Detta arbete, inom ämnet Kristendomens historia, presenterar en svenskkyrklig orden, ”Franciskus Tredje Orden inom Svenska kyrkan” (F.T.O.), som tillhör den ”Tredje Orden” (TSSF) inom ”The Society of Saint Francis” (SSF), en ordensgemenskap inom den Anglikanska kyrkan, Church of England. Orden är öppen för kvinnor och män, vigda (biskopar, präster och diakoner) och lekfolk som lever vanliga liv i familj och samhälle, med en vilja att leva sina liv utifrån en tydlig inspiration av den helige Franciskus och hans liv. Syftet med arbetet är att undersöka och redogöra för de primärkällor som finns från tiden av F.T.O.: s grundande för att svara på frågan om huruvida Ordens uppkomst var förenlig eller ej med den Svenska kyrkan, dess tro, lära och bekännelse. Undersökningen inleds med en deskriptiv del gällande bakgrunden till frågeställningen där jag redogör något för reformationen och vad detta medförde för Svenska kyrkan gällande klosterliv. Sedan följer en redogörelse och en hermeneutiskt och dogmatisk analys av de, för tiden av Ordens grundande, aktuella källorna. En sammanfattning av resultatet som framkommit är det att grundandet av F.T.O. i början av 1970-talet var förenligt med den Svenska kyrkan. Vi kan se i källorna att Ordens syfte och annat typiskt för Orden, korresponderar väl med vad som uttrycks gällande tro, lära och bekännelse i Kyrkolagen 1686 och de, förutom Bibeln, samlade bekännelseskrifterna för den Svenska kyrkan. Genom detta arbete konstaterar vi att ett ordensliv likt F.T.O. kan tillämpas inom ett evangeliskt-lutherskt kyrkosamfund och att det på intet sätt är synonymt med den gärningsfromhet inom klosterväsendet som reformatorerna så tydligt vände sig mot under medeltiden. / This study, in the subject the history of Christianity, present an order in the Church of Sweden, “Saint Francis Third Order within the Church of Sweden” (F.T.O.), which is a part of the “Third Order” (TSSF) within “The Society of Saint Francis” (SSF), a community within the Anglican Church, Church of England. The order is open for women and men, ordained (bishops, priests and deacons) and lay people who live ordinary lives in family and society, with a desire to live their lives inspired by Saint Francis and his life. My purpose with this study is to examine and describe the prime sources from the time of the foundation of the F.T.O. to answer the question about whether the foundation of the Order was compatible or not with the Church of Sweden, their faith, doctrine and confession. The examination starts with a descriptive part about the background to the study problem where I give some facts about the reformation and what that brings for the Church of Sweden in relation to monastery life. Then comes a description and a hermeneutics and a dogmatic analysis of the, for the time of the foundation of the Order, current sources. A summery of the upcoming results of this study is that at the foundation of F.T.O. in 1970ths was compatible with the Church of Sweden. In the sources we can see that the Orders purpose and other typical for the Order corresponds well with what they say about faith, doctrine and confession in the church law from 1686 and the, except the holy Bible, confession scripts for the Church of Sweden. Through this work we establish the fact that an order life like that we see in F.T.O. could practices in an evangelical-Lutheran church and it is not in any way synonymic with that phenomena called “action piety” within the monastery life that the men’s of the reformation so clearly said no to under the middle age.

