten the common changes in the church buildings. The long history of the Church of Sweden as the state church has resulted in the fact that it carries a remarkable part of the Swedish cultural heritage. The reason why the Heritage Conservation Act (1988:950) was altered in January 2000 was due to the change of relations between the State and the Church of Sweden. According to the Act, all church sites owned or managed by the Church of Sweden shall be maintained in such a way that their cultural historic value is not diminished and their appearance and character are not violated.Sweden is today considered to be a secularised country where religion is an individuals? private matter.

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.

AbstractAim: The aim of this essay has been to study how the Swedish church has created the image of their religious activity through media. This has been by studying the three commercial campaigns launched by the Swedish church during the years 2000, 2001 and 2003. Questions asked are: How has the Swedish church chosen to profile it self? Which discourses can be recognized in the campaigns? Which messages has been communicated through the campaigns? How has these discourses created the image of the Swedish church?Method: The methodological framework is critical discourse analysis inspired by Norman Faircloughs? three-dimensional model. Thirteen images all part of the campaigns are analysed using a semiotic method.