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to be connected to gender, a low over all appreciation of social care in society and church alike, and not the least, outdated theological interpretations of the Deacon’s office as humble or lowly service.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.

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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.

A sermon after a crisis or traumatic event requires great pastoral care. How do we put what happened into words? When things are so devastating that words are not enough? How do we speak about hope and despair in the midst of a crisis? This thesis aims to analyze sermons in the Church of Sweden after the attack on Drottninggatan, Stockholm, Sweden in 2017. Nine sermons held in the weeks following the attack have been analyzed. The theoretical background and theme of the analysis has been psychotraumatology and trauma-informed theology. The thesis’ process has been an inductive approach, as it begins in the material and then compares these against the selected aspects. The questions asked in the thesis are: “What qualities can be found in these sermons after the terrorist attack at Drottninggatan?“ As well as two sub-questions about the respective perspectives: “Which psychotraumatological perspectives were found in the sermons?” and “What perspectives of trauma-informed theology were found in the sermons?” The analysis of sermons and the answer to the first question resulted in five common themes: Responsibility and humanity, The terrorist attack and evil, The Bible and God, Despair and Hope. Based on this, both theoretical aspects have been used to analyze the results.

In 19th century Sweden women preached in the popular revival movements as they did in the other Nordic countries, in Great Britain and the United States. One of the most famous preachers in Sweden was Nelly Hall (1848–1916). Internal and external evidence of her public life is the main focus of the study, and in this way it seeks to uncover the origin of her inspiration and to specify her connection to the spiritual movements of the time, at the same time that it analyses the reception and the debate of women as preachers in the period when she was active. Nelly Hall studied at the Royal School for Women’s Higher Teacher Education and worked as a teacher for ten years before she decided to enter into the ministry of preaching. She was influenced by the Anglo-American Holiness movement and had close contacts with the Salvation Army in London. From 1883 she travelled in the southern parts of Sweden. Thousands of people listened to her and as part of her ministry she practised faith healing. She went on preaching tours to Finland, Norway, Germany and the United States. When the Swedish Holiness Mission started as a small mission society in 1887 it was to some extent a result of the preaching work carried out by Nelly Hall. She was elected a member of the first board and worked as a mission secretary for ten years. Around 1900 there was a shift in her theological thinking and she became more absorbed by apocalyptic ideas. In 1901 she went for the second time to the United States and lived there until 1916 when she died in Brockton, Massachusetts. Little is known about the last fifteenth years of her life. The ministry of Nelly Hall and other women raised considerable public interest and in the Swedish context her time of ministry coincided with the emerging movement for the emancipation of women. Many were against women preaching in public and the discussions often occurred in the press. Parts of these discussions as well as several pamphlets in favour of women’s preaching are analysed in this study. / <p>Contains a summary in English</p>

This study has a threefold aim:  to make a theological contextualisation of four medieval anti-Jewish motifs in Christian iconography represented in churches in Sweden and to study how these motifs has been described and contextualised in guidebooks and other material written for the interested public from post-war to recent years. The study also explores the role of heritagisation and musealisation of the church buildings in relation to how the motifs are described in the material. There is also an underlying, constructive aim: to suggest how The Church of Sweden can work with these motifs in theological reflection and historical presentations to the public concerning this part of the cultural heritage. The motifs analysed are The Judensau, Ecclesia and Synagoga, Cain and a motif illustrating a medieval legend about the funeral of the Virgin Mary. They were all painted in Swedish churches in a time when there were no Jewish settlements in the area. The study argues that the iconography can be interpreted as an expression of othering and that the four motifs can all be theologically contextualised by using Jesper Svartvik’s threefold typology of Christian anti-Jewish discourse. The study further shows that very few of the texts in the guidebooks and other books in the material describes the motifs and contextualises them theologically.  The study suggests that this can be related to the more than hundred years old heritagisation- and musealisation process in The Church of Sweden which has created a twofold and split role of the church as both manager of the religious mission and of the cultural heritage.   It has not been the primary aim of the church to theologically contextualise the cultural heritage. New questions concerning the motifs arise in today’s multicultural and multireligious society. The study suggests that the church can approach the part of the cultural heritage which today is seen as problematic from David Lowenthal’s concept of an informed acceptance and tolerance of the past in order to be able to take responsibility for the future in dialogue with others.

