Akademisk avhandling--Stockholms högskola. / Bibliography: p. [xi]-xxix.

This essay is about human beings. These human beings in particular are priests and LGBTQ-persons who work in the Swedish Church in Växjö diocese. During research I have conducted qualitative interviews with people who are LGBTQ-persons and work as priests in Växjö diocese. These interviews have been analyzed through queer theory and Mary Douglas theory about anomalia. My aim with this essay is to find out what it means to be a LGBTQ- person and work as a priest in this diocese. I wanted to learn more about where the difficulties lie. How the priests are treated by others and how they see themselves. My conclusion is that both Växjö diocese and the priests in my essay partly look upon themselves through a heterosexual matrix and therefore, in some way, regard LGBTQ-persons as anomalia. Therefore, there is a risk that LGBTQ-persons in Växjö diocese end up in an exclusion.

The study consists of a survey in which church musicians answered questions about which hymns are played during the various gatherings of Easter in the Church of Sweden. Based on the Swedish Hymn Book, the answers to the questionnaire are presented and a selection of hymns is made for the study. The psalms are analyzed on the basis of a hermeneutic method and in the light of reception theory regarding the origin of the psalms through the narrative of the biblical gospels. The study compares the Bible reading that occurs during Easter gatherings in the Church of Sweden and the hymns that are sung. It describes whether these different texts are common to the psalms and the reading or whether they are independent of each other. Finally, what happens to the Gospel texts when they are converted into a psalm is discussed. What happens is that the whole of the Gospels is included and not just specific pericopes. The psalm does not reflect the feeling of what is happening in the reading of the gospel, but contributes with a completely different feeling. This means that the experience of the gospel narrative through the psalm becomes different from the gospel narrative through reading.

<p>Abstract</p><p>Aim: 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?</p><p>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. The analytical method focuses on the discourse practise and the text.</p><p>Main results: The images of the Swedish church differ in the campaigns. The religious discourse in the first campaign “A place for contemplation” is more open and modern and creates the image of the Swedish church as an open and welcoming church. In the two other campaigns “Are you looking in the right place?” the religious discourse is more traditional Lutheran aimed towards people who already are believers in the Christian faith.</p><p>Keywords: Swedish church, religion, media, discourse, semiotics, secularisation, commercial, campaign.</p>

<p>Abstract</p><p>Title: The picture of the Swedish church - Young peoples image of the organization in comparison with the organizations profile (Bilden av Svenska kyrkan – Unga människors image av organisationen i jämförelse med organisationens profil)</p><p>Number of pages: 55 (57 including enclosures)</p><p>Author: Ebba Göranzon</p><p>Tutor: Göran Svensson</p><p>Course: Media and Communication Studies C</p><p>Period: Fall 2006</p><p>University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University</p><p>Aim: The aim of this essay is to study the external communication of the Swedish Church, and how they want young people (16-18 years old) to perceive them. Further I would like to compare that information with how young people actually perceive the Swedish church. Do the both pictures agree?</p><p>Method/Material: Together with literature studies, a qualitive method has been used and four focus group interviews with a total of 16 informants have been conducted. Two of the groups contained young people that are active within the organization and the two other groups didn’t.</p><p>Main Results: The main results from the focus group interviews showed that young peoples image of the Swedish church is complex. In general, young people, who are active within the Swedish church, have a more positive image of the organization than the others. Despite their positive image, the other groups are more negative in their judgements, which show that the Swedish church still have more to work with until the image and profile comphere with each other.</p><p>Keywords: The Swedish church, organizational identity, profile, image, young pepole</p>

Abstract Aim: 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. The analytical method focuses on the discourse practise and the text. Main results: The images of the Swedish church differ in the campaigns. The religious discourse in the first campaign “A place for contemplation” is more open and modern and creates the image of the Swedish church as an open and welcoming church. In the two other campaigns “Are you looking in the right place?” the religious discourse is more traditional Lutheran aimed towards people who already are believers in the Christian faith. Keywords: Swedish church, religion, media, discourse, semiotics, secularisation, commercial, campaign.

