Transforming churches: the lived religion of religious organizations in a contemporary context

Nielsen, Marie Vejrup; Johansen, Kirstine Helboe

doi:10.1080/13537903.2019.1658938

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…When definitions of worship and rituals undergo reconsideration and change, Baker et al (2020) urge researchers to be methodologically innovative and to pursue emerging epistemologies, mentioning 'lived religion' in particular. This article is part of a lived religion project examining what churches are actually doing online: how these ecclesial practices on Facebook become part of people's everyday lives; and how the churches' enactments are intertwined with political structures (Ammerman 2020;Nielsen and Johansen 2019;Repstad 2019).…”

Section: Data Materials and Analytical Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in a society where the impact of media, as intertwined with social media, transforms basic conditions and rules for social interaction, scarcely any institution, including religious institutions, can afford to avoid being part of these logics (van Dijck and Poell 2013). Nevertheless, the empirical investigation of how established religious institutions like the Scandinavian majority churches adopt or adapt different media (Nielsen and Johansen 2019) and social media logics (van Dijck and Poell 2013) in their everyday workings is a less explored area of research.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Ecclesial Online Identities during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Johnsen

2023

Temenos

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The majority churches in Europe are paradoxically considered to be both powerful and weak religious institutions. Their complex position in secular society makes it important for them to communicate who they are to the public. The Covid-19 pandemic was a situation in which churches and other religious institutions were ‘forced’ to use digital media as a primary arena of outreach. This article investigates how three Scandinavian majority churches negotiated their ecclesial identities on Facebook during 2020, the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. The following question is explored: did ‘online’ enactments represent their religious identities and core values in new ways to the public? The data material consists of material from the official Facebook pages of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark (the ELCD), the Church of Norway, and the Church of Sweden, as well as interviews with Facebook editors from each church. The study demonstrates how the Church of Norway and the Church of Sweden enact church practices on Facebook, while the ELCD tries not to be too ‘churchy’. Facebook emerges as a hybridized third space where Scandinavian majority churches pursue new logics and forms of meaning making to retain their position in secular societies. Overall, the churches’ online identities on Facebook are not new representations but intensified versions of their distinct offline identities as ‘folk churches’ for the whole population.

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Section: Data Materials and Analytical Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Ecclesial Online Identities during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Johnsen

2023

Temenos

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An affective religious boundary tool

Gregersen

Afdal

2022

Poetics

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Growth in a context of decline

Johnsen¹

2020

Studia Theologica - Nordic Journal of Theology

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Churches all over Europe are experiencing decline within a larger context of religious decline. One under-researched field concerns the consequences this decline has at a local organisational level. This article examines congregations experiencing growth in attendance at their regular Sunday worship services, and asks: What has caused growth in attendance among these congregations? What are the consequences of the attendance growth according to parish leadership, staff, committed volunteers and regular churchgoers? The empirical material for the study is interview and observation material from four congregations in the Church of Norway. These congregations have witnessed an increase in attendees of between 15.5% and 31.6% the last five years (2013-2017) compared to the previous five years (2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012). The ecclesial ideal in the Church of Norway, as in other national majority churches, has been to balance between "the core congregation" and "the folk church". However, the Nordic pattern of "belonging without believing" or "believing in belonging" is not as strong as it used to be, and this has made "vicarious religion" more contested within congregations. A more polarised neither-nor understanding of the Sunday service can explain why the studied congregations have been able to grow within a context of decline.

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Transforming churches: the lived religion of religious organizations in a contemporary context

Cited by 7 publications

References 17 publications

Ecclesial Online Identities during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Ecclesial Online Identities during the Covid-19 Pandemic

An affective religious boundary tool

Growth in a context of decline

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