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This chapter deals with the Church of Sweden’s digital communication.The focus is on how to be a church in a digital age. The chapter is primarily examining and discussing how digital communicationis perceived and discussed in terms of need, possibilities and limitations. The concrete “how” of this communication in the different online channels is not of particular interest here.

Today, the church has developed its web presence through for example websites, blogs and social media channels. The main argument for being online is the importance of being where people are. It is argued that when people (in general) tend to spend more and more time online, the church should be online too. This is in line with the idea that the Church of Sweden is a folk church. The web gives the church the possibility to be present all over the country, and beyond – and this is seen as part of its mission.

The informants describe the necessity for the church to be online, and how online communication opens up possibilities to reach new people. Simultaneously, concerns are expressed that online communication might make the idea of the folk church more difficult to maintain, because people are given the possibility of picking and choosing only certain parts of church life.

One challenge, expressed by the informants, is to organise communication work in tandem with established church structures. However, informants have seen the work of communication officers (and their likes) gradually becoming closer to, and partly integrated into, everyday work within the church structure.

Digital communication is here to stay, and consequently, the church must work out how best to harbour the possibilities of digital tools, while acknowledging and learning from the difficulties and consequences.