An interview study of experiences from pastors providing military spiritual care within the Swedish Armed Forces

Abstract

This article presents a recently completed research project on pastors providing spiritual care within the Swedish Armed Forces. This descriptive study provides unique contextual insights of experiences from military chaplains. The purpose of the study was to describe experiences and lessons learned (wisdom) from pastors providing military spiritual care within the Swedish Armed Forces. Twelve military chaplains, ordained and employed by the Church of Sweden, were individually interviewed on different locations during the early winter of 2020. The interview data were analyzed with an inductive approach. The content was initially coded by many codes, which were subsequently organized in meaningful ways to develop overarching clusters which could serve to host the codes. The hermeneutical principle for the development of these clusters was that the codes could be understood in reference to the clusters and vice versa. The cultivation of the clusters was followed by the development of a pastoral theological model for military spiritual care within a Swedish context.