Denna studie undersöker pastorsutbildning och formation genom att intervjua fem nyblivna pastorer inom Equmeniakyrkan om deras upplevelse av vad pastorsutbildningen på THS bidragit till för att formas och förberedas som pastorer. Studien som är kvalitativ och abduktiv relaterar teoretiskt till Benjamin Blooms kognitiva, affektiva och psykomotoriska lärandedomäner som översätts till pastoral kontext för jämförelse av vad utbildningen bidragit till, samt till David Kelseys Aten-Berlin-begrepp för att jämföra pastorernas utbildningsideal med pastorsutbildningens utbildningsform. Resultatet visar bland annat att de faktorer som varit viktigast för att forma och förbereda den undersökta gruppen av nyblivna pastorer är: Praktik och övning, Lärare och annan personal, Medstuderande, Undervisning, Retreater, andakter, enskilda samtal, gemensamma resor, Församlingsliv och pastorer. Sammanfattat som Praktik, Relationer, Undervisning och Praktiker (PRUP). Resultatet visar också att det är avgörande på vilket sätt dessa bedrivs. De sätt som för pastorerna har varit formerande beskrivs i uppsatsen. Analysen visar att pastorernas utbildningsideal tillämpat på svenska eftergymnasiala utbildningsformer kan förstås som en blandning av idealen i högskola och folkhögskola, med en betoning på folkhögskola – och att detta krockar med Equmeniakyrkans pastorsutbildning vars utbildningsform är en kombination av högskola och kyrka med en tydlig betoning på högskola. Utifrån dessa fynd presenterar studien fyra möjligheter för Equmeniakyrkan och EHS att minska denna spänning. Uppsatsen diskuterar även likheter och skillnader med tidigare studier, bland annat i fråga om vad som formar och förbereder för tjänst, möjligheten med tredelade lärandemål och frågan om utbildningsform. / This study investigates formation during ministerial education and training by interviewing five newly ordained pastors within the Uniting Church in Sweden about their experience of what the Pastor’s program at Stockholm School of Theology have contributed to for being shaped and prepared as pastor. The study, which is qualitative and abductive, relates theoretically to Benjamin Bloom's cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning domains that are translated into pastoral contexts for studying what the education has contributed to, as well as to David Kelsey's Athens-Berlin concept to compare the educational ideals of pastors, with the program’s institutional form of education. The results show that the factors that were achieved as most important in shaping and preparing the new pastors are: Internship and practice, Teachers and staff, Fellow students, Teaching, Retreats, devotions, individual conversations &amp; joint trips, and Congregational life and pastors. These are summarized as Practice, Relations, Teaching and Practices (PRTP). The result also shows that it is crucial in which way these are conducted. The ways that have been positively formative for the pastors are described in the essay. The analysis shows that the pastors' ideals of education drawn from Kelsey, applied to Swedish post-secondary forms of education can be understood as a mixture of the ideals of university and folk high school, with an emphasis on folk high school - and that this conflicts with the church’s pastor's program whose form of education is a combination of university and church with a clear emphasis on university. Based on these findings, the study presents four opportunities for the Uniting Church in Sweden and the Stockholm School of Theology to reduce this tension. The essay also discusses similarities and differences with previous studies among other things in terms of what shapes and prepares for service, the possibility of three-part learning objectives, and the question of educational form.

In this essay I have studied wedding services in the Church of Sweden, as they are actually performed. I do this from a liturgical-theological perspective, a performance- perspective and from the perspective of ritual studies. According to the performance- perspective the wedding service can be seen as consisting of different scripts, for example, the normative script of the handbook, the script of the wedding-couple and the script of the minister. The main question is: What is constructed when these three scripts meet in a wedding service? I first study each script. I give an account for the script of the handbook and analyse it by placing it in a historical, liturgical and theological context. The script of the wedding couple and the minister I uncover by participant observations of three wedding services and interviews with the couples and ministers acting in these services. Thereafter I analyse the scripts of the couples and the minsters looking at themes that appear to be important in these scripts and in the handbook. Such themes are the wedding service as a service of blessing, the legal aspect of the service, the construction of family through marriage, love, the service as a ritual, the setting of the wedding, the role of the minister, the importance of participation and the role of the music. I conclude that the three scripts are indeed three very different scripts, but when they are juxtaposed a new meaning is constructed. This can occur even if the script are not correlating or even to some extent collides. One important factor for meaning to be constructed is the ritualization, acts that make the service a ritual. This seems to be more important than the fact that the scripts correlate. Another important factor for meaning to be constructed is that the scripts actually meet, that they actually are juxtaposed together. For this to happen the minister has to clarify his/her own script and be responsive to the couple’s script. Then the minister can relate their script to blessing, prayer and scripture. Normatively, I conclude that the wedding service becomes a meaningful wedding service when the couple’s scripts are related to the greater, transcendent Script

