The Slow Greening of Established Churches in Switzerland

Abstract

Why are initiatives by local actors and parishes not adopted by head church organizations? This inaction is even more surprising because the established churches, attempting to manage the significant decline in their membership, must constantly reinvent themselves to remain stakeholders in society. Instead of exemplifying pioneering models of ecology with their church buildings in the middle of the village, they have missed this opportunity for ecological transformation. On the basis of their recent involvement during the climate strikes in Switzerland, they might be assimilating to the mood of the current time: They have become followers rather than pioneers. The chapter draws on the perspective of new institutionalism. Two empirical cases from Switzerland – a Catholic parish in the German-speaking part of Switzerland and a Protestant parish in Geneva in the French-speaking part of Switzerland – are active in the field of ecology. Using these two cases, the chapter describes the profiles and positions of these innovators within the established churches. It then shows the institutional barriers that prevent their “green” innovations from spreading within the given churches.