Abstract Title: The picture of the Swedish church - Young peoples image of the organization in comparison with the organizations profile (Bilden av Svenska kyrkan – Unga människors image av organisationen i jämförelse med organisationens profil) Number of pages: 55 (57 including enclosures) Author: Ebba Göranzon Tutor: Göran Svensson Course: Media and Communication Studies C Period: Fall 2006 University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University Aim: The aim of this essay is to study the external communication of the Swedish Church, and how they want young people (16-18 years old) to perceive them. Further I would like to compare that information with how young people actually perceive the Swedish church. Do the both pictures agree? Method/Material: Together with literature studies, a qualitive method has been used and four focus group interviews with a total of 16 informants have been conducted. Two of the groups contained young people that are active within the organization and the two other groups didn’t. Main Results: The main results from the focus group interviews showed that young peoples image of the Swedish church is complex. In general, young people, who are active within the Swedish church, have a more positive image of the organization than the others. Despite their positive image, the other groups are more negative in their judgements, which show that the Swedish church still have more to work with until the image and profile comphere with each other. Keywords: The Swedish church, organizational identity, profile, image, young pepole

The purpose of this study is to examine the colonisation of Sápmi though the works of a local priest, by the name of Eric Grape. To do so, this study uses postcolonial theory when analysing the content of the works by Grape. Eric Grape was a priest active in the Lappmarks of northern Sweden in the early nineteenth century and who wrote articles for the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences. The focus of the study is the othering of the Saami people and their culture, and the colonial production of knowledge that Grape produced about the Saami. Othering is a term by Edward Said and it is about the constructed difference between “we” the European culture and people regarded as the “other”. This term, the study argues, can also be applied when studying the colonial encounters between the Saami and Swedish colonial actors such as Grape. The main result of this study is that Grape portrays the Saami as different and more primitive than the Swedish settlers that occupy the northen part of Sweden, he describes the Saami as childish.

The Swedish Church can be understood as having a large focus on social- and supportive work, in Sweden as well as abroad in their international projects. An example of their engagement is the extensive responsibility the church took during the refugee crisis 2015. This commitment in society raises questions about the role of the Swedish Church, such as how the church manifest itself in a so called secular society. On that basis, the aim of this paper is to examine how the Swedish Church’s work with refugees during the refugee crisis 2015, can help us understand the role that the Swedish Church has in the Swedish society today. The purpose is therefore to find out how the receiving of, and work with, refugees was expressed and what it can tell us about role of the Church today.   Moreover, the empirical material includes five case studies about the church’s commitment in the refugee crisis 2015, made by the Swedish Church itself. Theories about secularization is used for the analysis, and more particularly theories about internal secularization and deprivatization.   The conclusion of this paper is that the church’s answer to the refugee crisis, show us that the Church has in some aspects adopted a secular public role. This can be understood by the fact that they welcomed people to activities with main focus on integration, rather than pronounced Christian activities. Through their refugee work, the Swedish Church can also be understood as an important voluntary welfare provider supporting the Swedish state.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the church verger relates to the cultural heritage in their churches and how the churches are affected by their cultural heritage. I also wanted to investigate the problem in preserving a heritage that doubles as a living religious room. Finally, I wanted to know how the verger's work is influenced by the dual responsibility towards the parish and county government. In the study the vergers were interviewed about their workplace and work situation. I also interviewed the antiquarian in Växjö diocese. I then analyzed the results by using Svante Beckman’s concept categories and value typology of cultural heritage. I drew the conclusion that the church instills a feeling based on historical values. I also concluded that the verger’s knowledge and care of the church protects the cultural heritage values. This knowledge is in itself a cultural heritage that needs to be nurtured and protected. Finally, my study found that the county government and the heritage law do not cater to the needs of parishes today. The requirements demanded by the county government have become yet another stress factor in the verger’s everyday.