This study examines how the organizational model of the Church of Sweden as stipulated in laws and regulations can contribute to an understanding of practical board work among members of working committees that are related to individual board members’ understanding of the organizational notions collaboration and responsibility. The study further examines how these two notions may be affected by how the organizational model of the Church of Sweden describes and outlines how collaboration and responsibility should ideally work within the Church of Sweden. Through qualitative analyses of regulatory documents, observations of board work and interviews and surveys with active board members, both clergy and lay members, of working committees within the Church of Sweden, the study finds that an ideal logic of how the organizational model of the Church of Sweden should work is conveyed through laws and regulations, but finds that the studied working committees follow these to a limited extent. Instead the study concludes that the practice of the studied working committees is determined by how individual members understand and believe the organizational model should work, i.e. how clergy and lay members within the working committees should cooperate. There is an indication of a correlation between how the working committees organize their work in the committees and how they relate to the organizational model of the Church of Sweden. The working committees that have a weak co-operation, seem to focus more on internal issues within their local church, while working committees that have a strong co-operation tend to focus more on strategic public issues within their local diocese.