Abstract
A “Macedonian Call”: Clerical perspectives on declining church attendance within the ecclesiological dynamic between folk church and community of faith" The Sunday worship service, in Lutheran ecclesiology, is the place where the Word is proclaimed, and the sacraments are administered. It is the main assembly of the congregation, according to the liturgical ordinance of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Norway. Over the last decades, however, worship service attendance has continuously declined. This article examines the pastors’ perspectives on lower attendance by presenting new empirical material from four group interviews with a total of 16 pastors. The data is viewed theoretically by considering ecclesiological perspectives. The analysis shows that the pastors use the well-known categories of folk church and faith community. While also problematizing these concepts, they experience that normative and descriptive ecclesiologies are somewhat contradictory. The pastors point to fellowship and new relationship-building initiatives as central to congregational life but question whether the Sunday worship service is capable of including such dimensions. Our study emphasizes the necessity of developing strategies that identify and meet local needs for the church’s presence.
Published Version
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