I föreliggande volym av Studia Theologica Practica Umensia behandlas tematiken ”inomkyrklig sekularisering” utifrån olika infallsvinklar och med olika metoder, där varje artikel utgör ett självständigt bidrag. Karin Johannesson inleder med en filosofisk inventering av tankefigurer och skilda begreppsdefinitioner om vad som avses med kyrkans sekularisering (artikel 1). Sven-Erik Brodd för en ecklesiologisk diskussion om ekonomi, ecklesiologi och kyrkans inre sekularisering utifrån temat pragmatismen som ett kännetecken för kyrkan (artikel 2). Anneli Öljarstrand utför en organisationssociologisk studie av uttryck för inomkyrklig sekularisering i intervjuer av kyrkoherdar och förtroendevalda i ett antal svenskkyrkliga församlingar (artikel 3). Stefan Gelfgren för en idéhistorisk diskussion om den norrländska väckelsen och dess relation till modernisering, sekularisering och i förlängningen inre sekularisering (artikel 4). Antologin avslutas med ett teologiskt föredrag av Carl Axel Aurelius som i anknytning till företeelsen inre sekularisering behandlar svårigheten att idag ge en sammanfattande framställning av den kristna tron (artikel 5).
I föreliggande antologi behandlas temat Lärande och kyrka utifrån olika infallsvinklar och med olika metoder. Varje artikel utgör ett självständigt bidrag. Kim Groop medverkar med artikeln: "En helgedom i vetenskapens hägn: Universitetskyrkan i Leipzig från invigning till förstörelse" som behandlar relationen mellan universitet och kyrka med utgångspunkt i universitetskyrkan i Leipzig. Marie Rosenius artikel "Kristendomskunskapen som försvann: Varför saknas ett systematiskt och nationellt samordnat program för dopundervisning i Svenska kyrkan?" utforskar möjliga bidragande faktorer som kan ge svar på denna fråga. Jakob Evertssons artikel "Lärdomens katedral: en studie av relationen mellan lärdomsskola och kyrka i Strängnäs från medeltid till yngre vasatid" behandlar specifikt tre perioder: Den medeltida katedralskolan, reformationstidens lärdomsskola och 1600-talets gymnasium. Antologin utgör volym 4 i skriftserien Studia Theologica Practica Umensia.
Utifrån den allmänkyrkliga traditionen att människor genom dopet blir iklädda Kristus och infogade i Kristi kropp, är delaktighet en given aspekt i gudstjänst och kyrka. Likafullt är frågan hur delaktighet ska förstås och främjas i praktiken komplex. Boken visar att ecklesiologi och pedagogik är nära sammantvinnade och argumenterar för teologisk forskning som kastar ljus på denna relation.
I föreliggande volym av Studia Theologica Practica Umensia behandlas tematiken ”det kyrkliga språket i teori och praxis” utifrån olika infallsvinklar och med olika metoder, där varje artikel utgör ett självständigt bidrag. Peder Thalén diskuterar ett förslag till ny kyrkohandbok för Svenska kyrkan (artikel 1). Marie Rosenius behandlar ordo-begreppet i relation till kyrkans kroppsspråk (artikel 2). Thomas Girmalm diskuterar synen på predikans kroppslighet med utgångspunkt i Gustaf Wingrens teologi (artikel 3). Erik Eckerdal behandlar frågan hur det kyrkliga språket kan förstås som problem, möjlighet och utmaning för ekumeniken (artikel 4). David Willgren studerar hur Psaltarens psalmer tagits i bruk och belyser härigenom bönernas identitetsskapande funktion i trosgemenskaper (artikel 5). David Wiljebrand undersöker hur utomteologiska perspektiv kan stärka och berika ekoteologin och dess språk (artikel 6). Tord Larsson gör en exegetiskt receptionshistorisk undersökning av kyrkoherde Högströms förhållande till bibeln i den situation som inträdespredikan innebar i Skellefteå församling 1749 (artikel 7).
