Room for men in a church for women : An ecclesiological study of men's groups in the Church of Sweden

Today about 50 percent of the ordained ministers in the Church of Sweden are female, and based on statistics from theological seminars, that number will increase in the coming years. In total, the staff of the Church of Sweden consists of approximately 70 percent women. This thesis is an ecclesiological study of communities that aren’t very usual in the Church of Sweden: men’s groups. The purpose of the study is to find what lived ecclesiology that manifests in these groups when seeing them as a little “church inside the church”. Through qualitative surveys and interviews with eight men’s groups leaders this thesis presents a contemporary insight in the purposes and values of these men’s groups. It also presents their view on the idea of a feminization of church. This study finds that the men’s group leaders want their groups to be places for men to talk about emotions and get acquainted to vulnerability, which is more easily achieved without the presence of women. Regarding feminization the leaders can discern some risks when it comes to substantive feminization, but they all see the gains with a gender diverse church staff (numerical feminization)