Denna uppsats består av en jämförande studie av två ärkebiskopar – KG Hammar (Svenska kyrkan) och Rowan Williams (Church of England) - ur ett postmodernt teologiskt perspektiv. Syftet var att söka finna postmoderna influenser hos de båda ärkebiskoparna i såväl teori som praktik och undersöka konsekvenserna av ett postmodernt teologiskt agerande.  Undersökningen visade att båda ärkebiskoparna influerades av postmodern teologi i teorin. Hammar förde också som ärkebiskop fram sina personliga postmoderna insikter, medan Williams av olika anledningar generellt valde att endast föra fram kyrkans åsikt. Båda handlingsalternativen medförde såväl kritik som uppskattning. Båda ärkebiskoparna tog fasta på den postmoderna teologins framhållande av dialog som metod: Dialog kännetecknade allt deras handlande, såväl inomkyrkligt som mot andra religiösa och samhälleliga grupper. Trots dialogen kunde dock inte vissa splittringar undvikas. Samhällsengagemanget visade sig däremot till största delen framgångsrikt och visade en postmodern insikt om kyrkans roll i en sekulär värld. Trots att ett postmodernt förhållningssätt inte helt accepterades, medverkade ärkebiskoparnas agerande till att skapa intresse för framför allt religiös dialog bland många olika grupper. / This essay is a comparative study of two archbishops - KG Hammar (Church of Sweden) and Rowan Williams (Church of England) - from a postmodern theological perspective. The aim was to discover postmodern influences for the archbishops in theory and practice, and to investigate the consequences of acting from a postmodern theological perspective. The study revealed postmodern influences in both archbishops' theory. Hammar chose to act according to his personal postmodern convictions also as archbishop whereas, for various reasons, Williams generally chose to speak only for the whole church. Both strategies were criticized as well as appreciated. Both archbishops were committed to dialogue as described by postmodern theology. This influenced all their actions, within the church as well as with other religious denominations and various groups in society. However, even with dialogue certain schisms proved to be unavoidable. The engagement in society proved more successful and showed a postmodern understanding of the church in a secular world. Even though a postmodern course of action was not totally accepted, the archbishops managed to promote a wide interest especially for religious dialogue.

<p>Denna uppsats består av en jämförande studie av två ärkebiskopar – KG Hammar (Svenska kyrkan) och Rowan Williams (Church of England) - ur ett postmodernt teologiskt perspektiv. Syftet var att söka finna postmoderna influenser hos de båda ärkebiskoparna i såväl teori som praktik och undersöka konsekvenserna av ett postmodernt teologiskt agerande.  Undersökningen visade att båda ärkebiskoparna influerades av postmodern teologi i teorin. Hammar förde också som ärkebiskop fram sina personliga postmoderna insikter, medan Williams av olika anledningar generellt valde att endast föra fram kyrkans åsikt. Båda handlingsalternativen medförde såväl kritik som uppskattning. Båda ärkebiskoparna tog fasta på den postmoderna teologins framhållande av dialog som metod: Dialog kännetecknade allt deras handlande, såväl inomkyrkligt som mot andra religiösa och samhälleliga grupper. Trots dialogen kunde dock inte vissa splittringar undvikas. Samhällsengagemanget visade sig däremot till största delen framgångsrikt och visade en postmodern insikt om kyrkans roll i en sekulär värld. Trots att ett postmodernt förhållningssätt inte helt accepterades, medverkade ärkebiskoparnas agerande till att skapa intresse för framför allt religiös dialog bland många olika grupper.</p> / <p>This essay is a comparative study of two archbishops - KG Hammar (Church of Sweden) and Rowan Williams (Church of England) - from a postmodern theological perspective. The aim was to discover postmodern influences for the archbishops in theory and practice, and to investigate the consequences of acting from a postmodern theological perspective. The study revealed postmodern influences in both archbishops' theory. Hammar chose to act according to his personal postmodern convictions also as archbishop whereas, for various reasons, Williams generally chose to speak only for the whole church. Both strategies were criticized as well as appreciated. Both archbishops were committed to dialogue as described by postmodern theology. This influenced all their actions, within the church as well as with other religious denominations and various groups in society. However, even with dialogue certain schisms proved to be unavoidable. The engagement in society proved more successful and showed a postmodern understanding of the church in a secular world. Even though a postmodern course of action was not totally accepted, the archbishops managed to promote a wide interest especially for religious dialogue.</p>