The article begins with a description of how ecclesiological research within Practical Theology (PT) has changed over time. By a critical analysis of the ecclesiologies "the new view of the Church" (den nya kyrkosynen), and "the service-centric view of the Folk Church" (den tjänsteinriktade folkkyrkosynen), the use of empirics and theory in church research and its impact on church practices is problematized. While "the empirical turn" in the 1960’s became associated with PT, the empirical turn in Sweden instead developed within the social sciences of religion. One underlying possible factor for this development was a predominant scientific view that emphasized the difference between descriptive and normative science. Theology was criticized for resting on metaphysical assumptions and theologians reacted by making a clear distinction between what they saw as "scientific" and "Church" theology. Hence, theory and practice came to be separated. On the basis of the two ecclesiologies both a "top-down perspective" without empirical approach in Church research, and a typical "bottom-up perspective" without a theologically normative approach are problematized. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of intradisciplinary research for dynamic interaction between empirical analysis and theological interpretation, and interaction between induction and deduction that allows continuous interplay between theory and empiricism. This enables a critical attitude to be maintained both to the Church practice that is empirically analyzed, and to the ecclesiological theories by which analysis and interpretation are made.
The aim of this article is to analyze the ecclesiology implicit in the documents Teologiska grundprinciper för arbetet i 2006 års kyrkohandboksgrupp [Basic Theological Principles for the work in the Church manual group of 2006] and Mässans grundordning [Basic order of the Mass]. These documents, composed on behalf of the Church of Sweden's Church board, are intended as the basis for a new church servicemanual in 2015. By means of ecclesiological theories drawn from Avery Dulles and Alexander Schmemann, I analyze the documents in the light of the Swedish Folk Church tradition. A shift over time in this tradition is described, from the understanding of the Church as "Church for the people", to the Church as "the people's Church". My underlying hypothesis is that this shift has generated a dualism where two different aspects of the church have drifted apart, namely, with Dulles' terminology, the Church as "a mystical communion of grace" and the Church as "a network of friendly interpersonal relationships". In this process, the latter has come to dominate. This pattern is revealed in Basic order of the Mass, in which frame and content tend to be separated. The dualism also stands out in the Basic Theological Principles in terms of the identity and role of the Church. Finally, I offer a discussion of this dualism inspired by Schmemann’s account of the Church and secularism, and I remark on the lack of understanding of the Church as "body of Christ" in later Lutheran perceptions of sacrament.
The aim of this article is to discuss contemporary perspectives on preaching and worship in the Church of Sweden. The starting point of the analysis is venia concionandi (permission to preach) and the way the organization of lay preaching changed in connection with the relational change between church and state in 2000. The article continues with a discussion about a changed understanding of the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers and its possible implications for the way we perceive preaching and worship. The discussion relates to research by Swedish theologians Henry Cöster and Ragnar Persenius, together with Timothy J. Wengert who provides perspectives from international Luther research. The general ecclesiological pattern that the article brings to the fore indicates that the understanding of the church as a community in the Word has lost ground. The position of preaching in the contemporary Swedish folk church can thus be seen as weakened. This raises the question of what long-term consequences this will have with regard to the Lutheran tradition’s understanding of the preaching of the gospel as constitutive for the church.
This dissertation is an ecclesiological study, conducted in the form of a case study that examines worship praxis in six parishes in the diocese of Luleå between 1990 and 2009. The specific research problem of the dissertation is whether the organizational changes that took place in connection with the relational change between Church and State in 2000 are reflected in local worship and in church service related decisions in diocese and parishes, and how the concrete relationship between worship praxis and regulations is manifested. The research problem also includes what ecclesiological impact the organizational changes may have had in the studied parishes and what the empirical results can reveal about the ecclesiality of the Church. The dissertation addresses four research questions. In response to the first question: “Are the organizational changes of 2000 reflected in local worship and in worship related decisions in dioceses and parishes and, if so, in what way?” it is noted that organizational change is reflected indirectly in expressions of growing autonomization. In response to the second question "What is the relationship between worship praxis and regulations in the Church ordinance and The Swedish Church manual 1986?” there is a tangible difference between worship praxis and regulations throughout the studied period, i.e. even before the relational change, although the difference over time has increased. Regarding the third question "What impact could the organizational change, associated with the relational change between the Church of Sweden and the State, have had on the ecclesiologies in the worship praxis which the studied parishes represent and hold?” I have not found that the new order has affected, in any direct way, the parishes’ implicit ecclesiologies during the time span covered by the study. Rather, it seems that the Church ordinance that was established at the time of the relational change has reinforced an already existing implicit ecclesiology where the parishes are considered to be autonomous. The fourth question "How can the empirical result be interpreted theologically with regard to its implicit ecclesiology, and what does that say about the ecclesiality of the Church of Sweden?” The theological interpretation of autonomization indicates an overall "immanent ecclesiology", which can be visualized in current praxis in the diocese of Luleå. The ambition that the Church of Sweden despite organizational change in the year 2000 would be the same also indicates a similar implicit ecclesiology. This is because the Church was not thought to change its identity despite being subjected to a revision in form. The study shows that the arsenal of theories and the methodical approach have implications for how much can be clarified and that different ways of studying the Church should be combined. The present study is an example of this by the study's abductive approach and exploratory character, which have allowed both interaction between praxis-related empiricism and theory and interaction between descriptive analysis and hermeneutic interpretation. The study also shows that “ordo-related theories” may be applicable to the study of the Church as an organizational structure.
