Mellan mission och dialog. Kristna trossamfund och mötet med det mångreligiösa Sverige

Sammanfattning: As a consequence of immigration and increasing globalisation, the new multifaith and multicultural situation in Swedish society has created new challenges and pastoral ministries for the Christian Protestant churches and denominations in Sweden. Encounters with people of other faiths and increasing religious pluralism has created a new need for reflection about the churches identity, self-understanding and future mission. This dissertation investigates and analyses the pastoral ministry of Swedish Protestant churches, denominations and missionary movements among immigrants and refugees in Sweden. It also examines and describes the different attitudes of the churches towards mission and dialogue in a multifaith society. The first chapters provide a short historic background and description of the transformation of Swedish society from Lutheran orthodoxy to religious pluralism. It also gives an account of the different church-traditions and non-Christian religions that have become part of the religious landscape in Sweden due to immigration. The main part of the dissertation contains an investigation of 18 different Protestant churches and organisations, including the Church of Sweden, Evangelical denominations, Pentecostals, parachurch groups and missionary organisations. Mission strategies and aims of the different churches and religious groups are examined. Four important concepts, drawn from the investigation itself, are often refered to by the churches as both strategy and aim for ministry among immigrants and refugees. These four key concepts, diaconia, dialogue, integration and conversion, are analysed in relation to the results of the investigation. The actual ministries of the churches demonstrate different attitudes towards mission and dialogue. Some churches and denominations give priority to mission and evangelisation among immigrants from an exclusivistic point of view, which underpines the responsibility of the church to proclaim Jesus Christ as the only way to God. Other churches express an holistic attitude, which emphasises the close connection between diaconal, social activity and mission (evangelisation). The dialogic attitude stresses the importance of interfaith dialogue and cooperation with other religious and secular organisations, in order to prevent racism and conflicts between different religious and ethnic groups. The concluding part of the dissertation discusses the ministry and the attitudes of the Protestant churches as "bridge-builders" or "wall-builders" in a future multifaith society.