Svenska kyrkans anpassning till ett "sekulariserat" samhälle i kris - ett förändrat klimat?

Sammanfattning: This essay analyses the three climate documents published by the Swedish Council of the Bishops between 1989 and 2019. The documents are analysed from a sociological perspective on religion that focuses on the Church of Sweden's role from a crisis perspective in a secularised society. My interest in this subject is based on the common perception that Sweden is the most secular country in the world. But when it comes to crisis situations, studies have shown that the Church of Sweden’s services are expected by society. Based on this, I want to analyse how the Swedish Council of the Bishops describes the role of the church in the climate documents, and how it’s related to a changed understanding of religious activity in Sweden. The theories that are used in this essay is a secularization theory by David Thurfjell that challenges the perception that Sweden is the most secular country in the world, and a theory by Per Pettersson based on the Church of Sweden as a public resource in modern Sweden. The research in this essay is based on two research questions where I seek answers to how the climate documents differ from each other, and how the role of the Church of Sweden is portrayed in the documents. The purpose of this essay is to show how a religious organisation adapts to a crisis situation in a secular country, and how this affects the identity of the organisation from a climate perspective between the years 1989 and 2019. Despite the fact that there are thirty years between the earliest and the most recent document, the results show many similarities between the climate documents from a perspective of crisis management. This is based on the fact that each document contains information about consequences of a changing climate both for the planet and humanity, followed by advice on measures. The Church of Sweden’s primary role is to give hope and support in crisis situations, and this is becoming increasingly important in regards to the climate.