The article highlights secular influences in contemporary understandings of liturgical participation by exploring the relationship between visions of the early modern liturgical movement and contemporary ways of understanding participation in the Church of Sweden. The constructs opine, understand, and do are used in the comparison as are the concepts participatio plena, participatio conscia, and participatio actuosa in Sacrosanctum Concilium. An overall reflection based on the analysis is that secular ideologies and trends not only influence liturgical form but tend to erode theological language itself. Religious individualism, combined with “internal ecclesial secularization,” tends to imbue the very understanding of church and of liturgy. A new phase in the liturgical movement called the “late modern liturgical movement” is discussed. The church appears here as the “church of the individual” and the liturgy in the sense of ordo is seen as an “open” order and framework, rather than as juxtaposition and sacramental event.
The aim of this article is to discuss the current legislation, and power structures in and between different levels of the Church of Sweden in terms of church–state relations and secularisation, with the help of theories from sociology of religion and ecclesiology drawn from José Casanova, Grace Davie and Avery Dulles. With themes from Lutheran theology, including the two regiments and the common priesthood of all believers, we analyse the current legislation and power structures from the perspective of the so-called ‘dual line of responsibility’. The underlying hypothesis is that the structures of the former state church are still deciding the power structures in the Church of Sweden. This creates obscurity concerning the role of the church in public society and negatively affects the ecclesiastical development of the church now that it has lost its earlier status as a state church.
The article deals with the following questions: Which perspectives on learning are communicated directly or indirectly in the pastoral letters (Sw. herdabrev) of the Diocese of Luleå and which ecclesiologies can be found in these perspectives on learning? The aim is to offer an ecclesiological perspective on Jørgen Straarup's and Mayvor Ekberg's thesis that a de-confessionalization of the Swedish school has led to the loss of religious language among the Swedish people, and that this could have been avoided if the Church of Sweden had countered with the establishment of its own catechetical teaching, which, however, did not happen because of "inadequate leadership" in the Church of Sweden during the twentieth century. The article analyses all six pastoral letters during the period 1904–2002. The analysis has discerned three ecclesiological stages over time, which can be seen as frameworks for how the bishops are capable of standing out as leaders and enabling learning. The conclusions are that the pastoral letters indicate a change in perspectives on learning that can be perceived as a movement from "folk education" (Sw. folkbildning) to "in-service training" (Sw. fortbildning) and that this movement relates to an extensive change in the church's organisational structure in connection with an ecclesiology that tends to isolate Christianity within the church organisation. This means that it is rather the ecclesiological changes than an "inadequate leadership" as an isolated phenomenon, which in this context should be brought to the fore. This is because ecclesiological shifts entail changes in the bishops' ability to serve as leaders for learning.
The aim of this article is to contribute to the development of minority theology by actualizing, developing and assessing a set of analytic tools. We strive to fulfil this aim by pursuing three parallel paths. Firstly, we relate our discussion of minority theology to other kinds of minority studies in order to benefit from theoretical perspectives and empirical findings provided by other disciplines. Secondly, because minority theology is a consequence of religious diversity, we explore how concepts developed in theology of religions and aimed at clarifying the relation to the (religious) other, can prove helpful for the task of identifying and analysing the theological coping strategies and the identity work adopted by both majorities and minorities. Thirdly, in order to avoid an all-too-encompassing definition of minority studies in theology, which might lead to a blurring of the concept, we develop and argue for a distinction between theology by, about, because of, and with minorities.