"Att vara kyrka är ett hoppets tecken"

Sammanfattning: This MA thesis aim has been to examine what it means to be a church in a multi-cultural and multi-religious environment. The research question posed is: how is a churchly identity being described in contexts characterized by multiculturalism and multi-religiosity? This has been examined by semi-structured interviews with seven ordained ministers and one ordained deacon in four different churches within the Church of Sweden. The results were then analyzed and described based on two questions: “what is the church?” and “who is the church?”. Further, the results have been related to the discussion of a constructive and contemporary ecclesiology, represented by Fredrik Modéus, Sven-Erik Brodd & Gunnar Weman, to identify how the results of the study contribute to that discussion. My conclusions of the study are that the churchly identity in these studied contexts is partly ecclesiological and partly theological. Firstly, the identity involves being a church with the message of hope and security and to refill and support Christians with strength to operate in their everyday lives. The ecclesiological part includes the church’s practical work and in what way the church is contextually significant. Secondly, the church exists dialectical between the history of tradition and the present time, and between the first and the second article of the Creed. This means that the employees understand their church as part of the worldwide Christian church and Creation, but at the same time their mission as a church by the life and works of Jesus Christ. This is understood as the theological part. Lastly, I conclude that this research project is an important voice in the discussion of a constructive contemporary ecclesiology.