The Church of Sweden had barely 6.5 million members in 2012. Just over 1% of the members visit a church service regularly every Sunday. The number of visitors in worship services has diminished continuously for a very long time. From 1990 to 2010, the annual number of visitors at the main worship services has decreased by 50% from 9 million to about 4.5 million. The service activities can still be maintained at the current level because the many passive members still pays their membership fee. According to the national documents from the Church of Sweden the Sunday service is the most important mission. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between the mission to celebrate divine worship as the official church gives local parishes and how this is perceived by the employees and the elected officials of the local parish. What are the similarities, differences and tensions between the mandate given by the Church of Sweden at the national level and the way performers perceive this? The study was based on three main documents: The Church Order for Church of Sweden (Kyrkoordningen), The theological basic principles for preparations for a new book of Common Prayer (2006), and the Explanations for the Proposal of the Book of Common Prayer. Part 1. Finally I analyzed the documentation (2011-2012) for preparation of the parish structural regulation on Northern Gotland. From these documents I formed 26 claims about the service that was presented to the informants in the attitude survey. The claims were then grouped into eight tentative quality dimensions for a "right celebrated worship", namely practical issues, faith, didactics, emotions, ethics, fellowship, diaconal issues and tradition. The empirical study was made in seven parishes in the North of Gotland. The informants were 34 employees and 40 elected officials. To this survey I added ten semi-structured interviews with the same groups. This study has essentially a religious sociological frame of reference. The main contribution of theories has been given by Grace Davie, Per Pettersson, Ole Riis and Linda Woodhead.  Davie analyzes North European churches which has or has had any ties to the State and where the majority of the population belongs to the Church, but very few members makes use of church services. Davie has described this in terms like "belonging without believing" or “vicarious religion”. Pettersson describes the relationship between the Church and the many members in service theoretical terms. He measures the quality of what the Church of Sweden offers as a service organization and from a theoretical perspective of this service. Riis and Woodhead have mainly contributed to this study through their theories about religion and emotions. The result of the study was that the elected officials were slightly more satisfied with the service as it is performed today compared with the employees. Overall, it was a surprisingly unanimous group that shall plan and develop the service. The elected officials emphasize the importance of parish church more than the employees while matters of faith are more important to the employees. The national documents often points to the importance of tradition. This ambition was not found in any of the groups in the study.

The aim of this paper is to describe and explain how the separation between state and church effects the power relations between state and religious groups and organizations. Former state church, The Swedish church, is in this paper, not included in the definition of religious groups. The reform (“stat-kyrka reformen”) took place between 1995 and year 2000.I’m examining if religious groups had any influence on the reform. My expectation is to give a clearer picture of religious groups and its power position in Swedish politics and society. A process-tracing method is used. I use different theories, theory of power and influence and theory of collective action. The reason for the decision to separate church and state was to handle social changes such as increasing secularism, pluralism and multiculturalism. This paper can however conclude that the state, after the reform, has shown an even greater, less secular, determination to connect with religious groups. I can also conclude that these religious groups had influence on the reform itself, partly because of its power resources and partly because its ability for collective actions.

In times of social distancing and restrictions, ecclesiological challenges arise for the church as a room that under normal circumstances gather people for services. When the church cannot be used the way it is intended to, it raises questions about the functions of the room. The new corona virus pandemic is a crisis that challenges our perception of the church buildings’ functions and aspects. This thesis is a case study that took place in the Cathedral of Stockholm, also called Storkyrkan, during Holy week and Easter. The purpose of this thesis is to study what ecclesiological implications this new reality has on how co-workers and visitors make use of the room. Through observation of the room and interviews of visitors and co-workers I identify five aspects of Storkyrkan that characterize what functions a church building can have during a crisis. The study finds that through the circumstantial changes of the usage of the room, the materiality of it is amplified. It also shows that many types of people visit and use the room in various ways. They are all connected as a collective in a network through the words, artifacts, music, and practises that are a part of this space. Instead of closing due to the pandemic, Storkyrkan was an open room which generated possibilities for people to use it. In times of social distancing, when people are encouraged to stay away from each other, the church brought people together, though in a much smaller number. This happened both in the physical room and in the virtual room online. These are all sources of lived ecclesiology, which is understood through people’s lives and actions.

