Swedish Church Customs 2008-2009

Lund University Church History Archive was founded in 1942. The task was to explain and document how the life and manners of the Swedish people was rooted in Christian belief and church customs. Parallel with the investigations of the older church customs the Church Archive started to examine the changes of the contemporary church customs. To get a view of the usage of different customs in the country at the same point of time, a questionnaire was sent to all parishes in 1962. The questionnaire included questions on customs in connection with the general services and at church festivals, and also at different church ceremonies such as christenings, confirmations, marriages and funerals. This nationwide inventory has been repeated in 1968, 1974, 1980, 1986, 1995, 2002 and in 2008/2009. Purpose: To identify changes in the contemporary church practice.