Religious Congregations and social work have long been a neglected field of research. Although the number of studies have increased during the last twenty years. With a starting point in the situation in this field of research and in the current public debate in Sweden the focus of this study will be on how Christian and Muslim Congregations view cooperating with the municipalities, organizations, the religious community to whom which the Congregation belongs and how the Congregations view cooperating with other religious communities. Qualitative method of research was used. Representatives of four religious Congregations was interviewed; a deacon in a Congregation in the Swedish Lutheran Church, a pastor in a Congregation belonging to the Mission Covenent Church of Sweden, the chairman in a the board of a Muslim Congregation and volunteerleader in another Muslim Congregation.

The purpose of the study was to investigate, using data from the sacerdotal culture, t h espouses of five priests. The main questions were: How does the priestly calling affect thespouse? Do the spouses involve themselves with voluntary work? Do the spouses feel theCongregation have expectations? Do the female and male answers differ?The sacerdotal culture has consisted of several elements. The main element is the priest?scalling for his work.

The purpose of the study was to investigate, using data from the sacerdotal culture, t h espouses of five priests. The main questions were: How does the priestly calling affect thespouse? Do the spouses involve themselves with voluntary work? Do the spouses feel theCongregation have expectations? Do the female and male answers differ?The sacerdotal culture has consisted of several elements. The main element is the priest?scalling for his work.

The purpose of the study was to investigate, using data from the sacerdotal culture, t h espouses of five priests. The main questions were: How does the priestly calling affect thespouse? Do the spouses involve themselves with voluntary work? Do the spouses feel theCongregation have expectations? Do the female and male answers differ?The sacerdotal culture has consisted of several elements. The main element is the priest?scalling for his work.

The purpose of the study was to investigate, using data from the sacerdotal culture, t h espouses of five priests. The main questions were: How does the priestly calling affect thespouse? Do the spouses involve themselves with voluntary work? Do the spouses feel theCongregation have expectations? Do the female and male answers differ?The sacerdotal culture has consisted of several elements. The main element is the priest?scalling for his work.

In December 2004 the Jewish Congregation Judiska Församlingen i Malmö wrote to Lund University regarding the cranium of a Jewish man, which had been in the University's possession ever since he committed suicide while in custody in Lund in 1879. The Congregation requested that the remains be given to them and buried according to Jewish custom. In February of 2005 Lund University decided to appease the request. This essay examines the debate which followed.The main focus of the study is on which kinds of arguments were used in the debate, who participated and which aspects of the human remains were considered important by the debaters.The study has shown that clear differences exist regarding the types of arguments used by those in favour of the repatriation and by those who opposed it. There were also differences in who took a stand in favour of it and who was against it.

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.

The purpose of this thesis is to identify power structures and instruments of power within the Jehovah?s witnesses and investigate how they affect the baptized youths baptized within the organization. The material consists of qualitative in-depth interviews and is analyzed with Foucault's theories of power. The results show that the participants have a very strict relationship to the rules of the Congregation and also that they take great care in observing these rules carefully. It becomes evident that young members are exposed to disciplinary measures from the organization.

The purpose of this thesis is to identify power structures and instruments of power within the Jehovah?s witnesses and investigate how they affect the baptized youths baptized within the organization. The material consists of qualitative in-depth interviews and is analyzed with Foucault's theories of power. The results show that the participants have a very strict relationship to the rules of the Congregation and also that they take great care in observing these rules carefully. It becomes evident that young members are exposed to disciplinary measures from the organization.

This Master?s thesis concerns the information behaviour of pastors in nonconformist churches (especially new evangelical and Baptist church communions) in Sweden in their spiritual service to the local parish. The thesis also looks into how the information flow functions in the pastors? context and why the information need appears as it does. The theory used in this study is contextual analysis based on Buckland?s, Weber?s and Patrick Wilson?s theories on authority and power structures.

The purpose of this thesis is to identify power structures and instruments of power within the Jehovah?s witnesses and investigate how they affect the baptized youths baptized within the organization. The material consists of qualitative in-depth interviews and is analyzed with Foucault's theories of power. The results show that the participants have a very strict relationship to the rules of the Congregation and also that they take great care in observing these rules carefully. It becomes evident that young members are exposed to disciplinary measures from the organization.

The purpose of this thesis is to identify power structures and instruments of power within the Jehovah?s witnesses and investigate how they affect the baptized youths baptized within the organization. The material consists of qualitative in-depth interviews and is analyzed with Foucault's theories of power. The results show that the participants have a very strict relationship to the rules of the Congregation and also that they take great care in observing these rules carefully. It becomes evident that young members are exposed to disciplinary measures from the organization.

The purpose of this thesis is to identify power structures and instruments of power within the Jehovah?s witnesses and investigate how they affect the baptized youths baptized within the organization. The material consists of qualitative in-depth interviews and is analyzed with Foucault's theories of power. The results show that the participants have a very strict relationship to the rules of the Congregation and also that they take great care in observing these rules carefully. It becomes evident that young members are exposed to disciplinary measures from the organization.

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.

In this essay I examine how in seven different Congregations that belong to the Church of Sweden the preparatory office is formulated in ways that differ from the form that is prescribed in the current service-book of the Church of Sweden. My purpose is to examine how and why the Congregations have chosen these alternative preparatory offices. This I have tried to find out by reading the written instructions and/or homepages of the Congregations, studying their orders of service and interviewing one pastor in each Congregation.Before describing, comparing and commenting on the different ways these Congregations have chosen to formulate their preparatory offices, I give a historical background to the preparatory office itself and how it is formulated/designed in the current service book of the Church of Sweden. I also describe the history and the introduction of the Kyrie.I then describe each Congregation, trying to point out the main characteristics of it, then concentrating on the process that lies behind the urge to formulate an alternative preparatory office, the reasons for it and the results.One of the conclusions I draw is that in the Congregations I have examined there is an ongoing discussion about and reflection on the advantages of including the Kyrie in the preparatory office. I also found that in the Congregations there are different opinions about the words following the prayer of penitence - should they be words of direct absolution or words that speak about the promise of God's forgiveness? This discussion is closely connected to a discussion about what is the connection between the preparatory office and the holy communion/Eucharist.