During the 20th century, our planet and its population have faced a number of environmental challenges. The climate on earth is changing and it is most likely due to human activity and the destruction of the earth's resources, ecosystems and waterways. More recently a very active environmental movement is taking up more space in people's lives. In many ways, it can be considered that climate change, and the movement that accompanied it, created a generation of people who proclaim a doom as a result of human destruction of the planet. I have conducted qualitative online interviews with nine representatives from the Church of Sweden, mainly church pastors from southern Sweden, to see how they relate to climate change, their views on judgement day and how they respond to people in their office who have anxiety and are concerned about climate change and the possible destruction of the human race. The result shows that all respondents in the survey place a great focus on man's individual and collective responsibility in the care for the earth, that is, according to them, God's creation. Through Berger’s social-constructivist theories of secularization, the study shows that the climate movement itself sometimes lacks Christian values of optimism and Christian concepts, such as God's grace, forgiveness, and hope. It thus gives the impression that the movement in some ways has a secular character. In contrast to this, the representatives of the Swedish Church claim to have a hopeful attitude and mostly believe that climate change is not part of the eschatological prophecies described in the Bible. However, they often reason that one cannot know for certain what the future holds, but as they hope and long for Christ's return, they have no fear but instead put their faith in hope and in God. They believe there is a clearer optimism on their part in the form of forgiveness, grace and hope and are willing to lead by example by caring for people who fear and encourage them to hope and the trust in God.

Diaconia research in the Nordic countries 2015-2019 This master thesis is a systematic literature review of the field of diaconal research in the Nordic countries during the period 2015 - 2019. I have conducted a Mixed Methods Research Synthesis on 134 selected titles, corresponding to the search protocol. Diaconia is sometimes defined as the social work or social care performed by the Christian church, but as my report shows, the concept of Diaconia can be defined in several ways, from narrow to wide delimitations. As a research field, Diaconia research is not clearly defined. One of the findings of my study is that Diaconia research draws from and contributes to ecclesiology, sociology and psychology of religion, systematic theology, church history and patristic studies. The main Nordic research site for diaconal studies is VID Specialized University in Norway. Other major contributors to the field are Uppsala University (CRS), Ersta Sköndal Bräcke University, University of Eastern Finland and MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society. My report shows recent developments in the theology of Diaconia, and makes visible differences and similarities in the understanding of the Deacon’s office in the Nordic majority churches. Deacons in Finland, Norway and Sweden struggle with similar challenges of mandate and responsibilities, which is shown by comparison between several referenced studies. These challenges appear to be connected to gender, a low over all appreciation of social care in society and church alike, and not the least, outdated theological interpretations of the Deacon’s office as humble or lowly service. Contributions from an international research project at University of Eastern Finland are aiming to correct some of these misunderstandings by retranslating texts from the patristic era. All in all, the referenced studies show, that diaconal works in the Nordic countries are making important contributions to society, expanding beyond the concept of care, engaging in theological development, social innovation, social mobilisation and interreligious cooperation. My study makes a theoretical contribution by adapting the concentric model for Diakonia developed by Erik Blennberger (1946 – 2018), based on this empirical finding.

No description available.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate how professionals working within the Swedish Church and the City Mission in a municipality in southern Sweden describe their work with individuals in financial crisis, as well as whether and, if so, how they perceive themselves as complementing or replacing the responsibilities of the municipal welfare agency. During the ongoing inflation, prices for essentials such as food, rent, and electricity have increased, placing additional strain on the welfare state and the efforts of social workers to meet the needs of individuals in economic hardship. There is a lack of consensus in the research regarding the role that the Swedish Church and the City Mission should play in social work and the extent to which they provide aid. In times of inflation, the question becomes particularly relevant as civil society actors become more relevant when societal resources are insufficient. To address our research questions, we conducted a qualitative interview study involving eight participants from the Swedish Church and the City Mission. We employed neo-institutional theory to interpret our empirical data. Our study revealed that the Swedish Church and the City Mission in a municipality in southern Sweden emphasize their multifaceted function and flexible approach, enabling them to address various forms of needs among individuals experiencing financial crisis. They described themselves as being able to complement certain aspects of the municipal welfare agency's responsibilities, but their resources were too limited to fully replace these functions. Our study demonstrated that they could provide limited amounts of food, financial resources, and create a sense of community and belonging inside their organization.

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.

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.